# Why does the IT department require (working from home) laptops to be permanently charged?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 30, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650 "2020-03-30T08:30:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/1 "2020-03-30T08:30:58Z")
I’m referring to the Lenovo laptops a specific financial institution has allotted its employees so that they can work from home. An internal memo insists that the laptops should be charged as soon as their batteries have reached 40% or, better yet, they should be constantly plugged in.
Is this normal procedure? Does anyone know why they cannot be used/charged like regular laptops?
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### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/2 "2020-03-30T08:38:49Z")
Laptop battery power and time can drop suddenly and greatly depending on application. You see it yourself as the lap top grows older.
This is done to ensure that the battery does not suddenly fail midway through an important presentation.
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### Author:  [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/3 "2020-03-30T10:06:49Z")
> [@AK84](#):
>
> This is done to ensure that the battery does not suddenly fail midway through an important presentation.
Oh, I see.
I was confused because the specific laptop I was talking about is brand new. The rest of them may not be as new as this one though, so as a precaution all the computers should be charged at all times to withstand any applications. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/4 "2020-03-30T11:58:41Z")
I think IT wants to be sure that they can push out security updates to all laptops, with or without user approval. In some cases, the update process does part of its processing outside the OS, with the normal power management tools inoperative, so the CPU and cooling system can end up running at full speed for several minutes. Having an update fail half-way for lack of charge, especially a firmware update, is a recipe for complications.
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/5 "2020-03-30T13:07:27Z")
> [@Heracles](#):
>
> I think IT wants to be sure that they can push out security updates to all laptops, with or without user approval. In some cases, the update process does part of its processing outside the OS, with the normal power management tools inoperative, so the CPU and cooling system can end up running at full speed for several minutes. Having an update fail half-way for lack of charge, especially a firmware update, is a recipe for complications.
This is probably the #1 answer… also, the more you deep-cycle the battery, the quicker it degrades.
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### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/6 "2020-03-30T13:24:26Z")
Security patches and updates are usually pushed out after hours or overnight, and in a lot of cases they won’t run when on battery power or if the charge is below a certain percent. That said, for such a system to be effective, you generally also need to institute a policy of logging off and not sleeping/hibernating the computer either. Those updates obviously can’t run if the computer isn’t up and running (waking it remotely over wifi is unreliable at best), and allowing forced restarts on logged-in accounts with potentially unsaved work leads to pissed off bosses.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/7 "2020-03-30T15:22:30Z")
I’m guessing it’s just because they don’t want the batteries to wear out, because the laptops belong to them, after all, and so they looked up the best battery management procedures for that type of battery and told everyone to use them.
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### Author:  [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/8 "2020-03-30T15:49:28Z")
There’s no particular reason not to have them always plugged in when there’s a power outlet handy. I have my laptop plugged in 100% of the time because I only use it around the house.
My Lenovo laptop reduces performance when operating on battery power to conserve energy. Perhaps IT doesn’t want to be troubleshooting “my laptop suddenly runs slow” complaints.
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### Author:  [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/9 "2020-03-31T01:03:14Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#):
>
> There’s no particular reason not to have them always plugged in when there’s a power outlet handy. I have my laptop plugged in 100% of the time because I only use it around the house.
If you care about your battery’s longevity, you wouldn’t leave the laptop plugged in all the time because the constant stress from high voltage (keeping it at 100%) will degrade battery life.
If you’re keeping it on the mains all the time, take out the battery if possible. Or, if the laptop has a battery management software, set its maximum charge to 80%.
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/10 "2020-03-31T01:13:57Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#):
>
> I’m referring to the Lenovo laptops a specific financial institution has allotted its employees so that they can work from home. An internal memo insists that the laptops should be charged as soon as their batteries have reached 40% or, better yet, they should be constantly plugged in.
>
> Is this normal procedure? Does anyone know why they cannot be used/charged like regular laptops?
That is how you use/charge a regular laptop. (Unless you put it in battery-life extending mode, available on some laptops, which does power down at 60 or 70%). Most normal laptop users plug in at every opportunity. Plug in, sit down. When you can’t plug in, you don’t, and when you can, you do.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-it-department-require-working-from-home-laptops-to-be-permanently-charged/850650/11 "2020-03-31T02:05:31Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#):
>
> If you care about your battery’s longevity, you wouldn’t leave the laptop plugged in all the time because the constant stress from high voltage (keeping it at 100%) will degrade battery life.
>
> If you’re keeping it on the mains all the time, take out the battery if possible. Or, if the laptop has a battery management software, set its maximum charge to 80%.
Pretty sure most laptops in use now a days has battery management software