Toshiba Satellite Pro 490cdt power-off on cd read

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

i found an ancient laptop in my basement last night. the battery is no
good, there is solder on the prongs from when it was last used
(mid-late 90's) showing problems with it then. it does boot up if
plugged in to the wall via a 15v ac adapter, but if there is a cd in
the cd-rom drive, the LCD screen will light up with the toshiba logo
for a moment but then power-off immediatly. if you boot into windows
(95, by the way) without a cd in the drive and then insert one, the
laptop will immediatly power-off.
the screws are all stripped so i cannot find a way inside short of
prying it apart (which i don't think i'm going to do). everything else
seems in working order. the computer will not power-off if a device is
inserted into one of the drive bays.

i have no experience with laptops, but a good amount with desktop pcs.
any help is appreciated.
matt ross