This is in regards to my Sony S460, but I think the problem I found might apply to most of Sony's current notebooks.
I wanted to get a spare battery for my S460, and decided to get a high capacity version (7200mAh VGP-BPL2). The problem was that Sony sells them for a very high $299. So instead, I ordered an OEM replacement for $119 from
here. I also found a $99 version
here, but while the spec was correct, the photo wasn't (that's the std batt), and the batteries are LG (Korean) vs Japan (not sure it really matters anymore) for the $119 version.
So anyway, the battery was quickly delivered to me. It had a sticker warning the battery wouldn't work unless it was first fully charged, so I first charged it up. By the way, the fit and finish of this battery looked excellent and it's a perfect match for the S460. It even fits better than the standard Sony battery and doesn't rattle nealy as much.
It did seems to charge fine in my notebook, and showed it was 100% charged when I booted up under AC power with the battery installed. But about a minute after booting up, a big problem occured. I got an error message saying the battery either wasn't properly inserted or wasn't a genuine Sony, and that the notebook would go into hibernation and the battery must be removed. It gave me no choice, but to let the notebook hibernate, even though I was running on AC power. And it would not accept the battery as shown by a rapidly flashing battery indicator on the notebook.
I removed the battery and put it back in (stopping the rapid flashing), and rebooted. Again, after about a minute, I got the hibernation message, whether I booted up on AC or battery power. I even tried disabling hibernation in the power profile, but I still got the message and instead of hibernating, the notebook went into standby. This was a major pain, and I thought the battery was not compatible.
But then I thought about it, and figured that message must be from some Sony software running in the background, because it's certainly something I've ever seen in Windows. So I looked in my Starup files, and found there are several files running from Program Files/Sony/... I tried eliminating a couple of suspects, and finally found which program is causing the problem. It's called "ISBMgr.exe" and is in Program Files/Sony/ISB Utility/.
After removing that file from my startup, my new battery is now working fine. I haven't by any means fully tested it yet, but it does seem to give at least 50% more run time than the standard Sony battery, as it should. All other features on my notebook seem to still be working as before.
So far as I can tell, that ISBMgr file had just 3 purposes; to use up system memory, to make your notebook run slower, and to force you to buy expensive Sony batteries. I've found no other purpose for it.
I'm pretty pissed that Sony would stoop to this. Anyway I just want to let you know how to get a generic OEM low cost battery to work on your Sony notebook. And even if you don't get an OEM spare battery, I'd suggest removing the ISBMgr file anyway. I also removed two other Sony files from my startup; "surveysa" (either it's spyware, or it's for registering, but I already registered and it's still there), and "VAIOUpdt" (for checking for new drivers, but you could go there on your own an save memory).
Problem with a lower cost battery
