format hard drive

[ekdya]

Hi
I just received a R52 off ebay and want to reformat the hard drive, so I reboot and hit "Access IBM" blue button but did not take me any where. just normal reboot into the XP desktop.

please give a pointer or a link or...
thanks

[rkawakami]

It's possible that the recovery partition does not exist on that disk. What are your intentions with the system; to get it back to a factory-fresh OS install or to actually erase everything off the disk? For the former, you would need the restore disk set. If you just want to erase the disk and load up whatever OS you have on hand, then that can be done several ways.

[ekdya]

access ibm is not the final objective, I just want to start clean, so a reformate is good for that.

I do not have xp pro which what the lic. number on the back of the unit is for. I do not have either the back up CD or the OS CD, I have xp home but I want pro reinstalled. how can I fix this?
thx

[ekdya]

I also have another thinkpad with xp pro installed.

so what I want to so is to erase the disk and load up xp pro.

[rkawakami]

Okay, here's my suggestions, in order of increasing cost:

- try pressing the F11 key when the system is turned on. If the recovery partition is there, that should allow you to access it.
- if that doesn't work, then the best way to install Windows XP Pro would be to obtain the original IBM recovery disk set. You could put up a "WTB" (Want to buy) post here in the Marketplace.
- depending upon what your other Thinkpad is, you might be able clone the disk drive onto the one in the R52. Note that this requires some additional hardware (Ultrabay hard drive adapter or external USB hard drive) and software (Acronis, Ghost, etc.) and would only work if the donor system is similar enough to the R52 and the operating system is flexible enough to recognize any hardware differences without putting you through a Microsoft activation procedure.

[ekdya]

I was able to obtain a xp pro from a frined. I got into the installation but could not find an option to reformat. I tried to earse the C partition but it prevented me saying there are some drivers there the system needs. so
is formating a bad idea?
is reinstalling the OS good enough to make sure I have a clean slat?
thx

[rkawakami]

Whenever I install a "new" OS on top of an existing one I always erase the drive. You can do this with most any disk diagnostic program or PC Doctor for DOS. I don't erase the entire drive though; about 10-15% is good enough. My guess is that it wipes out enough of the partition table/boot track/FAT/whatever so that the install disk sees a clean drive.

ref: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222 (.ISO image for PC Doctor for DOS)