A laptop primarily attracts us with its mobility and compactness. For all other characteristics, in most cases it loses to a desktop computer. The laptop provides mobility to the battery, and when it wears out and fails, the laptop is tightly confined to the outlet. In modern laptops, lithium-type batteries are installed that last 3–4 years. Their average resource is 400–500 charge-discharge cycles. As the laptop wears out, it works less and less offline. After all, the battery cannot last an hour. Then you decide to replace the battery. The question arises, is it possible to somehow find out the degree of wear of the laptop battery? Yes, there are programs that let you test your laptop battery. This review will focus on such utilities.
Battery test using the standard Windows utility
To get started, you can use the standard Windows tool. The steps below are shown for the Windows 7 operating system.
Press “Win + R” to open the Run window. The command line must be run as administrator. This can be done in the Start menu, as shown below.
Command line call
Type “cmd”, right-click and select the menu item “Run as administrator”.
Next, in the window that appears, type "powercfg.exe -energy -output c: report.html" and press "Enter". The laptop battery test will begin, which will last 1–2 minutes.
Run a laptop battery test
The report on the operation of the program will lie in the report.html file in the root of the “C” drive.
Battery Details
Find the Battery Information information block. There we are interested in the estimated capacity and the last full charge. In our screenshot, 54212 and 24009, respectively. The first value shows the original battery capacity, and the second shows the capacity accumulated during the last charge. Using them you can calculate battery wear.
(24009 / 54212) * 100% = 44%
That is, to date, 44 percent of the original battery capacity remains. In this state, my laptop works without an outlet for about an hour.
Battery care
A fairly simple and easy-to-use utility for testing laptop batteries. It loads the system a little and has a visual representation of the data. If you click on the Battery Care icon and click on the “Advanced” tab, you will find detailed information about the battery.
Battery Information in Battery Care
Aida64 is an application that is designed for comprehensive testing and obtaining information about a desktop computer or laptop. There is information not only about accessories, but also about BIOS, software environment, installed applications. As part of this article, we are interested in the fact that Aida64 has a “Power” tab with the results of a laptop battery test.
Aida64 laptop battery information
Here you can find out the name of the battery, the original and current capacity, voltage, degree of wear. The program is paid, but on the developers website there is an opportunity to download the 30-day Trial version and evaluate its capabilities.
Battery eater
This application allows you to calculate the operating time of a laptop disconnected from the network. In this case, the utility creates an increased load on the laptop components.
Battery Eater Utility
This test will help evaluate how the battery will behave under critical load conditions. There are three test options. This is a simple, classic, read mode.
You can set the test to start when the laptop is unplugged.
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Program for testing laptop battery
There are more than a dozen utilities that can determine the technical condition of batteries. One such program is BatteryInfoView. Naturally, this and similar applications can only help if the computer is capable of working offline for at least a short amount of time. If, when the charger is disconnected, the laptop immediately turns off, it is likely that the program will not be able to fulfill its main task.
Using BatteryInfoView is very simple:
- Go to the official website of the developers to download the archive with the program - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/battery_information_view.html.
- Unzip the archive, then run the file "Batteryinfoview.exe".
- In the newly opened window, a table with various information about the battery installed in the laptop will be displayed. We are interested in the item "Battery Wear Level" (in the latest version of the program, this item is called "Battery Health").
- Opposite this paragraph is the estimated remaining percentage of battery wear. In our case, it is 87%, which is a good indicator (i.e. the battery is only 13% worn out).
- On this work with the program can be completed.
Utilities like BatteryInfoView are far from always able to assess the technical condition of the battery at the first start. The reason is that the estimate is based on the “Full Charged Capacity” and “Designed Capacity” (initial capacity of the new battery) indicators without taking into account the actual battery discharge time. The program simply divides the first indicator by the second, then multiplies the result by 100 - as a result, an approximate level of battery wear is obtained. For example, in our case it is 40380/46400 = 0.87 * 100 = 87.0%.
For a more accurate assessment of the "health state" of the battery, the program needs to work for at least 2-3 cycles of fully charging / discharging the laptop.
Here is another example of using a battery tester application - BatteryMark.Ru. This program has more functionality compared to BatteryInfoView. In particular, BatteryMark.Ru utility has a special function for testing the battery, as a result of which you can draw some conclusions about the technical condition of the device:
- Download the archive with the program from the developers site - http://batterymark.ru.
- Run the file "BatteryMark.Ru.exe".
- A window will appear on the screen with a graph in which during testing data (percentage) about the battery discharge for a given computer’s time will be entered.
- Fully charge the laptop, then disconnect the power cable from it.
- To start the testing function, click on the "Start" button in the lower right corner of the BatteryMark.Ru program window.
- By default, the program runs in accelerated mode, for which it will take about 10 minutes to schedule the battery status. In this case, the result may not be accurate. To turn off the accelerated mode of operation, open the "Options" tab at the top of the window and uncheck the corresponding item.
