Can I Delete PC Doctor from R52?

[Nightcall]

Just picked a nice R52 from ebay and am wondering if I can free up some HDD space on the 30GB drive by deleting PC Doctor?

Sounds third party but I'm wondering if it's intergral to the proper running of the machine or just a tool the refurbishers used to get it up and running.

Can I safely delete it or will that crash my XP R52?

Thanks.

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

If you are referring to the Windows installation of the PC Doctor diagnostic suite, then yes, you can safely remove it without any problems. However, be aware that this software package is not being offered anymore for free downloading by Lenovo or PC Doctor. The only way to get it back would be to use the factory restore disk set; i.e., reformatting the disk and reloading the OS.

Since it sounds like you are trying to recover some badly needed hard drive space, I can suggest that you may be able to get more space by doing one or more of the following:

- delete all old System Restore points and adjust the allocation of the disk space to 2% or 3%
- disable hibernation if you don't use it
- if you are certain that your OS is running fine, delete all of the c:\windows\$NtUnInstallKBxxxxxx directories. These hold the data to uninstall the various Windows updates. If you're not sure, then target the ones that are at least a year old.

Another option is to get larger hard drive and clone your current system to it. However, the R52 is one of the systems that is sort of finicky about the drives that will work in it. Plugging in a non-Lenovo approved drive will result in a 2010 boot error. In most cases you can ignore it but there's also a firmware fix. Read about it here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=69701

[Nightcall]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

If you are referring to the Windows installation of the PC Doctor diagnostic suite, then yes, you can safely remove it without any problems. However, be aware that this software package is not being offered anymore for free downloading by Lenovo or PC Doctor. The only way to get it back would be to use the factory restore disk set; i.e., reformatting the disk and reloading the OS.

Since it sounds like you are trying to recover some badly needed hard drive space, I can suggest that you may be able to get more space by doing one or more of the following:

- delete all old System Restore points and adjust the allocation of the disk space to 2% or 3%
- disable hibernation if you don't use it
- if you are certain that your OS is running fine, delete all of the c:\windows\$NtUnInstallKBxxxxxx directories. These hold the data to uninstall the various Windows updates. If you're not sure, then target the ones that are at least a year old.

Another option is to get larger hard drive and clone your current system to it. However, the R52 is one of the systems that is sort of finicky about the drives that will work in it. Plugging in a non-Lenovo approved drive will result in a 2010 boot error. In most cases you can ignore it but there's also a firmware fix. Read about it here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=69701

Thanks, it's a pleasure to be on these forums.

I tried your idea about deleting restore points and adjusting allocation space and worked like a charm; got 3 gigs back! And now to pack it with pics and music

Thank you for your help; another R52 rides the roads again!

[RealBlackStuff]

Please realize that an average hard disk needs at least 10% FREE SPACE to work properly!
Your 3GB gain will not last very long with pics and music!
Get rid of that 30GB HD by copying its contents (using e.g. Acronis True Image) onto a larger HD (up to 320GB).

[Nightcall]

Yes I would like to copy the drive onto a bigger one but that error code having to dismiss that everytime will drive me batty--even more so than a teeny hdd.

Can you recommend a genuine compatible drive that the R52 recognizes?

[ajkula66]

Yes I would like to copy the drive onto a bigger one but that error code having to dismiss that everytime will drive me batty--even more so than a teeny hdd.

If you have the latest BIOS, you can set the machine up to automatically continue booting after the error warning is displayed.

Can you recommend a genuine compatible drive that the R52 recognizes?

R52 will recognize and work with every and any laptop PATA/IDE 9.5mm hard drive. Given that PATA drives have largely gone the way of dodo birds, get one as large and as new as possible, preferably a NOS WD 250GB or a Samsung HM160HC.

There is also a modded BIOS that eliminates the warning altogether.

Good luck.

[Nightcall]

I thank you for your suggestions and will upgrade ASAP.

[Nightcall]

Yes I would like to copy the drive onto a bigger one but that error code having to dismiss that everytime will drive me batty--even more so than a teeny hdd.

If you have the latest BIOS, you can set the machine up to automatically continue booting after the error warning is displayed.

Can you recommend a genuine compatible drive that the R52 recognizes?

R52 will recognize and work with every and any laptop PATA/IDE 9.5mm hard drive. Given that PATA drives have largely gone the way of dodo birds, get one as large and as new as possible, preferably a NOS WD 250GB or a Samsung HM160HC.

There is also a modded BIOS that eliminates the warning altogether.

Good luck.

Do you mean a 2.5mm drive? I did a search on Amazon and Ebay and found compatible drives but they all say "2.5mm".

[ajkula66]

That's 2.5" (inches) size as opposed to 3.5" for desktops but the drive height is 9.5mm...some PATA drives are 12.5 mm and won't fit in a T43 bay.

Here's a correct drive:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-USA-Bra ... 53fb9d69fe

Not affiliated with the seller, proceed at your own risk.

[Nightcall]

That's 2.5" (inches) size as opposed to 3.5" for desktops but the drive height is 9.5mm...some PATA drives are 12.5 mm and won't fit in a T43 bay.

Here's a correct drive:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-USA-Bra ... 53fb9d69fe

Not affiliated with the seller, proceed at your own risk.

Thank You so much! Now I know what to look exactly for and hopefully I will have a new HDD by the end of the month.

Thanks.