Thinkpads Forum

Getting a new thinkpad. Here's what I want to do. Help me with step 6... I have no idea what to do.

1) Create recovery & restore cd's.
2) Wipe entire HD. (80gig)
3) Make 3 partitions:
disk0s1: Windows (20gig)
disk0s2: Mac OS X86 (10gig)
disk0s3: Data (50gig)
4) Install Windows & OSX86
5) Install bootloader etc.
6) Now... how do I go about installing all the IBM related software / drivers in Windows. Help!

Thanks in advance!
autologic

Go to the ibm site and download the software installer program. That makes it pretty easy to get the updated software for your model.

Backup the IBMTOOLS folder to a CD or DVD. You will need it if you want to reinstall certain apps like WinDVD, RecNow, etc. You can download the app updates at the IBM site, but not the original apps.

You might as well backup the DRIVERS folder as well. The software installer will go and find the latest updates, but you may need the wireless card/network drivers to connect to the internet.

You can save yourself some trouble ... at step two, just get a partition program, and shrink your IBM_PRELOAD partition to 20 or so (i'd make a wee bit bigger), then load the others. This'll save you the trouble of trying to make a "IBM Windows" disc from scratch.

Alternately, Kyocera's right, backup up c:\driver, \ibmtools, \support\, \swtools, then install Software Installer and let it find all those things and install them. If you do the Software Installer update prior to step 2 (after 1), you can backup those folders and you'll have the latest-greatest to install after your partitioning/wiping.

Either way, the few gig that the IBM software folders take up, though a PITA to keep on there, makes Software Installer run smoothly. Rather than moving them on and off, I just leave them on my 25 gb C:\ partition, and installed all new programs onto a p:\, and all user profiles to a U:\ partition (both these keep the "churn" on c: to a minimum).