"Consider Replacing Your Battery"

[webdevbrian]

Just bought an HP DV7-4070US about 2 months ago (Brand new) with windows 7. The battery is now dead and it's indicating this message.

Never in my history of laptop ownership have I ever had a 9cell battery die this quickly.

EVER.


Battery ID Hewlett-PackardPrimary
Design Capacity 93240
Last Full Charge 35875
Last Full Charge (%) 38

 

[logicearth]

Just bought an HP DV7-4070US about 2 months ago (Brand new) with windows 7. The battery is now dead and it's indicating this message.

Never in my history of laptop ownership have I ever had a 9cell battery die this quickly.

EVER.


Battery ID Hewlett-PackardPrimary
Design Capacity 93240
Last Full Charge 35875
Last Full Charge (%) 38

You better call HP then. I don't know HP's policy but if it is still under warranty they will probably replace the obvious faulty battery.

 

[mikedl]

I guess I'm really fortunate. My battery is the original one in my 2 1/2 year old Toshiba laptop:

Design Capacity 94576
Last Full Charge 84977
90%

 

[webdevbrian]

I called HP and they're replacing it.

WHEW.

I just REALLY hope I don't get this battery and it's dead in the same time span...

 

[logicearth]

If it is then there is a problem with the laptop.
It would most likely point to a faulty motherboard.

 

[webdevbrian]

You don't think it's this mysterious "Windows 7 Consider Replacing Your Battery" thing that got publicity earlier this year?

A bunch of websites have articles about it, CNET, Wired, Engadget ...

 

[FliGi7]

Just bought an HP DV7-4070US about 2 months ago (Brand new) with windows 7. The battery is now dead and it's indicating this message.

Never in my history of laptop ownership have I ever had a 9cell battery die this quickly.

EVER.


Battery ID Hewlett-PackardPrimary
Design Capacity 93240
Last Full Charge 35875
Last Full Charge (%) 38

You better call HP then. I don't know HP's policy but if it is still under warranty they will probably replace the obvious faulty battery.

I wouldn't be so sure. I have a laptop that perfectly fits the description of both the battery failure and hardware overheating failure HP recalls as well as an NVIDIA recall, but it doesn't fall under the "affected model numbers" so they won't do anything about it. HP is off the radar for me after these ridiculous antics.

 

[webdevbrian]

Just bought an HP DV7-4070US about 2 months ago (Brand new) with windows 7. The battery is now dead and it's indicating this message.

Never in my history of laptop ownership have I ever had a 9cell battery die this quickly.

EVER.


Battery ID Hewlett-PackardPrimary
Design Capacity 93240
Last Full Charge 35875
Last Full Charge (%) 38

You better call HP then. I don't know HP's policy but if it is still under warranty they will probably replace the obvious faulty battery.

I wouldn't be so sure. I have a laptop that perfectly fits the description of both the battery failure and hardware overheating failure HP recalls as well as an NVIDIA recall, but it doesn't fall under the "affected model numbers" so they won't do anything about it. HP is off the radar for me after these ridiculous antics.

They luckily replaced it. It's being shipped as we speak

 

[FliGi7]

You better call HP then. I don't know HP's policy but if it is still under warranty they will probably replace the obvious faulty battery.

I wouldn't be so sure. I have a laptop that perfectly fits the description of both the battery failure and hardware overheating failure HP recalls as well as an NVIDIA recall, but it doesn't fall under the "affected model numbers" so they won't do anything about it. HP is off the radar for me after these ridiculous antics.

They luckily replaced it. It's being shipped as we speak

Lucky!

 

[Fayla]

That's pretty good

I don't know what mine is, since I almost never have the battery in the laptop (I think I threw it in a cupboard somewhere lol.) The reason is that a friend I met at university said that just leaving a battery in, even if the laptop is connected to the mains power mostly, can wear the battery life down.

