Hi, I have here an Acer Aspire 3000 (Windows XP SP3) which freezes on the login screen, the cursor keeps flashing but all input sources (keyboard/mouse/touchpad) become disabled. Weird enough, the battery seems to be the culprit.
When the battery is detached from the machine (thus only the mains), it works fine, and does not freeze. Trying to boot it with the battery power alone seems not to work, also it doesn't seem to recharge.
Explanation:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t141435-acer_aspire_3000_keyboard_failing
They also conclude it's the battery that's causing it. Yet there are no follow-up reactions whether or not this problem can be fixed by replacing the battery.
I don't know if buying a new battery will fix this problem, or that the laptop would break the new battery as well.
Any thoughts on this? Or things I could test to make sure the battery is really dead?