- Now the program will test the battery until it is completely discharged. But a graph of her condition will loom in real time.
- Work with your laptop for a while - an hour and a half. Or just leave it turned on with the program running.
- After some time, take a look at the schedule built by the program. Here are a few examples of how the technical condition of the battery can be determined from this graph.
Caution - for a more accurate diagnosis of the battery on the computer, you must turn off the power saving function when the PC is offline. For Windows, this is done in the "Power" section, which can be accessed through the "Control Panel".
Example 1
The graph shows that for about 1 hour 7-8 minutes, the battery charge was reduced by about the same number of points. However, when the charge reached 50%, he began to sag sharply. Over the remaining ten minutes, the battery is completely discharged, i.e. in fact, it was enough for 80 minutes of work. In such situations, they talk about the severe deterioration of the battery.
Example 2
And here you can see about the same situation as in the previous case. Up to about 50% of the charge, the battery was discharged evenly - without sudden drops. After 50%, a sharp drop in charge within a short time began to be observed. Unlike the previous case, here the battery was discharged from 50% to 0% not in 10, but in about 40 minutes. Here, however, up to 50% of the battery was discharged within 50 minutes, which is 20 minutes less than shown in the previous graph.
Nevertheless, such a schedule signals an imminent deterioration in the technical condition of the battery.
Example 3
And here is shown an almost perfect battery schedule. As you can see, the battery charge was smoothly consumed during the entire duration of the laptop - 3 hours 16 minutes. This indicates a good technical condition of the battery.
Battery Issues
Physical wear is the main reason that occurs with the power supply. Their large mass is not designed for a cycle of more than 800 charges. This is about 2, less often 3 years. The ability to lose about 15% of capacity each year makes the battery a consumable item among laptop components. To extend the service life, it is recommended to remove it when using a constant power source, as well as completely plant and charge it every few weeks.
Among the faults, one can also note:
Defect of one of the component components.- Short circuit.
- Oxidation or damage to contacts.
- Incorrect position when placed in the slot.
- Incorrect driver installation.
- Cable defect.
Defect of one of the component components.Battery Hardware Testing
By hardware testing we mean measures to determine the technical state of the device by taking measurements of certain physical quantities (mainly voltage, capacitance, and current strength) using test equipment. Some simple tests can be done at home. To do this, you need a conventional multimeter that can measure the value of constant voltage.
Take, for example, the most common battery from Lenovo laptops.
The contact pad is highlighted in the photo above, with which further voltage tests will be conducted. A little higher - the area on the sticker is marked, which shows information about the nominal output voltage of the battery (in our case, 11.1 volts). These data will be useful in the future.
To carry out the necessary measurements, we used an inexpensive Chinese tester:
Pay attention to the selected fragment of the photo. Small wires were fastened to the measuring probes of the multimeter. This is done in order to make it possible to take voltage samples from the narrow openings of the contact area of the battery (the probes simply do not fit into them).
We begin to take measurements by placing the impromptu probes of the tester in the openings of the contact area. In our case, the first information was obtained when measuring the 1st and 3rd contacts (the first pair of contacts has the same poles - "+" or "-" - it does not matter).
A value of 5.74 volts was displayed on the multimeter screen. However, this is not the voltage required to operate the laptop. The contacts that are just being measured are used to supply power to the laptop’s auxiliary devices (for example, sensors).
Voltage measurements between the first and 3rd, 4th and 5th contacts led to the same results - approximately. When the probe is connected to pin 6, the picture has changed:
The same result - of the order of 10.3 V - was also highlighted when measuring the voltage between 1 and the rightmost contacts. Thus, the necessary contacts were found.
In the case of any electronics, there is an unwritten rule - certain physical quantities (voltage, resistance, capacitance, etc.) may differ from the manufacturers' values by 5% in any direction.
In our case, 5% of 11.1 V is 0.555 V. i.e. permissible lower voltage limit is 11.1 - 0.555 = 10.54 volts.
Based on this, we can conclude - the existing battery needs to be replaced.
Command line
To obtain information about the current state of the energy storage device and the time until it is fully planted, click on the corresponding icon in the system line. To determine the actual capacity, all Microsoft operating systems, starting with version 7, are equipped with a built-in tool that allows you to set the degree of battery wear. To test it, you need:
Charge the battery to 100%.- Using the Win + R key combination, cause the “Run” window to appear, in which to type cmd.
- At the command prompt that appears, enter powercfg energy.
- Most often, you need to log in as administrator. This can be done if in the column “Search” after selecting cmd in the list that appears, right-click and select the corresponding menu item.
- Re-command powercfg energy and wait about 1 minute.
- Follow the path that will be indicated after testing. If it is locked by the system, make a copy to the desktop and try again.
Charge the battery to 100%.Of all the information, only the last two points will be useful to the user: From the beginning - the state of the battery immediately after manufacture and C real - the battery capacity at the moment. The percentage of wear is easy to calculate using the formula (From beg.-From real.) / From beg.
