Thinkpad T20 - Hardrive? Display? Who knows!

Question

Hello,
The model of the computer in question is a Thinkpad T20 type 2647 41u.
The issue:
Awhile ago the computer starting bogging down severly ( there may have been more issues, it was awhile ago). The actions I took were to format the computer, and reinstall the OS. The format completed, however the OS failed to install.
Now I am revisiting the issue to try to revive this laptop.
Steps/Notes of actions fo far:
- notebook starts up, and will enter bios, is bios the hardrive, cd-rom etc are recognized with their proper names.
- if you let it boot (without a windows disk in the cd-rom) from the hardrive the message, the Managed PC Boot Agent launches, displays some text, then the error: 'PXE-E61: Media failure, check cable' is displayed.
-if you boot from an install disk, the setup screen will display, however when you press enter to continue, the screen goes black (still backlit) and stays there.
-note: i tried removing the harddrive and putting it into another laptop, ran the windows 2000 install, and the setup will go PAST the freeze point. But, a few steps later, when you select the drive to partition, or place the OS on, the text 'Cannot select this drive' is displayed. Pressing enter anyway yields a blue error screen.
-note: i tried to run the DOS PC Doctor, but nothing launched ( not sure if this model is capable?)
That is essentially the summary of the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated. I can not determine if its the harddrive, or display or something else.
Thank you to anyone with comments!

Answer 1

Hi George,
Thanks for the warm welcome!
Unfortunately I have no way to create a floppy disk. I have, however, started to search for a method to create a bootable CD which would be capable of launching the DOS PC Doctor. I'm sure this is possible. If you have any tips or links for doing so, please let me know!
In the mean time, I have tried a couple other things. I ran the Hitatchi Drive Fitness Test tool for the HDD, however it turned back a couple errors.
1. When testing, the drive is scanned, and this comes up: Problem detected on a non Hitatchi disk drive, please contact your HDD supplier for additional support. Error code = 0x70 -> which translates to (via User Manual of test): 'A general hard disk drive problem was encountered. You can run the 'Erase Disk' utility. If a subsequent test fails again, the drive is defective and should be replaced.'
2. So I run the Erase utility and get: You are trying to test a non HGST Hard Disk Drive. This program is only designed to work with HGST hard drives.
   - ( in regards to 1, the drive is definately hitachi, and the proper tool is being used - checked a few times)
I am currently running DBAN (www.dban.org) in an attempt to completely erase the drive. Could this be a potential soltuion (ie: remove any corrupt data created when the OS failed to install wayback?). Anyway, this program is taking a ridiculously long time, hovering around 50,000 b/s on a 12 gig drive.
Actually, the wipe kept failing due to a supposed 'no more memory' error. I dont know if this is the computer or a problem with the program.. so I am currently wiping the drive in another laptop.
About the PCI card, i will check that - would you reccommend abandoning the wipe to try this install?
Thanks!
edit: added / fixed typo