I have been using the new ThinkPad Yoga for couple of months now, and it has become my main travel companion during that time. During my those last few trips, i have been carrying my huge powerbank that i use to charge up my iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices that i carry with me on the trips.
However, due to the increased restrictions by international airlines regarding the size of mobile powerbank battery you can carry in your luggage, i had to abandon couple of large mobile power bank at the airline check-in to make it on board. Needless to say i was very unhappy at the situation, and the small mobile power bank that i am forced to use, which has a power capacity that is only slightly larger than my iPhone.
But recently i discovered a really useful feature on my ThinkPad Yoga, which is the ability to use it as a mobile Power Bank even when the laptop is off. In the old day, the only way i can use my ThinkPad to charge devices through its USB port is to leave the laptop either on or in sleeping mode. This usually drains the laptop battery really fast, and sometimes can cause the laptop to overheat during the summer.
To enable your ThinkPad Yoga Yoga, as a mobile powerbank, you have to do the following.
1. Reboot the laptop from Windows, so it is doing a full shutdown and not a hybrid shutdown in Windows 8. You can do a full shutdown and restart operation, by holding the SHIFT key down and press the RESTART option in the charms bar.
Alternatively, type the following the Command Line;
Shutdown.exe /r /o
2. Once the laptop is doing a full reboot, press the ENTER key when you see the prompt at the initial bootup, which asks you to Press ENTER to interrupt the booting procedure.
When you have done this correctly, a blue dialogue box should appear.
3. Then select the BIOS menu option by pressing F1.
4. Go into CONFIG and then USB
5. **In the USB menu, you will see the option for ALWAYS ON USB - CHARGE ON BATTERY. Make sure you have it **ENABLED.
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6. Press F10 to Save the settings and exit.
7. Now your laptop can charge mobile devices like a mobile power bank.