Notebook....battery Drains.

[Sqad]

After fully charging the battery, not using it for a week, the battery is almost empty.
Why and how do I deal with it?

[mccfluff]

what make/model?

Its probably the battery, you may need a new one

[Sqad]

Hewlett Packard and it is fairly new........12 months old.

[Fitzer]

Are you shutting it down completely before leaving it or just putting it into sleep or hibernate, both will use power, hibernate uses less than sleep/standby (can't remember the Windows terms)

[Sqad]

Fitz........cutting off the power supply.

[mccfluff]

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04700771

If you try here, that's a test for the battery, I would guess at the battery is dead but its just a guess, with it being around 12 months, its worth checking your warranty, i'd push for a new one.

[Fitzer]

Yes but are doing a Windows shutdown prior to removing the power supply or just closing the lid? If you aren't doing a shutdown then the machine will be using battery power to maintain memory etc. Only a bit which is why it will still have some power after a week. If you are completely shutting down then it should be pretty well fully powered after a week and I'd be suspecting a faulty battery.

[Sqad]

Fluffy and Fitz, thanks for your replies.....I will go down the new battery route, as I am shutting it down completely.
Thanks.

[Fitzer]

Just before you do that Sqad you could try fully charging the battery and then leaving it powered on unplugged from the mains and see how long it lasts compared to how long its supposed to last. That would tell you whether the battery is holding charge properly

[TheChair]

I have a three month old HP Notebook. With it completely powered down, the battery goes flat in about two weeks.
I've spoken to HP support, who seemed to know less about computers than I do, and simply kept changing their story as to why it might happen.
Their final suggestion was that it was "an old battery". When I pointed out that I'd had the machine for only three months, they started waffling about the battery could possibly be much older than the machine.
At no point did they come up with a useful suggestion, or an offer to try and fix the problem.
My personal opinion is that there is a fault in the design of the charging circuit, that means that when the machine is unplugged and powered down, current is charging a smoothing capacitor that its then being discharged through a resistor.
If you Google it, it seems to be a problem for lots of HP users, and nobody has an answer, except to remove the battery after powering down.

[Sqad]

Fitzer.......that is what i am already doing.

the Chair......yepp! that seems to be it I'm afraid.....

Thanks all.

[CrapAtCryptics]

There may be a 9 cell version of your battery they last longer

[piggynose]

just wanted to say its good to see you're back. hopefully for good. is it true you left due to someone questioning your qualifications? if so, refer them to the 99.99% of the abers. its kind hearted people like you that have made ab what it is today.