Thinkpads Forum

I have a T60 that I was only able to use for a couple of days after purchase on EBAY in the fall of '08. Ordered recovery disks sometime shortly after, but bought another computer to use back then, so just now getting to use the R & R to try and get the T60 running.

The recovery did not work. BIOS shows 60 gig hard drive as 4.5 gig. Had hard drive reformatted at repair shop, where we discovered that the HD had 3 partitions, one 50 gig partitution unformatted.

After reformat, loaded R and R from CDs then rebooted to hard drive and loaded all 6 recovery CD's as per instructions. Last disk (6 of 6) popped up error messages that \SWWORK\4GEOXCA1\LAYOUT.BIN is corrupt or unreadable, Run CHKDSK.

Then a message that said: Unable to save all data for the file \Device\HarddiskVoume3\SWWORK\4GEOXCA1\LAYOUT.BIN Failure of hardware or net connection.

Following that corrupt file messages, like the first one above, for SETUP.INI, SETUP.EXE and SETUP.DLL came up.

The computer will not boot to windows, just sits there with a blank screen after the boot message. I can boot to the R and R program by hitting the Thinkvantage (blue) button.

Can I download uncorrupted versions of these files? Is there a way to check the integrity of the files on the recovery CD (some sort of cabinet type file, IIRC an MIS extension)?

-----update----

First, as per advice I ran the hard disk diagnostics from the BIOS. It errored (read) and the result code was 0000.

So I bought a new hard drive, a Kingston SSD 120 GB, SATA III. There was nothing on it to boot, but going into the BIOS I see that it has been recognized. Tried the BIOS hard disk diagnostic program, but it did nothing for 10 minutes, so aborted it. I tried to load the R & R. Got the preloader started, but it would not go through the process of loading onto the hard drive -- blue screening every time. I tried different BIOS settings, like compatibility mode instead of AHCI, and disabling DMA. Nada.

Could it be the CD/DVD drive? Or do I have a corrupt set of R & R disks?

Very frustrated. Would like to try for a new set of disks, but Lenovo phone support wanted to ding me nearly $200. to sign up for support, so i never got to speak with anybody who did anything but make me tell my whole story then insist on some $ before giving me any answers. I even requested to send my R & R CDs back to be checked for problems, but between the language barrier and obvious motivation to get some cash out of me, I got no where.

BTW, can I make a USB thumbdrive bootable with the R & R on it? Thought of this as a work around if the DVD drive is bad. I have an 8 GB. If so, how? Can I do it from the Win Vista Computer Management console?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Moderator edit: Moved thread from the FAQ-forum to here; the ThinkPad T6x Series forum.

Since the last post earlier tonight I had noticed something in the FAQ about having the DVD drive first in the BIOS boot order. I did that and was then able to load all of R & R 3.0, it rebooted after 6 of 6 recovery CDs, and then began to unpack windows. Made it about 75% before it blue screened with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

I powered off and back on and got all the way to the Windows XP Pro splash before another BSOD. Thereafter I made it to various points in the boot process, even getting to a windows authorization screen (which then BSOD when I hit OK).

I once was able to boot in Safe Mode all the way into windows, even the Start button brought up its menu. Then when I tried Safe Mode w/Networking I got another Auth message that said I must first enter Auth code and could not do it in Safe Mode. Thereafter I have not been able to get back into Safe Mode at all.

I can get to the R & R service with the blue ThinkVantage button. I have not tried to do anything from there, as I don't have any external drives to migrate to, nor do I see any other useful options (like repair windows). I don't really want to go back to scratch, since it has taken so long to get here. Wondering what to try next...

Which OS are you trying to install?
Installation of the Factory stuff overloads the HD with useless, outdated and bloated stuff.
Much better to do an install from scratch of just the OS, then get the drivers from Lenovo.
And B.T.W., NEVER try to diagnose an SSD from the BIOS, it is ONLY for HARD DISKs.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Which OS are you trying to install?
Installation of the Factory stuff overloads the HD with useless, outdated and bloated stuff.
Much better to do an install from scratch of just the OS, then get the drivers from Lenovo.
And B.T.W., NEVER try to diagnose an SSD from the BIOS, it is ONLY for HARD DISKs.

Thanks for your reply. I'm trying to install XP Pro. I need it for my old version of AutoCAD.

Unfortunately I don't even have the factory disks that came with the T60, the seller on ebay did not provide them. Otherwise, I would install just the OS. I don't like losing the extra 5 GB for Lenovo's badly behaving R & R utility.

So I guess at this point I'm looking either for a version of the R & R that works, or a set of XP Pro disks that I can run on the T60.

I see a download of 4.23 on the Lenovo site. I'm trying to figure out how I can download that to this old (dying) Toshiba and make bootable disks to use in the T60. One problem is that it's over 200 MB and my battery only lasts 2+ hours, and probably less on a continuous download. Not sure I'd get it all. Toshiba won't run plugged in.

Thanks for the tip on the SSD. Makes sense.

Put an ad in our Marketforum for an XP recovery-set for a T60.
Or check this: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=112689

RealBlackStuff wrote:Put an ad in our Marketforum for an XP recovery-set for a T60.
Or check this: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=112689

I have a set that I've been trying to load. It's a 6 + 1 XP-P SP2. The R & R CD is copyright August 2006 and the 6 Product Recovery CDs are copyright January 2007 (Which tells me that Lenovo sent me an old set when I bought them sometime in late '08 or early '09).

43T8618 T60/p 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2613, 2623, 2637, 6369, 6370, 6371, 6372, 8741, 8742, 8743, 8744 XP-p SP2 ENG CD 6+1

I'm reluctant to pay for another set that may have the same problems. I'm seeing too many stories about flawed software on these disks.

