Why does my laptop run slower when plugged in
Where to look for the settings you can change.by Leo A. Notenboom Laptop settings control power use when running on battery. Your choices affect performance and how quickly you'll need to plug in again. Hi, Ive noticed my old laptop when connected to the internet runs slower when using the battery compared with AC power. Most noticeably when watching videos, YouTube etc. Ive tried googling for a solution and have changed some settings in power management to try to compensate, but to no avail. I even downloaded a program which claims to solve this problem but it hasnt. As soon as I pull the AC power from the laptop, the screen noticeably dims, even when the battery is fully charged (brand new battery, by the way). Honestly, Im not surprised. Lets review why it happens, what steps you might take to control it, and why you might not want to. Adjusting laptop performanceMost laptops scale back on performance when running on battery to maximize the length of time before you need to be plugged in to recharge. Settings in the Settings app and in Control Panel allow you to adjust how performance is affected, if at all. Your computers BIOS may also have additional settings. Running slower is a featureMost laptops are configured to reduce power usage when not plugged into AC or line power. This is intentional, specifically to lengthen the battery life. The two most common characteristics affected include:
Other performance aspects of your system also reduce power usage. In addition, the amount of time before your system automatically sleeps or turns itself off is generally different depending on whether the laptop is plugged in or not. Windows settingsIn the Windows 10 settings app, click on System, then Power & sleep.1 Scroll down and click on Additional power settings to bring up the Control Panel Power Options page. You may find one or more power plans listed. Balanced is typical, and attempts to balance performance with battery life. Additional plans often include one designed to maximize battery life and another to maximize performance. Click on plan settings for the current plan and youll be shown settings controlling how quickly the laptop should go into sleep or hibernate (if available) modes and how quickly it turns off the display when plugged in and when not. Click on Change advanced power settings for a more exhaustive list of things that can be controlled. The contents of this list vary often dramatically depending on your specific laptop and installed options. Examining this list allows you to see and control an assortment of settings that affect your power usage, your computers speed, and the amount of time it can run on battery. You may even find settings related specifically to video playback, as you mentioned in your question. Theres one more place to look. BIOS/UEFI settingsSome power-related settings are found in your computers BIOS or UEFI rather than controlled directly by Windows. Unfortunately, since this will vary between computer manufacturers and models, I cant give you exact steps. You enter your computers BIOS or UEFI settings by rebooting and holding down a key, or by instructing Windows to reboot into the settings. Then look specifically for settings related to Power management or APC (Advanced Power Management Control). These settings may allow you to further tune exactly how the computer behaves when running on battery. The power / performance tradeoffTheres no such thing as a free lunch you can optimize either for power usage or for performance when running on battery. If you choose the latter, you may get the performance youre looking for, but youll need to plug in to recharge the battery more often. Do thisSubscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week. I'll see you there! Podcast audioDownload (right-click, Save-As) (Duration: 6:31 7.1MB) Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS Related VideoFootnotes & References1: In prior versions of Windows, youll want Control Paneland then Power Management Utilities. Dell: Why Is My Notebook Performance Slow While Running on Battery Power? |