sanfrandave
New Member
My Surface Book is three years old, and still about the most powerful and capable machine I see wherever I go, so the fact that it started to get terrible battery service was a huge bummer. It started in the Summer of '19, but probably had been creeping into the scene for a while. Going back to the days when the machine was new, I would routinely get 16 hours of battery life, doing anything other than movie/video editing. When it got down to 5 hours, I was really alarmed, and actually went to the service center for a consultation. When they told me that the battery replacement was almost as expensive as a new computer, I thanked them and returned home. Being backed-off didn't stop me entirely, and between actual work, and real play, I researched the problem, again and again, following this thread and that, trying a bit of each, until EUREKA! The solution was a bit complex, but not disastrous, and I want it shared with all you folks, so that we can return to the Joy of Surfacing!
Please understand that the problem is NOT (not very often) the batteries themselves, but the power management, and some buggy software. What I did follows, and it got my SB back to 26 hours of up-time per charge, use, sleep, use, sleep, etc.
First, I disabled hibernation. You can find out all about that here hibernation enable disable . It only takes two to ten minutes, and is a necessary first step.
Second, I got rid of Windows Hello. I know, another whizzy techno function down the drain. Why does it work so well on the Android phones, but is a bad thing on Windows? I'm bummed, but not put off the scent. It seems that there is a bug in the camera software, causing it to stay on and waste power, not to mention be a security breach. The Hello seems to cause this, and it does not appear to be a problem with regular camera operation. Go to Sign In Options (Contana can find it, or you can go through Settings -> Accounts). REMOVE the Windows Hello option, which will disable your PIN, but you might have as much fun with the picture + gestures option as I am having, and forget all about what you no longer can use.
Third, go to Microsoft Surface Book firmware and download the right msi for you. How do you know which one it is? I had to access the page a couple or three times, until an automatic download started. It was SurfaceBook_Win10_18362_19.101.14022.0.msi, for my SB1. After storing that in a safe place, I started it going and caught a meal. When I returned to my machine, it was waiting at the log-in screen after a restart.
I have to say, this simple process has absolutely restored my battery life to that all-day capacity it had when it was new. I am so relieved, that I wanted to share this news with all of you, and wish you all well in taking care of your SurfaceBook!
Please understand that the problem is NOT (not very often) the batteries themselves, but the power management, and some buggy software. What I did follows, and it got my SB back to 26 hours of up-time per charge, use, sleep, use, sleep, etc.
First, I disabled hibernation. You can find out all about that here hibernation enable disable . It only takes two to ten minutes, and is a necessary first step.
Second, I got rid of Windows Hello. I know, another whizzy techno function down the drain. Why does it work so well on the Android phones, but is a bad thing on Windows? I'm bummed, but not put off the scent. It seems that there is a bug in the camera software, causing it to stay on and waste power, not to mention be a security breach. The Hello seems to cause this, and it does not appear to be a problem with regular camera operation. Go to Sign In Options (Contana can find it, or you can go through Settings -> Accounts). REMOVE the Windows Hello option, which will disable your PIN, but you might have as much fun with the picture + gestures option as I am having, and forget all about what you no longer can use.
Third, go to Microsoft Surface Book firmware and download the right msi for you. How do you know which one it is? I had to access the page a couple or three times, until an automatic download started. It was SurfaceBook_Win10_18362_19.101.14022.0.msi, for my SB1. After storing that in a safe place, I started it going and caught a meal. When I returned to my machine, it was waiting at the log-in screen after a restart.
I have to say, this simple process has absolutely restored my battery life to that all-day capacity it had when it was new. I am so relieved, that I wanted to share this news with all of you, and wish you all well in taking care of your SurfaceBook!
