Zenith Z-Note 425 Lnc Battery Charging Issue

[FRParker]

My friends gave me the laptop model mentioned above and said it needed a look over.  It didn't have a charger, so I had to order one (output requirements are 15.5v @ 1.3A).  I found that the CMOS battery had long since corroded, affecting five traces on the underside of the motherboard (which I have since bridged with wire, checking to make sure there were no shorts created while I was working on it).

This is not the main issue though.  I removed the old CMOS battery, and have ordered a new one, which is in the mail.  The charger came today, so I decided to do a little open case test run to see what would happen.  I pressed the power button, and nothing happened.  The HDD didn't spin up, I didn't even see a flicker on the screen.  I left the charger plugged in, only to come back later and see that the battery charging light turned from amber to red.

I am 99.9% sure this means there is a problem, but with what, I don't know.  Could it be that the main battery pack is dead, or is this related to the absence of a CMOS battery?

Thanks,
Forrest