Modern laptop batteries do not need babying; they need a routine. The chemistry prefers partial charge cycles to full ones, which is good news: plugging in whenever you sit down, and unplugging when you leave, is exactly what the cells like. The old advice to drain the battery flat is a relic.
Two habits matter more than any setting. First, keep the machine out of the sun and off soft surfaces — heat is what ages a battery, not use. Second, check the power settings: most laptops offer a mode that stops charging at eighty percent, which matters when the machine lives on a desk.
If the battery is already worn, one test tells the truth: after a full charge, does it survive a normal afternoon of work? If it fades by lunch, a replacement is a fair price for a machine you otherwise trust. Batteries are consumables, like tires — replacing them is maintenance, not failure.