how to avoid your laptop (battery) expiring

......replacement laptop in use, so, will have to literally watch what I type as can't touch type on French clavier!

I leave mine until it's almost empty of charge, although I can't use it whilst it's plugged into the mains. Fortunately, it only takes about 20 minutes to fully charge again.
The same applies to mobile phones, should only recharge when battery low.

Unbeknown to us, we inadvertently killed our laptop by using it powered up to the mains. We thought that we were doing the right thing by keeping it connected and thereby continually charging up the battery - wrong! When we took it to a local "geek" to recover the data, (which fortunately he did), he explained to us that one is supposed to use one's laptop by using it's battery power until such point as it warns that there is approximately 10per cent battery life left and then you plug it in to the mains and continue using it whilst the battery recharges - just like you would do with a mobile phone.

He also pointed out to us that if you turn your laptop over and look at the bottom then most recent laptops have the battery sealed into the case - you are no longer able to just simply replace the battery. The laptop would need to go back to the maker and that's the only way you could get it changed, hence, the importance of using the battery efficiently.

Needless to say, we are now in the process of getting a replacement laptop.................