Getting X41t to Work under XP Pro

[MunkyCheez]

Hello all,

I have an X41 Tablet (1.5 GHz Dothan LV, 1280 MB RAM, 60 GB 1.8" HDD) that I purchased used. When I first got it, I noticed that the COA for XP Tablet Edition on the bottom was too rubbed-off to read, so I decided to go with Windows 7 (already have a licensed copy). The tablet features worked fine, but due to no graphics drivers on Win7 and the (very) slow hard drive, I figured I'd install XP.

I don't own an XP Tablet Edition disc or license key, so I installed XP Professional SP3. From what I've read online, the tablet features should "just work" even without Tablet Edition. However, they don't. The computer does not respond whatsoever to the pen under XP Pro. Is this expected behavior in your experience? I couldn't find any digitizer-related drivers for the X41t on Lenovo's website... Am I missing something?

Also, I was a bit suspicious that something had gone wrong with the LCD assembly, so I live-booted Xubuntu from an external optical drive. Tablet features worked fine. Any ideas?

[Neil]

Currently I don't have a tablet...but did have an X40T for a brief time a while back, and I don't recall tablet features being included in XP Pro. But, here is a link to How to Convert XP to XP Tablet. Maybe that will help.

[MunkyCheez]

Currently I don't have a tablet...but did have an X40T for a brief time a while back, and I don't recall tablet features being included in XP Pro. But, here is a link to How to Convert XP to XP Tablet. Maybe that will help.

Thanks, I did try a similar guide [link], and I followed the steps exactly, but after the new, supposedly tablet-feature-including, burned disc finished installation on the X41t, it seemed to just be plain old XP Pro, and the screen did not respond to the pen. Who knew getting a Pentium M tablet to work properly would be such a pain? I sure didn't...

Anyway, I was originally under the impression that while XP Professional didn't include the "tablet features" -- programs for handwriting recognition and note-taking -- that it would still recognize the digitizer as a standard HID-compliant device or something and act like a mouse. I would at least be able to move the cursor around and click on things, but no dice so far. I'm tempted to install Ubuntu on here and be done messing around, but I like the idea of having XP Tablet Edition on it.

It's also quite possible that I'll just break down and buy a Tablet Edition disc from a seller on eBay or these forums. Anyone else have any ideas, or am I SOL?

[twistero]

The Windows XP installer decides which version to install (plain Professional, Tablet, or Media Center) according to the product key entered during setup. You have to enter an tablet key to install the Tablet version. Given that your COA is unreadable, this can be slightly difficult...

[automobus]

Different editions of Windows XP are installed from different media. Do not confuse this with Windows 6 (Vista, seven), which uses identical media for multiple editions, according to product key.

Besides lacking any special tablet feature, non-Tablet XP does not work at all with Tablet PC displays.

MunkyCheez, before you break down and buy something, check your inbox. You've Got A Private Message.

[twistero]

Different editions of Windows XP are installed from different media.

Well, in a sense... XP SP2 Pro, Tablet and MC share the same Disk 1; Tablet and MC share the same Disk 2 while Pro does not have Disk 2. You can install Pro, Tablet or MC according to the key from a same set of 2 disks. Although on top of that there's still the difference between Retail, OEM and VLK. (There is no official SP3 Tablet install media, and slipstreaming SP3 into Tablet install media is not officially supported.)

[Nprod]

It's possible to install the tablet components on a current WinXP pro but it can be hacky/buggy. You need a proper XP Tablet disc, not the usual fake ones you can find around the net. The real XP tablet edition has support for programming the buttons on the bezel, handwriting recognition/on-screen input panel and a few other goodies.

Also, the pen driver is a separate thing, you need to go to Wacom's website for those - Universal TabletPC driver.

Another advice - you can find out the COA key even if it's a little worn out - that's what i did for my X61T. When i bought it some letters were scratched up, for example a D might look like an O or a 0. What i did was run an XP Tablet installation inside a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox) and wrote down what i could make out of the key in notepad. Then i started running through all possible combinations by substituting the unreadable letters for lookalikes (D->0, etc.) until i got the right one and the virtual installation let me continue. Also you have to know that discs with regular XP won't accept Tablet OEM keys and vice-versa.