Battery meter: frequently asked questions

The battery icon is located in the notification area on the Windows taskbar.

The battery icon changes appearance to display the current state of your battery, so that you can view how much charge remains on your battery at a glance.

• When the battery charge is above 25 percent, the battery icon is green.

• When the battery charge reaches 25 percent, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point (!) appears above the green battery icon.

• When the charge reaches the low-battery level, an "X" appears above the green battery icon.

If you hover over the battery icon, you can see the percentage of remaining battery charge, the amount of time remaining before the battery dies, and the power plan that you're using.

If your battery charge is low, and you have customized your power plan settings to notify you when the charge reaches the low-battery level, that notification appears above the battery icon.

When you right-click the battery icon, a menu appears with the following options:

• Power Options. Opens the Select a power plan page, where you can change power settings or select a power plan.

• Windows Mobility Center. Opens Windows Mobility Center, where you can adjust several of the most commonly used mobile PC settings from a single location. For example, you can change your display brightness, adjust speaker volume, check the status of your battery, and more.

  

  Note

  • Windows Mobility Center is available only with mobile PCs and is not included in Windows Vista Starter or Windows Vista Home Basic.

• Show System Icons. Opens the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, where you can hide the battery icon by clearing the Power check box.

When you click the battery icon, the battery meter appears. It lists all available batteries and their remaining charge.

You can also select any of the default power plans from the battery meter. To change a power plan's settings or to select a power plan that isn't shown on the battery meter, click More power options.

Battery life depends primarily on two things: what you do on the mobile PC while it's running on battery power, and the power plan settings that control the computer's use of power. The mobile PC's power consumption varies constantly, depending on your particular activity and how long you spend on that activity. For instance, watching a DVD consumes considerably more battery power than reading and writing e-mail. For these reasons, the battery meter often lags in reporting the charge and the estimated time remaining.

It depends on the mobile PC and battery, and varies according to the manufacturer. To learn more, check the information that came with your mobile PC or battery.

The battery icon changes appearance depending on whether your mobile PC is plugged in or running on the battery. It indicates whether your battery is charging or is fully charged. The battery icon also indicates the remaining battery charge in 10-percent increments and changes appearance if the battery charge reaches low and critical levels. Finally, its appearance changes if no battery is detected.

The following table explains the meaning of the different battery icons.

If your computer doesn't have a battery bay, you won't see a battery icon.

When the battery charge reaches the critical battery level, Windows does what the critical battery action specifies. By default, the critical battery action is to put your mobile PC into hibernation. In this case, Windows saves your work to your hard disk so that it can be restored when the computer comes out of hibernation. To change the critical battery action, see Choose low and critical power levels for your battery.

If the Power check box is unavailable, your computer may not have a battery installed. Or, some taskbar settings may be managed by your system administrator. For more information, see Why won't Windows allow me to change a system setting?

The battery meter can display three power plans, one representing each plan type:

• A plan that balances energy conservation with performance (Balanced)

• A plan that conserves energy (Power saver)

• A plan that emphasizes system performance (High performance)

If your computer is part of a network at an organization—such as a school or business—your organization's system administrator might have made certain settings unavailable or even removed them by using Group Policy. Group Policy is a feature of Windows that system administrators use to manage users' access to specific Windows features.

If you think that Group Policy is preventing you from changing a power setting that you need to access, contact your system administrator.

In addition, you might not have the required user rights to select a different power plan because your system administrator may have designated the active power plan for you instead of letting you choose one.

Although the Balanced plan is sufficient for most people's computing needs, you must decide if it's appropriate based on how you typically use your computer. For example, if you travel often and rely on battery power for long periods of time, the High performance plan may not provide the extended battery life that you need. In this case, the Power saver plan may be better. If your computer is always plugged in when you use it, the Power saver plan may not provide the system performance that you need, for example, when you're watching a DVD.

To view the current power plan, hover over the battery meter icon.