Battery drain when laptop switched off

[sunking101]

Any ideas what could be causing my VAIO battery to drain whilst the laptop is switched off? Something is causing a fairly large drain, I lose about 20% overnight and the whole thing is dead in a week. It isn't the battery, when I remove it from the laptop it doesn't drain. Laptop out of warranty (just) - any ideas???
Could it be the wifi?

[Blencogo]

It shouldn't drain the battery unless something gets turned on!

Are you sure the Vaio is completely switched off and not set to Standby or Hibernate. The default in Vista is Sleep which is just a standby state useful if you want to power down for a few hours only - change this to Shut Down.

Check in Device Manager that both your LAN and WLAN cannot wake the Vaio. Look in Power Management and uncheck the box "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby".

Check in the BIOS that 'Wake on Lan' is not enabled.

[sunking101]

It shouldn't drain the battery unless something gets turned on!

Are you sure the Vaio is completely switched off and not set to Standby or Hibernate. The default in Vista is Sleep which is just a standby state useful if you want to power down for a few hours only - change this to Shut Down.

Check in Device Manager that both your LAN and WLAN cannot wake the Vaio.  Look in Power Management and uncheck the box "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby".

Check in the BIOS that 'Wake on Lan' is not enabled.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply and hopefully there is something to work on there. Can you give me some pointers on where to find the stuff you're on about though? I've got XP Pro and when I open Device Manager there is just a big list. I can't see LAN or WLAN on this list, only things like USB ports and display etc. Also, in Power Management, I cannot find this box to untick "Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby" - any pointers as to where this is? In the BIOS there doesn't appear to be anything. Bluetooth seems to be hidden! How would these things affect my problem though, when they mention standby? My problem is when the laptop is shut down. Thanks in advance!

[sunking101]

Has anyone got any ideas on this? It's driving me nuts! I've got a laptop which drains batteries!

[Blencogo]

Hi sunking101,

Apologies for not replying sooner.

You are right, if your Vaio is completely turned off it is only the BIOS 'Wake on LAN' that could activate it and I suspect Sony have disabled this facility anyway.

It is beginning to sound more like a short or a power leak within the circuitry. I think I would have a work with Vaio-Link Support to see if they have heard anything similar before.

[sunking101]

Hi sunking101,

Apologies for not replying sooner.

You are right, if your Vaio is completely turned off it is only the BIOS 'Wake on LAN' that could activate it and I suspect Sony have disabled this facility anyway.

It is beginning to sound more like a short or a power leak within the circuitry.  I think I would have a work with Vaio-Link Support to see if they have heard anything similar before.

 

Hi, how do I get hold of Vaio-Link Support?

[Blencogo]

Try Here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/contacts/contacts.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&tp=vaio&cm=phone&cc=UK

[sunking101]

Try Here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/contacts/contacts.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&tp=vaio&cm=phone&cc=UK

 

Thanks, I will try them. Just one last question, when I switch the laptop on my bluetooth LED lights up immediately until XP has fully booted, then XP seems to turn it off (I have it switched off) - I'm just wondering if there is some way that bluetooth is stsying on when my laptop is powered down? The WLAN LED doesn't come on until XP boots so this has got me wondering. Also, as I use wifi every time I'm on my pc I never turn off the wifi switch on the front, this wouldn't have anything to do with it would it? Turning this switch on and off every time I use the laptop would put a lot of wear on the switch!

[Blencogo]

My AR31S does exactly the same. The Wireless Switching Utility only runs as a Scheduled Task during the OS loading and by default both are switched on.

I doubt if this is the problem. Have a word with Sony - worst case is a dodgy main board!

[sunking101]

My AR31S does exactly the same.  The Wireless Switching Utility only runs as a Scheduled Task during the OS loading and by default both are switched on.

I doubt if this is the problem.  Have a word with Sony - worst case is a dodgy main board!

 

Sony support are USELESS. I've read it before but pity the fool whose Sony product develops a fault! I've emailed them, I've rung them but each time I get asked for my serial number and the date I bought the laptop. I can't remember the exact date so I approximate each time (the right month, just the day is wrong) and each time they say that my registration details are incorrect and that support will email me to sort it out...but they never do! I can't get through to an actual human being, it's all automated - even on the phone. I'd expect this of some third-rate electronics company but Sony? This is disgraceful! I have a problem and I want it sorting out. They're throwing bureaucratic brick walls my way and don't allow me any way of traversing them! Any advice thankfully received.