Is your battery powering your Windows XP laptop requiring a recharge almost constantly? Here are some things you can do to cause Windows XP to use less power:

1. First, check your battery to make sure it is completely holding its charge. This normally can be done by first completely charging your battery, turning your computer completely off, unhooking the battery, then performing a test on the battery by pressing a button or looking at a small display as per your computer manufacturer's instructions.

2. Stay offline when necessary. Network communications may put a drain on battery power.

3. Unhook USB devices whenever not in use - they can zap power.

4. Disable all background processes that you don't need, such as the clock or a background disk defragmenter. DO NOT disable firewalls or antivirus software as removing these programs can cause a security risk!

5. Change the screensaver to the "Blank Screen" screensaver. There's no need wasting power displaying fireworks or marquee text when your computer isn't doing anything important.

6. Though you shouldn't disable your antivirus software, don't schedule complete system scans until your computer is plugged in. Same for spyware scans.

7. Most importantly, when your computer is not in use, either shut it down, put it in standby, or hibernate it.

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