Microsoft denies Windows 7 battery problem
Although some users have been grumbling about a variety of battery issues related to Windows 7, Microsoft says that its testing shows that nothing is amiss.
(Credit:
Microsoft)
The software maker initially thought that there might be a problem with the firmware in some PC models causing an error message to appear where one was not warranted. However, Microsoft now says that it believes that the operating system is behaving properly.
In a blog posting on Monday, Windows division President Steven Sinofsky said that the company's follow-up research shows that those seeing a notification that their batteries need replacing are getting the message because, in fact, the batteries are not performing up to a certain threshold.
"To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning 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," Sinofsky said. "In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement."
He noted that the error message is new to Windows 7, so people upgrading to Windows 7 may indeed see the message where no warning appeared before.
"We recognize that this has the appearance of Windows 7 'causing' the change in performance, but in reality all Windows 7 did was report what was already the case," Sinofsky said.
The company and PC makers have received a total of 20 support inquiries related to this error message, all of which have turned out to be older batteries whose performance had degraded, he said. Although there have been complaints on Microsoft's TechNet and other forums, Sinofsky said it has not seen anything in the cases it has followed up on to suggest anything other than the system correctly identifying underperforming batteries.
Sinofsky said it is actually seeing a smaller percentage of systems producing the error message than it had during the testing of Windows 7, in part because more and more new systems (with new batteries) are running the operating system.
"Only a very small percentage of users are receiving the 'Consider replacing your battery' notification, and as expected, we are seeing systems older than (around) 1.5 years," he said.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
I swear, you can't get a replacement laptop battery for a bad one - they either change the design so it won't work with the old model, or its so expensive you might as well buy a new laptop.
"I swear, you can't get a replacement laptop battery for a bad one - they either change the design so it won't work with the old model, or its so expensive you might as well buy a new laptop"
you swear? all it takes is 5 secs to take dead battery out and 3 days for a replacement. Need it fast? there's Craigslist. oh!! PC (dell/HP, etc..) batteries are dirt cheap!!
As far as batteries, it depends on the brand. Dell and HP tend to be fairly universal, and eBay is jam-packed with new batteries that will fit older laptops. *shrug*
He's on his 3rd laptop now due to battery failures over the past five or six years. He junks the old one.
I'm on my first from 2003, and it's battery still works fine - even though its a refurbished Macbook.
I guess I just take better care of my stuff - and get things that last. :)
This just in - people still find UAC annoying. Microsoft claims it's working as it was designed to. People get irate and demand easier access to spyware and trojans.
Awesome!
That would be kind of like saying my 2 year old car needs a new battery, so I have to buy a new car.
Rechargable batteries can only perform a finite number of charge/discharge cycles, before the maximum amount of charge they can hold drops significantly.
So I feel it is a very helpful change in Windows 7, that it warns the user when the battery isn't working well. It's much better than finding out when you need it.
it's in the fine fine fine print you get in that 100+ page warranty card. This is why I buy a laptop with a protection plan - just make sure it mentions "1 battery replacement" in there
The policy states that batteries are warranted for 1 year:
"Portable computer batteries carry the lesser of either a 1-year limited hardware warranty or the length of the limited hardware warranty for the Dell computer with which the battery is shipped."
This is from Dell's website (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=010)
The problem here is that some manufacturers have there own diagnostics to determine whether a battery is "failing". So you only get one hour instead of the original 2 or 3. If you don't like that, buy another battery.
Why is Micorsoft making Hardware decisions ?! Tha's the big question.
i have a hp computer decent mid-range machine i hate the batter life i get like 1.5 hrs on a full battery nowadays i used to get like 3-3.5 hrs when i just bought it.
"Don't Shoot the Messenger."
your battery died - too bad, it happens... there are certain uses that kill your battery (decharging to 80-50% and recharging constantly at the same level, or keeping the battery plugged in all the time when the laptop is plugged to the wall 24/7) the one thing I tell everyone is to attempt a full cycle with the battery - meaning when it's at 100% - unplug, wait for the PC to shut down COMPLETELY - as in no hibernate at 5% ect... run it till it just plain dies - then plugging it in - Laptop powered OFF and let it charge for 2 hours.
usually this can HELP the battery life - in reality you really should discharge the batt completely - then recharge the laptop with the power off on the laptop all the time... but that's not normal laptop use.
Plug your netbook or laptop in car's rechargeable battery will running about 1 to 3 weeks! Car's battery is more powerful enough for your netbook and laptop to running longer time!
I must buy car's battery for my netbook to running longest than standard rechargeable battery is made in CHINA. CHINA sucks!!!
I only trust rechargeable which is MADE IN USA! USA FTW & FOREVER and save our money a lot!!!! This is truth!
We must block and drop support on rechargeable battery which are made in CHINA! DO NOT BUY CHINA products!
You been warned! I suggest you get USA products are a lot stronger than CHINA products!
RIP to CHINA products! RIP CHINA
Go back to older Operating system where you started! DUH!!!
Too much money for Windows 7. NO NEED TO BUY WINDOWS 7 PERIOD!
Hmmm, it seemed like the company I work for was saving money by going to Windows 7. This is because we are rolling it out to all our 2000+ laptops so we can use Direct Access (instead of Cisco VPN) and BitLocker (instead of purchasing a 3rd party tool). Oh wait...WE ARE saving a crap load of money by upgrading to Windows 7 from XP instead of purchasing 3rd party tools. Good thing I didn't listen to an uninformed user or we would have just been wasting our time.
"Windows is.... A 64-bit shell for a 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical interface, sitting on an 8-bit operating system, originally written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-bit company without ONE BIT of common sense."
You really paint a believable picture especially with that ending.
