Auto Parts: battery recharge, battery recharge, jump start

Question
drained battery by leaving lights on how long should car then run to sufficiently recharge battery after a jump start?

Answer
    If the battery is really drained driving the car might not be enough to recharge it.  I would drive the car (not just let it sit and idle) for at least a half hour.  Then let it sit overnight and see if it will crank over in the morning.  If it does you're probably OK, although you will have shortened the life of the battery.  If it doesn't crank the next day don't even try anything else, buy a new battery.  Modern batteries cram a lot of crank into a small space and they sacrifice durability to do so.  Fortunately they are still relatively cheap (compare the increase in price over the last twenty years of batteries and Big Macs and you will be pleasantly surprised), so buying a new one isn't a huge sacrifice.  Heck, you may have been on the verge of needing a new one anyway.