Windows - How to Extend the Battery Usage of your Laptop

Identifying the components that consume power

Electronic and mechanical components consume energy (electricity). This include most of the hardware:
Harddisk
DVD reader
Screen
Motherboard and the processor


You should also keep in mind that resource intensive programs tends to rapidly drop the battery life of your laptop.
E.g: Running a 3D game requires more CPU, Graphics and Memory resources that running a simple text editor.

How to reduce power consumption

Screen brightness can be adjusted.
Adjust the Power options of Windows
Instead of shutting down your laptop when not in use,simply put it to sleep or enable the Hibernate mode.


Disconnect any unnecessary peripherals (mouse, external hard drive,...)
Defragment your hard drive regularly (unless you are using a SSD). Less the hard disk is fragmented.
Close any unnecessary programs running in the background.
Keep the temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it is properly cooled down.



Disable unnecessary features

It is important to disable unnecessary programs and services.
Disable unnecessary services, especially the Indexing Service. This service require lots of disk access and CPU resources.
Reduce the number of programs launched at startup.
Change the theme of Windows:Use the standard/basic theme.
Disable visual effects (animations, transition effects). 3D effects and transparency requires more computing resources.
Disable ClearType.
Mute the sound of your laptop (when audio is not required).
Avoid using animated screensavers.
Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth when not in use.