Being a memory test engineer, I would first verify that the RAM modules in your system are functioning correctly. Download a copy of memtest86+ from here:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

run it for at least three complete passes through all of the patterns. If memory is not the issue, then I'd look at the disk drive (use another drive) or diagnose the motherboard.

Forget about the restore disks as they almost always only fix the original installation and XP is showing its age. The only way XP is good is if you were to do an install with a repacked version with SP3 already included to avoid performance issues. I very highly recommend Win7 as it is still quick on old machines but the memory foot print isn't too great. You can put modern sata2 and 3 drives but you won't see the full performance of a modern ssd, the mechanical drives are not vastly faster than what the machine can handle. Bust any dust that is in the machine for good measure.

Win7 all the way, the only gripe that you will run into is getting the audio setup but that is the same in XP.

Ok, I'm going to throw in my two cents here. You need to verify that the hardware you have is working. Having fixed hundreds of T4x and T6x boxes you need to make sure the hardware is not a fault.

Step 1 - Reset the BIOS. Press F1 at boot to enter the BIOS. Press F9 to reset the BIO to the factory defaults. Press F10 to save and reboot.

Step 2 - Download the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. Burn it to a floppy or CD. Then boot he laptop to the floppy or CD. Run the test in Extended Mode for a few hours. If you get zero errors then assume the memory is good. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/maga ... light.aspx

Step 3 - Find and download the PC Doctor Bootable Diagnostic Disk and burn it to a CD. Boot the laptop and run ALL the diagnostic programs. Does anything fail?

NOTE: It looks like LENOVO had all the links to PC Doctor DOS removed (http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=105918) Perhaps you can PM a forum member who has a copy.

-- OR --

Find a drive wiping program, wipe the new hard drive so it is squeaky clean then find a plain copy of WIndows XP and try to load it on the hard drive just to see it it will load all the way.

Good Luck,
Chris

Thanks again, for all the replies. I have done all I can, including cleaning and using home remedy CD repair techniques and a optical drive head cleaner (basiically a tiny brush on a CD) to make sure everything is ok physically. Now I'm looking for a downloadable/burnable diagnostic program that will boot the T60 from the DVD drive and test the hardware. I am willing to pay the $20 for PC Doctor, if the home user version will create a bootable CD. I couldn't get that info from the PC Doctor site (mostly a sales pitch, long on benefits, short on features).

Any suggestions on a downloadable (I'm willing to buy it) utility that I can burn to CD to boot up the T60 and format the drive? Right now R & R sys info is again reporting that it is only a 5 GB drive, so I know it did the partition thing again. It's a 120 GB drive. R & R 3.0 SUX!

I have found that I could run Win7 and AutoCAD with a third party utility. So I'm game for Win7. But AutoCAD is not an immediate priority.

For now, I really need to get a PC running for more than a couple of hours at a time (between charges) because I have some major work I need to get done by next week. At this point I'm thinking of downloading a free Linux, if I can find drivers for the Kingston SSD drive, a wifi driver (and browser), an HP 7550 printer driver, and a word processing app that will read my .RTF files. Any suggestions on which Linux? I am technically adept -- what I need is functionality, ease of use is secondary.

My planned procedure at this point is:
1. Download a bootable PC diagnostic and repair (including SSD formatting).
2. Download an Op/Sys (any, Linux, Win7, AmigaDOS, whatever!), drivers and apps that I can burn to CD(s) and load onto the formatted SSD.

Thanks again.

To wipe the HD (and thus undo all partitioning etc.) get DBAN http://dban.org/
For formatting/partitioning get Parted Magic http://partedmagic.com/
Both are free.
Or use W7 itself to do the formatting/installing.

... just a couple of hints (maybe useful, maybe not):

1) I've often used the free tool MemTest86 to test RAM.

2) The likewise free mini-XP from a Linux-CD is very useful... boot on it, and you've got XP up and running! You may download this file (it's about 593 MB), from e.g. here. The download contain a so-called ISO-file, which may be burned into a bootable CD... see how e.g. here. Boot on this CD, then try out your laptop this way; if all is OK, then your hardware is functioning (at least under XP!). In mini-XP you can format your HDD if you wish. Another free HDD formatting and partition tool (that I've often used) is Parted Magic - it used to be free to download (?!?), so Google around to find a free version; see e.g. here.

3) IBM's/Lenovo's "PC Doctor for DOS" is another very usable tool. For many years it used to be free, but for some (most likely: Entirely commercial!) reason, people publicly hosting it were forced to remove it from their sites fairly recently (read more about this in the thread Takedown request from PC-Doctor) - meaning that it is nowadays less easy (but not impossible) to find... So, no one can prevent you from Googling after, say "1ety48ww.txt" which is the text-file describing the contents of "PC Doctor" version 2.0.1816 (latest available, as far as I know), which support the following ThinkPad's:
If you should happen to find a publicly available, bootable ISO-image this way, which you can immediately and entirely freely download (and let's purely hypothetically assume that this iso could perhaps be named: "1ety48ww.iso"), then I'd say that you're not doing anything wrong...

Final thing: IF your T60 has been left unused for years, its BIOS may probably be too old to suppert Windows 7. In such case, grab a BIOS-update bootable CD from Lenovo's site (get it --> here), but be well aware that if you have partly non-functional hardware, then you may turn your T60 into a dead brick, by attempting an unsuccessful updating of the BIOS. So: Absolutely don't mess with updating the BIOS unless you know for certain that your HW is rock-stable. Seriously speaking. Very seriously.

NB: If you have a ThinkPad T60 Wide screen model, you will need to download the T60 Wide screen version of the BIOS.

Johan