[H] Bad battery in laptop causing lockups

[Thane Sherrington]

I appear to have a laptop that locks up when the battery (which 
appears to be refusing to charge up) is in the machine.  If I remove 
the battery, the laptop comes back to life, and if I boot without the 
battery installed, there's no lockup at all.)  Is it possible a bad 
battery could do this?

T