T42 Windows XP Pro Reinstall

[chrispynic99]

I know that similar posts have been posted on this forum over and over, but I am having trouble with reinstallation Win XP pro on my T42, and I think that my problem should be pretty easy for someone who knows what they are doing...

I have the full 7-disc set of the recovery CD's made for the 2373 series of T42 that I have. I ran the recovery CD and all seven install discs, but my system is still booting to the Rescue and Recovery menu. Did I miss something along the way where I tell it to install WinXP pro and enter my license number or is there somethin else I am supposed to do at this point? Do I have to connect the machine to the internet and download something through the R&R menu?

Is there a separate XP Pro CD that I need as well? I keep reading about windows being in a hidden partition on the hard drive, but I'm not sure how to access that...

Just a little confused and could use some help.

Thanks!

[Johan]

First: Welcome to the forum, Chris!

You may perhaps already have seen the sticky FAQ "How to use Recovery CD Disc Set, but judging from your explanation I suggest you also read (a small part of) the thread:

[quote="Oh, not another Recovery question!", in the post of Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:03 am, where GomJammar"]When you choose to Restore Factory Contents from the Product Recovery Disc set, after some files are copied from the CD's, you are told to remove the CD and reboot. The system reboots back into Rescue and Recovery. You have to choose to Restore Factory Contents again. This time all the files are on the hard drive to implement the actual restore. [/quote]
Does this help?

Best regards,

Johan

[sktn77a]

If I recall correctly, after the recovery CDs install the system on the hidden partition, it asks the same question again only this time, you say yes (after having removerd the recovery CD from the CD-ROM) and it installs from the HPA (if I recall correctly..................)

[chrispynic99]

Wow, so simple an answer! That worked - just went back into the Recovery Menu and chose "Restore Factory Settings" and sat back for an hour while thinkpad took care of the rest.

Thanks for the help!! This is a great forum!!

[trulytrojan]

Folks,

I have the same problem...
removing the disc before rebooting at the end STILL takes me to Rescue & Recovery Mode rather than giving me Windows back.

I am following http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=52133
to factory restore my thinkpad t42 which has Windows XP. I am using the 5 disks(startup + 4 cds) which I made after I bought the machine.

I thing though,
After it is done with 4th disc copy operation it asks me for the 5th and I don't have that.

So I choose "No" when prompted and then I would ask me to reboot and I would choose "Yes" this time...after rebooting the [censored] thing takes me back to R & R screen again!

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks all,

Jay

[rbena]

Folks,

I have the same problem...
removing the disc before rebooting at the end STILL takes me to Rescue & Recovery Mode rather than giving me Windows back.

...After it is done with 4th disc copy operation it asks me for the 5th and I don't have that.

Am thinking that without the 5th disc, you're unable to do a full reinstall and it puts you back to start over again. If you can get the 5th disc, or preferably a complete set that is reliable, you should have better luck.

Please keep us posted.