Omnibook XE3-GC - bios reset

So I recently got this really old hp laptop and when I turn it on, it hangs on post and when I press f2, it does the entering setup and does nothing, so after a couple of times turning it on, I am greeted with error 0280 previous boot incomplete default configuration used. After that the screen cuts off until I press a key and comes back on and still displays that, I hit f1 to continue and it says operating system not found and then I hit f2 and it wants a password. This laptop hasn't been powered on for years and the original owner which is my Dad, no longer remembers the password, I even disassembled it only to find that the cmos battery is soldered. I've been researching, trying numerous things and they don't help at all and I can't boot to cd or floppy to see if I can get rid of password but it seems my only option is to yank the cmos battery and put it back in. Any suggestions? I'm also greeted with 2 beeps when it does the 0280 error.