How to tell if your PC is running Windows 10 Creators Update

Get to know your Windows 10 version numbers: where to find them and what they mean.

Depending on when it was put together, the new laptop or PC you just unboxed may or may not have Windows 10 Creators Update installed. It’s a major update that was released in April and one to which you should upgrade.

Microsoft isn’t so forward as to slap Creators Update branding all over Windows so you’ll need understand Microsoft’s numbering system for the different versions of Windows and where to find such information.

So, what’s Creators Update called?

Windows 10 Creator Update is officially Version 1703. If you are running Version 1607, then you don’t have Creators Update and are running the previous Anniversary Update of Windows 10.

The version number is based on the date of the release, using a YYMM format. So, Version 1703 for Creators Update means it’s from March of 2017 (even though it wasn’t officially released until a month later). The previous Version 1607 for the Anniversary Update then was from July of 2016.

You’ll also see a number for OS Build, which tells you the specific build you have. Microsoft releases minor updates to each major version of its OS; these smaller updates get a new OS Build number but don’t change the Version number. Creators Update has an OS Build of 15063 dot-something, while Anniversary Update has an OS Build of 14393 dot-something.

How do I check which version of Windows I’m running?

There are two ways to check:

Open Settings and go to System > About. Here, you’ll see which Edition (Home, Pro or Enterprise), Version and OS Build you are running.

The other way is to use the search bar, enter winver and hit Enter. A small window will pop up showing you the Edition, Version and OS Build that you’ve got.

How do I update to Creators Update?

Open Settings and go to Update & security and click the Check for Updates button. If it shows that no updates are available or updates you only to a newer Anniversary Update, then you can manually install Creators Update using Microsoft’s Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant.

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Windows 10’s built-in battery-saving mode

How to access and adjust Windows 10’s battery-saving mode.

Windows 10 has a couple of different tools for helping you eke the most life out of your laptop’s ailing battery. There’s the traditional power options menu that lets you pick and choose how long your computer should stay awake when you’re not using it, and there’s also a new battery saver feature that switches off things like push notifications — because Windows 10 is basically a mobile operating system, and it has push notifications.

The Power & sleep menu (Settings > System > Power & sleep) is nothing new. Here, you can choose how long your computer is idle before it automatically shuts off the screen or goes into Sleep mode, based on whether your computer is plugged in or running on the battery.

You can also find the Additional power settings, which opens up the Power Options menu in the Control Panel. Here, you can edit your power plans, choose what happens when you close the lid of your laptop, and choose whether to require a password when your computer wakes from sleep mode.

Battery saver

In addition to the Power & sleep settings, Windows 10 has a new feature called Battery saver. Battery saver is a battery-saving power mode specifically optimized for Windows 10, which means it does things like limit background app activity and push notifications — similar to the battery-saving modes you find on smartphones and tablets.

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How to make your laptop boot faster

Whether you have a MacBook or Windows 10 laptop, we can help you cut down its startup time.

If your laptop takes its sweet time booting up, then here are some things you can do to put a little pep back in its startup step.

Get an SSD

You can breathe new life and faster boot times into old laptops by replacing spinning hard drives (HDD) with a new solid-state drive (SSD).

Without needing to physically spin a disk to locate the data you’ve requested, SSDs are substantially faster than traditional HDDs. After installing an SSD, the first thing you’ll notice is the speed improvement it causes when you boot up your laptop.

You’ll have to open your laptop and perform a bit of surgery, but it’s a basic procedure. In a nutshell, you will need to gather a few tools, clone your hard drive to the new drive, open your laptop, remove its old hard drive and then add in a SSD in its place.

Reduce startup items

Sometimes the applications you install go ahead and include themselves among the applications that your laptop loads when it starts up. The longer that list of applications, the longer it takes to start up. Thankfully, both Windows and OS X both let you choose which applications make this list.

If you are unwilling to purchase or install an SSD, then you’ll like this move because its free and easy. And if your laptop already has an SSD, then you can further shorten its boot time.

Windows: Fast startup

For Windows 10 laptops, there’s a setting called fast startup. It cuts down on startup time by creating a state between shutdown and hibernation where your system state is saved as a hibernation file, which is then loaded when you start up your laptop again. It saves Windows the trouble of reloading the kernel, drivers, and your settings. Unlike hibernation mode though, your open folders and applications are not saved with fast startup.

