Old Hp laptop urgent question Please

Sir Travis D

I posted this on another forum, but it didn't go so well. Here's my situation. I have a laptop from 1988, an hp vectra ls/12. When I start it, well. Here is the copy from my other post.

I just found an old hp vectra ls/12 from 1988.

http://www.hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=220

It has been in the basement for years, and I assume it has not been touched for over 5 years. It was my dads. When I plugged it in, it started and had errors. My dad has apparently known about this but he could not fix it. I will start it again and read what happens.

I turn it on. "error: bad configuration information found in cmos!"
It makes beeping/humming noises that repeat. like da daaaa da daaaa for a while, then it stops and starts again. It is juts paused right now. I do escape
"error: incorrect video configuration - please run SETUP!"
I do escape. The screen is lit but blank. The ac is plugged in, I think the battery is dead. I have no idea what operating system it has. I have a blank floppy disk here. It has a 3 inch floppy drive.

___now, I found the following out. I wait for it to "start", and I do escape to get to this command prompt thing. I do "config". I get to "Hardware Setup/Configuration Program." The Date is 01/01/1988. After an hour, I turned it off, and it got reset from 00:50:00 to 00:00:00. In the "Hard disk drive" area, It is set at "not present" It gives me 50 choices of hard drives, and I don't know what to pick. If I choose the right one, will it let me boot to dos or whatever it has?

just to let ya know i wont be able to post forabout 15 hours

Sharedoc · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:41 pm Post subject:

Propably CMOS battery has drained empty. Therefore CMOS settings and the clock have disappeared.

You need to seek the CMOS battery and replace it.

Sir Travis D · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject:

Ok, so if I do find a cmos battery, do they all work? I need to find one for a 1988 laptop so will it be hard?

Also, It doesn't know what kind of hard drive is inside it. I can choose 50 choices. If I do the right one, will it work ok?

Sharedoc · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject:

If you find the bios battery, try to get a similar from watch repair shop.

I am not sure if you are really missing the hard drive. Error message may be due to CMOS not being able to store data.