Mobile Computing

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Charging batteries

Charging the main battery

To charge the main battery while it is in your computer, plug the computer into a live electrical outlet. The battery charges whether the computer is on or off.

TECHNICAL NOTE: The recharging of the battery cannot occur when your computer is using all of the power provided by the AC adaptor to run applications, features, and devices. Your computer's Power Options utility can be used to select a power level setting that reduces the power required for system operation and will allow the battery to recharge.

The battery may not start charging immediately under the following conditions:❖The battery is extremely hot or cold.

To ensure that the battery charges to its full capacity, wait until it reaches room temperature (50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 to 26 degrees Celsius).

❖The battery is almost completely discharged.

Leave the power connected and the battery should begin charging after a few minutes.

HINT: Once the battery is fully charged, we recommend that you operate your computer on battery power until the battery discharges completely. Doing this extends battery life and helps ensure accurate monitoring of battery capacity.

Charging the RTC battery

Your computer has an internal real-time clock (RTC) battery. The RTC battery powers the System Time Clock and BIOS memory used to store your computer’s configuration settings. When fully charged, it maintains this information for up to a month when the computer is powered off.

The RTC battery may have become completely discharged while your computer was shipped, resulting in the following error message during startup:

BAD RTC BATTERY

BAD CHECKSUM (CMOS) CHECK SYSTEM