I've been given a Compaq Armada E500 laptop ...

... but the keyboard is missing half the keys. :cry
No big deal as google finds lots to replace it.

A couple of questions:

Sticker on bottom of the case shows Windows 2000 Professional 1-2 CPU (?) and has the genuine MS product key. Anyone out there willing to part with a genuine MS OS CD for a small fee, and postage.

It belonged to a business and has a password on the 10gig hard drive. I am not interested in the info on the hard drive but wish to reformat it.

If I plug the hard drive into an external 2½" case and connect to another PC, will I be able to re-format over existing data, password protected or not?

Next, screen will not stay up. It just flops to a fully laid down position. How do I fix this. I have downloaded 2 manuals, just now, and haven't printed them yet.

Lastly, Battery appears to work. I had it on charge for about 10 hours last night. Now, around 8 hours later, a green LED flashes every 2-3 seconds when disconnected from power. Can anyone throw any light on this happening.

I will print out the manuals later today, but if you can answer any of the above it will be appreciated. Bazza

 

>> Check eBay for a Win2k CD; should be pretty cheap (less than $30 w/o the COA which you already have). Also a good source for replacement keyboards.
>> Putting the HD in an external enclosure to reformat will work fine. I've done it a bazillion times w/o any problems.
>> The 'floppy' screen can be a problem. A friend fixed an older Gateway using electrical tape. He wrapped tape around the "axle" of the LCD assembly and put the whole display assembly back together and it worked. I guess the layer of tape provided some resistance somewhere and prevented the 'floppy LCD syndrome'. This may or may not work in your scenario.
>> The other things I can't be of much help with, but the manuals should shed some light on the battery LED's flashing....
Good Luck!

hd2k

 

Thanks for all the answers, hd2k. Putting some tape around the "axle" is a good idea. Must print out the manuals today. Bazza

 

Donor is drip feeding all the components to me.

First the laptop. :cool
Second the Power Adapter.
Third the external 4 port Ethernet Hub, yesterday.
What next?

Now if only he could supply the password.

A friendly MG member has posted an original W2k pro CD to me ,from the USA.
Should get here in a few days. Thanks ed

Bazza

 

W2k OS arrived yesterday from the USA (Thanks Ed, calendar on its' way to you).

Using Ultimate Boot CD, I ran one of the options to overwrite the data twice. Then installed the W2K OS, with the key supplied and all went well. Pulled the RAM out of my old Gateway laptop, and installed into the Armada E500.

Now it has 256 megs, instead of the original 128 megs. :cool I'm loading my "must have favourite" software onto it gradually. Also I have a query out to a seller of a replacement keyboard going reasonably cheap on eBay.com.au.
Waiting for his reply.

Have printed out selected pages of 1 manual I downloaded. Haven't tackled the other manual as yet. Hope it is a Service manual as I still need to fix up the "floppy" monitor problem, and need dis-assembly instructions.

Actually this model Compaq is light years ahead of what is on the market nowadays, in funtionality. By using different options available, you could have up to 3 batteries, or 2 hard drives installed. It came with all the ports and Floppy and CD as well.

If you can pick one up cheap, it may be a good second laptop to pass down to the family user getting started, or to Nan and Pop wanting to get on the Net. Bazza
Bazza