I need some serious help. Please.

[Goodfellow]

I'm new to dealing with the laptop, so I'll explain what I've done and hope you can provide me with some assistance. I was trying to do a fresh install with my parents Thinkpad T30. As the laptop had Windows XP Professional on it I figured I could just used my cd for it and I did a fresh install by deleting the partition where the old one was. Now Windows says there is a 30 activation period along with all my drivers missing for it. Even after I used the laptops Windows reg key.

The machine type: 2366 - 85U

I tried reading up on the forum and apparently there is a hidden partition on the HD. I found it and unhide it with partition magic, but there are just a bunch of files and I can't seem to get anything to execute with it. How do I use these to recover my stuff the way it should be with a fresh install with all the drivers? I've hit the Thinkpad button but it won't do anything. Is there any hope? Any ways I need to go about it to fix?

Thanks for your time.

[RealBlackStuff]

If you do not see something like the IBM logo and "F1 BIOS setup, F11 Restore, F12 Select boot from..." at boot-time, you need to go into the BIOS (press F1), and activate the option to restore (F11).
Reboot, select F11 and off you go.
(I don't recall the exact wording)

[Goodfellow]

there is no option for F11 in the Bios or Boot. I found it in the Bios, it is set to Enable, but greyed out to where I can't switch it. I've hit F11 during the IBM logo screen and still nothing.

[rkawakami]

If you have confirmed that the hidden restore partition is actually there, but not accessable from the BIOS, then there's a way that you should be able to fix it. You can find it here:

Rescue and Recovery - Recovery repair diskette

[tfflivemb2]

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