My computer just hit one year OLD...

I know that laptop batteries lose rechargability as time goes on, but in the LAST two weeks mine has been draining really fast - like about one hour vs. over two.

I've checked my power settings, as far as standby and stuff goes - is there another Power Management utility I'm missing that could lessen the load WHILE I'm using my machine?

Thanks,This PDF report may help.

If your laptop has a SMART BATTERY, the battery may require recalibration. The laptop may have come with a special CD to boot from to achieve this, or one may be available for download from the manufacturer's web site. What make is it?Yikes! A Smart Battery? It's a Dell Inspiron 6000.

The brand alone should indicate there's nuthin' smart about this one.Looks like the Dell doesn't have a smart battery. Download my report though - you may find it USEFUL. A full discharge-recharge cycle may help a little. Unfortunately you may have fatally aged your battery already - particularly if you had a tendency to leave it pluged into the mains all the time.Yeah, that's pretty much the deal... Since it's used probably 60% of the time one place, but moved a lot during the other 40... It's plugged in most of the time. Ah, well, that's life.

I used to have a staff that was all on Motorola 2-way radios, and to train them in proper battery use was futile.... They were convinced the best way to check a battery was to put it back on the charger for a minute. Arrggghhh....