Help! Can´t restore System with recovery CD's

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agarza · #1 Post by **agarza** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:31 am

Again, after swapping my E7K100 i put back in my OEM 40GB HDD in the caddy.

I have the 8 CD´s for T42P. My laptop motherboard is a T41p (2373-GEG). I got ISO images of the 8 CD´s and then burned them.

To try to restore I did the following:
2. Disabled the Pre-Desktop Area in BIOS (this was already done as this disks has never worked for me)
1. Ran a Windows 98 bootable ISO, then FDISK to delete all my partitions, then exiting Fdisk, ran FDISK /MBR <enter>
2. Restarted
3. Set PDA to Normal in BIOS
4. I pressed F11 to boot from CD (maybe here was the mistake, but I do not see the difference setting the BIOS to boot from the CD at first)
5. IBM Rescue & Recovery started
6. Chose "Restaurar Contenido de Fábrica" (Restore Factory Contents), then agreed, then choose No (asks to backup existing HDD files)
7. Laptop restarts, it asks me for CD1, CD2..., CD7
8. Restarts, then again the dialog windows appears saying that is going to do a full restore
9. Agreed
10. After like 5 min of hard disk activity a window pops up "IBM Product Recovery no ha podido restaurar el sistema" (IBM Product Recovery failed to restore your system)

I can't see the part I'm doing wrong. If the recovery CD's are generic (let's say for all the T4x series, then why the error)??

marcos · #2 Post by **marcos** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:45 pm

benottomex, you might need to try with the specific recovery cd set. I had the same error message trying to restore a T43 with T42 disks, however T40's worked on the T42.

agarza · #3 Post by **agarza** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:09 pm

marcos wrote:benottomex, you might need to try with the specific recovery cd set. I had the same error message trying to restore a T43 with T42 disks, however T40's worked on the T42.

OK, thanks for your advice.
Already ordered the recovery CD's for my specific machine type (2373-GEG) surprisingly the guy I spoke with over the telephone didn't hesitate to send them free

5-working days and the CD's are with me.

marcos · #4 Post by **marcos** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:23 pm

Got a 10 days delivery estimate by IBM Italy for my T43 cd's, but I think they will be here much before.
I've asked for recovery CDs many times over time in different countries and IBM never made a fuss!

agarza · #5 Post by **agarza** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:12 pm

marcos wrote:Got a 10 days delivery estimate by IBM Italy for my T43 cd's, but I think they will be here much before.
I've asked for recovery CDs many times over time in different countries and IBM never made a fuss!

I'll be counting the days the CD's arrive to me.
Having a Thinkpad is a joy to me

agarza · #6 Post by **agarza** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:17 pm

CD's arrived today to me!

5 days took thes shipment to be delivered.
I would not be testing the CD's right now, but I've a doubt.
The CD's are labeled to be supported these models:
Thinkpad T41, T41p, R50, R50p
Type 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1836

My machine type is 2373-GEG. I wonder if the guy on the phone did make a mistake making the shipment of the wrong CD's

Also another thing: It was believed the T42 Recovery CD's would work on a T41p (my laptop), but this is not true. The set contains 5 discs. The T42 recovery set I have (copies) are 7 CD's + 1 boot.

somebody enlighten me

#7 Post by **carbon_unit** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 5:41 am

Sounds to me like they sent you the wrong CD's.

agarza · #8 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:24 am

carbon_unit wrote:Sounds to me like they sent you the wrong CD's.

Jeez, I guess I need to check those CD's. Should back up all my info

JHEM · #9 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:10 am

benottomex wrote:Also another thing: It was believed the T42 Recovery CD's would work on a T41p (my laptop), but this is not true. The set contains 5 discs. The T42 recovery set I have (copies) are 7 CD's + 1 boot.

The T42 CDs work just fine on a T41P!

First, set the BOOT order to CD first, then whatever you want. Yes, there's a BIG difference if you simply use F11 on BOOT to select a TEMPORARY BOOT device. The recovery CDs BOOT at least twice, which won't occur if you haven't set the CD as the initial BOOT device.