OS X: Automatic login

This last tip is for Mac owners who have more than one user account set up. With automatic login, you bypass the login screen and log right into one of your accounts to speed the startup process along. Because this setting lets you log into OS X without needing to enter your password, automatic login is not advisable if you carry your laptop with you everywhere you go and are prone to leaving it unattended in public places. If your laptop spends most of the time safely at home, here’s how to enable it.

 

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8 Tips for Longer Laptop Battery Life

We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting, or on the road, or in a classroom, and you find, to your horror, that your laptop is nearly dead. Maybe you forgot your power adapter, maybe there isn’t an available outlet. For whatever reason, your battery power is dwindling, and you still have stuff to get done. Hope is not lost, however. There are some things you can do to buy more time on that almost-dead battery so you can meet a deadline or respond to an important email before it’s too late.

Some of these techniques are for when you need to stretch your battery at that very moment, while others are preventative measures, best implemented before your battery life comes up short. There is some of overlap between the short- and long-term strategies we’ll outline below, but even when the actions are the same, the reasons behind them may be different.

Short-Term Battery-Stretching Strategies
If you’re in a tough spot right now, there are things you can do to extend the battery life immediately. None of these actions will actually increase the amount of power left in the battery, but instead will reduce the amount of power the laptop is using, letting you squeeze in a few more precious minutes before the battery goes kaput. The name of the game in these instances is power consumption, and you need to reduce yours to as little as possible.

  1. Activate Your Laptop’s Battery Saver or Eco Mode
    Designed with these sorts of circumstances in mind, most Battery Saver or Eco modes will engage a number of automatic changes to lengthen usable battery life—many of the same changes we’ll be making here. This saved profile will adjust your laptop’s settings and shift components into low-power states to help you ration your remaining juice a bit longer.
  2. Disable Unused Devices and Ports
    The easiest way to reduce power consumption is to simply turn stuff off. Every component in your laptop needs power to function, but that doesn’t mean you need to power all of those components all of the time. Start by disconnecting any unneeded peripherals (like aUSB mouseor external drive) and turning off the biggest power hogs, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, graphics processors, and unused optical drives.
  3. Adjust Your Settings
    While you’ll still have to use the display and the keyboard, you can adjust the settings for each to reduce power consumption. One often overlooked power drain is keyboard backlighting. Unless you’re in the dark and need the backlight just to make out each key, turn off the backlight entirely. You can typically assign a hotkey for this function.
  4. Turn Off Apps and Processes
    It’s not just the hardware that’s stealing your battery juice. Multiple apps and processes running on your system will also chew through battery life more quickly. As with the hardware, start by turning off anything that isn’t being used.
  5. Simplify
    You can also stretch your battery life by simplifying your own activities. Multitasking is nice when you have full power, but running several programs at once puts a greater load on the processor and draws more power. Adjust your computer use by sticking to one application at a time and avoiding resource-intensive programs.
  6. Care and Feeding of Batteries
    It starts with taking care of the battery itself. If your system has a removable battery, take care not to damage the battery contacts. They connect the laptop to the battery, and if the contacts get dirty or damaged, it can reduce and disrupt the flow of power. You can clean the contacts with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol, but damaged contacts might need to be professionally repaired. This doesn’t apply to laptops that seal the battery into the chassis.
  7. Upgrade Components
    Another option is to ditch the hard drive entirely, and upgrade to an SSD. These use flash memory to store data instead of a spinning disk, so there are no moving parts; this automatically makes them more energy efficient. In addition to improving your laptop’s battery life, SSDs also deliver faster performance and boot times than their traditional counterparts, and remove the problems associated with fragmentation.
  8. Battery Backup
    Finally, the easiest way to ensure that you always have enough battery power is to bring along an extra; either a spare battery or an external battery pack. For laptops with a removable battery, the simplest option is a second battery. These can either be ordered directly from the manufacturer, or purchased from a third-party company, usually for less than $100. Simply swap the old battery for the new once in a while when charging, and bring along the charged-up spare whenever you expect to be away from a power outlet.

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HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR LAPTOP’S BATTERY

Who doesn’t have a love/hate relationship with their laptop battery? It lets us be mobile, but it also chains us to that little battery life gauge and the dreaded decay of performance as time goes on. But by following certain best practices, you can move the relationship more firmly toward the “love” side. Here’s how.

