Dell D430 Conserving Battery Power, Power Management Modes

Using a Battery 31

Check the Battery Health

NOTE: You can check battery health in one of two ways: by using the charge gauge on the battery as described

below and by using the Battery Meter in Dell QuickSet. For information about QuickSet, right-click the icon in the

taskbar, and click Help.

To check the battery health using the charge gauge, press and hold the status button on the battery

charge gauge for at least 3seconds. If no lights appear, the battery is in good condition, and more than 80

percent of its original charge capacity remains. Each light represents incremental degradation. If five

lights appear, less than 60percent of the charge capacity remains, and you should consider replacing the

battery. See "Battery" on page135 for more information about the battery operating time.

NOTICE: To avoid losing or corrupting data, save your work immediately after a low-battery warning. Then

connect the computer to an electrical outlet. If the battery runs completely out of power, hibernate mode begins

automatically.

A pop-up window warns you when the battery charge is approximately 90 percent depleted. The

computer enters hibernate mode when the battery charge is at a critically low level.

You can change the settings for the battery alarms in QuickSet or the Power Options Properties window.

See "Configuring Power Management Settings" on page33 for information about accessing QuickSet or

the Power Options Properties window.

Conserving Battery Power

Perform the following actions to conserve battery power:

• Connect the computer to an electrical outlet when possible because battery life is largely determined

by the number of times the battery is used and recharged.

• Place the computer in standby mode or hibernate mode when you leave the computer unattended for

long periods of time. See "Power Management Modes" on page31.

• Use the Power Management Wizard or the

Power Options Properties

window to select options to

optimize your computer’s power usage. These options can also be set to change when you press the

power button, close the display, or press <Fn><Esc>.

NOTE: See "Configuring Power Management Settings" on page33 for information on conserving battery power.

Power Management Modes

Standby mode (sleep mode in Microsoft Windows Vista®) conserves power by turning off the display

and the hard drive after a predetermined period of inactivity (a time-out). When the computer exits

standby or sleep mode, it returns to the same operating state it was in before entering standby or sleep

mode.