Thanks all. You got me worried about my copy of Win 7 so I ran the Windows Validation tool thing through their website and it came back saying it was genuine. Does that mean it's ok? I was wondering, if I was to download Vista from somewhere but then use the license key that is on the sticker on the bottom of the laptop, would that work and is that legal? I have no idea. To be honest I am trying to avoid going back to the seller's shop, although he has replied to me saying he's away now for a couple of months but when he gets back he will put Vista back on for me. Don't really want to stay plugged in for the next two months lol!

The Windows 7 is geniune, he used an OEM license, I have checked that don't worry The Vista that was on it previously is what it was bought with from new.

Thanks alot I have thought of dual booting but I haven't got a Vista or XP disc so that would be more money I'd have to spend to buy one, unless the ebay seller was willing to give me a copy of Vista. I'm downloading Ubuntu as we speak, I'm going to try booting in that and see if my battery lasts as long as it should when running that, fingers crossed!

Thanks It's annoying cos I love Windows 7 apart from this one issue. I just find it disgusting that Microsoft have got this topic on their forums which is now stretching into "Part 10" but they are failing to address it, it seems they're just ignoring the hundreds if not thousands of users who have had their laptops become desktops just by upgrading their software. Infuriating

Hi I'd appreciate if anybody could give me some advice on my situation, as I'm not sure what course of action to take right now. I bought a second hand laptop from a local seller who owns a mobile phone type shop, on ebay at the end of June. The laptop was listed as used but in excellent condition. The operating system was Windows Vista, but the listing said it could be updated to Windows 7. I contacted the seller and asked him would he be able to upgrade it for me, and he said yes. So I won the auction, and went to collect the laptop. When I got there, I paid the auction end price in cash, and the seller asked for another £20 for the Windows upgrade, saying he mentioned that when I asked. I later re-read the messages and he hadn't mentioned a fee for the upgrade so I wish I had refused to pay that! He showed me the laptop working, and all seemed ok so I left. The laptop seemed to work ok later that day, I used it a little and there were no problems with battery life. However the problems started the next day. I had charged the laptop up and took it out with me to use at uni, as I'd just moved house and haven't had internet set up until yesterday. I was using the laptop for about 10 minutes when suddenly the battery died. Plugged it in and started it back up, and there was a message on the battery life icon saying "Consider replacing your battery". To cut a long story short, since then the problem has rapidly escalated. I now can't use the laptop for more than about 4 minutes with it unplugged. Having researched the symptoms on the internet, it appears to be a problem with Windows 7, see here: Windows 7 and the battery error "consider replacing your battery" (Part 10). From what I can gather, it's a fairly widespread problem which alot of people are having but which Microsoft are denying and don't appear to be releasing any fix for. I've tried a few of the solutions mentioned on the official Microsoft forums, but nothing has so far worked (for example see my post at the bottom of this topic Battery) and I have emailed the suggested address on this topic "Consider Replacing Your Battery" message. I don't know what to do. Buying a new battery wouldn't help as lots of users have reported their new battery suffering from the same problem within weeks. I contacted the seller through ebay as soon as I was aware of the problem, he has suggested I just stick to Vista and then there won't be a problem. I've replied saying that I upgraded to Win 7 due to his listing saying that the laptop could be upgraded, and that the problem has been there since I received the item from him. He hasn't replied yet. I'm awaiting a reply from Microsoft but I'm not holding my breath. And Acer who are the manufacturer haven't released any updates for this laptop since it was manufactured, plus I have no original proof of purchase and it's out of warranty. I really don't know what to do. I'm £280 down and am left with a good spec laptop but one which may aswell be a desktop pc as I can't use it unplugged