Managing Battery Health Manager (BHM) Settings

Introduction

Today, many people work remotely and use notebooks like desktop computers. Because of this, it is important to manage batteries well to make them last longer and keep users working without problems.

Keeping a battery always charged and using the wrong battery settings can cause hardware problems and make the battery wear out faster.

This article will guide you through how to:

• Identify devices in your fleet with BIOS versions that do not meet the minimum required version for BHM.

• Identify BIOS configurations with incorrect BHM settings according to the HP Service Advisory.

• Deploy scripts to set the proper BHM settings across the fleet based on HP recommendations.

• Monitor BHM setting changes using an Excel report extracted from HP TechPulse.

• Monitor BHM setting changes using a dashboard widget.

Target Audience

• Primary audience:

  • IT administrators and support personnel who set up and manage the platform (All roles).

  • HP Partners who use the platform to manage their customers.

  • Internal and external developers who integrate with the platform.

• Secondary audience: Decision-makers, such as Product Managers, Sales team, and C-suite executives.

Prerequisites

• Access to an HP Workforce Experience Platform (or Proactive Endpoint Management plan).

• HP Windows 10 Notebook devices with BIOS versions supporting BHM. Refer to the article - Identifying Devices that Require BIOS Updates.

• Downloaded remediation PowerShell scripts to set BHM settings.
  An Endpoint Management tool to deploy PowerShell scripts.

• Familiarity with HP Workforce Experience Platform and Excel.

HP Battery Health Manager Recommendation

In 2020, HP introduced a BIOS-level setting called HP Battery Health Manager (BHM) to help mitigate the exposure of notebook batteries to factors that accelerate degradation and swelling over time.

HP recommends updating your BIOS to the latest version that supports HP BHM and configuring BHM to one of the two options below, based on the device usage environment and the battery’s manufacturing date:

• Set devices with batteries manufactured in 2020 and later to Let HP manage my battery charging.

• Set devices with batteries manufactured before 2020 to Maximize my battery health.

Additional Recommendation:

When using the Maximize my battery health setting:

• End-users should unplug the device for up to 2 hours to discharge the battery to around 75%, after which they can leave it plugged in.

• The Windows battery icon will show 80% by design. Inform end-users of this expected behavior to prevent confusion.

Identifying Devices that Require BIOS Updates

To identify devices requiring updates:

1. Log in to HP Workforce Experience Platform. The Home page is displayed.

2. From the left menu, click Analytics. The Dashboard is displayed.

3. Select the New Dashboard. A new page Select Widgets is displayed.

4. Select PC Hardware widget. The available reports are displayed.

   1. Category: Hardware

   2. Subcategory: Battery Status and Risk Factor

   3. Option: Details

   4. Default File Type: XLSX

5. Click Save.

6. Hover over the report and click Run Report.

7. In the History tab, monitor progress.

8. When the report status shows Done, click the ellipses (…) and select Download.

9. Open the report and select the Devices by BHM tab to review:

   1. Devices at the appropriate BIOS level.

   2. Devices requiring BIOS updates.

For devices marked BIOS Update Needed, update to the minimum BIOS version supporting HP BHM.

Identifying Devices Requiring BHM Settings Update

Note: Ensure devices have the recommended BIOS version supporting BHM.

For devices with BIOS up to date, break down the data further by BHM setting:

• Devices manufactured in or after 2020: Let HP manage my battery charging.

• Devices manufactured before 2020: Maximize my battery health.

To identify devices requiring BHP Settings Update:

1. In the Excel report, go to the Details tab.

2. Create a new column titled Battery Manufacture Year:

   1. Right-click the column next to Battery Serial Number and select Insert.

      1. In row 1, type: Battery Manufacture Year.

      2. In row 2, enter the formula to extract the year: =MID(<Battery Serial Number Cell>,7,4). For example, =MID(G2,7,4)

3. Create two pivot tables to count devices:

   1. One for batteries manufactured in or after 2020.

   2. One for batteries manufactured before 2020.

4. To create the pivot tables:

   1. With the cursor in cell A1, select Insert > PivotTable.

   2. Confirm the Table/Range includes all data.

   3. Check Add this data to the Data Model and click OK.  

   4. In the new worksheet, add fields:

      1. Filters: Battery Manufacture Year

      2. Rows: BHM, BHM Settings

      3. Values: Serial Number (auto-count)

   5. Filter one pivot table for 2020 and later, and the other for earlier years.  

PowerShell Script

Download the remediation script:
https://ftp.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/HP_DaaS/DeviceManagementScripts/HP-ConfigureBHMSettings.zip

Script Details:

The script will only run on HP manufactured devices and excludes virtual machines. You must run the script with Admin privileges.

To update settings:

• Download the HP Client Management Script Library installer from https://www.hp.com/us-en/ads/clientmanagement/download.html

  • Ensure .ps1 and .exe files are in the same folder.

• Logs output to:  C:\ProgramData\HP\CMSL\<computername>_BHM.log

• Devices with batteries manufactured >= 2020, the setting is updated to Let HP manage my battery charging.

• Devices with battery manufactured <= 2019, the setting is updated to Maximize my battery health.

  • A registry key is created: KLM:\SOFTWARE\HP\HPDeviceManagement\CMSL\BHM. This is used to record BHM settings configured by the script.

• The settings take effect immediately, without requiring a reboot.

Deploying the Script

Use your Endpoint Management tool, such as Altiris, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, or VMware Workspace ONE, to deploy the script. This helps to:

• Create a device group with the recommended BIOS version.

• Target the script to that group.

• The script runs silently in production.

You can re-run the script periodically to enforce settings.

Monitoring BHM Settings Using Excel Reports

To verify deployment:

1. After script deployment, log back into WXP.

2. Regenerate the Battery Status and Risk Factor report.

   1. These reports will show the increasing number of devices with correct BHM settings over time.

3. Recreate the pivot tables to confirm updated settings.

In this example, you will see the changes for batteries manufactured before 2020 after one week of script deployment.

The following charts clearly show the increase in properly set BHM settings on targeted devices across the customer fleet. Over time, these trends will continue to update and enforce the HP recommended BHM settings to manage battery health.

Monitoring BHM Settings Using a Dashboard Widget

You can also monitor BHM status via a dashboard widget:

1. After deploying the script, log in to HP WXP. The Home page is displayed.

2. From the left menu of WXP, click Analytics. The Dashboard is displayed.  

3. On the Analytics Dashboard, click Add Widget.

4. Configure the widget:

   1. Category: Hardware

   2. Subcategory: Battery Status and Risk Factor

   3. Option: Details

   4. Visualization: Devices By BIOS Up To Date

5. Enter a descriptive widget name.

The widget will display on your dashboard for easy tracking.