How to install Windows Me on a ThinkPad T23

[Edward Mendelson]

Continuing this series of posts, this one, mostly identical to my Windows 98 SE post from a few days ago:

Install Windows Me on a ThinkPad T23 in APM mode

This may be useful to anyone else. Many of the instructions should apply to other models from the T23 era. The result is a system with no "unknown" or "other" devices in Device Manager.

Credit where credit is due: I only learned (1) that I should use APM mode and (2) how to install in APM mode, by reading this post by b1ack0p (the information is in IBM's readme files, but not in a way that anyone can find it easily):

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=130342&p=850089&hilit=t23#p850089

This method assumes that you are installing Windows Me and that your T23 has the Intel PRO/100 VE ethernet adapter.

You will need a working Windows system where you can extract the driver files and then move them to the T23.

All the files listed here may be downloaded from:

https://thinkpads.com/support/Thinkpad- ... s/mobiles/

1. Boot to DOS on the disk where you will install Windows Me, make a folder named something like WINMEand copy into it the folder from your Windows ME installation CD that contains Setup.exe and folders named Tour and OLS (the folders may not be present; copy the ones you have). The WinMe installation CDs use the name WIN98 for this folder, despite what you expectThe folder C:\WINME\WIN98 should contain Setup.exe and many .CAB files.

2. For the supplementary installation files, run suppw32.exe on an existing Windows system (or use the 7-Zip File Manager to extract the contents to a folder named C:\DRIVERS).

3. Copy the C:\DRIVERS folder from your existing Windows system to the system where you are installing Windows Me. Perform all the following steps on the system where you plan to install Windows Me

4. Copy C:\DRIVERS\WME\SUPP\APM\Apminst.inf to C:\WINME\WIN98

5. Create a folder named something like C:\WinMeSup on the disk where you plan to install Windows Me.

6. Run this command from a command prompt to extract the chipset drivers:

C:\DRIVERS\WIN\SUPP\intelinf\infinst_enu.exe -a -a p C:\INTEL

7. Copy the entire contents of C:\INTEL\Ich3-m\WinMe to C:\WinMeSup

8. Copy C:\WinMeSup\INFPrelo.inf to C:\WINME\WIN98\CUSTOM.INF (if CUSTOM.INF already exists, combine the contents of the two files into C:\WINME\WIN98\CUSTOM.INF).

9. From a command prompt, navigate to C:\WINME\WIN98 and run this command (use the capital letters as shown):

Setup.exe C:\WINME\WIN98\APMINST.INF

10. When prompted for the location of an .inf file, enter C:\WinMeSup so the installation can continue.

11. If you have 1GB of RAM in your system, press F8 when the system restarts and choose Command Prompt only. Edit C:\Windows\System\System.ini. In the [386Enh] section, add MaxPhysPage=30000 (larger numbers should also work; search the web); and in the [vcache] section, add MaxFileCache=393216 (I found this number online, but higher numbers should also work).

12. During setup, it’s probably best to skip the driver installation of the PCI Video Controller, PCI Audio Adapter, and PCI Ethernet Adapter; you may be able to avoid some blue-screens by installing these after initial setup is complete. If you encounter a blue-screen, restart the machine.

13. Navigate to C:\Drivers\Win\Supp\ich3fix and merge ICH3FIX.reg

14. Navigate to C:\Drivers\Win\Supp\ide-apm and merge ideapm.reg

15. Run C:\Drivers\Win\Supp\intelinf\infinst_enu.exe. Restart the system.

16. Open the Device Manager; if you still see conflicts under Hard Disk Controllers, again merge C:\Drivers\Win\Supp\ide-apm\ideapm.reg.

17. For the display driver, run vftpad8m.exe

18. Run C:\Drivers\W9X\Display\Setup.exe. Restart the system.

19. Right-click on the desktop; choose Properties, Settings, Advanced Properties, Monitor, and click Change. Navigate to C:\Drivers\WME\Supp\ibmlcd and choose IBM ThinkPad 1024x768 LCD Panel (unless you have the larger screen, in which case choose the correct size).

20. For the audio driver, run afa21e9x.exe

21. Run C:\Drivers\W9X\Audio\Crysetup.exe

22. In the Device Manager, find PCI Multimedia Audio Device (or some similar name); reinstall the driver from C:\Drivers\WIN\Audio. Windows will install additional drivers; if prompted for a file location, enter the same location.

23. For the modem driver, run tpmd19gx.exe

24. Run C:\Drivers\Mdmluc\Setup.exe to install the drivers.

25. In the Device Manager, find PCI Communications Controller (or some similar name); reinstall the driver from C:\Drivers\Mdmluc. If prompted for additional drivers, enter the same location.

26. For the Ethernet adapter driver, run tpveall.exe

27. In the Device Manager, find PCI Ethernet Controller (or some similar name); reinstall the driver from C:\Drivers\Win\Ethernet\PRO100\WIN98-ME. Restart the system.

28. In the Control Panel, choose Network, remove any protocols that you do not use. Optionally add File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks.

29. For the Trackpoint driver, run trackptw.exe

30. In the Control Panel, choose Mouse, then General, then Change, then Have Disk. Navigate to C:\Drivers\Win\Tpoint and install the driver.

31. For the UltraBay hot/warm-swap driver, run uttpiwsp.exe

32. In the Control Panel, choose Add New Hardware, select Next, then No. In the Device Selection Menu, select Other Devices, then Have disk. Navigate to C:\Drivers\W9X\Bayswap and select ibmbay3.inf; click OK twice; select ThinkPad Ultrabay 2000 Hot/Warm Swap Driver, and click Next. When the driver is installed, restart the system.

33. If your T23 supports SpeedStep, run spstepnt.exe

34. If you ran spstepnt.exe, then run C:\Drivers\WIN\Spdstp\Setup.exe. Restart the system.

35. If you plan to use a dock, run iwx427ww.exe

36. If you ran iwx427ww.exe, then run C:\Drivers\Win\ide\Setup.exe.

37. For the hibernation utility, run hibw4win.exe (but I think it's possible that hibernation doesn't work in APM mode, so you may want to skip this until further investigation.

38. If you downloaded the hibernation utility, run C:\Drivers\Win\Hibutil\Setup.exe

39. For the power management driver, run 1xu105u1.exe

40. Run C:\Drivers\Win\Bmmpm\Setup.exe

41. For the ThinkPad configuration utility, run 7ju501aw.exe

42. Run C:\Drivers\W9X\Utility\Setup.exe

[cadillacmike68]

Only one question:

Why bother??? Winblows Me sucked worse than vista or 8