one thing I did do that may be related to the seemingly spontaneous user account switch. I did this: Start > Run, then type CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2. On the dialog box, deselect "users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." Maybe that caused it to go to the Administrator account by...

Turns out it's a user account issue. I don't know what happened, but it created two admin accounts, one called administrator, and the other with my name, which it what I put in at setup. It looks as though the boot-up that was freaking me out was the one that was coming up as administrator, rather t...

Thanks again, GomJabbar.

I will poke around on this later today, following your recommendations, and report results.

As of right now, it seemed to hold my last changes (after most recent shut down and reboot). But yeah, I've got to get to the bottom of it.

Thanks.

new problem!: I did a fresh install from the Product Recovery disks, tweaked the heck out of it, made all my favorite settings, added a bunch of software. Then, I restarted it later and nearly all my setting changes that I had made were gone! i.e., back to out-of-the-box (nearly, but not completely)...

Thanks again, GomJabbar. I plan to get the TP tweaked just the way I want then run Rescue and Recovery to a USB hard drive. I'll also create the extra set of Product Recovery disks. Then nothing bad will ever happen to me again!

Thanks very much, GomJabbar. That did the trick! I just wasn't clueing in to that at all. So now I'm back to square one and re-setting up all my stuff. I know this has been dealt with before, and I see lots of related threads, but there are a couple of things about rescue and recovery that aren't cl...

Why not used? You sent them a used part. They gave you a used part back. But at least you know it is guaranteed to work! :) That's how most exchanges work. Well, actually, they gave me a brand-new part 18 months ago that didn't live up to anyone's lifetime expectations--i.e., it was faulty. And I d...

I wonder if there's any "used" data still on that drive :D Might be interesting to get a data recovery program and check it out... That would be interesting. I would hope, though, that they'd scrub 'em pretty darn clean though before sending them out to customers. Because, you know, I have to send ...

Thanks, Brent. Guess I missed that fine print on the extended service contract. It's a shabby world and getting shabbier, I'm afraid. Been that way for a long time, my friend. It usually isn't in fine print, though...Almost every company I know of has done that ever since I can remember. You mean c...

Yup, there's no CD in the drive.

OK, I feel like a real dunce with this question, but I've never done this before. I just put a new HDD in my T41. Old one crapped out earlier this week. I've got my rescue and recovery, and product recovery disks. I put in the R&R disk, it did its thing. I then chose to restore factory contents, and...

Thanks, Brent.

Guess I missed that fine print on the extended service contract. It's a shabby world and getting shabbier, I'm afraid.

Hi: I just had my first experience with a hard drive crash. It was in my T42, which is about 18 months old. Anyway, it was still under extended warranty, and they sent me a replacement HDD, no questions asked. But I noticed the replacement is marked as a "serviceable used part." My question: Is it c...

Excellent! Thanks much for the quick replies.

Dutch

Hi: I'd appreciate a bit of advice. I am purchasing a T43 for my daughter's high school graduation present. I currently use a T42 myself. In almost every respect, the T43 I'm looking at will be a bump up, spec-wise. But the graphics card looks to be of lower specs, but I'm ignorant about graphics ca...

Great links, RonS. Very helpful.

Thanks for posting.


D

Ah! Super! And pretty cheap, too...my favorite! So this will perform just as if it were a built-in FW connector, in terms of speed, etc.? As for the powering issue, I'm assuming any hardware I'd connect (audio interfaces, mainly) would come with their own power supplies, so I don't think it would be...

Hi All:

My apologies if this has already been covered, but some fast searching of the forum didn't reveal the answer.

An easy (I hope) question: Is it possible to retrofit a T42 with a FireWire port? via a PCMCIA card or whatnot?

THANKS much,
Dutch

I know Bill charges for it; my point was that if he is capable of doing it, IBM would certainly be able to do it themselves--and should. I suppose it would result in tossing out too many LCDs, though. They wanted me to pay shipping back to them (it shipped free to me) but I politely insisted that it...

I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles to learn what I would do about my new T42 with the eternally lit green pixel. :) After playing around with it over the weekend, I decided it was bothering me enough to return the machine. They're going to send me another one. It was just bugging m...

My brand-new T42 (a couple days old) looks the same. I don't think it's cause for concern.

Izy_tek, I tried the button-pushing remedy, but to no avail. It was worth a shot, though.
Thanks again all, for the input.

D

Wow, thanks for all the thoughts, everyone. It's a bittersweet day, to be sure. I think I will take Kenn's recommendation and use the machine for a week or so before making the decision whether or not to return it. I had no idea the LCD screens were such a crapshoot, pixel-wise. I've had two employe...

I just took delivery of a T42 about an hour ago, and there appears to be one dead pixel. Not in the dead center of the screen, but nearly. It's green, and is very evident on dark screens but just about invisible on white. I'm writing most of the time, so I work on white backgrounds primarily. My fir...

Hi. I just (twenty minutes ago) took delivery of a new T42. There's one persistent little green dot showing on screen. Very evident on dark background, not on white. Is there a way to tell if that's just one pixel or a group of pixels?

THANKS

newsflash:
I updated the firmware for my router, rebooted all, and I've been enjoying a stable internet connection now for half an hour or so. Maybe that was the final piece... fingers crossed and knocking on wood in Cinci.

thx,
Dutch

Well, I did the restore and updated to Access Connections 3.7. I didn't update the driver because the one I have is the latest. At first, I wasn't getting a connection at all. Finally, tonight, I thought of changing the WEP key (i.e., set up a new one). I did that, and I released and renewed the DHC...

oop, you're right--I gave you the wired card. The T41's wireless is Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI adapter. I will follow your instrux, JD (tonight/tomorrow), and report back. Two questions: 1) given the installing and unstalling that went on yesterday (lots of files), and the fact that I'v...

Hi JD. Thanks for the info. My T41's internal card is an Intel Pro/1000 MT. That machine is owned by my employer, and at the time I got it, I worked with our IT dept to try to overcome the problems (I work in my home). They were less helpful than the IBM support :) and I eventually figured out by ex...

I know the XP wireless problem has been covered before, but I'm in the midst of trying to solve mine. Just received my new R51 yesterday. Everything is fine except the wireless connection to my linksys wlan. I also own a T41 whose internal card never did work right with my wlan, but which runs fine ...