Thinkpads Forum

About 3 years ago I wiped the h/d & installed XP Pro. & used
'Software Installer' to automatically download & install all the
necessary drivers for my machine (T21 2647-8AG) with no probems.
I now want to do the same again to remove all the 'crud' I've
gathered but can't find the 'Software Installer'. It appears it's been replaced with 'Software Update', but it doesn't seem to support the
T21, only T23 or higher!! As I haven't a clue as to what Thinkpad
drivers, utilities etc. are required, or what order to install them manually if I could obtain a specific list, I would be glad of any help
before I committing to wiping the disc.

Go to lenovo's Support & downloads and type in your 7 character product number (machine type and model), click on "Downloads and drivers" afterwards.

Lenovo has removed IBM's Software Installer from it's website, atleast so far it is how it looks, go here, enter "uploader" as the password to download the Software Installer and .txt file. Luckily it was still available on one of the IBM's ftp, the last time I checked.

If you encounter any problems after installation then I encourage you to look into this thread or search the forum.

Thank you for the prompt reply, I followed your link & downloaded
Software Installer which is ver: 4.0.100.1124 but when I looked at the text file it doesn't seem to support the T21 only T23 & on (T30 etc.) It is the same with System Support, T23 but not T21!! It looks
as if I will have to download the drivers etc. individually, but which ones? I have no IBM discs to load the original drivers onto the machine. When I first installed XP, Software Installer scanned the
laptop, downloaded & installed all the necessary bits without any
Knowledge required on my part!! Any more help would be welcomed.

Look into \DRIVERS or \IBMTOOLS of your primary HDD, you can find almost all drivers and softwares installed on your machine there. Alternatively as I mentioned before please go to lenovo's Support & downloads and type in your 7 character product number (machine type and model) and click on "Downloads and drivers" afterwards, you should be able to find all available, latest softwares, drivers, tools and utilities for your machine there too, however you would need to manually download and install them, which is fairly very easy.

Third option depends on your pure luck, i.e. to track down a Restore disk for T21, if it ever existed. That will allow you to : download & install all the necessary bits without any
Knowledge required on your part!!. You can try requesting it from someone in the Marketplace. Two or more of the Mods here have (had) quite a few number of T2X machines.