Second, use FDISK again to wipe the HD of all partitions and DO NOT run FDISK /MBR!

Third, use the R&R CD to start the recovery process and follow the onscreen directions.

Fourth, make sure you've enabled the Pre-Desktop in the BIOS before you begin the recovery!

James

agarza · #10 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:50 am

Thanks for your reply JHEM:

I´m googling and found out here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yout=print

That FRU P/N: 39K5998 replaces the previous recovery CD´s for a T41p machine (My machine is branded as a T42p to the left on the right bezel, but it has a T41p motherboard)

What I did is:
- Reenabled the Pre-Desktop Area to Normal
- Set the BIOS to boot from CD firstly
- Burned the Secure Data Disposal ISO and then used the M option to wipe all the sectors on the HDD

Then shutdown my system. Went to BIOS again, ejected the SDD CD and put the 1st CD of the Recovery set and then exited the BIOS.

The CD boots the machine displaying a message "Windows 98 is starting", then the IBM Product Recovery starts (which in fact is PowerQuest DriveImage 4, right)?
Right now the CD4 is being copied to the disk.

Concerning the T42 disk compatibility to a T41, I must add that the copies I got with my machine (not original) must have been made with the Thinkvantage Rescue & Recovery, since when I use it I get the modern look interface, rather than the DOS´ish I get when the CD I ordered are doing its job.

With the original disk I got yesterday, I got a screen saying this:

Code: Select all

PKUNZIP(R) FAST! Extract Utility Version 2.50   03-01-1999
Copr. 1989-1999 PKWARE Inc.   All Righs Reserved.  Shareware Version
PKUNZIP Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.

- Pentium II Class CPU Detected
- XMS Version 3.0 Detected

.
.
.
.
Inflating: C:\IBMTools\APPS\DLA\CHT\Setup.ini
.
.

Is that the screen you guys get when running the Recovery CD´s

I´ll post my results after recoery is completed!

JHEM · #11 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:59 am

benottomex wrote:Is that the screen you guys get when running the Recovery CD´s

Yes.

James

agarza · #12 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:32 pm

When is the Pre-Desktop Area supposed to be installed.

When the system booted to Windows, I went to C drive and it showed a total capacity of 37.2GB.

My Recovery CD's are FRU 39K5998 which replaces
24R7068, 24R4542, 01R9066, 01R8792, 01R7644

Thanks to Lenovo

agarza · #13 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:55 pm

Update:

System is restored. All the drivers are installed, however:
- there's no IBM_SERVICE Partition (hence no Predesktop-Area)

Did I do something wrong, or maybe the new Recovery CD´s for older models do not create the PDA.
It really takes a long time doing the recovery process. I really do like more the idea of reinstalling Windows XP slipstreaming the Service Pack 2 and install only the stuff you need.

I found a really weird thing:
CPU temp is now 44C, GPU 48C. Fan spinning @ 2900rpm.
Weird thing. I´ve not modified any of the values in the Power Schemes. When I installed Windows XP by my own the CPU was hovering around 48-52C and the GPU even hotter

Any explanation.

#14 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:12 pm

If I am not mistaken, you said you have a Hitachi drive. If you have a few hours to kill and an external floppy drive laying around, you might try using the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test; Low Level Format Tool. First set the Predesktop Area in the BIOS to Disabled, then Low Level format the Hard Drive. Next set the Predesktop Area to Normal, then use the Product Recovery Discs to restore your system. Hopefully you will get the PDA back this time.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

agarza · #15 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:21 pm

Thanks for the link.
I've used DFT before. Wonder what's the difference again IBM Secure Data Disposal.

I might remove again the preinstalled Windows and install one of my own. I really like my system to fly without all the Stuff IBM preinstall.

At least I've the original CD's in case i decide to go 100% factory state.

Another question: Do you people get the ThinkVantage Rescue & Recovery installed? I didn't

Help! Can´t restore System with recovery CD's

Help! Can´t restore System with recovery CD's

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