A beautiful battery indicator utility for a laptop. The battery indicator on the laptop is blinking - the charger is not charging

Why is the battery light blinking on my laptop?

Often inexperienced users have a question about why the battery indicator on a laptop blinks. Almost all manufacturers are required to provide battery status indicators on their models. This is necessary to inform the user about the particular state in which the battery is located. The indicators may be on, off, or flashing slowly or rapidly. Each such state indicates a certain state of the battery. Unfortunately, these LED signals on laptops can vary depending on the manufacturer and even the model. Because of this, confusion arises and it is difficult for an untrained person to understand why the battery light on his laptop is blinking.

As already mentioned, most laptop models from different manufacturers have indicators that operate in different states. Depending on the condition of the battery, the indicator may be on, off, slow or fast flashing. The indication may change depending on whether the laptop is connected to the mains or is in offline mode.

On most models, a green, purple or blue indicator light indicates that the battery has a full charge. On many models, manufacturers separately provide a laptop charging indicator, which shows that the charging process is in progress. This is usually a flashing green, purple, orange or blue indicator light.

As a rule, if the battery indicator is green, purple or blue, then the battery is working. It doesn’t matter whether the indicator blinks or not. If the color is orange, then in most cases this indicates that the battery is being charged.

Laptop manufacturers most often make the battery indicator flash to inform the user that the battery is low. When the battery charge drops below a certain limit, the indicator flashes red or orange until it is connected to the network. There's nothing to worry about, the battery just needs to be charged.

But if the laptop battery indicator continues to blink red or orange when connected to the power supply, this may indicate problems. In this case, the fault may be hidden both in the power supply and in the laptop battery. There may be problems with the correct operation of the indicator itself. In some cases, the indicator may remain red or orange even after connecting to charging. It turns off only after reaching a certain battery level.

Laptop battery indicator in Windows. Red X on the battery icon.

If you have difficulty determining the battery status using the indicator, you can look at the battery data in Windows.

The battery indicator is located in the system tray on the taskbar. If the icon displays an electrical plug, then at this moment the laptop is connected to the network via the power supply and the battery is in the process of charging (or fully charged). If you hold the cursor over the battery indicator in the taskbar, Windows will display information about the current charge level.

If you click on the battery icon, more detailed information will be displayed.

When connected to the network, an electrical plug appears next to the battery icon.

If there is no electrical plug, but the laptop is connected to the network, this indicates problems with the battery or power supply.

When the battery is discharged to a certain level, Windows will display a message about the need to charge and add an exclamation point in a yellow triangle to the battery icon.

If Windows diagnoses battery problems or a critical charge level, the battery icon will have a red cross on it.

If you need to see more detailed information about the state of the laptop battery, then go to the corresponding section in the Windows control panel.

Start menu -> Control Panel -> Power Options. There you can select a power saving plan, set the actions of the power buttons, etc.

To ensure that your laptop doesn't run out of juice when you're running offline, you need to constantly monitor the battery level. This can be done using built-in Windows tools or through special utilities.

Checking the charge level

To find out the battery charge, just look at the notification area. There should be an icon that demonstrates the status and operating mode - offline or networked. But if it's simple, why do users wonder where to look for information about charging a laptop?

Sometimes the taskbar icon disappears. It can be returned through the control panel, but there are other ways to find out the charge level. For example, on Windows 10, you can go to the “System” section in Settings and go to the “Battery Saver” tab. At the top you will see the level and approximately the remaining time.

By clicking the Battery Usage link, you'll be able to see which apps are consuming the most power.

You can monitor the battery condition and battery life using special utilities - BatteryCare, Battery Optimizer, Battery Eater Pro, etc. These programs allow you to optimize your laptop's performance by showing battery life at different settings. In addition, some manufacturers build proprietary utilities into laptops that monitor battery performance. For example, on Lenovo laptops the Energy Management program is responsible for power management, through which you can also find out the battery status.

Returning the charge icon

If the laptop battery icon has disappeared from the notification panel, you can quickly get it back by adjusting the display of system icons. On Windows 8 and 7:

If the laptop has Windows 10, the procedure is performed differently:

View battery capacity

If your laptop's battery level drops sharply and you are running out of battery life, check the battery capacity. Capacity decreases over time, so even if the notification area icon shows 100% battery level, the battery may actually be charged at 50 percent of its original capacity. Why is this happening? This is due to the wear and tear of the laptop battery, which needs to be changed promptly.

To find out the battery capacity of a laptop, use the Windows command line:

1. Launch Command Prompt with administrator rights.
2. Run "powercfg -energy".
3. Wait for the diagnostics to complete and the report to be generated.