Save cycles, save your battery

All laptop batteries are built to handle a certain number of charge cycles, usually somewhere around 500 full cycles and sometimes more. Essentially, a charge cycle equals one full discharge down to zero percent and then a recharge back up to 100 percent. A discharge down to 50 percent and then back to 100 percent would equal half a cycle. Over time, each charge cycle decreases a battery’s capacity from its design specifications, meaning that the fewer times you drain it, the longer the battery last — all other things being equal.

And so, where do you start? You can begin by visiting the power settings corner of your laptop. Many computers offer the ability to switch to an “eco mode” that automatically adjusts the way power is used (such as automatically dimming your screen brightness) to conserve battery energy. You can also manually reduce the amount of power you’re using by shutting off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you’re not using them, turning off optional features such as keyboard backlighting, and generally reducing the number of components burning power.

Also, pay attention to hibernation modes. Ideally, you want your laptop to enter into hibernation before the battery is totally drained – as well as during downtime when you won’t be using the laptop for a while. Hibernation is typically a power state where everything in working memory has been written to the hard drive or SSD and then the laptop is turned completely off. Hibernation uses no power, as opposed to various sleep states available with modern laptops that use at least some power over time.

To save even more power, take a tour of your apps and quit any that are running in the background and steadily eating into your battery life. In Windows computers, you can look at your System Tray, your Task Manager, and your Processes tab to see which of those little icons really aren’t necessary. In macOS, you can see what apps are using the most power by clicking on the battery icon in the taskbar to the upper right and by opening the Activity Monitor and selecting the Energy section. Cloud storage services or video players that you aren’t using can be safely shut down. Both Microsoft and Apple have guides explaining the process further.

And, of course, there’s the best solution of all — don’t use your laptop on battery power, if you don’t have to. In today’s era of long battery life, it’s easy to forget to plug in when you come back to your desk. But that will, eventually, shorten your battery’s lifespan.

Keeping your battery in zone

In ancient, less enlightened times, there was a problem called “battery memory” that caused nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries to “forget” their full charge capacity and start charging at lower and lower levels. This problem doesn’t exist any longer thanks to modern lithium-ion batteries, but it has led to a lot of poor advice and arguments about battery care based on outdated information. It’s time to clear the air.

Contrary to some recommendations, you don’t need to completely discharge a lithium-ion battery and then recharge it to somehow reboot or calibrate it – this is a destructive practice that’s very hard on your battery. Whether or not it’s a smart idea to perform a complete discharge a couple of times a year remains an unanswered question. Generally, the consensus seems to be that letting your battery discharge (without bottoming it out — aim for around 20 percent) and then charge it when possible is the best practice.

Next, there was a time when users were advised to refrain from keeping their devices plugged in, based on the idea that letting a battery charge to 100 percent could wear the battery out more quickly. Today, however, modern devices are designed to stop charging at 100 percent and thus keeping them plugged in doesn’t impact the battery’s lifespan, according to Battery University.

As with many battery-related questions, the issue of keeping your laptop plugged in when it’s reached full capacity is hotly debated, and so there’s nothing wrong with turning your machine off and unplugging it. If you’re going to store your laptop for an extended time without using it, then discharge or charge it to 50 percent before putting it away.

Generally speaking, the best thing you can do for your lithium-ion battery is to avoid letting it discharge below 20 percent. Plug it in and charge it when you can, and then rinse and repeat. The good news is that with modern batteries and systems there’s really not much else you need to do — except perhaps reasonably expect that your battery will eventually start losing its overall capacity.

It’s getting hot in here, so hide your batteries

Today’s lithium-ion batteries are durable, but they can only take so much heat. High temperatures can damage your laptop battery permanently, or reduce its useful lifespan.

This leads to some common sense suggestions. For example, if you are charging your battery and it starts to get overly warm, perhaps because the CPU or graphics processor is working hard or the environment is overly hot, then shut the device down and pop the battery out if possible. Give it a break so that it can cool down or you can move to someplace with a lower temperature. Of course, many modern laptops have sealed batteries, in which case shutting the machine down and letting it cool is highly recommended if maximizing the battery’s lifespan is your concern.

Likewise, keep the laptop off of your lap. If testicular damage and discomfort weren’t good enough reasons, then with many machines you’re also making the problem worse by blocking vents. You’ll want to make sure that both vents that pull in cool air and those that expel hot air are able to do their jobs.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should avoid placing your laptop anywhere it might become hot. That includes your car on a hot summer day, beneath a window that gets direct sunlight, or near a space heater. Unusual conditions such as these can do a lot of damage to a battery in a short period of time, though you may not realize it immediately.

