Hi cfc1234,
Welcome to the HP Support Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.
I see you are having some issues getting the notebook to boot up. When it does boot up with the DVD do you notice if the notebook is running hot at all? I would recommend doing a Repair using the installation DVD. This third-party link will show you how. The link has several different methods of reaching the repair but you will want to use Method 4. You mentioned the Caps Lock light, was it blinking? Do you recall how often it blinked? This blink code can help determine what is causing the problem. As for the battery error message you were getting I recommend that you Test and Calibrate the Battery to make sure that it working correctly.
Thank you,