Finally got a working power supply for the old laptop a friend gave me.
Didn't notice that the clock was way off. Or rather the *date* was way off (sometime in March) had to go several rounds with Windows update and various suggested fixes before the update would "take".
All because Windows doesn't think it needs to check the time with a time server after connecting to the net. (yes, Windows *will* synch up with a time server. Every few *months*!!!)