Battery suddenly went "not available"

[tameril]

I am having some strange problems with my fe-21m battery. One night I left my vaio turned on to download some huge update from everquest 2 (reading all the expansions after clean install). On the next morning my battery was no more available. This is what showed in windows when I check for battery life remaining. Unplugging the laptop from the power-grid, results in it shutting down, practically as indeed no battery is present.
It seems like the battery is dead, but I purchased my vaio an year and a half ago and most batteries run 2-3 years before diying. Also before dissapearing, the battery (when fully charged) could last for and hour and a bit.
I went to the shop, where I got the vaio from, but they said the battery is surely dead and this is not part of the warranty, so they refused to even look further into the problem.
I have prepaired my card to get a new one from sony-shop (funny enough no laptop batteries are being imported here in Bulgaria by sony center or retailers), but before giving away the sum for a new battery + shipping, is there some way to check if it is the battery indeed.

[Thalamus.]

is there some way to check if it is the battery indeed.

Hi tameril,

A simple way to check if this is a battery or possible hardware problem is to take your Vaio to a local stockist and ask if you can try another battery in your Vaio..

[tameril]

I will try to do this, but might prove a bit of a problem, since the only batteries available would be from a vaio on stock...which won't be possible to use.
I found on a website, that I should try pulling the battery out while the pc is on and plugged in. If when i put it back in, the battery light flashes even for a bit, it is the battery, otherwise it is hardware problem. There was no sign at all from the battery indicator, when I tried.
Also is it true, that you could revive a dead battery by freezing it?

Anyway will try and convince the store I bought the laptop from to test with another battery...

[Thalamus.]

Also is it true, that you could revive a dead battery by freezing it?   

I've not heard or tried doing that before..

There was no sign at all from the battery indicator, when I tried. Anyway will try and convince the store I bought the laptop from to test with another battery...

At a guess I would suspect the battery rather than a hardware problem, hopefully you can check this before purchasing a replacement..