I guess I'm really fortunate. My battery is the original one in my 2 1/2 year old Toshiba laptop:

Design Capacity 94576
Last Full Charge 84977
90%

 

[logicearth]

You don't think it's this mysterious "Windows 7 Consider Replacing Your Battery" thing that got publicity earlier this year?

A bunch of websites have articles about it, CNET, Wired, Engadget ...

Windows 7 gets information about the battery from the hardware. This information is readonly. If Windows 7 is getting the wrong information it is either a problem with the battery, problem with the motherboard, or problem with the hardware-specific drivers. Windows only knows what the hardware tells it.

The problem people spoke of "last year" was not a problem. They were confused, because when they were running XP or Vista they never got this notification until they upgraded to Windows 7. But you see, this notification is new in Windows 7, that is why they did not see it before the upgrade.

If there was in fact a problem with batteries and Windows 7, every computer would be having problems. But they are not! This is a hardware problem, because windows only knows what the hardware tells it. This battery issue is no different, the information to gauge the life of the battery comes from and is stored on the battery itself. And Windows cannot modify any of the information stored on the battery. Period.

 

[ioudas]

First of all "this issue is a serious issue" (G.W.B.) but at the same time no one really knows anything about it, even the experts are contradicting each other.
So far I've read both that the battery is supposed to be discharged completely every few months and that this is completely unnecessary. Somewhere I've read you should store your battery at 60% charge to preserve it best (I tend to believe this theory).

The truth is that after upgrading to Win7 my tx2500z started showing "consider replacing" after about 3 months. I bought a new battery 3 month ago and I have the message again. I had the old battery on vista for over a year without problem.
Is this just a coincidence? I doubt it...

As many users point out "windows cannot destroy the battery it only reads the info from eeprom" or more generaly "software cannot destroy hardware "
I agree with that completely.
What I think happens is that windows CHARGES the battery improperly it translates the info it reads from it badly.
Actually I'm getting lazy because there is a lot of info to write so I'll skip to the solution:
Manually discharge the battery to ALMOST zero percent. Then turn off "microsoft acpi-compliant control method battery". Turn off laptop, put in battery, turn in back on and enable the "microsft-acpi".
Windows will re-read the data, seemingly reset its bugged info (about the current charge level). Charging the battery completely after this will solve the problem for another 3 months or so.

Warning (i destroyed one battery this way):
If you discharge the battery compeletely, a small control circuit inside the battery (handles cut-off when charged) will lose power and stop working - blocking any further attempts to charge the battery.
So, whatever method you use (i used a small auto bulb connected directly to battery pins) make sure you leave small charge in the battery.

good luck

 

[webdevbrian]

Well, now that I have an extra HP battery... I'll be keeping my old one in my laptop for when I have it plugged in for an extended amount of time, and pop the *new* battery in when I know I'll need to be mobile for long (and charge it after).

I think that will work out in my favor, until at least the *old* battery only holds a charge for ~10 minutes.

 

[WindowsStar]

Warning (i destroyed one battery this way):
If you discharge the battery compeletely, a small control circuit inside the battery (handles cut-off when charged) will lose power and stop working - blocking any further attempts to charge the battery.
So, whatever method you use (i used a small auto bulb connected directly to battery pins) make sure you leave small charge in the battery.

good luck

A better way to discharge the battery and safer is to; leave the battery in the laptop (notebook, netbook, etc) reboot the machine and enter BIOS. Leave the computer on the BIOS screen and go to bed. The battery will be completely drained in the morning without damaging the battery. The battery will shut off safely because it is in the laptop. - WS

 

[ioudas]

A better way to discharge the battery and safer is to; leave the battery in the laptop (notebook, netbook, etc) reboot the machine and enter BIOS. Leave the computer on the BIOS screen and go to bed. The battery will be completely drained in the morning without damaging the battery. The battery will shut off safely because it is in the laptop. - WS

Actually you dont need to go to bios, if you disable the acpi in windows, it'll also shutdown only when there isn't enought power. But this method doesn't work because your computer is putting too much load on the battery and it shuts down MUCH sooner then the battery can be considered empty.

