Unit has been refurbished. Unit has had keyboard replaced. Unit has had Ac Adapter replaced. Unit has had OS reinstalled (Win 7 Home. Use HP Battery Check to test the battery — if the battery is still not detected, go to the Updating the BIOS section of this document.
Hi,

Check with System maker's Support, their on-line documentation and drivers, and their forums
 (if any) for known issues. Some maker's have issued BIOS and other updates to help with battery
 problems.
 Control Panel - Power Options - Power Plans - Change plan Settings - check the Advanced
 Settings for drain and usage settings (this is how much to be used and not how much or how
 long to charge).
Actually what causes a lot of wear on a battery is draining it too low repeatedly. With today's 
 systems over-charging is not an issue.
 Here are some tips to help and troubleshoot battery related issues.
No Battery Is Detected Laptop
Hp Pavilion Battery Not Detected

No Battery Is Detected
Old battery? Unplug power to computer - remove battery and clean the contacts with a pencil
 eraser (do not use this if your battery has thin slots - just clean the knife edges that fit into
 them and be careful). Batteries do wear out if old, or it could be a problem with the computer.
 Check with the support of the system maker and many of them have on line forums.
 Newer type Litium-Ion batteries usually last longer if you do not discharge then below 30% 
 however on a laptop that will not extend their life that much. Best is to use A/C adapter 
 whenever possible.
 I use the free version of BatteryBar to monitor my battery. Click the Green button on the 
 Yellow box on right side of page to download latest stable version.
 BatteryBar - Free version available
http://osirisdevelopment.com/BatteryBar/index.html
 Another good program 
 Vista Battery Saver - Free
http://www.codeplex.com/vistabattery
 Problems with power usage and battery life - Mr Fixit
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/windows_battery_power_settings
 You might also want to check with the System Maker and any forums as many use their own 
 proprietary software to monitor the battery and their could be known issues with your battery.
 Try this - make a Restore Point
 How to Create a System Restore Point in Vista
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76332-system-restore-point-create.html
 How to Do a System Restore in Vista
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html
 Then Control Panel - Device Manager - Batteries - Double Click on each item - Drivers tab - 
 Update Drivers (which may not do anything) - then Right Click and UNINSTALL each - 
 REBOOT which will refresh the Driver stacks.
 Problems with power usage and battery life - Mr Fixit
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/windows_battery_power_settings
 Hope this helps.