The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits - Albert Einstein
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Windows 7 is not killing batteries
SOFTWARE MONOPOLIST Microsoft has spoken up about issues with Windows 7 that might be affecting battery performance.
In a blog post, the firm tried to explain why its latest operating system might recommend a battery change for some laptop users, describing some plausible reasons that might cause its alert.
Causing distress is a notification, new to Windows 7, attached to the battery meter icon that informs users if it thinks the battery needs replacing. Some users have suggested that it is the fault of Windows 7, or is an error caused by the operating system, but according to the firm this is not the case.
"Several press articles this past week have drawn attention to blog and forum postings by users claiming Windows 7 is warning them to 'consider replacing your battery' in systems which appeared to be operating satisfactorily before upgrading to Windows 7", wrote Steven on the Microsoft Windows engineering blog, before going into an explanation of where and when a replacement is appropriate.
He stressed that where batteries were failing it was not the fault of Windows, adding that in fact, they had been due for a replacement anyway. "To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning [about] batteries that are in fact failing and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state. In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement."
Steven writes that PC batteries degrade over time and as a result lose their ability to hold a charge, adding, "A quick check of mainstream laptops will show that batteries usually have a warranty of 12 months, which is about the length of time when statistically we expect to see noticeable degradation (meaning that you start to notice the need to charge more frequently)."
Microsoft estimates that by the time a laptop is a year old it will hold its charge for just two hours, as opposed to the five it would have provided when it was new. Windows 7 has a threshold of 60 per cent degradation, so any laptops performing at 40 per cent of its designed capacity will cause the message to flag up.
He added that internal investigation has proved that the messages were not false positives, and were not incorrectly warning about perfectly healthy batteries. µ
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I have a spanking new Dell and it's Windows 7 serial psycho operating system is saying just the same thing as stated in the article.
If MS had another grain of arrogance left in it's corporate body it would 've probably blocked and/or shut-down my laptop without any other way then to replace the battery after just 3 months of operation.
My homelaptop is +5 years old and still holds +2.5 hours of battery life, thank you.
Another sign capitalism truely is the least obvious road to a consuming hell.
So JL, it couldn't be that the battery in the dell is faulty and windows is correct then, no? Never in history has a dell shipped with a faulty battery? Given it's new did it come with win 7, so you haven't run anything else on the laptop to compare? You sir are a moron.
"My homelaptop is +5 years old and still holds +2.5 hours of battery life, thank you."
I'd say that was unusual, based on my experiences. IME, most laptop batteries seem to show noticeable degradation after a year or two. Fortunately they rarely last that long, as Sony usually posts a recall anyway ;)
I do wish manufacturers would develop a standardised laptop battery for each market sector; i.e. this is the netbook battery, this is the mainstream laptop battery etc.
My HP laptop is only 5 months old and only started having battery life problems after I installed Windows 7.
MICROSOFT STOP DODGING US AND START FIXING THE PROBLEM NOW!!!!
I hated Vista but at least my battery worked with it.
Did I mention my laptop was only 5 months old.
Yay, i hate microshaft as much as the rest, but still i had noticed this new feature, but not in windows 7 . (i'm waiting for SP1 like you should be, just in vm atm).
Ubuntu 9.04 has the same feature, except it might be slightly better, it tell you how much capacity your battery has if it is not performing right.
That's right to double check, download ubuntu desktop CD. boot off it. press Try ubuntu without installing, (the top option for those with trouble that means boot and then press enter, twice)
If your battery does have a real fault ubuntu will report it after your desktop has loaded in a nice little black box in the top right.
And i agree, batteries are consumables, that means your supposed to 'have' to replace it after a few years.
And for those that constantly use it on power never using that battery, what do you think is going to happen ?
In my experience batteries can crap out after just a few months. Li-ion batteries are horrible when it comes to high temperatures. My girlfriends Toshiba notebook battery lost a lot of it's charge capacity by 3 months, luckily Toshiba was good about it and replaced it. I tend to be very careful with my battery charges insuring I'm cycling it at least once in a while.
If your system is new and under warranty then go get your battery replaced. Of my last 3 laptops only one made it much further than a year on any battery. Of the 2 most recent ones, one had serious degradation in less than a year, and one failed outright after 14 months. The replacement battery also failed on that one is under a year.
These batteries do not have a great history of longevity, so it is possible that they are bad.
What exactly does this new win7 feature do? It could be as simple as monitoring the difference between reported charge remaining and actual charge remaining, and noticing when the two are off. It could be a little aggressive in crying dead battery, but if you have a lemon on a new laptop I would consider that warning a favor from MS as it should lead to a replacement.
Glad I switched to Ubuntu!
...or what you don't know can hurt you.
Just because you were previously unaware, how is that MS fault? A new system has a flawed component? Say it isn't so! Mankind has yet to achieve perfection.
Sheesh.
People should be informed about these batteries as they can explode or be broken very easily.
Some idiots even think you have to drain them empty to "condition" them!
Well to all morons out there, that is the way to kill them in weeks or make them EXPLODE!!
These batteries are NOT the same as they used 5 years ago.
These Lithium-Ion batteries are very light and hold a lot of power!
But they do NOT have a memory-effect!
Do not like to be drained totally, say less then 10%
Do not like to be drained FAST!
Do not like heat!
To keep them in very good condition for 3~4 years, still they degrade:
Charge them as often as you can, they like that.
Drain them no more then needed.
Do not drain them FAST! use your energy-save settings on battery!
Do not put them in the sun!
This way they maybe last 5 years, abuse them and you can easily kill them in WEEKS!! And yes they can easily explode!
I have HP Pavilion dv5 and it had vista on it. Always wanted to get rid of it and at the launch of win 7 i changed my OS. After a week of use my laptop died in the middle of the work. Recharged it and after the incident my laptop's battery could last twice less than it used to.. Now it lasts ca 15 min.
STOP TALKING BS AND START FIXING THE PROBLEM, YOU ARROGANT MS
I tell everyone not to come here and say "Omg it's your battery.. bla bla". IT'S NOT!
Yes, we're all upgrading to 7 or buying notebooks with 7 preinstalled.
Why do you assume that's the cause of your failing battery? Windows is just reporting what the battery instrumentation says.
Of course, if you had XP you may not notice that your battery is only holding 40% of it's original capacity since you will never be warned.
My Studio XPS 13 came with Vista, but I've been using 7 since the RC and never had any problems with the battery. I support about 10 notebooks with Windows 7 and I never saw the warning.
I did see a lot of battery failures, even on XP, even on notebooks that were only months old.
Use your battery as little as possible, run your laptop from the charger.
Same thing with your phone. Keep them topped up.
At least that's what I've been told, don't actually know if it's right because I've never looked inside a battery ;-)
What is the best way to look after the battery?