I had 3 of them in the span of 2 weeks last winter doing that. 2 of them I 
needed to change the CMos battery, the HP, I did the reset like you said and 
could not make it do it again no matter what I did so that person got a low 
bill and the computer back and it's still running great from what I hear. I 
forget what the other 2 were, I think one was a Sony and I forget what the 
third one was, it's in my notes though in case I see that computer again. I 
tend to keep notes on customer computers for a little while in case they 
come back. The only ones that come back are the ones people just can't keep 
the Malware off them. I clean them, charge a lot of money and tell them how 
to prevent it and 6 months later, it's back on my bench for the same thing 
and another large bill.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2015 12:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Windows XP Logging Computer Issue Solved, at least for now

No, it may not be a bios battery issue.  I just got done helping a client 
with a
laptop that had a similar issue.  In that case, the laptop fan came on but 
the
display was blank and notheing loaded.

Taking the battery out, disconnecting the power, and holding down the power
button for fifteen seconds or so is a pretty standard way to reset a 
computer.

If I had to use an XP machine, I'd make damn sure that it has no way to 
connect
to the outside world.  You are asking for trouble now.  Who knows what else
could be accessed with all the unpatched newer security exploits now.  Tom, 
you
are living dangerously if you have anything that could be networked from 
that
machine.

Steve, K8SP

----- Original Message ----- 
From: John Miller
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2015 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: Windows XP Logging Computer Issue Solved, at least for now


Sounds like bios battery to me if that worked. It's replaceable, on a laptop
it's very likely under the keyboard.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tom Behler
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2015 11:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Windows XP Logging Computer Issue Solved, at least for now

Hi, everyone.



Well, it turns out that Albert's suggestion did the trick, at least for now.



I turned off the laptop, took the battery out, and unplugged the DC power
supply connection.  I then let the computer sit for about 15 minutes to make
sure everything was cleared from the machine's memory.



When I plugged things back in and re-booted the machine, things began
working again.



I am not sure this will solve my issue in the long term, since I probably
really do need to think about replacing this old Windows XP logging
computer, but at least I'm up and running again for now.



Thanks to all for such a quick response to my rather desperate plea for help
here.  (LOL)



Tom Behler: KB8TYJ