My new T43 is about to arrive soon - first check-up advise

[alexzabr]

Well, my newly acquired brand new T43 (2668-6ZU) is going to show up in the mail next week. This is my first Thinkpad and laptop in general to own and to use at all.
I've downloaded several PDFs related to this series T43 off Lenovo site, such as an Overview, Service manual, Troubleshoot guide, read through some briefly.
I'll be glad to be advised what would be wise steps to proceed once unpacking my Thinkpad (after checking package content for all the necessary accessories and docs). I intend to use the machine intensively for engineering stuff, study, lots of technical computing, however prior to installing my stuff (Matlab, web and email related software) I'd prefer to check the system throughly for stable performance under sustained load (computational).
1. Are there any procedures expected from my as a new owner to register the machine with Lenovo for warranty support ? It should come with 3 years international warranty. The laptop has been purchased off Ebay.
2. Shall I run system diagnostics and check-up as the firs step after first-time power-up ? (The service manual mentioned PC-Doctor application which is supposed to run from a floppy diskette, but there si no such drive in my T43).3
3. Would it be wise move to create the set recovery CD right away ? Or probably better would be first install my mandatory software and then create these ?

Thanks in advance, Alex

[Nick Y]

<<3. Would it be wise move to create the set recovery CD right away ? Or probably better would be first install my mandatory software and then create these ?

Very worth while making a recovery set asap. (-i.e before you put it off until too late, which hopefully will be never...) You will need 5 or 6 CD's -I forget which- or one CD for the recovery and one DVD for the remaining, i.e. the product recovery, if you have a DVD burner. The installation of your 'mandatory' software will not affect the above discs.

I suggest running the ThinkVantage 'Software Installer' (not 'System Update, if present) early on as well as the Windows Update. May be worth getting these sorted out before installing your mandatory s/w.

[monkey243]

2.you can run PC-Doctor with windows. With PC-Doctor you can check the first used date ect. And you should better check the power on time. Make sure the TP was not being used for a long time.

[alexzabr]

Thanks guys for your responses.
Well, the machine is supposed to be brand new, factory sealed, so no prior usage is expected except of IBM installing their standard software. Having said that, checking up with PC Doctor still sounds a worthwhile start....

Nick, what is Software Installer is supposed to do ? Is it intended to check IBM drivers for any available updates off IBM/Lenovo site ?

So I guess the recommended procedure would be first running Win PC-Doctor to make sure no rough hardware issues, then Software Installer followed further by creating recovery CDs.
Then, if hopefully everything is fine, proceed with installing my software making my new laptop operational for my needs.

[Nick Y]

...Nick, what is Software Installer is supposed to do ? Is it intended to check IBM drivers for any available updates off IBM/Lenovo site ?...

Quite correct and I run the app. about once a week as updates come out every few weeks.

Wrt warranty, registration comes as part of the start-up first-time process (uses internet connection). It is worth checking for any serial numbers, etc. on underneath of laptop prior to powering up as you may need them during initial start up.