Installing "non-IBM" Win XP on T42p

[Chacal]

I'm thinking of buying T42p and as I'm currently working in Germany I would get a German localization (GE WinXP & GE keyboard layout). However I'd prefer having English Win XP on the machine (key stickers don't matter, I don't need them to find correct keys and can thus use whatever layout I want). I already have a licence for English XP from my old machine and I was thinking that I would install that to the new machine.

So the question is: Is it possible (or wise) to wipe the whole disk of T42p and install a "normal" (non-IBM originating) Win XP on the machine? Do I get the necessary drivers and provided software somewhere? Is there something special I should take care on if I decide to start from scratch? If I do this do I somehow "loose" or miss something?

[ian]

I think the only thing not available on the IBM site is the WinDVD software - pretty much all the rest should be available from the download site - though I haven't tried it...

Technically speaking there's no reason why you can't - I'm running an English WinXP Pro with French keyboard layout (and keyboard) and a mix of English and French software - seems to work

[sonyc]

y not? its your comp

[johnson5001]

Yeah, it's ok to do this. The only difference is that you have to manually install your T42 drivers after the Windox installation. But since IBM has the driver matrices page, it's a no brainer to find the drivers.

[Chacal]

OK. Thanks for the info. I'll try it out.

[rhema83]

I think the only thing not available on the IBM site is the WinDVD software - pretty much all the rest should be available from the download site - though I haven't tried it...

Technically speaking there's no reason why you can't - I'm running an English WinXP Pro with French keyboard layout (and keyboard) and a mix of English and French software - seems to work

And the IBM RecordNow! cd-burning software. It's pretty good IMHO.

[Chacal]

OK. I finally got some time to try this and everything went smoothly. For someone thinking of doing it here is the way I did it.

First I thought that I just wipe the disk clean and install fresh Win XP on it, but after that I thought: "what the heck, I have lot's of time, let's try this Rescue & Recovery first". So here we go...

1. At first I created the Rescue & Recovery disks (1 + 6 CDs) using the IBM helper tool.
2. After that I inserted the first disk and rebooted. When the machine booted to the Recovery mode I selected to restore the factory settings. After that it asked all disks one by one and rebooted finally.
3. After reboot it started automatically again the Rescue & Recovery (at this time from the hard disk) and I started to wonder how to get it to boot to Windows. After searching these forums I found out that I need to start the restore process again to get it completely done. So I did that, it spent some half an hour installing stuff and finally rebooted.
4. At this time it rebooted to Windows and started installing software there. Everything was totally automatic and after an hour or so I got the machine exactly in the state I got it from IBM.

So what I learned? R&R works well from CDs. It takes some time, but mostly it is automatic so you can do something else at the same time.


OK. All well. After that positive experiment I wanted to really get down to business and install "normal" retail version of Win XP. Here is how I did that:

1. I downloaded all possible drivers & programs concerning my model from IBM's website using the URL found from the FAQ of this forum.
2. I burned the drivers to a CD.
3. Rebooted the machine and entered BIOS by pressing F1 during the boot.
4. Turned of the pre-desktop hard disk area from BIOS.
5. Inserted the Win XP installation CD and rebooted.
6. In Win XP installation program I deleted all partitions from the HD and created one new big partition having all space. Installed Windows normally on that partition.
7. After normal XP installation inserted the CD on which I had all drivers and copied them to the machine.
8. Started installing drivers one by one and kept going as long as everything I wanted to work was working. (Needed to reboot many many times here...)
9. Downloaded XP SP2 and installed it without any problems.
10. Installed all my applications.

As a result I have now exactly the software I want to have. After IBM installation Windows started up in one and half minutes and now it starts up in well under a minute. I also saved LOTS of disk space by removing unnecessary R&R partition and other IBM software lying around on my HD. So at the end I'm happy I did it. I think the benefits greatly outweigh the time needed to do it.

[RS_003]

OK. I finally got some time to try this and everything went smoothly. For someone thinking of doing it here is the way I did it.

First I thought that I just wipe the disk clean and install fresh Win XP on it, but after that I thought: "what the heck, I have lot's of time, let's try this Rescue & Recovery first". So here we go...

