hi all, the title describes the problem well, do you know how i can see
the remaining battery time without installing additional 3rd party
software? many thanks in advance.

regards
---
bbao
Windows Server 2003 Ver 5.2 (Build 3790.srv03_gdr.040410.1234), 512 MB RAM
Opera 7.54u1 Build 3918 w/o Java

Usually, there's a setting in Control Panel/Power Options/Advanced tab,
"Always show icon on the taskbar." If you put a check mark in the box next
to the above line, it should show you the icon with the current status
information when you pass your cursor over the icon. It may take a restart
of the system to put it into operation.
--
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/nichol.mspx
In memory of a true friend, Windows MVP Alex Nichol

Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"bbao" <bbao@programmer.net> wrote in message
news:opsnm7wq1k2pm542@goer.baobing.com...
> hi all, the title describes the problem well, do you know how i can see
> the remaining battery time without installing additional 3rd party
> software? many thanks in advance.
>
> regards
> ---
> bbao
> Windows Server 2003 Ver 5.2 (Build 3790.srv03_gdr.040410.1234), 512 MB RAM
> Opera 7.54u1 Build 3918 w/o Java

Chris H. wrote:
> Usually, there's a setting in Control Panel/Power Options/Advanced tab,
> "Always show icon on the taskbar." If you put a check mark in the box next
> to the above line, it should show you the icon with the current status
> information when you pass your cursor over the icon. It may take a restart
> of the system to put it into operation.

Thanks Chris. I am sorry that I forgot to mention that I have already
enabled "always show icon on the taskbar", what I meant is when I move
mouse pointer on the battery icon while the laptop is on battery, XP
tells me the remaining battery in percentage, not the remaining battery
time (e.g 30 minutes left) that I expect. Any idea on how get rid of it?

Moreover, I was very sad when I learned the news of Mr. Alex Nichol from
your signature in your reply. I knew him through reading the very
informative technical articles of him, I knew he was a MVP, but never
thought he was a 70-year-old MVP. I really appreciate what he shared and
contributed for us. We miss him.

Regards,

Bing Bao
Microsoft Windows Server MVP

The icon can tell you the % battery remaining, but how can it tell you how
many minutes you have left? How many minutes you have left depends on a lot
of factors. For example, if you start watching a DVD, the battery is going
to diminish much faster than if you do nothing at all (simply because
keeping the DVD spinning requires energy, and the DVD decryption process is
CPU intensive, and the video card needs to do some work drawing the images).

So, how many minutes you have left is at best, an educated guess, and at
worst completely inaccurate. You best bet is to sample the % left every
10-15 minutes, and that'll give you an idea of how quickly you're
diminishing the battery capacity.

Cheers
Ken

"bbao" <bbao@programmer.net> wrote in message
news:%23v6umwTKFHA.1392@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
: Chris H. wrote:
: > Usually, there's a setting in Control Panel/Power Options/Advanced tab,
: > "Always show icon on the taskbar." If you put a check mark in the box
next
: > to the above line, it should show you the icon with the current status
: > information when you pass your cursor over the icon. It may take a
restart
: > of the system to put it into operation.
:
: Thanks Chris. I am sorry that I forgot to mention that I have already
: enabled "always show icon on the taskbar", what I meant is when I move
: mouse pointer on the battery icon while the laptop is on battery, XP
: tells me the remaining battery in percentage, not the remaining battery
: time (e.g 30 minutes left) that I expect. Any idea on how get rid of it?
:
: Moreover, I was very sad when I learned the news of Mr. Alex Nichol from
: your signature in your reply. I knew him through reading the very
: informative technical articles of him, I knew he was a MVP, but never
: thought he was a 70-year-old MVP. I really appreciate what he shared and
: contributed for us. We miss him.
:
: Regards,
:
: Bing Bao
: Microsoft Windows Server MVP

"Ken Schaefer" <kenREMOVE@THISadOpenStatic.com> wrote:

>The icon can tell you the % battery remaining, but how can it tell you how
>many minutes you have left? How many minutes you have left depends on a lot
>of factors. For example, if you start watching a DVD, the battery is going
>to diminish much faster than if you do nothing at all (simply because
>keeping the DVD spinning requires energy, and the DVD decryption process is
>CPU intensive, and the video card needs to do some work drawing the images).
>
>So, how many minutes you have left is at best, an educated guess, and at
>worst completely inaccurate. You best bet is to sample the % left every
>10-15 minutes, and that'll give you an idea of how quickly you're
>diminishing the battery capacity.

These battery life indicators are never accurate; they can't be
because the battery chemistry simply isn't up to that.

What I would like is a version of the existing battery meter that has
a "stay on top" feature and is reasonably large. One can get those for
PDAs, though most of them come with a huge number of unwanted
features...


Peter.
--
Return address is invalid to help stop junk mail.
E-mail replies to peter1124@peter2000XY.co.uk but remove the X and the Y.

>>The icon can tell you the % battery remaining, but how can it tell you how
>>many minutes you have left? How many minutes you have left depends on a lot

it can be estimated, my Acer TM350 running W2K3 can display remaining
batter time. i have been used to this. now, i am going to use my new
tablet PC as the main box, but it only displays the percentage in the
popup tips by moving the mouse over the battery icon.

well, this is what i have googled out:

----------
5. Why does the program show the remaing battery charge, but not the
remaing time when running from battery?

The display of the remaining battery time depends on the BIOS of the
particular system. The program cannot display the remaining time if the
system manufacturer didn't implement the necessary BIOS function that
calculates the time.

http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/faq.html#5
----------

> These battery life indicators are never accurate; they can't be
> because the battery chemistry simply isn't up to that.

yes, agree. but it is still helpful. it at least tells you how the
battery can last according to current load and usage, of course, it is
just for reference.

regards,
bbao

Good question to ask Acer folks. As you point out elsewhere, I believe it
is a BIOS-controlled issue so the manufacturer would need to change it
there.
--
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/nichol.mspx
In memory of a true friend, Windows MVP Alex Nichol

Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"bbao" <bbao@programmer.net> wrote in message
news:%23v6umwTKFHA.1392@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
> Thanks Chris. I am sorry that I forgot to mention that I have already
> enabled "always show icon on the taskbar", what I meant is when I move
> mouse pointer on the battery icon while the laptop is on battery, XP tells
> me the remaining battery in percentage, not the remaining battery time
> (e.g 30 minutes left) that I expect. Any idea on how get rid of it?
>
> Moreover, I was very sad when I learned the news of Mr. Alex Nichol from
> your signature in your reply. I knew him through reading the very
> informative technical articles of him, I knew he was a MVP, but never
> thought he was a 70-year-old MVP. I really appreciate what he shared and
> contributed for us. We miss him.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bing Bao
> Microsoft Windows Server MVP