Where’s my battery meter gone? Windows 7

Windows 7 laptop and the battery meter that has always been in the bottom right of the taskbar has disappeared.

Tried right clicking and looking for settings, tried taskbar settings etc. Can’t see it anywhere?

Any suggestions?

Upgrade to Win10.

Power options, it should be buried in there.

Presumably it’s not connected to the Internet so you can rule that out.

Windows 7 hasn’t had security updates for nearly 5 years so somebody has probably hacked in and stolen it 🙂

Seriously, Win7 is a hacker’s wet dream if you are still using it and it is connected to the internet. Please, PLEASE either upgrade to Win10 or buy a new laptop that has Win11 on it.

Only use it for general browsing, no banking etc.

I can’t upgrade, hardware doesn’t comply.

I’m surprised you can still get an up to date browser for it. Out of date browsers are just as much of a threat as an OS without security updates.

If it can run Win7, it should be able to run Win10, but not Win11. Win10 only has about 1 year of support left, after that, you’ll have to pay for updates. Win8 was released in 2012, I think. The machine is at least 12 years old. That’s a pretty good run, time to replace it.

Upgrade to Win10.

… is the right answer.

Only use it for general browsing, no banking etc.

Hack machine, access email, “I forgot my password” on your bank account… Anything with a login stored, Amazon shopping, iTunes? Pop-up fake login boxes, would you be able to tell? Or, once in pivot across your network to something more important. Etc etc.

I can’t upgrade, hardware doesn’t comply.

Nonsense. W11 sure, but W10 will run just fine. I have it working (OK, slowly) on a Vista-era laptop from 2008.

The machine is at least 12 years old. That’s a pretty good run, time to replace it.

I have a Thinkpad T420 here from 2011. It’s as capable for day-to-day usage as anything newer.

Yes, but Win10 security updates will end in about a year. Apparently, the free update to Win10 has been ended so the OP would need to buy a Win10 licence. That will work for 1 year. After that security updates will only be available if you pay for them, with the cost rising each year. The machine might still work fine (I have a 2011 MacBook that runs fine with Win10), but it’s going to cost money to keep it running and it won’t be economical beyond two years. Is it really worth throwing money at something that old?