Windows Battery Drain Issue -- SB2

elliott35 · November 1, 2018

Any help appreciated!

I have a 15 inch Surface Book 2 i7 w/ GTX 1060, 16Gb Ram, and 500Gb SSD.

Recently I updated windows (to what I thought was 1809 -- can they roll back?) and noticed some severe battery drain and heat issues. I just checked the Windows version and its running 1803 #17134. I'm not sure exactly what update caused this issue and im having a hard time finding info on it given the sea of complaints out there surrounding this machine.

Previously I could go days without plugging in to the charger and now im struggling to get hours out of the battery... Battery life was one of the primary reasons why i got this machine, this bug is a real bummer.

Anyone have a similar issue? I suspect its not limited to the SB2. Is there a Fix?

Thanks for any help/info.

NelizMastr · November 1, 2018

Start by monitoring your CPU (and possibly GPU) usage in task manager. Any specific processes that are putting a significant load on either or both? If so, find out what it is and whether you can disable it.

elliott35 · November 2, 2018

On 11/1/2018 at 11:37 AM, NelizMastr said:

Start by monitoring your CPU (and possibly GPU) usage in task manager. Any specific processes that are putting a significant load on either or both? If so, find out what it is and whether you can disable it.

There isn't anything that stands out to me as being high usage. I remember reading somewhere that as of the last windows update there is a bug where an audio driver uses resources and isn't being correctly reported within the task manager.

I am having trouble digging up more info on that specific bug because there are so many similar bugs dating back to 2015... And on top of that -- the file deletion bug which overshadows everything in my searches regarding the recent update.

GoodBytes · November 5, 2018

Maybe your using your Nvidia GPU all the time, and not the Intel integrated graphics.

Check Nvidia control panel settings, and check: Settings > Display > Graphics Settings

Also make sure that the system power Scheme is on Balance, and that the power option slider is on the middle or lower side (the slider when you click on the power icon next to the system clock).

You can also run a system diagnostic:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/976034/guided-help-get-a-detailed-power-efficiency-diagnostics-report-for-you