2373 T40 recovery CD doesn't work

[richardmalik]

I purchased recovery CDs for my ThinkPad from IBM several years ago and have not needed to use them, until now. For various reasons, I have decided to re-install my operating system and original ThinkPad settings (Long Story).

When I tried to boot from the recovery CD (following the directions from IBM), I got the message:
"CDR101: Not ready reading drive X
Abort, Retry, Fail?"

When I used an XP Pro Installation Disk I was able to reformat the partitions on the ThinkPad and do a clean install of Windows XP. However, the computer did not recognize the modem or the ethernet card - I assume because the drivers were not installed.

So, I tried using the recovery CDs after the re-install of Windows XP. The recovery process was running well until a message came up in a pop-up window that a file was corrupted. Everything stopped. Now when I try to boot from the recovery CD I get the same message as before.

I can re-install Windows XP and give it another go. I tried to clean the CD. Don't know if anything will improve.

What are the best (and least expensive) options for getting my computer up and running again?

Thank you for your help!

[agarza]

Let's get things straight.
You have your T40 recovery CD's and a XP Pro Install Disk right?
Say you succesfully installed Windows using the XP install disk but some drivers were not installed: That's normal, you simply go to www.lenovo.con, Support and type your machine type to download the appropiate drivers to you T40. Don't worry about the T40 recovery disks, your TP will runs faster installing a bare copy of XP than the OEM install the recovery disks include.

2 download the drivers you should do that on a working machine and then transferring the installers to your TP via a USB flash memory or external HDD

Welcome to thinkpads.com forum!

[richardmalik]

Brilliant! Sounds Simple.

Thank you for the welcome and the help.

[Paul Unger]

Kind of tricky to go to lenovo.com without a working modem or ethernet connection, no? I guess you could get the drivers from the internet using a different machine . . . [edit: oops, I didn't read your whole post, benettomex. Sorry!] but it would sure be nice if the CDs worked as advertised. Well, good luck. And if you do get up and running, maybe keep a copy of your drivers so you can install and/or upgrade them just in case you're not near an internet connection when disaster strikes. For what it's worth,

Paul

[sktn77a]

Sounds like you have a bad recovery CD and/or a marginal drive. You might try calling Lenovo and see if the will replace them for free (it's not like they were worn out!)

[jdhurst]

I would ask IBM for a new set of recovery CD's. Since you purchased them, they should give them to you.

As to whether a clean install runs faster than a preload is pure speculation. I have done it both ways and the preload is every bit as fast. You need more than the NIC driver. You need NIC, Video, Audio, Wireless, Power Manager, Mouse, UltraNav and a few others. Then some of the remaining drivers are useful and do not intrude.

Of course, do as you wish. I merely note what has worked for me.

... JDH

[richardmalik]

First of all, what are NIC drivers?

I was thinking about manually downloading the drivers to use my DSL internet connection on another computer and use a travel drive to load it onto the TP (What drivers would I need?). Then using ThinkVantage to automatically download the rest of the drivers indicated for my system. Does this plan make sense.

Thanks for all the advice.

[jdhurst]

First of all, what are NIC drivers?
<snip>
Thanks for all the advice.

NIC = Network Interface Card. It is commonly the Ethernet Card. Without it, you can't do anything. ... JDH

[James Koo]

Since you did not say what model of computer you have, I wonder if you have the same problems as I did of using a wrong set of restoring disks.

I have a T42 model 2374 3VU. When ordering the restoring disks, I got a set from IBM of 4 disks "Product Revoery Disk for ThinkPad T40, T40p Type 2372, 2374, FRU P/N 01R8046." Believing the T42 is a family member of T40, think nothing of it especially the Type 2374 is listed. Did not use until recently then found out:
1. the driver for the ATI display card is missing
2. the drivers for the wireless, modem and LAN card are missing
3. the file Hal.dll is corrupted and it failed to boot up.

Many contacts with the puzzled tech support, and downloads of drivers later, they pointed out to me that I have used a wrong set of restoring disks for my machine. Then used a set for T42 (FRU P/N 24R7684D) and all the above problems disappeared. Wonder if you have the same problem as I do.