Compaq laptop brought back to life

[cjsebes]

A couple of years ago, I picked up this BIOS-password-locked Compaq laptop. To remove the password, I would have to take apart the laptop and remove the CMOS battery for a period of time. After the laptop sat for MONTHS, I found a video on where to locate the battery and took out my handy screwdriver set. Once I disconnected the battery, I let the computer sit overnight.

The next day, I reconnected and reassembled. To my surprise, it fired right up. It took a good amount of research as I am mostly a Mac guy and have very little experience with Pentium era computers, but I figured out how to get it to boot. It kept favoring the floppy drive so I assumed that's where I should start. I found a website with boot floppy images and was able to make one using a much newer PC laptop and a USB floppy drive.

Once booted, I was able to start a Windows 98 install from CD. Everything seemed to go super easily. The kicker was when I installed a PCMCIA Ethernet card that Windows 98 immediately saw and installed drivers for it. Within a couple of minutes, I had the laptop online! Amazing! Not even my PowerBook 1400c could do that. It wants a driver!

Now to find some old games to noodle around with. What games would you play on a 150 MHz Pentium I laptop?

 

[SteveHere]

Does your Compaq computer have an Active Matrix screen, or a passive screen? With passive screens, you'll have some screen lag, but even then the "Microsoft Arcade" Series is great fun, instant nostalgia from when it first came out in the '90s.

 

[cjsebes]

It's pretty old-school and drifty, for lack of better terms. I get a lot of smearing and trails. I definitely adds to the nostalgia of the piece. I'll check out the Microsoft Arcade. I've been primarily a Mac guy but I don't discriminate. Tech is tech!

 

[3lectr1c]

Out of curiosity, what type of battery was the CMOS battery? A lot of laptops of the time used NiMH varta packs that leak. Not sure about Compaq, but Toshiba, Dell, IBM and Apple all did.

 

[rjkucia]

I think I had a very similar hand-me-down one of these when I was a kid - is this an Armada? Although mine might have been PII.

 

[SteveHere]

Out of curiosity, what type of battery was the CMOS battery? A lot of laptops of the time used NiMH varta packs that leak. Not sure about Compaq, but Toshiba, Dell, IBM and Apple all did.

I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ve been inside of mine yet. I do think it’s a rechargable as it will hold the time for a couple of week if I plug it in and charge for a while. I really shoulld get in there and have a look at this, will add that to my “To Do” list for this machine.

 

[3lectr1c]

rechargeables at the time were often NiMH, and they will absolutely leak. Haven't heard of them being in Compaqs, but most other brands have used them at the time.

 

[cjsebes]

Out of curiosity, what type of battery was the CMOS battery? A lot of laptops of the time used NiMH varta packs that leak. Not sure about Compaq, but Toshiba, Dell, IBM and Apple all did.

If I remember correctly, it was two button type batteries next to each other in a "cocoon" of sorts. It was wired to the motherboard with a small connector. I should've taken a picture of it, but it was late and I just wanted to get it unplugged so I could test it in the morning.

 

[3lectr1c]

Was it green?