Restoring the Pre-Desktop Area

[pcsmart24]

Oh boy where do i start.....Help

Ive tried to restore my t40 back to factory defaults using the predesktop area, but when i try i dont get anywhere at all. All i get is press f1 for bios, esc to continue etc etc
Ive ordered the recovery cd's from IBM and installed them but i still dont get the predesktop area?

In windows i have only got one partition which is IBM_Preload.

Im trying my best to understand what on earth is going on but i just dont understand it. Ive read a few posts on here about it but i just dont seem to be able to get it to work at all.

In the bios the predesktop area security is set to normal but still nothing at all works

Anybody got any ideas?

[jdhurst]

Try this:

Turn the computer OFF.
Turn it back ON.
Immediately press F12 (several times) until you see a small boot menu.
Select Boot from CD.
Insert the first Recovery CD into the drive and press enter to start the boot process.
Let the recovery process begin, but at the stage where it is ready to start.
Press Escape to break out of this stage (might need to use F3).
This brings you to a DOS prompt: X:>
At that prompt, type FDISK.
Work your way through the menus and remove all partitions.
Exit (do not reboot) and type FDISK /MBR
Leave the CD in the drive and restart.
Remember to press F12 to get the startup menu.

The machine should recover to its original state.
... JD Hurst

[pcsmart24]

Thanks for the speedy reply, but ive managed to sort it out by removing all of the partitions on the drive and then running the recovery cd's.

Basically the same as you suggested but just done in a different way.

Thanks again for the quick reply and congrats on a great site, ive found it very useful on many occasions.