Power outage battery problem

Hi guys,

I recently had a problem with my dell where I left my computer on and plugged into the charger without the battery. Then a power outage occurred during the time I was away and when I came back I could not start my computer due to a "unmountable_boot_volume" error. I resolved the problem, but now I want to prevent the same thing from happening on my new laptop, which I just ordered a while ago and will arrive soon. So what can I do to prevent my HD from getting damaged from these power outages?--would I need to buy some kind of power bar that has back-up power???
Also: I don't want to leave my battery in my laptop while plugged into the charger, since it will damage my battery in the long run.

Thanks!

 

Buy a UPS and plug the laptop into that. Note: a UPS that will give you ~10-15 minutes of backup power and automatically shutdown if you are not present during the outage will cost as much as or more than your battery, so that may not be the most economical solution.

 

Precisely.

First, modern batteries are not damaged by leaving them in. The persistence of this idea is really annoying; it hasn't been true for years. Second, even if you need to eventually buy a new battery, it will probably still be less expensive than a UPS (and certainly less annoying than unmountable boot volume errors). Third, I don't know if laptops are even tested for extended operation without batteries anymore -- depending on the circuitry, you could have glitches from the transition even with a UPS.

 

Better quality batteries plus better control over charging (many computers don't keep recharging a slightly discharged battery but wait until the charge drops several per cent) means that batteries usually last longer than they did a few years back.

I always leave the battery in my notebooks. Why disable the built-in UPS?

John

 

First of all, buy a "real" power surge protector with a high joule rating (not one of those 99 cent power strips) for your laptop. A power outage/surge could fry your laptop if the power outlet isn't grounded. It happened to me already at the campus library. I had to get a new laptop.

Second, leave your battery in your laptop. Modern laptop batteries will degrade over time rather you use them or not. They are designed that way.

 

ROFL. Seriously.

 

But then why is my dell battery so bad now? It's my third year and I keep my laptop very well--other than the fact that I'm always plugged into the power cord while having my battery in. Now my battery can only last 1 hour with lowest brightness. Before it could last 2-3hours. That's a HUGE difference to me....unless there's another factor that's causing this??

 

Sure. Damage your laptop to save your battery. Great idea!


--

 

hehe so true when you look at it that way =D. Well, if there really isn't another better alternative then I will just leave it in.

 

Most laptop batteries will go bad after 2-4 years; maybe even less. It doesn't matter if you use it or not; it'll degrade over time just like most things... There is only so much you do to prolong the battery life, but it will eventually die and hold no charge. Just leave the battery in the laptop as a backup UPS or when you need to move the laptop around without a power adapter.

 

Batteries, will degrade with usage. They are rated for a number of power cycles with 1 cycle being the equivalent of charging it all the way up and then draining it back down to empty. In addition, they deteriorate with time regardless of whether they are plugged in or not -- if you got a lousy battery, it will go bad no matter what you do.