identical A31s or new r51e and old A31

[pbbjr]

I currently own an A31 2652-c3u that I upgraded to 2 gigs of 2700 ram and a 60 gig 7200 hitachi drive. Bought it new in August 2002. Still use it every day (12+ hrs per day). I use it with the port replicator at the office, and on my lap at home. The case has a few hairline cracks, but the keyboard and all ports are still in great shape.

Because I like the machine so much, I decided to give my backup machine (an A20m) to my younger brother, and bought anopther A31 IBM Certified Used machine from IBM (2652-c3u, XP Pro, 256 megs RAM) for approx. $550 shipped. That machine is due to arrive today. My plan was to use take 1gb of the 2700 ram from my current machine, add it with the 256 2100 ram in the new machine, ghost everything on my current system, and basically have 2 largely identical A31 machines (except for the 60 gig Hitachi in 1 of the A31s. I have 2 copies of Office XP, so software costs will not be an issue.

My first question is, can I make the machines identical (except for the 7200 rpm hitachi) using Ghost 2003? Both are 2652-c3u machines. Will I have validation issues with Microsoft? I'd like to keep ghosting one machine, and install the same image on both.

Second, can an A31 use both sticks of ram (1 gig 2700, 1 256 2100)?

If the RAM works, then my total outlay for the above is $550.

Finally, would I be better off just buying an r51e (which looks like a modern A31 to me) with Win XP Pro, 512 megs RAM, Ibm 11 b\g wireless, etc. I figure that such a machine with a 3 year depot warranty will cost me about $1200 after adding another 2 gigs of RAM and a port replicator.

I can't find much on these boards about the r51e, and that concerns me. I like the idea of a 3 year warranty, as I had my video memory replaced on the A31 about 2 weeks before the 3 year warranty expires.

I'd appreciate comments. I will use all machines as desktop replacements. I've lugged the A31 around for 3.5 years now, and I don't see that as a problem.

[pbbjr]

I just realized that I will not be able to make the A31 machines identical and still use both of them at the same time on my home network (can't have 2 computers with same user name).

I also found out that the r51e doesn't have a vga port. I don't want to have to buy 2 port replicators in order to use 2 screens at home and at the office. I also don't like the fact that there is only 1 ultrabay included (used by the CDRW\DVD). With my current A31, I have a CDRW\DVD, the hitachi 60 gig 7200 drive, and my old 30 gig thinkpad drive in the left side ultrabay slot.

My thought that the r51e was a modern A31 was definitely incorrect. Is there a current thinkpad with 3 spindles, vga out, and a 15" 1024x768 screen?


I think I will keep the used A31 and see how much more use I can squeeze out of two of these machines.

[chalrie_hng]

I am a A20M owner and recently just bought a R51. I was thinking A31 before go with R51, even they are one generation difference in processor technology. For me they are similar except A31 is larger, versatile and more robust, while R51 is suitable for carrying in and out. The R51 is fine, but I was a little dispointed by the flimsy feeling compares to A20M. Anyway I am keeping both for different purposes and both work fine.

Actually you should be able to use both A31's under the same network except one of them has to be renamed before bring it up in network. Simply right click on 'My Computer' -> Properties -> Computer Name -> Change then type in a new name. It costs nothing.

[chalrie_hng]

By the way, the A series are the last generation of 3 spindle design. In today's market you can hardly find another manufacturer carrying similar design like A31. My new R51 has VGA/S Video out but lack of FDD and serial port. They want everything thru USB nowadays. A series is so classic that come with everything so stick with it.

[pbbjr]

I received the A31 refurb yesterday afternoon and am happy with it. It is in better physical shape than my current A31 unit. I moved the Hitachi drive over to the new A31, called Microsoft and re-activated the XP, and I was good to go.

Regarding using both on the same network, can I take my ghost image from the Hitachi C partition, restore it to the IBM 30 gb 4200 drive which came with the refurb A31, then be good to go on this computer if all my apps are installed to my D partition (as they are on the Hitachi D partition) once I change user names, etc.?

That would certainly save me a long night installing and tweaking everything!

[LtTPfan]

. . . can I take my ghost image from the Hitachi C partition, restore it to the IBM 30 gb 4200 drive which came with the refurb A31, then be good to go on this computer

Yup, should work fine. I've done it with different models, i.e. 770 to 770X and it worked but winblows had to install a bunch of different drivers. With you doing it on identical machines, you shouldn't run into any troubles. You might want to have your OS disk handy just in case.

I don't blame you for wanting a 3-spindle machine, it certainly makes things handier as I am always swapping between DVD, FDD, and 2nd HDD on my 770X. (I even have an external FDD cable but find it a PITA.) I thought about getting an A31 to upgrade my 770X for that very reason but finally settled on a T30 for its smaller footprint.

Enjoy your "new2u" machine!

[pbbjr]

I installed the ghost image to the c drive on the new A31 last night, and everything works fine. I had to reactivate the machine, though. Now I have to largely identical A31 Thinkpads.

I have a feeling that if I want to just maintain one image and use that as the "standard" setup for both machines, I will have to reactivate XP every time I restore the image to the secondary machine. I realize that all it takes is a phone call, but it is a PITA to have to do that.

Am I correct about that?

[LtTPfan]

Unless you use an illegal crack, yes you will have to activate every time. If that isn't bad enough, there was discussion in another thread that reports you are limited to 9 activations, after which you must buy another license. I asked my son (a Microsoft employe) about this and he indicated that was true but was unaware of the exact number. He also thought that was not disclosed in the EULA.

[LtTPfan]

I found this little tidbit on how to avoid activation. HTH

How to bypass the activation process?

1- Go to the original folder i386 and search for this file unattend.txt.

2- Open that file using any text editor (e.g. WordPad, NotePad, ...) and search a line starts with ProductKey.

3- Write down the key number in that line on a piece of paper.

4- Use this product key during the installation instead of the one you got from the sticker.

5- You will not be asked to activate your windows.

If this trick did not work for you and you still want to bypass the activation, use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to extract the product key from the registry. Download this free tool from HERE.