THAT part sounds like power/power protection problems... Try removing the battery and running on 110 power only. If the battery is failing, it can cause a panic-kill like you are describing... If that doesn't fix it, see if you can borrow a compatible power supply to use for testing - Yours may be failing, or may have a near break in the cabling that will cause power loss if not perfectly aligned...
If the power plug socket in the computer is all wobbly, that is another place where laptops often fail - that connection takes a lot of abuse. If that socket is bad, it is usually not worth fixing, although that depends upon the laptop - some are replaceable.
Currently, if I try to start the machine it may or may not boot up. It can take anywhere from 2 minutes to two hours.
That sounds like a hammered hard drive, or an horribly infested machine... Try removing the hard drive entirely and booting from the DVD with a live Linux CD or something. If it runs nice from the CD, then either the drive is failing, and should be tested for such... or needs dis-infected, restored, or some other software problem.
If it is still having problems with the hard drive out and running from the DVD, then switch around - put the hard drive back and remove the DVD drive and see if it works better then... If so, the DVD drive is faulty and needs to be replaced... technically, it would be better to use a known-good hard drive with a rudimentary system on it, but I don't suppose you have that as such just laying around.
My first issues happened about a year after I bought it, when the keyboard/touchpad died and I resigned myself to using a USB keyboard and mouse.
It might be a good idea to disconnect or remove the faulty KB and mouse, as they could be causing trouble too - And if you get the thing running decently, a new KB is going to be around 15 bucks, and a new mouse pad cheaper than that.
I know that all sounds like a lot of gymnastics, but a decent service tech should be able to diagnose the problem in well under an hour of bench time. It may well be a motherboard or processor issue, but if that is the case, the thing is a frisbee anyway : ) So all these ancillary issues can be eliminated before deciding it is doomed to the junk pile. Good luck.
Thanks for your feed back.
Sadly, this HP laptop, has issues with it’s battery and keyboard, according to help sites.
The solution is to remove the battery...and put it back.
That actually worked, until it became so frequent that I got a USD Keyboard.
It won’t run without the battery in place.
It won’t run on the battery alone.
I do think, after cleaning up a boat load of programs that it is a power issue.
Did I mention that I HATE VISTA ?
I’ve taken the battery out and cleaned the contacts.
Heat and power is my gut, but the OS seems to be complicating my efforts to find a solution.
It’s a “Strange disposition” that I find myself in.