Memory can havean effect on battery life. (fyour notebook only has a limited amowlt of memory installed (256-5l2MB in Windows XP, or 5l2MB-1 GB in Vista), it will need to make more use of the hard disk, which draws more power from the battery. Another way to reduce hard disk access is to keep the disk defragmented - Vista does this automatically, but XP users should open My Computer, right-click the hard disk and select Properties. Switch to the Tools tab and click Defragment Now. It's best to run this process only when the notebook is plugged in ..