My laptop both does and doesn't recognize the battery? Is this a bad sign?

I have a Lenovo X230T with Windows 7 Pro. Recently, the laptop quit recognizing the battery. The battery is working fine, but the battery icon is blank and when I point my mouse over it, I see "battery not installed." It says this whether the laptop is plugged in or unplugged. I've tried messing with the battery settings to no avail. Is this a bad sign that more things will start going wrong soon? I was hoping to wait for Windows 9 before buying another laptop.

It could be the battery or it could be the connection between the battery and the laptop. Look at this connection on both the battery and the laptop and see if there's any debris that may be causing a problem. I'm assuming that the charger is not the problem because you did not mention any problem here.

How old is the laptop? If it is over 2 years old, I would lean towards the battery being the problem. Look for a part # on the battery and Google it to see what a replacement would cost. As long as there are no major problems with the laptop, replace the battery.