Rescue & Recovery went wrong on my T43; how many CDs?

[Cmdr.Keen]

This evening I decided that I wanted to give my ol' T43 a fresh start and go back to factory settings using the R&R CDs. Something went wrong and now I'm a bit stuck.

How many CDs are there supposed to be in a R&R for a T43?

I booted from the Recovery Boot CD, then went through the initial steps to restore my system to its factory settings. After the Boot CD, I inserted CD #1 (at prompts) and everything went smoothly, until I was asked to insert CD #2. I received an error message stating something about a corrupt file (I was an idiot and didn't write down the file name), but when I clicked "Okay" it moved ahead and asked for CD #3.

The rest of it went smoothly until I had CD #5 (which is the sixth in my set if I count the Boot CD) and the system asked for CD #6...which I don't have. And I don't think that I've ever had it. Now my system is in a perpetual loop and I can't seem to get it to move beyond the initial R&R screen...I keep receiving a message stating that the recovery has failed.

Any ideas? I've got a call in and am awaiting a tech to phone back because I'm curious if I need to order new R&R CDs, but I thought I'd check in with you folks too.

Thanks,
Andrew

**EDIT**

I've tried booting from the Recovery Boot CD and I've received two separate error messages:

Attempt #1: (black screen) File \i386\system32\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 12544. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

Attempt #2: (blue screen) STOP: c0000221 {Bad Image Checksum} The image MPR.dll is possibly corrupt. The header checksum does not match the computer checksum.

I've still not received a callback from the tech, but I'm wondering if I should just attempt a clean install of WinXP Pro (which I have - complete with serial# - though it doesn't match the sticker on the bottom of my machine). I'm willing to wait...

I seem to have really frakked up my beloved T43... ::tear::

[ausmike]

err... AFAIK,,,if you got SAME OS ..... to whats on COA sticker ....you can use the Key# from COA ,,,,, however you have to call MS during activation process....

Hope your belovered T43 wakes up soon> they nice machines <those were the REAL IBM days>:D

Cheers

[ajkula66]

T43 set has 7/8 disks, Rescue 'n' Recovery, disks 1-6 plus a "supplemental" one that you can do without. However, you can't do without disk # 6.

Once you locate the missing disk, make sure to format the hard drive before re-attempting the install.

If it fails again, post a WTB ad in the forum's marketplace and have someone burn you the copy of disks that went corrupt.

Good luck.

[Cmdr.Keen]

T43 set has 7/8 disks, Rescue 'n' Recovery, disks 1-6 plus a "supplemental" one that you can do without. However, you can't do without disk # 6.

Once you locate the missing disk, make sure to format the hard drive before re-attempting the install.

If it fails again, post a WTB ad in the forum's marketplace and have someone burn you the copy of disks that went corrupt.

Good luck.

That's fantastic - thank you very much. I'm actually still waiting to hear back from the tech; if I don't get a call within the next day or so, then I'll proceed with the suggestion to post in the WTB forum.

[Possibly very] Dumb question: What's the easiest way to format my drive in its current state?

Many thanks!
Andrew

[RealBlackStuff]

Rather than format, you should wipe it.
Either use a new Hard Disk, OR wipe your old Hard Disk first. You can run the free Active@KillDisk from http://www.killdisk.com/ or the free DBAN from http://www.dban.org/ to wipe the hard disk.
You can stop the ‘wiping’ after completion of about 5%, that’s enough to clear all partitions etc.

[Cmdr.Keen]

Rather than format, you should wipe it.
Either use a new Hard Disk, OR wipe your old Hard Disk first. You can run the free Active@KillDisk from http://www.killdisk.com/ or the free DBAN from http://www.dban.org/ to wipe the hard disk.
You can stop the ‘wiping’ after completion of about 5%, that’s enough to clear all partitions etc.

Ahh - perfect. Thanks for letting me know.

I've still not heard back from the tech, so I'll probably go ahead and post a WTB ad in the coming days. I really appreciate everyone's assistance in getting my T43 back to up-n-running status.

Thanks,
Andrew