An interesting development. I took out the battery, left the laptop plugged in to the charger, and let it sit for 3 days, as I got tired of dealing with it.  Turned it on (with battery out) and the flashing amber/white battery indicator did not flash and was turned off.  Was behaving normally.  Powered down the system, inserted the battery, connected the AC power adapter, and turned on the laptop.  Again, no flashing battery LED and the system behaves normally. (well except for the USB being dead problem but thats another discussion).  Appears the system healed itself. Hmmmm, I find the 'static charge bleedoff' explanation that I've come across in other posting as a bit of a reach as I've had the laptop powered down overnight, a good 10-12 hrs and it did not heal itself.  So scratching my head over this one. Still going to get a MB for the future. J  
With the battery only connected (showing 80% charge), the AC adapter not plugged into the laptop,  the battery indicator blinks 1 white-1amber and keeps repeating. With the AC adapter connected (battery removed), the battery indicator blinks 1 white-1amber and keeps repeating. With both AC adapter plugged in and battery inserted, the battery indicator blinks 1 white-1amber and keeps repeating. Removed AC adapter and battery, held down the power button for 30 seconds, same behavior. Did windows diagnostic tests, and no problems detected. Am scratching my head bit... Problem? and fixes? Thanks
Battery indicator flashing 1 white, 1 amber. Diagnosis?