chip car key was put in ignition- car lights came on,attempted to start -nothing

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We just bought it & it was running great. It has a new battery, but the previous owner said that he had to put a new battery in about every year. Wondering if there is a short somewhere? We only have one key, so had one cut a Lowes....duh - didn't realize that it was not a chip key....Put it in ignition once - didn't work, returned it & then back to using the only key that we have. The original key worked great for two days. Now nothing. Last night, put the chip car key in ignition, lights briefly came on, it made a milisecond attempt to start, then nothing at all. No lights, no sound, nothing.