Thinkpads Forum

sorry for bugging with this, you guys are my last chance to be saved!
i've posted this in the windows forum but no one could help me there, so i figured, maybe it's a X60s issue..?

i have a new X60S. i'm trying to install a fresh XP SP2. as discussed here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=3827

1. i made a bootable cd as instructed here: http://www.4saad.com/WhatsNew/Fresh_XP_Install/

2. disabled the hidden partition, deleted and merged with C

3. booted up from the installation CD which worked well and loaded installation files. i approved formatting C using NTFS file system.

4. when this prcess is finished, this message appears:

setup cannot access the CD containing the windows XP installation files.
to retry, press enter. if you are not successful after several tries, quit setup.
then, to restart setup, copy the windows xp installation files to your hard disk.
to quit setup, press F3.

i retried a few times, in vane.

5. booted again with CD, formatted C in NTFS quick. in the end of process i have the same message.

6. made two more CD's, with different burners, different machines, and checked them on my X60s, and on my older desktop, same problem.

7. yesterday i managed to install windows xp pro that i have from another computer, just to check where the problem is. it installed without problems. but i want to work with the legal license, the one paid for...


8. i know i can get recovery cd's from lenovo, and i'm waiting for them (they said two weeks) but it will just bring back the factory settings and all the rest of unwanted stuff...


so, does anyone know where ther problem is? i'm guessing something with the I386 directory, or maybe with the SP2 package, but other users with other thinkpads didnt have these issues.

any help would be highly appreciated! i'm desperate...
thanks!!!

What is the harddrive mode the BIOS is set to when you install?

Another option might be to change the key for the installation you have (though it might not work).

smvp6459 wrote:What is the harddrive mode the BIOS is set to when you install?

In this regard, your setting for your hard drive in the BIOS needs to be set to "compatibiilty" mode. The following thread has info on this...

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33496

no, i don't get to the stage where the setup asks for the key.
the stages i get to in the installation are:
1. boot from cd
2. load files
3. choose the partition to install xp on
4. format the partition

in the end of this process setup announces it cannot access the cd, etc..

yes, the mode was set to compatibility before the installation of course.

tadler wrote: 7. yesterday i managed to install windows xp pro that i have from another computer, just to check where the problem is. it installed without problems. but i want to work with the legal license, the one paid for...

So, use this installation and then "change" window's key. There are tools online to do such a thing. Sometimes it won't work, but sometimes it does work.

smvp6459 wrote:

tadler wrote: 7. yesterday i managed to install windows xp pro that i have from another computer, just to check where the problem is. it installed without problems. but i want to work with the legal license, the one paid for...

So, use this installation and then "change" window's key. There are tools online to do such a thing. Sometimes it won't work, but sometimes it does work.

hmmm, you mean with something like magicjellybean?
nice idea, i'll give it a try right now, and let you know...

tadler wrote: hmmm, you mean with something like magicjellybean?
nice idea, i'll give it a try right now, and let you know...

Hypothetically, that sounds right.

ok, sorry to say, changing the windows key to the one on my sticker, didnt work.
so now i use the key that came with the windows cd, which is not my own compuetr's windows.
i used an old xp version which i slipstreamed to sp2 after the installation, on my X60S.

so, does anyone know what else i can do except using the recovery discs (which might arrive in two weeks...)?

Well it's certainly possible. I just did a clean install of XP this morning. No activation.

The instructions you linked to seem a bit convoluted. All I did was take a regular copy of XP SP2, and replace the i386 directory with the one off the ThinkPad. A single step.

It sounds like you may not have the original i386 directory anymore, in which case you'd have to get it off the recovery CDs.

When you get to entering the key, make sure it's the one from the unattend.txt file. The key on the sticker is different and useless, so far as I can tell.

Of course the best advice is to start transitioning to Linux if you haven't begun already Seems like Vista is only going to be more of this crap.

jon wrote:. All I did was take a regular copy of XP SP2, and replace the i386 directory with the one off the ThinkPad. A single step.

It sounds like you may not have the original i386 directory anymore, in which case you'd have to get it off the recovery CDs.

ok Jon, that sounds encouraging. i just have to find a "regular copy of xp SP2" (you mean lke a cd that came with another non TP computer or something like that?), and i'll give it a go.

jon wrote:Of course the best advice is to start transitioning to Linux if you haven't begun already Seems like Vista is only going to be more of this crap.

wish i could switch to linux, problem is i use mainly the adobe CS which i dont think works with linux, right?

are you using X60S? are you happy with the clean install? did it improve things?
thanks again

tadler wrote:i just have to find a "regular copy of xp SP2" (you mean lke a cd that came with another non TP computer or something like that?), and i'll give it a go.

Yeah, you mentioned you installed another copy of XP to see if it worked. So you could take that and just replace the i386 directory.

tadler wrote:wish i could switch to linux, problem is i use mainly the adobe CS which i dont think works with linux, right?

You're right, it doesn't. You could see if The GIMP http://www.gimp.org meets your needs though. I have to stick with Windows sometimes too.

tadler wrote:are you using X60S? are you happy with the clean install? did it improve things?
thanks again

Yes I have the X60s. The default install is not too bad; I lived with it for a while. Some of the pre-installed software was annoying. Many of the IBM tools aren't very good quality IMO (rescue/backup utilities, fingerprint stuff, security/tpm). The rescue partition is pretty useless and wastes space, and I had to re-partition for Linux anyway, so I did a clean install. Windows is always faster after a clean install, doesn't last too long though