Another way to find out the degree of battery wear is to view it using the AIDA64 program. This diagnostic utility shows the status of all laptop components, including battery capacity and charge. Therefore, even if the battery icon disappears, you can view the charge level in AIDA64.

AIDA64 offers free demo access for 30 days. After this period, you must purchase a license or stop using the utility.

Setting up the power supply

If it is not possible to replace the battery, and the battery life urgently needs to be increased, then try to optimize the operation of the computer by adjusting the power supply. You can do this through the control panel:

On Windows 10 there are even more customization options. On the "Battery Saver" tab in the "System" section of Windows settings, you can enable the function of the same name (available only when running on battery power).

Just recently I described to you brightness control in tray taskbar, and today I came across a free computer battery indicator on the Internet that already has this regulator built into it. In addition to this “trick,” Battery Mode has many other differences from the default “Power” system utility.

First, I’ll remind you how to enable the display of the standard “Power” icon in the taskbar tray, and I’ll also show you the modest functionality of the built-in solution.

System battery indicator

I’ll tell you using the example of modern Windows 10. To turn on the “Power” icon in the tray, right-click anywhere on the desktop and in the appeared context menu select the “Personalization” item. Next, go to the “Taskbar” item and there, going down a little with the slider, click on “Turn system icons on and off...

The system "Power" icon has appeared in the taskbar tray. What is available to us in the standard utility? Not that many features...

You can find out the percentage of battery charge, use the slider to change the power mode, go to “Battery Settings” and change (in large and inconvenient steps) the brightness of the screen.

The context menu for the “Power” icon is also not at all impressive...

Just three sad points. Another thing...

Battery indicator for computer Battery Mode

The main window of the Battery Mode program is also not impressive at first - the same percentage of battery charge shows, you can switch the power supply scheme (created earlier independently in the system section of the “Power Options”) with one click, change the screen brightness with a smooth slider and shut down the system (this link changes in program menu)…

But the context menu for the Battery Mode battery indicator icon is simply teeming with useful functions and necessary quick links...

From here you can go to the already familiar computer power settings, a couple of clicks brings us closer to the on/off switch for system icons, with one click computer mouse you can get to the Windows Mobility Center.

The style is changing here...

...and the color of the icons...

...configuring hotkeys...

...the screen brightness is fixed and if you multiple monitors— you can choose which ones to display the program icon in the tray.

Battery Mode from its menu allows you to control the brightness of several connected monitors individually. It has a wonderful scheduler that allows you to automatically switch power plans when a certain event occurs...

Read more about this planner on the official website Battery Mode programs.

You can also quickly turn off the screen from the menu and view information about the battery installed in the laptop...

This is generally an exclusive feature that I personally have never seen in any monitoring program.

Download battery indicator Battery Mode

The Battery Mode battery indicator works in any version of the Windows operating system (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10). The installer size is 1.7 or 1.9 MB (depending on the bit size of the system). There are also ready-made portable versions of the program.

Most laptops use a series of lights to indicate the state of the computer.

Each indicator has several states, such as on, off, slow flashing or fast flashing.

They can also switch between different colors (much depends on the model).

Each computer manufacturer uses its own codes to indicate the charging status of a laptop, but there are some common features.

• NOTE: If you have problems with the charge indicator, the first thing I recommend is to calibrate the battery. How?

Charger

Most laptops show a green, blue or purple light to indicate that the battery is fully charged.

Many manufacturers indicate that a laptop is in the process of charging by showing a steady or flashing green, orange, blue or purple light.

If the battery light is green, blue or purple, then the battery is functional, regardless of whether the light is flashing color or not.

If the light is orange, the laptop is most likely charging.

Battery error

Many battery manufacturers use flashing lights to indicate that the battery's charge level is low.

In general, a laptop will quickly flash orange or red when its charge drops below a certain level while the computer is not plugged in.

If your laptop's battery light continues to rapidly flash orange or red, or if it remains red even when it is plugged into the charger, this indicates a problem with your battery or charger.

Windows charging indicator

If you're not sure what the light means, you can check your computer's charging status in Windows.

Look for the battery icon in the notification area of ​​the taskbar. If the display icon shows an electrical connector on the battery, then it is currently charging or is fully charged.

A red "X" on the battery icon will appear on the screen when Windows detects battery problems.

Hover your mouse over the icon to view the current battery level. Then a tooltip will appear with information about the current charge level and charge status.

Reset

If your laptop battery is not charging, you can solve this problem by doing a hard reset. Turn off the computer, disconnect it from the charger and remove the battery.

Follow your computer manufacturer's instructions to remove the battery.

On some computers, you may need to hold down the computer's power button for 30 seconds to reset the battery status information.

Install the battery, connect the charger, and turn on the laptop.

