Save laptop battery powerMore power savers

3D graphics are a big drain on your battery

No games

Don't play games on the go; anything that involves even basic 3D graphics, music and sound effects will hit hard.

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

Unplug USB devices

Unplug any USB or PC Card network adaptors, memory card adaptors, memory keys or anything else that you aren't using.

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

Eject CDs and DVDs

Remove any DVDs or CDs from the drive: even if your laptop isn't using them, it will check them sporadically, which wastes energy.

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

Buy more memory

Remove any unused USB devices

The less memory or RAM you have, the more your laptop uses the hard drive for virtual memory.

Windows and its applications all use RAM, and when they run out of physical RAM they start eating into your hard disk’s memory instead. This makes the hard drive work harder, which drains your battery.

Fitting 1GB of RAM to an XP system or 2GB to a Vista machine will improve your battery life (and speed up your laptop).

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

Turn off Aero in Windows Vista

Aero, Windows Vista’s 3D interface looks good, but it also pushes your hardware and your battery.

Right-click the Windows desktop and select Personalize. Now click Windows Color and Appearance, and then click the Open classic appearance properties for more color options link. Now select the Windows Vista Basic option from the Color Scheme menu.

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

No music

You might enjoy listening to an MP3 soundtrack while you work, but every song makes the hard disk work. While you're on the go, we recommend that you avoid using applications that keep your hard drive active over long periods of time such as video, music or photo-browsers.

Close Startup programs

You’d be surprised how many programs launch (Autorun) when you turn on your computer. Many have little helper applets that run every time you start your system, whether you're going to use them or not.

These all use energy. Click on the Start button, then Programs, and then find and click the Startup folder. If you see anything in there you don’t need, right click on it and select Delete. You may want to check what it does first, so try a Google search on the relevant item.

Longevity rating: 3 out of 5

Drop non-essential services

Desktop search applications, network tools and instant messaging applications all like to run in the background while you work, but if you are not connected to the Internet then they are serving no purpose. 

Either right-click on their icons at the bottom right of the 'Taskbar' and select the relevant 'Exit' or 'Switch Off' option from the menu. 

Or press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys to get the 'Task Manager', then click the 'Services' tab, right-click on the service in question and choose 'Stop Service' from the menu. 

This may take a bit of detective work, so try using the 'Description' or Google the service name to sort out the wheat from the chaff. If in doubt, don't disable.