HP Issues Worldwide Laptop Battery Recall Over Fire Hazard Concerns

It'south a bad time to be a computer possessor, or for that matter, to own whatever smartphone, use a cloud server or data center. With the worldwide tech panic caused by Meltdown and Spectre, companies are already scrambling to make user devices secure and safety.

To add to this woe, HP has has to issue a recall for some batteries used in laptops and workstation models. The company issued a global remember for batteries fitted within sure models sold in the by 2 years due to an overheating problem. HP's new initiative- HP Notebook Computer and Mobile Workstation Bombardment Rubber Recall and Replacement Program- has been put into effect afterwards it was accounted necessary by regulatory agencies to supersede the batteries for the safety of users.

The batteries which HP seeks to replace accept an overheating issue, which poses the risk of a fire hazard. The hazard-prone batteries were shipped with certain notebook/mobile workstation models and were also sold as standalone accessories between Dec 2015 and December 2017 through authorized HP stores and service providers.

HP has also revealed that since many of the affected batteries were shipped as internalized device components, they are not user replaceable. For such devices, HP is offering bombardment replacement services past an authorized technician at no additional cost. In order to comprise the risks, HP is rolling out a BIOS update– a special firmware which is used to perform hardware initialization during the device boot process- in order to put the bombardment in 'Battery Rubber Style'.

Once the aforementioned way is activated, the battery will be discharged and will stop charging to minimize the possibility of overheating, and with information technology, a potential fire hazard. According to the Us' Consumer Production Safety Commission, eight instances of battery packs overheating/melting/charring have been reported so far, and one of them involved a user suffering first degree burns to the mitt.

Listed below are the devices that are equipped with the hazard-decumbent batteries:

Moreover, HP as well fabricated available a software tool called 'Battery Program Validation Utility' which can be downloaded by all users to check whether their laptop or mobile workstation is fitted with a hazard-prone battery. I installed the tool and checked the bombardment prophylactic status of my HP laptop. The whole process took less than a minute and I highly recommended you do the aforementioned, if y'all own an HP laptop/mobile workstation.