Cold temperatures usually aren’t a problem down to a certain point, and storing a battery in a cool place is recommended, but don’t leave your laptop in freezing temperatures. Too much cold can also kill the battery permanently or reduce its lifespan.

If you want to watch temperature even more closely (say, you live in a particularly hot climate), then there are a number of apps you can run that will monitor laptop heat. This includes CoreTemp and Real Temp for Windows, which you can download for free.

Giving your laptop some TLC

Most people just let their laptop battery sit, snug inside the laptop, doing its job. But it’s a good idea to take your battery out from time to time and show it a little love. Every few months, detach your battery and give it a careful wipe with a soft cloth – get rid of any dust, and make sure the contact points are especially clean.

Note that this only replies to models with removable batteries. As laptops have become thinner and lighter, removable batteries have become something of a luxury. If your laptop has a sealed battery, then there’s little for you to worry about.

Things to avoid

Want the best battery? Here’s a quick list of bad practices.

  • Full discharges: As mentioned, when a laptop battery discharges fully – forcing a shutdown – the battery uses up a full charge cycle. The more charge cycles consumed, the more quickly a battery will give up the ghost. Even when running a discharge cycle, don’t let the battery drop to zero percent. Instead, stop when your operating system warns you the battery is getting low.
  • Reliance on hibernation modes: This is a similar point to the first. If you are constantly forcing your laptop to hibernate in order to save the battery, then you aren’t keeping your battery at the ideal percentages. Rethink your laptop habits, or at least accept that your usage patterns will result in a battery that won’t last quite so long.
  • Long periods of inactivity: If you must leave your battery unused for long periods of time, then make sure it has around 50 percent charge remaining. A depleted battery can die forever if not recharged soon enough. Generally speaking, though, keep using and properly charging your battery as long as you have it.
  • Hot summer days: Obviously you can’t always avoid hot summers, but you know what this means: keep your laptop cool. Store it indoors, avoid direct sunlight, and keep it out of hot cars during the warmest days.

Software and your battery

Finally, a note about your software — keep it updated! Companies work hard to improve the way that programs use power via software updates. The same operating system on a later patch could use significantly less battery power, giving your battery a longer lifespan without changing anything else. And so, review your OS and keep your machine — and its battery — on a healthy diet of updates.

 

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HP AC Power Adapter Charger

Wholesale and retail laptop adapter in UK. Replacement for Acer,Apple, Compaq,Dell, FUJITSU, IBM,Lenovo,Sony and so on.

How to select laptop Adapter? Make sure the volt and currect of adapter is same as your origial. carefully check the size of tip of adapterx is correct. check and confirm with the photo of power adapter is the one you are looking for.

How to Choose the Correct laptop Adapter? The first thing to consider for the laptop adapter is the voltage. The easiest way to check this is to turn the computer over and see if there is a voltage listed anywhere on the bottom of the machine. A sticker may be affixed with this information and other similar laptop specs listed. It should be a number with a V attached to it, such as 19V. This information is also available on the original adapter, if it is available.
The second thing to look for is the current output needed for the laptop adapter. This number will have an A of mA associated with it. For example, it may say something like 4.74A or 950mA. These numbers ensure that the power going to your machine will be acceptable and keep it operating within normal parameters. Not paying attention to either of these numbers could cause the electrical systems in the computer to malfunction and quit working altogether.
Once these two issues have been settled, the other important step is simply to make sure the connection fits the port in your computer where it is to be plugged in. The voltage and output current of the laptop adapter will not matter if it is not able to be connected. If ordering online or if you do not have your computer, it is advisable to check this out as soon as possible.
Many may choose the safest route possible and go with a replacement laptop adapter directly from the manufacturer, if available. While this is a good option, these parts may be more expensive than others that may be available from after-market manufacturers. Further, as long as the numbers match, all should work nearly the same and be just as safe and effective.
These may be you want to look for : Dell G238T for Dell Optiplex AC255AD-00 L255P-01 D255P-00 255W Computer power supply, Dell 517133-001 for HP New Touchsmart 300 Series Power Supply 200 Watt Computer power supply, Acbel 250W for Acbel PC 8046 PC8046 PC8044 Computer power supply, HP 403777-001 for HP DC7600 Ultra-slim DPS-200PB-161 DPS-200PB-163 Computer power supply, IBM 39Y7201 for IBM X3550 M3 M2/X3650 M2/RD210 Series 675W Computer power supply

How long should a laptop battery last?

