If you have a laptop or netbook running on Windows operating system, then you know how the battery icon appears at the lower-right corner of your screen when you are running your PC on battery. This icon changes to AC plug when you are running on AC power from a socket outlet. It also shows you the percentage of charge and number of minutes remaining in battery. But if you want more information about the status of your battery then you can use the free BatteryBar software from Osiris. BatteryBar places a percentage bar in the notification area of Windows which changes color to indicate whether the battery is fully charges, semi-charged or is nearly completely discharged.
BatteryBar is designed by the Osiris software. It is a lightweight battery meter that shows the battery status in the taskbar. It works with Windows XP, Vista and 7. It supports both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. To use this software, you must have a battery installed on your computer. BatteryBar constantly monitors the status of your battery as you use your laptop. As it monitors your battery, it keeps historical data on your battery and provide you with a very accurate estimate of how much time is remaining on your battery.
You can download it from the Osiris software website. The download is available in form of an installer. The download size is around 1.5 megabytes. After the installation it places a percentage bar in your Windows’ notification area. When you have connected your computer to an AC outlet and the battery is charging, the percentage bar is shown in blue to indicate charging, and the estimated time to full charge is shown. The bar turns black and shows On A/C when fully charged.
When you are running on battery and have disconnected from the AC outlet, the BatteryBar bar in the notification area shows the percentage bar in green, yellow, or red, depending on how much battery power is remaining. BatteryBar shows the the bar in green if the charge in battery is above 40%, in yellow if charge is between 25% and 40%, or in red if the charge has dropped to less than 25%. The bar displays the time left on your battery in Hours:Minutes.
In addition, if you hover your mouse over the BatteryBar percentage bar in the notification area then you will be able to see much more information, including total battery capacity, discharge rate, battery wear, and how much total capacity your batter has in terms of time per full charge. The battery wear is an indicator of how much life your battery has remaining. If the battery wear percentage is too high, then you should buy a new compatible battery.
BatteryBar is a nice way to monitor the status of your computer battery. It can tell you if the charge in your battery is dropping down too low. This way you can quickly shutdown your computer to save the battery for later use, especially when you are outdoors. It can also tell you the battery wear of your battery so that you can install a new battery. You can download it from http://osirisdevelopment.com/.