Replacing the battery

Over time, some batteries lose their ability to receive or hold a charge.

If your laptop battery refuses to charge, even after removal and reinstallation, you may need to purchase a new battery.

If your laptop is under warranty, or your computer manufacturer has issued a recall on your computer's batteries, you may be able to get a new battery for free. Good luck.

Three years later, the laptop began to hold the battery for about 40 minutes instead of four hours, we decided to figure out what the reason was and find ways to solve it. For those who don't want to buy a new battery.

At first glance, the reason is obvious - the laptop battery is worn out. But I still wanted to get to the bottom of the truth and solve the problem. Our battery number is PA3832.

Modern Li-ion batteries have a controller responsible for the battery charge; it counts the number of charge-discharge cycles and calculates the percentage of battery wear. Usually, after a long battery life, the controller may give incorrect data and needs to be calibrated.

Battery controller calibration

Download and install a program for monitoring battery status BattareyBar Pro.

In terms of power supply, we set the following values:

Find out the full capacity of the battery

We disconnect the charging from the laptop and note the operating time until the message “a few minutes left until the battery is completely discharged.” Then we reboot the system, go into Bios and time the time until the laptop completely turns off. If it works in this mode for a long time, it means there is still some reserve in the battery. If it works for up to 10 minutes, then everything is fine with the controller and the battery needs to be changed or repacked.

Calibration

In essence, calibration is a complete discharge and full charge of the battery in several cycles to change the data of the battery controller.

Having completely discharged the battery, you need to charge it immediately, since Li-ion batteries are afraid of being completely discharged and may fail. After the system reports that the battery is charged, you should wait a few more hours until it is truly fully charged.

Previously, we tracked battery life in Windows and after that in Bios. Now we need to add up this time, and we will get the approximate operating time of our battery. We got 50 minutes + 40 minutes = 1 hour 20 minutes.

After fully charging, turn off the charger and look in the BattareyBar Pro program to see how much time is left. If the time has increased, then the calibration was successful; if not, we proceed to the second stage of calibration.

In order not to watch the boring Bios screen, further actions will be in Windows.

We disconnect a fully charged laptop from the charger, record the time and monitor the battery discharge through our program. When the system writes that there is 1 minute left, let the laptop work without load for the time it worked in Bios, subtracting 10 minutes from it. If you have a battery indicator on your laptop, plug in the charger when it starts blinking.

In our case it is 40 -10 = 30 minutes. When this time has passed, connect the charger again and, repeating this process again, work with the laptop as usual. During operation, after a while the battery will show the correct data.

Repacking the battery

Previously, our laptop had 4 hours of battery life, an additional 30 minutes after calibration was not enough, so we decided to replace the batteries in the battery.

First, it was necessary to disassemble the battery without damaging it. In the video you can watch the process of disassembling the battery.

The next step is to find out, using a cup, a tester and a light bulb, how worn out the batteries are in the battery. Having built a simple diagram, in the photo below

and having discharged the battery to 10.5 volts using a light bulb, all that remains is to measure each pair of batteries under load and calculate the weakest link. The battery that discharges the fastest is the problem one.

After a little manipulation, we were able to determine that the batteries were worn out almost equally and there was no obvious weak link, so all pairs needed to be replaced.

Having bought the batteries, all that remains is to replace them; if you are not comfortable with a soldering iron, we do not recommend that you do this.

After repacking, the assembly turned out like this; the lid was not put on in order to measure the battery voltage during operation. You need to solder while trying to heat the batteries as little as possible. It is advisable to use resistance welding instead of a soldering iron.

By inserting the battery and turning on the computer, we fully charged it within 6 hours, always under supervision. A fully charged battery should read 12.6 volts; a discharged battery should show 10.6 volts.

You also need to measure three pairs of batteries for the same voltage 12.6 / 3 = 4.2 volts. If the indicators are different, discharge those pairs( light bulb), where the voltage is greater to the same values.

After disconnecting the charger, the operating time showed the same as on the old battery. For correct information about the battery, you need to flash its controller by resetting the number of charge cycles to 0.

Since we did not have the tools to program the controller, we decided to calibrate the battery using the method described above. As a result, within two days of working with the laptop, the system began to show correct battery data. Our battery shows and runs 3 hours 40 minutes.

Conclusions

The easiest way to extend the life of your battery is to calibrate its controller if it shows incorrect data and the batteries are still working. Not all controllers can be configured this way, so it depends on your luck.

If you are comfortable with a soldering iron, you can restore the battery life almost like new. The main problem is finding batteries for repackaging. The ideal option is to take them from the working battery of a new, non-repairable laptop. If there is none, look for ebay.com or dx.com suitable according to the parameters.