I've had the same battery problems and fixed it myself - my battery would discharge from 100% to zero in only 52 minutes - it was nearly new and previously had 3 hours life... Sony Support have been worse than useless ... The battery does now hold its charge fine. Meanwhile, in just a few weeks while waiting for a solution, my battery has been damaged.
My problem was not the battery but the Sony VAIO battery management software which stopped working after I installed the 64-bit Windows 7 update Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Warning to all 64-bit Windows 7 users: Do NOT install Windows 7 SP1 !!!!! If you do and the Sony VAIO battery management software ruins your battery, Sony Support won't to replace it but blame Microsoft instead.
However, if you have already installed SP1 and your battery is not holding charge, then this may be a Sony battery management software problem, not a problem with the physical battery. If so, you may need to run the VAIO Care Recovery and Restore programme (from the start menu), use the Recovery option - Reinstall Applications and Drivers – and re-installed the Battery Checker (check box option).
If this sorts the main problem, then the advice in this thread - charge / discharge / re-charge / discharge, etc. - is good and may help further. Also consider using the Sony Battery Care options and set the battery to 80% charge if your machine is plugged in most of the time.
Hope this helps :smileyhappy:.
Here's the detail of what happened to me in case others have similar problems:
After I installed the Windows 7 update for SP1 my battery performance died - the battery would discharge from 100% to zero in only 52 minutes (it was nearly 3 hours before installing SP1). In a specific timed test for Sony Support the battery took 47 minutes to discharge to 50% and then rapidly discharged from 50% to zero in the following 4 minutes. In all tests I performed the machine did not ‘turn off’ but crashed as if the battery had been ripped out, prompting a safe-start by windows each time. From zero charge, the battery was re-charging to 100% charge in about 20 minutes.
Sony Support were useless, so I started to read many technical discussion forums online and found that hundreds of Sony users have the same problem with battery performance with no solution. Many discussions online have led back to a wrong idea: that the Microsoft Windows system drivers – battc.sys and compbatt.sys – used for Microsoft Composite Battery management are too old to be 64-bit versions. This idea is because the Microsoft driver information displayed in the Device Manager window shows a driver date of 21/06/2006, before Windows 7 64-bit was developed. However the actual hidden driver files in the Windows System folder (version 6.1.7) are dated 14/07/2009 and are indeed 64-bit versions. I found this after I spent hours looking for new versions of the drivers and when I couldn’t find any mention, let alone new versions, I then checked the actual file properties myself and discovered the Microsoft drivers are fine (even though there is a Microsoft error displaying the date using Device Manager).
I then investigated other ideas – and checked that the version of VAIO Power Management and Battery Checker VAIO (part of the Sony Notebook Utilities exe) for my machine (VPCEB3C5E). The latest versions I could see online (Sony sites) all appear to be the same versions as those already installed on my machine.
However, I tried one final, simple action and it fixed my machine:
I used the VAIO Care Recovery and Restore programme (start menu), use the Recovery option
- Reinstall Applications and Drivers – and re-installed the Battery Checker (check box option).
This fixed the problems with the battery management where the machine suddenly crashes without adequate warning when the battery is discharging. The battery now shows a steady discharge from 100% down to zero (remember, before it discharged quickly down to 50% and then from 50% to zero in the last 4 minutes). It also charges back up at a steady (safe) rate rather than rapidly.
Unfortunately, my battery is now damaged but Sony Support do not want to know. In the several weeks while the software was not working properly the battery had been rapidly re-charged, over-charged and is now damaged. The previous battery life of over 2.5 hours in normal use (let alone test conditions doing nothing) has been reduced to less than an hour since the 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 installation.
Things cannot still be fully correct with the Sony battery management software because the battery health status in the VAIO Control Centre is still displaying GOOD. So Sony Support will not replace the battery, even though previously they contradicted themselves by saying I had to run industry standard tests - now when the tests show the battery is faulty Sony then go back to relying on software that was the cause of the problem. Unbelievable !!!
Moreover, the Sony European Support guy escalated my case (5568077) and the response he got was this is a Windows 7 issue and not a Sony problem ... Therefore, should I ask Microsoft for a new Sony battery even though it was the Sony software at fault? Even more unbelievable !!!!!!
So, all Sony VAIO Users - don't install SP1 and expect Sony Support to help.
Most of all - when the Sony VAIO battery management software ruins your battery, don't expect Sony to replace it.
This was the first time I've bought a Sony - I've had dozens of Dells over the years but thought I'd try a VAIO for a change ... Given my recent experience guess what my next machine will be? Sony may be making a small financial loss since the Tsunami and online gaming / hacker problems, but with service like this their VAIO losses will also be significant in the future - Sony Support just don't get that customers pay for and expect service when we buy a machine ... Idiots!
Message was edited by: Slinn64
Message was edited by: Slinn64
