When working on the go using your notebook or laptop PC, battery power is of the essence. How long you can work depends entirely on the charge of your battery unless plugged into a wall outlet. Generally notebook battery life lasts around three to four hours depending on varying conditions, but it's still important to keep tabs on your charge so you know when to save data and power down to avoid using work. Checking your notebook's charge is easy and can be done right from your PC's desktop.

Power on your notebook PC.

Locate the notification area of the taskbar. This is found opposite of the Start button in all versions of Microsoft Windows.

Find the icon that looks like a small battery and click it. This icon is typically animated, showing a rough display of how much charge remains on the battery. It will have a small electrical plug if a wall adapter is connected and powering the PC.

Look for the charge of your battery, typically represented in a percentage out of one-hundred. Your computer also estimates how much time the charge will give you in hours in minutes. Remember that this is only an estimate and varies depending on your power settings. Power settings can be adjusted through the Control Panel or by right-clicking the battery icon and choosing "Power Options".