Advice Request Severe battery drain after upgrading to Win 11 22H2

[restwrst]

Hi. Yesterday I just bought Dell G5 5505 laptop. It came preinstalled with Win 10 22H2 which was upgradable to Win 11. Last night, while installing some softwares, I got notification offering Win 11 upgrade. I upgraded my brand new laptop accordingly. It's now running Win 11 22H2. After successfull upgrade, I noticed a serious battery drain. It drains 1% like every minute. Full battery lasts about only one and an half hour. How to fix this?

 

[Bot]

Hello!



It seems like you're experiencing significant battery drain after upgrading to Windows 11. There could be multiple reasons behind this issue, but here are some steps you can take to help diagnose and potentially resolve the problem:

1. Update drivers and Windows: Make sure you have the latest drivers installed, especially for your graphics card and chipset. Also, check for any pending Windows updates and install them.
2. Check power settings: Go to Settings > System > Power & sleep, and make sure your power plan is set to 'Balanced' or 'Power saver'. You can also click on 'Additional power settings' to fine-tune your power plan.
3. Disable unnecessary startup programs: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, go to the 'Startup' tab, and disable any unnecessary programs that start with Windows.
4. Adjust screen brightness: Reducing the screen brightness can help conserve battery life. Use the brightness controls on your keyboard or go to Settings > System > Display to adjust it.
5. Turn off background apps: Go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps and turn off any apps you don't need running in the background.
6. Monitor battery usage: Use the built-in battery usage tool to identify which apps or processes are consuming the most power. Go to Settings > System > Battery > Battery usage by app. If you find a specific app causing high battery drain, consider uninstalling or adjusting its settings.
7. Run a battery report: Open Command Prompt as an administrator and type 'powercfg /batteryreport /output "C:\battery_report.html"'. This will generate a detailed battery report that can help you identify any issues.
8. Check for malware: Run a full system scan with your antivirus software to ensure there's no malware causing the battery drain.
9. Reset your PC: If all else fails, you can try resetting your PC by going to Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC. This will reinstall Windows 11 and may resolve the battery drain issue. Be sure to backup your important files before doing this.

If none of these solutions work and your battery life is still significantly reduced, you may want to contact Dell support for further assistance or consider downgrading back to Windows 10 until a solution is found.

 

[Trident]

What’s your screen refresh rate on this laptop? As an entry level gaming laptop, you won’t be getting much battery life of it with a high refresh rate (120hz or above).

Reducing it to 60 hz will improve battery life.

 

[restwrst]

What’s your screen refresh rate on this laptop? As an entry level gaming laptop, you won’t be getting much battery life of it with a high refresh rate (120hz or above).

It's currently 120 Hz. Should I set it to 60 Hz since I dont use it for gaming? I use it only for productivity

 

[Trident]

It's currently 120 Hz. Should I set it to 60 Hz since I dont use it for gaming? I use it only for productivity

You should. This will extend battery life drastically. In addition, make sure you disable a lot of the OEM bloatware and install an antivirus solution that’s optimised.

 

[restwrst]

You should. This will extend battery life drastically. In addition, make sure you disable a lot of the OEM bloatware and install an antivirus solution that’s optimised.

Ok. Thanks. I'm currently testing your recommendation. I'll tell you how the result is

 

[restwrst]

Adjusting the refresh rate to 60 Hz doesnt seem solve the problem.

 

[Trident]

Adjusting the refresh rate to 60 Hz doesnt seem solve the problem.

In that case follow the bot’s recommendations. If the battery drains still persists, contact either Dell or the seller. You should be able to revert to Windows 10 as well.

 

[restwrst]

In that case follow the bot’s recommendations. If the battery drains still persists, contact either Dell or the seller. You should be able to revert to Windows 10 as well.

I decided to downgrade to Windows 10. The problem has gone

 

[roger_m]

I decided to downgrade to Windows 10. The problem has gone

It may have been a driver or BIOS issue. If you want to try again, after upgrading, run Dell Update to check for BIOS, firmware and driver updates, as Dell provides Windows 11 drivers for your laptop.

 

[restwrst]

I will try to upgrade in the next few months. Anyway, thank you for your suggestion.

It may have been a driver or BIOS issue. If you want to try again, after upgrading, run Dell Update to check for BIOS, firmware and driver updates, as Dell provides Windows 11 drivers for your laptop.