To summarize
For more or less accurate determination of the technical condition of the battery requires the use of not only software, but also hardware. The first chapter of this article gave an example of working with BatteryInfoView. The utility was run on the same battery in which the output voltage was measured in the second chapter of the article.
Despite the fact that the BatteryInfoView program showed a low level of wear at 13%, in practice it turned out that the battery is able to power the laptop for only about 20 minutes. By measuring the output voltage, we found out that the battery cells have severe wear. The control board built into the battery could also fail, which is why the program displays incorrect results.
Imtec battery mark
This is a program for checking the laptop battery of minimum volume and functionality for owners of outdated models of portable computer equipment. It shows the current state of affairs with the battery. All information is displayed in one window, in which you can select the test mode: full or fast. The program offers:
- Battery test for voltage, power and other electrical parameters.
- Display on the screen of graphs and numerical values.
- Generation of reports in the form of log files.
- Setting power parameters according to the model of the laptop (Acer, HP, Asus, etc.) - for maximum energy efficiency.
Information processing time is approximately 10 minutes.
Russian version of AIDA 64
This is one of the complete programs to determine the status of the computer. At first, the appearance of the main window will seem difficult to extract the necessary information. However, the user can get help at any time in the special help menu. Testing an arbitrary parameter takes several seconds.
Battery Bar Utility
A small assistant will be able to check the laptop battery for performance, monitoring the remaining energy in the battery. He will also calculate the approximate battery life. All calculations are based on averaging charge retention rates.. The program window is in the notification line. All parameters are calculated at the time of operation, when disconnecting the AC network. If necessary, the window can be expanded and get the maximum information about the nature of energy supply.
Like most of these utilities, Battery Bar estimates the remaining battery life and gives preliminary recommendations for replacing it. In addition to the simple version, you can download online and install the Pro version, which will make it possible to customize the appearance and update the product to the beta version. The Russian-language interface is simple and understandable to any user.
Battery Info View
This application is designed to be installed on devices with the ability to work offline. The report that the program generates includes:
- Information about the manufacturer of the battery.
- Name, release date, and serial number of the product.
- Status and charge capacity.
- All electrical parameters of the element and their changes during use.
Having the data included in the report, the owner of the PC can decide to repair the battery or replace it. The update of the report can be customized as needed in the menu. Saving and printing are allowed in several formats convenient for the user. To install, just download the installer and place the utility in the desired folder. You can start the program using the shortcut on the desktop.
Troubleshooting
If you have problems with stand-alone power sources, laptops should not immediately purchase a new battery. There is a chance to restore it. In order to check the laptop battery for performance, you can resort to this method.
If the PC battery is detected, and its status is visible in the tray, but it does not receive its portion of charge, you can try to return the original BIOS settings:
Disconnect the PC from the network.- Take out the battery pack.
- Hold down the start button of the laptop for 1 minute.
- During boot, press the Del, F12 or F2 keys. You will be logged into the I / O system.
- In the "Power Settings" menu you need to reset to default (Restore Defauts), save (Save) and exit (Exit).
- Then the computer turns on, the battery is inserted.
- The settings are reset to the initial value (Restore Defauts), save (Save), exit (Exit).
- The fact that the settings reset was successful will notify the system message about the beginning of the charging cycle.
Disconnect the PC from the network.Причиной неисправности может стать только что купленная батарея, которую устанавливают вместо вышедшей из строя. Визуально они могут полностью совпадать, но отличаться по некоторым характеристикам. В этом случае важно сверить надписи на корпусах, разницы быть не должно. Информацию об источнике питания можно посмотреть на сайте производителя компьютерной техники.
BatteryInfoView
Программу BatteryInfoView можно рекомендовать для использования на ранних версиях Windows. BatteryInfoView is free and does not require installation on a laptop.
How to use the program? Run the BatteryInfoView.exe file and let the utility run for a while on a laptop connected to the electric network. Then turn off the power supply and leave the program for some more time. After that, go to the “View” menu and click “Show battery information”.
Battery test in BatteryInfoView
Battery doubler
According to the developers, Battery Doubler allows you to increase battery life by 50%. This is achieved by disabling all system components that are not used by the laptop user. It is reported that in addition to increasing battery life, recalibration of damaged batteries is carried out. The developers say that this can partially restore the capacity. For understanding, you can read material about the programs by which the laptop battery is calibrated.
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Battery optimizer
This program optimizes laptop performance based on diagnostics and battery test. The utility shows the user battery saving, which can be obtained as a result of changing certain laptop settings. You can save these options in profiles and load when necessary.
The program developers highlight the following Battery Optimizer features:
- Battery monitoring,
- Accurate battery life readings at various settings,
- Longer battery life
- Simple interface
- Configure alerts.
As you can see, most laptop battery testing programs produce the same data. This is because they take information from the OS and the battery controller. However, there are applications with advanced features and additional options.
