big problems with my old thinkpad - long post, sorry!

[mark_w]

Edited by Moderator: Don't do that again.

*i posted this in the 'legacy' section too because i'm not sure which section it should be in, sorry for a double post like this, can the moderators please remove the incorrect one?*

hello there, just registered, hope you guys can help me.
i have an old 380xd which has been pretty good over the years, but i think i have killed it! please read on -
i was on the web a couple of nights ago [e bay actually], when the text changed font and any pictures became white boxes with the red X, this happens on e bay sometimes, i usually go to another site, then back and it clears itself. i went to my favourites menu and all the icons were blank, i clicked on any of them to get an error message about the shortcuts not existing?
odd stuff does happen so i thought i would shut the machine down and start again. unfortunately, it went through most of it's start-up procedure then stopped at the stage where it puts icons and a start menu on the desktop with an error message saying it had performed an illegal operation, i asked for details and it said there had been an error in windows.exe and something about stackdumps[?].
i tried this a couple more times to no avail. i put it into safe mode and tested a few things out, all seemed ok. i intentionally crashed it to let scandisk have a go, it too found nothing. tried starting it with a windows 98 cd in, didn't help.
if only i had stopped there....
i remembered i had made a norton systemworks rescue floppy disc for the old desktop machine so thought i would try that. it DID warn me that seeing as it had been made for another machine it may mess mine up, unfortunately, it DID mess it up.

when i switch on now, i get nothing, blank screen, it doesn't go through it's checks, doesn't count up it's memory, the hard disk light just stays on and the fan runs. starting it up holding 'del' down doesn't do anything.
a guy here at work thinks the rescue disk has overwritten something in the CMOS?

please please give me some ideas, please explain it to me like you're explaining it to your grandma, i don't know much about computers but can fix anything given guidance.
thanks in advance.

[GomJabbar]

Try removing the main battery, then see if it will boot.

EDIT: I am not personally familiar with the 380XD, but on the 600E there is a reset switch for when the microcode is in a hung state. Check the Hardware Maintenance Manual for your model to see if it has this switch, and to find it's location (it may not be immediately obvious).

380XD Hardware Maintenance Manual

[mark_w]

thanks for the link, had a quick look but it's not obvious, will read it again.

[SeanM]

I think the 380XD had a recessed blue button on the bottom, I believe it was red on earlier models.