won't run on battery

[undergroundryan]

Sounds to me like your battery is toast. Will the system start from powered off on just the battery? If so, how long does it last?

No, unfortunately without the ac power cord the laptop is currently useless. When it is plugged into ac, it recognizes when I plug and unplug the battery with the little amber battery comming on....which shortly goes back off. I do not think the battery is toast because it worked before I upgraded to XP, but I am not going to rule that out. I will check out the battery service thing and get back to you. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. Could I check the battery with a multi-meter?