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Microsoft investigating Windows 7 battery warning issues

Tom Warren
03 February 2010 - 13:22
79 Comments
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Microsoft has confirmed it is investigating a problem causing some Windows 7 users to receive incorrect battery warnings on their laptops.

The warning is triggered when a laptops BIOS detects a battery replacement is required. Windows 7 provides the following alert: "Consider replacing your battery. There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly." One user who spoke to The Register claimed their laptop battery life had decreased from two hours to half hour and others posted their experiences in a TechNet forums thread.

Microsoft officials said on Tuesday the company is looking into the issue, "we are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners, which appears to be related to system firmware," a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed.

Some commenter's in the TechNet thread are hinting at a class action lawsuit with one stating "If my battery has been permanently damaged or a fix not issued quickly, I will be forced to seek a class action lawsuit. Thank you."

Microsoft said it's working with PC manufacturers to determine the issue, "We are working with our partners to determine the root cause and will update the forum with information and guidance as it becomes available."

In recent Windows 7 news, Microsoft confirmed it had sold more than 60 million Windows 7 licenses in the second quarter making it the fastest selling operating system in history. Windows 7 also accounts for 10% of the operating system market share.

Comments (79)

  1. nub - 03 February 2010 - 13:29

    Sounds like a hardware problem. Windows 7 is just reacting to what its being told. Can't blame Microsoft for that.

  2. +Northgrove - 03 February 2010 - 14:06

    nub said,
    Sounds like a hardware problem. Windows 7 is just reacting to what its being told. Can't blame Microsoft for that.
    Yes, I don't understand the problem here? The article reads as Windows 7 is reacting to a BIOS status telling the battery need replacing, and Windows 7 properly notifying the user about that. If the problem is that the BIOS is incorrectly notifying the user, the problem is not with Windows 7.

  3. rawr_boy81 - 03 February 2010 - 21:03

    nub said,
    Sounds like a hardware problem. Windows 7 is just reacting to what its being told. Can't blame Microsoft for that.

    And from what I understand it isn't an across the board issue either which means that as you said the most likely culprit is the hardware firmware. My old mans Inspiron 1318 is working without any problems.

  4. PatrynXX - 04 February 2010 - 03:05

    rawr_boy81 said,

    And from what I understand it isn't an across the board issue either which means that as you said the most likely culprit is the hardware firmware. My old mans Inspiron 1318 is working without any problems.

    Well Dell batteries suck so that wouldn't be Windows. I end up with $40 3rd party batteries despite the risk compared to $180 batteries that last the same amount of time.

  5. +Ridlas - 03 February 2010 - 13:30

    That screenshot is from the future.

  6. omnicoder - 03 February 2010 - 13:33

    Ridlas said,
    That screenshot is from the future.

    How strange...

    Edit (omnicoder, 03 February 2010 - 13:34):

  7. carmatic - 03 February 2010 - 14:23

    Ridlas said,
    That screenshot is from the future.

    a future where windows 7 runs on screens which are smaller than today's netbooks

  8. qwexor - 03 February 2010 - 14:35

    carmatic said,

    a future where windows 7 runs on screens which are smaller than today's netbooks

    Pretty sure he meant the date.

  9. dogmai - 03 February 2010 - 14:46

    qwexor said,

    Pretty sure he meant the date.

    That's funny. I just noticed that. I wonder why someone would be using a clock with the date that far out, in the future at that too.

  10. Scout82 - 03 February 2010 - 15:16

    carmatic said,

    a future where windows 7 runs on screens which are smaller than today's netbooks

    That laptop must have a Flux capacitor!

  11. vetneufuse - 03 February 2010 - 16:51

    dogmai said,

    That's funny. I just noticed that. I wonder why someone would be using a clock with the date that far out, in the future at that too.

    It could be one way to trick the system into thinking the battery is old if it uses the time spend clock instead of the battery full cycle count

  12. +MrPink - 03 February 2010 - 18:31

    Ridlas said,
    That screenshot is from the future.

    Actually the screenshot is from a pre-beta build of 7.

    Look closely, the pre-beta Start orb. (Yes, its SLIGHTLY different than build 7000), the pre-beta taskbar buttons (not rounded, different highlight.), pre-beta tray icons. (yes, build 7000 had white only tray icons), pre-beta Explorer icon.

    Do I need to say more? :)

  13. +Ridlas - 03 February 2010 - 18:34

    .woot! said,

    Actually the screenshot is from a pre-beta build of 7.

    Look closely, the pre-beta Start orb. (Yes, its SLIGHTLY different than build 7000), the pre-beta taskbar buttons (not rounded, different highlight.), pre-beta tray icons. (yes, build 7000 had white only tray icons), pre-beta Explorer icon.

    Do I need to say more? :)

    Just check the date o_o

  14. +MrPink - 03 February 2010 - 18:44

    Ridlas said,

    Just check the date o_o


    Yes I checked the date. I was just adding what I noticed. :)

  15. koppit - 03 February 2010 - 21:11

    Looks like Win7 on my eee 7"

  16. Lord Zog - 03 February 2010 - 13:39

    Something to do with the ACPI, Windows API's and the firmware of the notebook probably.. 3 lappies here and no problems yet..

  17. Timmah339 - 03 February 2010 - 13:42

    it's about time. this problem has been around since the Beta/RC stage.

  18. tmaxxtigger - 03 February 2010 - 13:48

    I had this warning too, but my battery was actually dying, the life was only about 30 minutes tops, but for a 2 year only battery that's expected. So if these peoples batteries had failed anyway without the OS warning them, would they still be complaining? Sounds a bit like 'I want free stuff' complaints to me.

    Oh, I should add that after replacing with a new battery it's working great now, getting over 2 hours like when it was new.

    Edit (tmaxxtigger, 03 February 2010 - 13:53):

  19. dogmai - 03 February 2010 - 14:49

    tmaxxtigger said,
    I had this warning too, but my battery was actually dying, the life was only about 30 minutes tops, but for a 2 year only battery that's expected. So if these peoples batteries had failed anyway without the OS warning them, would they still be complaining? Sounds a bit like 'I want free stuff' complaints to me.

    Oh, I should add that after replacing with a new battery it's working great now, getting over 2 hours like when it was new.

    I'm guessing that anyone who bought their laptops with Windows 7 on it since release would probably qualify for a replacement of the battery. After that, they can't go after them. Unless they're not willing to replace the batteries. Anyone who installed it on an a laptop prior to release would be out of luck??? I think that's fair. Unless you just bought it within the last few months before it's release. That would just suck.

  20. Defiant - 03 February 2010 - 13:51

    "Some commenter's in the TechNet thread are hinting at a class action lawsuit with one stating "If my battery has been permanently damaged or a fix not issued quickly, I will be forced to seek a class action lawsuit. Thank you."

    Jezzzzzzz. That is the type of crap you expect nowadays when anything goes wrong, rather than saying, "Ok - something needed to be fixed and once addressed if I need to enquire about having my battery checked in case there is some permanent damage I will contact the manufacturer or seller" - people eye a chance to make themselves some $, in fact the only people getting the $ are the lawyers because all the OEMs will do will calculate it cost $2,000.000 (lets say) then we will divide that out over the next couple of years and add it to the price of all things we sell. So in fact Mr Class Action-Suit, you've not only just butt raped the OEM for some $ you've butt raped the rest off us into paying some more $.

    I sometimes wonder if these people who cry for some kind of legal recourse ever wonder who ends up paying for it? Bet is never crossed there freetarding mind :-(

    Oh and "on subject" I've not seen this on the three laptops we have here yet. Two HP's & one Dell.

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