Recovery cds not installing

[Mack]

I have a very annoying problem... maybe you guys have a clue what is wrong. I have ordered and received the recovery cds from IBM for my Thinkpad X24. (harddrive got wiped earlier due to some partitioning mistakes...) I use an external usb dvd burner to boot the first recovery disc, but when it reaches to the "product recovery" screen, that shows the progress bars for the install, the computer reboots of itself after only 1 second has passed.. 0 % completed of the bar.

Sometimes it never goes to the "product recovery" screen, but instead outputs something on the screen like "inflating c:\ibmtools"... it disappears too quickly, I cant manage to see it all. And sometimes it asks for recovery cd number 2, but after that it only reboots... nothing gets installed at all.

Very frustrating! I have a complete legit Thinkpad, still warranty, I have only upgraded the memory to 640 Mg ram.

What could be wrong, why isnt the recovery cds working? Please me help if you can. I need the system installed as soon as possible.

Thanks, /Mack

[James314]

Why dont you give IBM a quick ring? As you say, you are still in warranty. In the time is takes for someone to give you the remedy you could have called IBM and sorted it out.

J.

[Mack]

Not sure their support has open now. But yeah, I will call them later if no solution here. Anyways, I found this thread after some search:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=recovery

Maybe the problem is that I need a clean harddrive? I currently have 2 partitions on it, so maybe I should try delete them first. Seems worth a try.

I will report later if that is the problem. They really should inform in the recovery papers if the harddrive should be clean, or not have multiple partitions, before starting the recovery process. They do mention only ibm usb portable cd-rom drives are supported to boot the cds though...

Oh well... I will try delete them and try again..

[GomJabbar]

You might try removing the RAM you installed, then using the Recovery CD's. If there is anything flaky in the RAM, that can prevent an OS installation. You can always put the RAM back in after installing the OS.

[Mack]

The recovery cds worked fine once the partitions on the harddrive were deleted.