How long a laptop battery should last after each charge?

After the laptop has gone through a full single charge and the power adapter is unplugged, the average life of a laptop battery can be anywhere between one and six hours. This time is dependent on the battery, its capacity (mAH), what’s being done on the laptop, and how old the battery is. Over time, the laptop battery’s capacity decreases, which means the battery will not last as long as it did when you first got the laptop and will continue to decrease over time.

What’s the overall life of a laptop battery?

A laptop computer battery should last between two and four years, or around 1,000 full charges. The total lifetime of a battery is dependent on several factors. These factors include battery type (NiCad, NiMH, or Li-ion), how often the battery is used, and its age.

 

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Determining the maximum capacity of your laptop battery

Both total charging capacity and life of a laptop computer’s battery will diminish as you use your computer. To determine your laptop’s current battery capacity and compare it with what it was when you purchased the laptop, install either of the following applications on your computer.

Microsoft Windows users

Battery Eater – This utility performs a stress test on the battery, causing it to drain to 0. After the battery has been drained, running the utility again provides you a full report that compares the estimated capacity of the battery to its current capacity.

Tip: If you plan on using the Battery Eater test, make sure to disable all power-saving features first.

Apple Macintosh users

Coconut battery – If you are using a MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air with macOS X 10.5 or higher, Coconut is an easy-to-use utility to test your laptop’s battery.

 

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Should I remove my laptop battery when using the AC adapter?

When you use a laptop computer and have access to a power outlet, plugging in the AC adapter to power the laptop is a good practice. Your laptop battery takes advantage of the power outlet and saves the battery for situations when there is no power outlet available. While using the AC adapter to power the laptop, you can leave the battery connected to the laptop.

Benefits of keeping battery in a laptop

There is no need to remove the battery and keeping it in has benefits.

First, If the battery is not fully charged, leaving the battery connected with the AC adapter allows the battery to be charged to full capacity if plugged in long enough.

Second, having a battery backup is great for power outages and brownouts. If either were to occur, you would not lose any of your data because your laptop will switch to the battery backup.

Finally, even when fully charged, leaving the battery connected while using the AC adapter will not damage the battery. Over time, all batteries will eventually lose their abilities to power a laptop and need to be replaced. That’s normal for a battery and not a side effect of using the AC adapter with the battery connected.

When should the laptop battery be removed?

Removing the battery from a laptop is only necessary if you need to do a hard reset or when replacing internal hardware. Other than that, the battery should always stay inside the laptop.

Note: Like all devices with batteries if you do not plan on using the laptop for over a year it is still a good idea to remove the battery.

 

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How do I remove the battery from my laptop computer?

Read First: All laptops are different, however, they usually share similarities when it comes to taking out the main battery. That being said, all of the newer MacBooks from Apple use integrated batteries that generally require service to remove.

If you are using a Windows or Linux based laptop, this page provides a general idea on how to remove the laptop battery. If you are replacing a laptop battery, you can insert the new battery after removing the old battery.

Note: Many ultrabook laptops have batteries that are not accessible from the outside of the laptop. Removing the battery will require the help of a repair technician to open the laptop.

Removing the battery

  1. If your laptop is plugged in, either unplug it or disconnect the power cable.
  2. Turn your laptop over so the bottom is facing up.
  3. Locate the battery latch on the bottom of the computer. The image to the right shows some of the more common battery latches found on laptops.
  4. To remove the battery, slide the latch switch to the opposite side and hold it in that position until the battery is released.
  5. On some laptops, the battery pops out on its own. On others, you’ll need to pull it out gently with the tips of your fingers.

Other situations

Although most laptops only have one latch, there are some that require you to slide two latches to remove the battery. On these laptops, the latches will still look similar to the examples above, but require you to move both at the same time, usually towards each other.

Finally, there are also some older laptops (IBM laptops) that require the latch to be pulled out and then pushed towards the battery.

No battery latch found

If you cannot find any battery latches or buttons for releasing the battery on the bottom of the laptop, it is possible the laptop utilizes a different mechanism to release the battery. The laptop may also need to be serviced by a licensed repair facility to have the battery removed through partial or full disassembly.

We recommend referring to the laptop documentation or check the manufacturer’s website for steps on how to remove the battery or if servicing is required to remove the battery.

 

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