Newsletter Archives

• How to preserve your battery charge on a Windows 11 laptop

  Posted on April 15, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Lance Whitney • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.16 • 2024-04-15

  Look for our BONUS issue on Monday, April 22!

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  Frustrated because your Windows laptop runs out of juice at the worst possible times? There are ways to better sustain your battery charge.

  One of the best laptops I ever owned was a Lenovo ThinkPad T460 back in 2016. One major reason why I liked this machine was its dual-battery setup. Packed with both an internal battery and an external swappable battery, this unit easily delivered a solid 12 hours of life on a single charge.

  Sadly, those days are gone. With Lenovo and most other laptop makers obsessed with making machines as thin and light as possible, battery life has suffered dramatically. With my current laptop, I’m lucky to get five hours of life on a single charge. That’s fine if I’m at home or in a place where I can plug the computer into AC. But if I’m in one spot for hours, with no handy electrical outlet, then my battery charge can easily run out.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.16.0, 2024-04-15).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows 11 Battery charging, Battery life, Battery management, Control Panel, Newsletters, Power, Windows 11

• The season of devices

  Posted on September 4, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  It’s the time of the year when PSLs hit the menu.

  What? You don’t know what PSL means? Of course you do, because Pumpkin Spice Lattes arrive at those coffee shops you find on nearly every street corner. You can’t miss them.

  As summertime fades into fall, it’s also the season of rumors about the new phones and tablets that will soon hit the headlines. And that means it’s time for me to take a hard look at all my devices in this category.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.36.0, 2023-09-04).

  On Security Android, Backups, Battery charging, Battery life, iOS, iPhone, Newsletters, Password managers, Passwords, Patch Lady Posts

• Why does this PC shut down at about 80% charge?

  Posted on September 6, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  Lithium-ion batteries wear differently from classic dry- and wet-cell batteries, leading to some behaviors that seem, well, odd.

  But it also could be a matter of poor thermal management — simple overheating! Today’s column covers easy ways to investigate and cure either type of trouble.

  Plus: Recurring bank-account password problems lead a subscriber to ask about using a free password manager app.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Battery charging, Hardware, LangaList

• A VPN dissenter speaks out

  Posted on August 23, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  A reader strongly disagrees with Fred’s recent recommendation about using virtual private networks (VPNs) to increase online security; that reader’s colorful letter leads off this column.

  Today’s second reader-requested topic covers battery-monitoring apps for PCs and smartphones, including the extensive (but hidden) battery health report that’s built into every copy of Windows 10.

  The third reader-requested topic looks at daisy-chaining charging devices — say, charging your phone from your laptop while the laptop itself is charging from a wall socket.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.32.0 (2021-08-23).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Battery charging, Battery management, LangaList, VPN

• Reader feedback on driver/software updaters, and more!

  Posted on August 2, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  CCleaner — the popular system-cleanup tool — recently added automated software and driver updaters to its features. A subscriber set out to see whether they’re any good.

  Plus: Another subscriber’s laptop is stuck at 79% battery charge and won’t charge any higher; and a third seeks advice on how to obtain the fastest possible PC-to-smartphone USB tethering.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.29.0 (2021-08-02).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Battery charging, Hardware drivers, LangaList

• New smartphone? Great! Now don’t charge it past 80%

  Posted on April 12, 2021 at 01:06 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Sales of new smartphones are skyrocketing — Samsung’s new S21 line sold three times as many units in the US in March 2021 as last year’s S20 series did in the same period, according to SamMobile — but few people are learning from the manufacturers about these phones’ dirty little secret.

  That’s the fact that charging these devices’ lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries to a full 100% wears out a great deal of your battery’s capacity within a year or two. This has been written about before. But in this story, I’ll show you how to triple the usable life of your gadgets’ batteries — either on your own or using a simple app.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.13.0 (2021-04-12).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Batteries, Battery charging, Public Defender

• Easily back up all your PC’s current drivers

  Posted on October 14, 2019 at 01:15 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  By Fred Langa

  Free tools, including Win10’s built-in export-driver command, make backing up your device drivers simple.

  Plus: Free security info from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And, do new laptops really require a 100 percent initial charge?

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.37.0 (2019-10-14).

  LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Backup, Battery charging, Hardware drivers, Security advice