Dead Horse: Wiping the HDD for clean XP install...

[porkfat]

Hi folks,

Here's to my 1st post! Been perusing the forums, and this seems like a great community to settle into.

Forgive me, I know this has been covered umpteen-billion times, but I recall a couple of posts here and there that led to some confusion. I want to get some things straight one last time before I do all this...

I want to do a clean install of XP on my T41 (2379-XX5, refurb) using UCI-MECH's most EXCELLENT guide. I can't afford a 2nd HD at the moment (poor college kid ), so I need to make the most efficient use of my 40GB HD possible and want to dump the preloaded software. Yes, I've already backed up all personal items, and have a set of IBM Product Recovery CDs (heh, I swindled the IBM rep into sending them for free a while ago...)

Now, correct me if I'm wrong: If I totally wipe my disk with a utility like KillDisk, then I can use the Recovery CDs at any later time (given any repartitions, etc. since) to restore this thing to its original factory state? Do the recovery CDs reformat the whole drive and reinstall the HPA and other IBM preloaded stuff?

Again, this is probably beating a dead horse to some. I've looked through a heap of threads, and again, I do recall atleast a couple of posts which (to my understanding) stated that this was not possible. Some definitive input would be greatly appreciated.

After all is said and done, I hope to have the smoother, quicker XP that others have reported from doing this, and a Linux partition to boot (no pun intended).

[keleko]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong: If I totally wipe my disk with a utility like KillDisk, then I can use the Recovery CDs at any later time (given any repartitions, etc. since) to restore this thing to its original factory state? Do the recovery CDs reformat the whole drive and reinstall the HPA and other IBM preloaded stuff?

Hi,

A fresh install will almost always speed up any system and - in general - is a very good idea. I've done what you describe several times and it always brought my T41p back to its initial factory state with all the IBM preloaded stuff (lacking only the used partition of course). It will take a while until finished but in my opinion is worth it.

If you're lucky, you'll get a Recocery CD set that contains more recent IBM drivers and programs than the ones that were initially installed on your system, as IBM overhauls their recovery CDs from time to time. Hope that helps.

[Kyocera]

porkfat wrote:

Now, correct me if I'm wrong: If I totally wipe my disk with a utility like KillDisk, then I can use the Recovery CDs at any later time (given any repartitions, etc. since) to restore this thing to its original factory state? Do the recovery CDs reformat the whole drive and reinstall the HPA and other IBM preloaded stuff?

Yes. In fact you really don't have to use killdisk as your recovery cd's will reformat the drive for you. It is a very simple process.