Can WinXP ruin battery????

[ZballZ]

So, I have my 15" MBP - with no issues at all. Battery times are fair - 3.00-3.30 runtime. I installed bootcamp, then followed by windows. Which at first seemed to work fine - but it kept saying "cant find battery driver" in XP. Anyways, it became quite unstable, so I finally deleted WinXP again, repartitioned with bootcamp and everything was bliss - EXCEPT my battery seemed f**** up all of a sudden. Could windows have caused this? Or just a freak coincidence??

(check out my battery-capacity in this coconut-image)

EDIT: I have tried calibrating again - makes no difference!

 

[ewinemiller]

I would guess freak coincidence. I see stories all the time about batteries going bad, never a story about how Windows causes batteries to go bad.

Is your MBP under the battery recall, mine was, have you had it replaced yet?

 

[NJuul]

I would have to agree with ewinemiller, it is probably just a coincidence.
Nevertheless, if a battery cell is drained below a certain voltage, it can no longer be recharged, and the cell is dead. However, this is probably not your problem, as protective mechanisms are most likely hardwired into the battery to prevent excessive discharge.
Whatever the cause, call Apple and get a replacement under warranty. Just don't mention Windows and battery drivers.

 

[ZballZ]

Thx for the replies. No, my battery is not under the call-back. Its brand new, core2duo, only 3-4 weeks old.

I did call apple (didnt mention windows ) and they will ship me a new one.

The thing is - I dont know if I should try installing XP again, afraid it my mess my new battery up, too!

The "cannot find battery drivers"-thing in windows - did you experience this also, and do you know if there is any solution to this !?

 

[ewinemiller]

I did not have the battery driver thing on my core duo MBP.

This is from MSDN

"A battery driver provides other components of the operating system (OS) with information about the power level of the main battery, the backup battery, and AC power supply of a hardware platform."

All it does is feed Windows the info for the battery icon, when to shutdown because battery is low, that kind of stuff. Windows can't harm your battery through it.

 

[Buschmaster]

Don't listen to them.

Windows will make your battery explode and set fire to your favorite picture in the house. Make sure you don't rest your hands on the computer while you type, and you may want to consider gloves. Also, only have pictures of Richard Simmons and David Hasselhoff to prevent you from setting fire to your house.

This is an issue they are trying to sort out, but for now, Simmons and Hasselhoff are your only available security patches.

 

[Kingsly]

This is an issue they are trying to sort out, but for now, Simmons and Hasselhoff are your only available security patches.

Spoken like a true Microsoft service tech!

 

[ZballZ]

Don't listen to them.

Windows will make your battery explode and set fire to your favorite picture in the house.

Dammit! I KNEW IT!

 

[torrac]

i have the same problem with my bootcamp installation, i.e. 'cannot find battery drivers' and haven't found a solution yet. it's no big deal, however, and it does not seem to affect anything. i just cancel the alert message everytime i boot up xp, which is somewhat annoying, and i am missing the battery icon to indicate how much power i got left.

i went to an apple help center and the mac 'expert' was somewhat puzzled...

any thoughts...?


t.
/l,c.