Solved! Laptop turns off suddenly when there's plenty of battery life left

[SolidF]

So i've been searching article after article for an solution to this but still a no go. My Toshiba Portege R930 turns off suddenly when it's anywhere around 60-70% charged when operating on just the battery and the mains is disconnected. All the posts i've read suggest faulty batteries, to which the OP's mostly reply that they've change the battery and still have the same problem, like myself. I bought a brand new battery and when the laptop is unplugged from the mains and left to battery usage alone, it still turns off at 3 quarters full. The battery also looks like it drains a lot faster than it used to. I noticed these changes, the sudden power off included, after the windows update 1909 a few months ago... it could have possibly happened before that, but to the best of my memory it was after the update. When I turn the laptop back on after it has shut down automatically, it'll last a few seconds before turning off again, however, if the mains is plugged in, it will stay on. Once charged again at 100%, on battery alone the laptop will operate until it goes to half-3 quarters full again. I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem, or at least found a solution for it? It was too late to roll back to a previous version of windows, so instead I "reset this pc". Unfortunately, as soon as it booted back up after the reset, it was right back at 1909 as it decided to update windows before I could even use it So that was a waste of time. Does anyone have any knowledge of what specific files in the latest windows update that could be causing this?

 

[webworkings]

You could try going into "System Restore" and choosing a restore point prior to this problem and see if that resolves it.

And the answers you see saying it is a battery is actually usually the problem. Older batteries say they hold a certain % of a charge, but give false readings. Additionally if the new battery you bought was aftermarket rather than OEM it could also give you the same problem.

You can also try the following...

1. Go to "Control Panel" and then "Power Options".
2. Click on "Change plan settings", next to the plan you are using.
3. Now click "Change advanced power settings".
4. Check through all related settings to see if anything in the system was change to use battery power even while on the charger.

 

[lukej21]

I have a very similar problem which recently started on my 1 and a half year old laptop. Suddenly shuts down when battery reaches about 60%., but no shut downs when plugged in.

An additional thing in my case is that the battery basically stops charging/starts charging extremely slowly at about 85-90%. I'm not sure if this makes it more or less likely to be a battery issue. Obviously want to be sure it is indeed a battery issue before investing in a new battery.

 

[webworkings]

For "lukej21" yours sounds more like it is just in need of a new battery. Just make sure you get an OEM one and not aftermarket.

 

[lukej21]

For "lukej21" yours sounds more like it is just in need of a new battery. Just make sure you get an OEM one and not aftermarket.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Do batteries often fail so suddenly like this? I am aware they wear out gradually over time, but I could still run off battery for at least 4 hours a week ago. Battery monitoring tools suggest 15-20% loss of capacity, so nothing drastic there. Seems to have been a rather sudden change for it now to be shutting off in under an hour?

 

[webworkings]

It happens. Depending on the age of the battery, it isn't shocking no.

 

[SolidF]

Hey guys thanks for your replies.

Yeh I just found it to be a bit too coincidental for it to happen after a certain update. I uninstalled the ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery and it seemed to stay on past what would initially be 60% (since you can't actually see the percentage anymore when you uninstall it), but when i re-installed it it shut right off again at around 60. Going to try this again today to confirm it. The new battery i bought as you mentioned wasn't an OEM battery, but again its odd that it would shut off and at around the same percentage, 70 on the new one. I'll get back to you on this test...

 

[lukej21]

Hey guys thanks for your replies.

Yeh I just found it to be a bit too coincidental for it to happen after a certain update. I uninstalled the ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery and it seemed to stay on past what would initially be 60% (since you can't actually see the percentage anymore when you uninstall it), but when i re-installed it it shut right off again at around 60. Going to try this again today to confirm it. The new battery i bought as you mentioned wasn't an OEM battery, but again its odd that it would shut off and at around the same percentage, 70 on the new one. I'll get back to you on this test...

Interesting, I'll be intrigued to see whether the ACPI driver does indeed seem to make a difference.

 

[webworkings]

Yes, do let us know what you find.