T23 has 3 operating systems?

[madder]

I've been given what seems a faulty T23 Thinkpad laptop. When switched on, 3 operating systems appear and you choose which one you want. I asked the guy why this was and he said that he had initially tried to format the drive and reinstall but that didn't work properly so he had to install a second operating system. When that got faulti he said he installed a third one.

What I'd like to do is just format the thing completely and reinstall 1 fresh windows operating system.

The original OS was WIN2000, and it still has the product key on the bottom on the laptop, but the 2 other OS's are WIN xp pro SP2.

Can anyone give me a step by step guide to formating completely and installing WINXP pro SP2, which I have a copy of? Or is there a way of removing the other OS's and reinstalling the original WIN2000?

[Stargate199]

Here is what is going on. You have the original win2k installed along with a copy of Windows XP. You have two choices for Windows XP because one is for the second phase of the install process and the other is to actually launch XP. Ask your friend what OS he wants installed and pop in the disk. When you are on the first portion of the install (blue screen keyboard input) delete the existing partiton, create a new one and format it. Then continue installing Windows. The process for installing 2000 and XP are virtually the same though the second phase of installing XP looks different than 2000, but you enter the same information. Don't forget to install the latest updates after the install.

[madder]

Thanks Stargate199. Only thing is, he says that when you delete the partition and try to create a new one, that windows won't install at all. And that there is something in the IBM thinkpad that won't allow this? I'm not overly familiar eith the thinkpad as this is my first. In fact it's my first laptop. Normally I have no problem doing what you have described for a PC, but this, he says, won't work?

[egibbs]

There is nothing on a Thinkpad that would prevent a Windows install or a system recovery on a properly prepared drive.

Sometimes (depending on how badly munged a drive is) you need to do a full erase (not a format or a low level format) in order for recovery or a Windows install to work.

The IBM/Lenovo PC Doctor program has a utility that will do a full erase, and most drive manufacturers also have a downloadable dive utility on their sites which includes full erase.

Ed Gibbs