The only way is to drain it slowly using bulb or other low load device. If you don't want to mess with battery pins, you can put the computer to sleep and plug in power draining device into usb. I used laptop cooloing pad, but it took well over 24 hours to drain the "empty" battery.

 

[Pusspa]

my battery went from 3 hours of use on Vista to now about 10 minutes if i am lucky, with the only change being installing windows 7. from reading this (and other googled) threads, i am now scared that if i buy a new battery ($90 on ebay up to $200 from HP), i will just end up with two dead batteries. can anyone confirm that replacing the battery really will fix the problem for the expected 2-3 year life i have previously experienced since winXP - Vista?

EDIT: do you mean disable in device manager, or remove in this post:

...Then turn off "microsoft acpi-compliant control method battery". Turn off laptop, put in battery, turn in back on and enable the "microsft-acpi"...

 

[WindowsStar]

A better way to discharge the battery and safer is to; leave the battery in the laptop (notebook, netbook, etc) reboot the machine and enter BIOS. Leave the computer on the BIOS screen and go to bed. The battery will be completely drained in the morning without damaging the battery. The battery will shut off safely because it is in the laptop. - WS

Actually you dont need to go to bios, if you disable the acpi in windows, it'll also shutdown only when there isn't enought power. But this method doesn't work because your computer is putting too much load on the battery and it shuts down MUCH sooner then the battery can be considered empty.

The only way is to drain it slowly using bulb or other low load device. If you don't want to mess with battery pins, you can put the computer to sleep and plug in power draining device into usb. I used laptop cooloing pad, but it took well over 24 hours to drain the "empty" battery.

IMHO:

However if you disable ACPI then you have to be in Windows for the machine to shutdown giving Windows a Hard (Power Off) shutdown. Not good. Plus you have to remember to turn on ACPI, which some will forget.

Leaving the machine on the BIOS screen does a slow run down of the battery because the only thing really running is the LCD display. This is so simple, it does not tamper with Windows Settings, nothing to forget, nothing to change; when done just plug in the charger and charge the battery.

Using the bulb is good, except:

1) Most people will not know how to do it correctly.
2) The bulb can be dangerous because you can discharge the battery too much.

We have done the BIOS drain on batteries for years with laptops and it has worked well, again do to the safety built into the laptop and the battery. The battery will be discharged almost too maximum discharge. -WS

 

[WindowsStar]

my battery went from 3 hours of use on Vista to now about 10 minutes if i am lucky, with the only change being installing windows 7. from reading this (and other googled) threads, i am now scared that if i buy a new battery ($90 on ebay up to $200 from HP), i will just end up with two dead batteries. can anyone confirm that replacing the battery really will fix the problem for the expected 2-3 year life i have previously experienced since winXP - Vista?

EDIT: do you mean disable in device manager, or remove in this post:

...Then turn off "microsoft acpi-compliant control method battery". Turn off laptop, put in battery, turn in back on and enable the "microsft-acpi"...

I have replaced several batteries on machines with Windows 7 and the problem typically comes back quickly.

Using some method to drain the battery to near maximum seems to kick start the battery all over again. We have our end users do the BIOS trick as explained here, works for us, but that is IMHO, others have noted ways to drain the battery, I assume they work well too. -WS

 

[Pusspa]

well i am going to find out if the problem really was just the old battery, i bought a non-genuine 12 cell replacement (brand new), and power brick. It is just charging now for the first time, and heres hoping i dont have to quote this post with a complaint at some near future date!

 

[WindowsStar]

well i am going to find out if the problem really was just the old battery, i bought a non-genuine 12 cell replacement (brand new), and power brick. It is just charging now for the first time, and heres hoping i dont have to quote this post with a complaint at some near future date!

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