1. At first I created the Rescue & Recovery disks (1 + 6 CDs) using the IBM helper tool.
2. After that I inserted the first disk and rebooted. When the machine booted to the Recovery mode I selected to restore the factory settings. After that it asked all disks one by one and rebooted finally.
3. After reboot it started automatically again the Rescue & Recovery (at this time from the hard disk) and I started to wonder how to get it to boot to Windows. After searching these forums I found out that I need to start the restore process again to get it completely done. So I did that, it spent some half an hour installing stuff and finally rebooted.
4. At this time it rebooted to Windows and started installing software there. Everything was totally automatic and after an hour or so I got the machine exactly in the state I got it from IBM.

So what I learned? R&R works well from CDs. It takes some time, but mostly it is automatic so you can do something else at the same time.


OK. All well. After that positive experiment I wanted to really get down to business and install "normal" retail version of Win XP. Here is how I did that:

1. I downloaded all possible drivers & programs concerning my model from IBM's website using the URL found from the FAQ of this forum.
2. I burned the drivers to a CD.
3. Rebooted the machine and entered BIOS by pressing F1 during the boot.
4. Turned of the pre-desktop hard disk area from BIOS.
5. Inserted the Win XP installation CD and rebooted.
6. In Win XP installation program I deleted all partitions from the HD and created one new big partition having all space. Installed Windows normally on that partition.
7. After normal XP installation inserted the CD on which I had all drivers and copied them to the machine.
8. Started installing drivers one by one and kept going as long as everything I wanted to work was working. (Needed to reboot many many times here...)
9. Downloaded XP SP2 and installed it without any problems.
10. Installed all my applications.

As a result I have now exactly the software I want to have. After IBM installation Windows started up in one and half minutes and now it starts up in well under a minute. I also saved LOTS of disk space by removing unnecessary R&R partition and other IBM software lying around on my HD. So at the end I'm happy I did it. I think the benefits greatly outweigh the time needed to do it.

Nice to hear

But pressing the blue button @ start-up doesn’t work any more I guess?

I want to do the same. But I am going to make a multiboot with: win xp / win2k prof.

So its no problem if I completely format the whole hdd?

[Dario267]

It should be possible to get a US keyboard with English OS even in Germany. You cannot see them in the shop ot the web, but if you contact IBM. Some universities offer US versions for the same price. So you will not have to install all that stuff.

[Chacal]

But pressing the blue button @ start-up doesn’t work any more I guess?

Yep. That's true. You won't get R&R anymore. Instead it gives you a menu from which you can select either to boot normally, go to BIOS or select booting device from list.

My "Access IBM" button also doesn't work in Windows either, but that is probably because I haven't installed Access IBM software, since I find it more or less useless. But maybe it would work if I'd install that.. Who knows?

BTW. Where do you all use the Access IBM software? I have seen many reviews and guys saying that it is really usefull, but I really couldn't get anything out of it. Maybe I just didn't know what I could do with it. So guys, tell me why should I install it!!

So its no problem if I completely format the whole hdd?

At least I haven't had any problems yet. So just give it a try. You can always re-install from Recovery CDs if it gets screwed up.

It should be possible to get a US keyboard with English OS even in Germany. You cannot see them in the shop ot the web, but if you contact IBM.

Yep. That's probably true. Unfortunately the prices at IBM are way higher than in those "shops at the web". And anyway my native keyboard would be the Finnish one so I rather use German than English variant (the German one is closer to Finnish one).

[RS_003]

But pressing the blue button @ start-up doesn’t work any more I guess?

Yep. That's true. You won't get R&R anymore. Instead it gives you a menu from which you can select either to boot normally, go to BIOS or select booting device from list.

My "Access IBM" button also doesn't work in Windows either, but that is probably because I haven't installed Access IBM software, since I find it more or less useless. But maybe it would work if I'd install that.. Who knows?

Ah, now I understand the part of the FAQ that says you have to press the blue button, I thought when I formatted the whole laptop the button would not work any more. But I am happy to hear it still works, because I was afraid the bios was on the harddisk as with some Compaq’s (And thus after reinstalling the whole computer I could do noting in the bios)

Thanks for clearing this up.

Btw, IBM won’t send you a different language pack. I tried, and spoken to 3 different persons, but they won’t send it to me. (Got a German recovery version, and I wanted a Dutch or English version )