Personally, I would only use my laptop without the battery installed IF it were connected to a UPS. A laptop being operated without a battery runs the risk of data loss and / or damage should the power fail.I'll put the battery in the fridge and look for a UPS as we do lose power during the Monsoon.Any ideas why the battery is getting so hot?Best UPS?

1) The laptop batteries charging circuit may be bad, when the batteries are fully charged the charger should automatically go into float charging mode, the charger circuit in your laptop is trying to force charging the batteries and causes the batteries to get hot.

2) I would remove the batteries if you do not plan to run the laptop on batteries, it will extend the life of the laptop batterie, the batteries in your laptop will go bad because it will always be charged and slowly discharged (when the computer is off), you can only charge and discharge the batteries so many times. I have many customers who never run the laptop on batteries mode but after two years when they tried to run on batteries, the batteries did not hold the charge.

3) When you run the laptop without batteries, it is no different than a desk top, both will lose data if power goes away. Get a UPS.

Have you discharged and re-calibrated the battery recently? I'm told it should be done on a fairly regular basis, every 30-60 days.

Took the battery out, no change.A friend suggested it was the CPU, as it's the area to the right of the touch pad.
An area about 7" x 3".He suggested cleaning the vents... I cannot see any "vents"
Maybe you never checked the bat temp before?How do you know its warmer? Is it uncomfortable on your lap?Run it on battery only - see if you get the same 3 hours - probably not any more.Normally extra battery heat indicates more power going into battery - ergo charger is working harder - might be a bad cell in the stackIt is relatively easy to replace cells, depends on if you feel you are up to it - otherwise get it checked, and/or replaced Mostly cells go out at about the same time, its a time thingy, the others are not far behind. It might also be your charger that is on the fritz and is having to work harder to maintain the battery status quo- as when you are using it.I would clean the CPU vents & heatsinks regardless - I do mine every 6 months - my CPU are all say 35/40'C.

Try looking at post number 5 at this link www.battery-replacement.orgIt might help get you started. You would think the batteries website would help, but... I don't have an Toshiba, so wouldn't want to give you info based on another manufacturer with what could be a different type of battery.

calibrating a battery is easy, start windows in fail safe mode with the battery fully charged.once on the desktop, don't touch anything and remove the power, be sure all energy saver options are not active and let the laptop turn it off itself.after that your battery will display accurate time.

The older a battery is, the greater its internal resistance will be. This internal resistance will be indicated as heat while the battery is being charged. 2 years is pretty old for a battery.Further, an old battery will have a reduced discharge rate (due to internal resistance). This basically means that it will discharge the same current (Amps) over a shorter period of time or less current over a fixed (& tested) time.

Storing "new" batteries in the fridge is not a bad idea. Just be sure that they are sealed against the ingress of moisture. store all of my "dry cells" in the fridge until I'm ready to use them. If I don't, they last about 6 months (no use...shelf life). If I store them in the fridge, I get much longer life from them (1 year as opposed to 6 months). Then again, I have no idea how long the batteries have been sitting in the shop (7-11).