Old MacBook just sits on blank desktop background

My mom has an early 2000 model MacBook that was going strong until a few days ago. It will let her log in, but then just sits on the blank desktop background. Nothing else comes up. The original startup disk is long gone. She needs a new battery and has to have it plugged in to use it. I am not sure if that would have anything to do with it. Any ideas of what to do?

2000? It's an iBook, probably a G4.
You could try Resetting the PRAM
Unfortunately, without the original install discs, there's no way to repair the startup disk if necessary.
I have removed the battery from my iBook G4 and it still runs fine.

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Old MacBook just sits on blank desktop background

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