Shy? Right... Celtic? What a way to ruin the name of a good group of people. Witch? That's probably pretty accurate!
Kojacked? How about a lollipop? Perhaps that will soothe your ire.
You were excited about Win7? No really? Tell the truth now. I promise I'll believe you.
You've probably become the top Mac troll on CNet now. You're on every Microsoft/windows related article talking trash about microsoft / windows, and trumpeting Apple's virtues. Even if you see an article about Jobs or Gates you're there to sing Job's virtues and call Gates the devil incarnate.
I've got news for you:
1) It's obvious that you don't have the technical skills / knowledge of a hamster. So understand that you're opinion on technical matters is unimportant, uninformed, and not sought after.
2) You *are* a troll.
3) You need to get a life.
I happen to have a VERY busy life, as the owner of a design co-op, and director of art and marketing for a 36 company conglomerate. I also am far too mature to return the favor of name-calling (something that most people outgrow by the age of 12...). So pack up your playthings and move to another corner, I have adult things to attend to.
>>>>Like posting pro-Apple, anti-MS comments one after another on CNET? "Far too mature," indeed. It's true, some of your comments about Microsoft have been positive, mostly talking about a good experience with Windows 7 "thus far." What happened to that? Did someone steal your two units and replace them with lemons?
And how about your "facts?" When you talk about an 8-bit operating system, I assume you're referring to DOS. Just FYI, no NT-based Windows operating system depends on DOS. It is not an 8-bit operating system, nor is it even a 16-/32-bit hybrid. NT is a self-contained, 32-bit platform. Sure, you still have safe mode and the command prompt, but don't mistake these for the foundation of NTFS; only FAT operating systems are based on DOS.
I make no effort to defend kojacked or dhavleak on their comments to you; mature they are not. But aside from the fact that you are able to refrain from direct name-calling, you aren't much better yourself (I feel for your children, doomed to grow into adultescents). And I think you've gone overboard with your remarks about personal rebuttals to actual information (sounds like a previous conversation I had with you) here, as well as another forum in which you tell a member that you know more than he ever will. A) You don't know him or how much he knows. B) You have a technician to maintain your Windows machines.
You might know plenty about Apple, but very little about Windows. Your increasingly bold - and consequently easily disprovable - comments of late make this inescapably clear. Is business slow in your huge graphics design conglomerate you keep talking about? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands for whizzing in the wind...
"are you the troll police?"
>> No -- just hate trolls and I hate negativity. If you like something (like Apple products) -- go to the Apple posts and say so -- people there will appreciate it. If you troll, don't be surprised when you get called out.
"And not all of my comments regarding Windows are derogatory"
>> Yes -- they are. There's always a direct insult or a thinly veiled insult or a backhanded comment.
"try reading them all in my profile instead of just a few here and there."
>> You've got a long history of trolling Windows/Microsoft/Bill Gates. Long history. Not just a few here and there.
"I happen to have a VERY busy life, as the owner of a design co-op, and director of art and marketing for a 36 company conglomerate."
>> Good for you. You've shared that many times. That doesn't mean that you have any technical proficiency whatsoever. So your opinion on construction quality of hardware and quality of software is purely subjective and completely biased. Understand that. You obviously have your opinions, and you *should* feel free to share them, but there's a difference between sharing an opinion, and trolling (repeatedly lying about stuff, name-calling, and general negative BS).
" I also am far too mature to return the favor of name-calling "
>> You only *think* you're mature. You called windows users cockroaches in another thread. I haven't called anyone a cockroach since I was 5 years old. You and I had a long thread about gross capitalism, garbage collectors and such. Go read that thread again and judge how mature you are -- you don't understand simple economic concepts, and you have a "my s--- don't stink" attitude, and you were disrespectful when I was nothing but respectful through the entire thread. Calling yourself mature does not make it so.
"So pack up your playthings and move to another corner, I have adult things to attend to."
>> Very mature.
"that's your opinion... and like a**holes, everybody has one, and some smell pretty bad to others. As for being tech savvy... I know more about OSs that you'll ever try to learn. LOL"
I could say so much here. You claim to be more tech savvy than me? Very well -- next time you pan something, make sure you're commenting at a technical level, and I'll be there to point out the 'gaps' in your assessment. I could very well tell you about my two engineering degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, my lifetime spent working on and learing about electronic devices and computers in general, and my decade plus of work experience as a software enginer (mainly cryptography, but also done a lot of work at the app layer and os layer, briefly workd on web services, and paid my way through school by working as an IT Admin in a mixed Novell Netware / Unix / Windows environment).
Credentials aren't everything. Academics aren't everything. Experience isn't everything. Honesty, truth and insight are much more important. There is no honesty in your claim that you do not troll and you do not resort to name calling -- you are a troll, and you have frequently resported to name calling. There is no truth in many of your negative claims regarding windows / regarding your 'eagerness' to try Win7, etc. And there is no insight in any of your posts because they always contain bare-faced hate, or thinly-veiled hate.
If you had any technical prowess, then when you said something negative, you would be able to add some insight there, that would give your point some weight. You've never been able to do that. No trolls ever can.
Like I said before, you're entitled to your opinion, and entitled to share it as well. But this is a public forum. If you post nonsense, you will get called out from time to time. If not by me, then by someone else.
[CNET editors' note: Personal attacks deleted.]
- by fenix666 February 21, 2010 4:58 AM PST
- How can you assume that we are only making this up. I experience getting only 30 minutes after a full charge from the 2 hours i usually have last week only!!!
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(83 Comments)what it is doing is not only send a warning, it restricts the battery to be charged fully. hope you will experience it too so you can see it for yourselves!!!