Power/ Battery issues with Win 8.1 RT

[kristalsoldier]

Some of us (especially those using the 1st Gen Surface RT machines) have been experiencing some battery-drain issues. I, for one, have also noticed that there is a little more drain of the battery than was the case when I was on 8.0.

Well, there is a discussion about this going on in the link provided below - note especially the last 4 posts on that link.

Now experiencing battery drain on Windows RT 8.1 GA - Microsoft Community

 

[jnjroach]

Interesting, we saw this on the Surface RT prior to one of the Firmware Upgrades last year, I wonder if they have re-introduced the Sound Driver Bug in 8.1.

 

[brocharlieb]

I seem to be noticing that, since the update, the battery life is not as good as it was before.

 

[compnovo]

Some of us (especially those using the 1st Gen Surface RT machines) have been experiencing some battery-drain issues. I, for one, have also noticed that there is a little more drain of the battery than was the case when I was on 8.0.

Well, there is a discussion about this going on in the link provided below - note especially the last 4 posts on that link.

Now experiencing battery drain on Windows RT 8.1 GA - Microsoft Community

I too noticed excessive battery drain. I ran powercfg /energy and came up with the same errors the others were reporting on your link. I hope MS is aware of this problem and has a fix in the works.

 

[kristalsoldier]

I too noticed excessive battery drain. I ran powercfg /energy and came up with the same errors the others were reporting on your link. I hope MS is aware of this problem and has a fix in the works.

Yeah...well, one hopes! With MS, you never know and they seem to have a penchant for issuing half-baked software. I'll take my words back though if by next Tuesday they issue the necessary patches.

 

[Jglnaz372]

I have noticed in a few updates over the past year differences in battery usage when I did not add any new programs. Seemed to happen after update Tuesday time. Would fix itself after another update. Very strange. I wonder if Outlook which is new in 8.1 could have something to do with some of it? In other platforms the email apps caused power drains because of the constant monitoring and connecting to the web. I do not have Outlook set up and my battery life seems to be about the same so far.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Well, I don't have Outlook set up either and I notice a drop in battery-life. Based on what I have been reading elsewhere, apparently one (or at least one) of the causes is the wifi. But what that exactly means and/ or implies, I don't know yet.

 

[johninsj]

If you were running 8.1 preview changes are you (like me) are getting bit by the wrong power profile being set after upgrade. See this for help:

Microsoft Surface RT and Surface 2 battery and power | Recharge Surface

Scroll down to "Surface RT only: Battery issue when updating from Windows RT 8.1 Preview"

The relevant commands you run from an admin command window are:
powercfg -setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT 19cbb8fa-5279-450e-9fac-8a3d5fedd0c1 12bbebe6-58d6-4636-95bb-3217ef867c1a 3
powercfg -setactive scheme_current

 

[jnjroach]

Good catch John....looks like it could be the fix

 

[kristalsoldier]

Thanks I made that change despite not having the 8.1 preview on. Anyways, let's see if there is an improvement. Jeff, thanks for putting this up on that Community Discussion page. Edit: With Brightness at around 45%.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Well, in one hour the battery went down from 100% to 89%. This is with wifi and BT on and the Mail App open and set to download messages as they arrive. Not good!

 

[EMINENT]

Yeah, I too am getting some weird issues. My 2 isn't going to sleep after closing the lid. I have it set to do so as well. Noticed the drain in the morning after arriving at work, I had gone from 100% to 30 min. later at 91% with zero usage.

It's also not wanting to sense my touch cover 1 from being folded back. When I bring it forward, the onscreen keeps popping up. I have to disconnect the cover and reattach it for it to work again.