Why You Shouldn’t Leave Your Computer Unplugged (For Too Long)

Here’s a tip that might help you prevent your computer become suddenly slow and groggy.

If you leave your computer (be it a desktop or laptop with a depleted battery) unplugged for too long it can  forget about the current time and date. Usually, there is a tiny battery inside the computer that keeps this information resident and updated however it only stores a small amount of energy – perhaps enough to last a few weeks while off the grid.

You might have found when you have powered up an old computer that hasn’t been used in a while that upon boot it complains of having the incorrect date and time (usually January 1st, 1900) and to hop into the BIOS setup to set it up again. This is exactly the situation to which I am referring which can cause one particular problem with the computer – poor performance. You may find that Windows loads slower than usual, application take a while to open and the whole experience feels rather sluggish and the boot process takes a while as the computer rediscovers all of its innards.

The problem is easily fixed though. Just head into the BIOS after powering on your computer and key in the correct time. The magic key to get into the BIOS is usually displayed (perhaps briefly) in the seconds after pushing the power button. If that is too confusing, or it just flashes past too quickly you can wait until Windows loads up and update the date and time in there as they will both do the same thing.

So if you can leave a computer plugged in but switched off that will help prevent such problems from arising in the future.