Crashing on xp install@ 2%

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JAY_UNLIMITED · #1 Post by **JAY_UNLIMITED** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:18 am

Hello All.

I am a newbie here and also new to think pads. I will keep this short as I need help amd dont want to ramble. The thinkpad was having hangups so one of the IT guys I work with wiped the hard drive as we could not get it to boot. Needless to say I lost all data that was there. so now when we go to do an install of XP the system crashes and powers itself off. If you just try to power it on the fans and lights come on but does not start the hard drive. But when you unplug it and power on then it starts this cycle all over again. Can anyone please help? have the drivers ggone bad and do I need the restore software to get the laptop functional again?

Thanks so much it is appreciate

Stranded in Seattle

christopher_wolf · #2 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:33 pm

Welcome to the Thinkpad Forum

Hmmm, that rather sounds more like a hardware issue with the planar. So I don't think much in the way of software aid is going to do it. Have you tried a different HDD in there? One of the things that I have seen cause issues like this, which can be varied, is a failed connection between the HDD and the system board (planar). A new HDD would allow you to at least narrow it down by excluding the original HDD.

JAY_UNLIMITED · #3 Post by **JAY_UNLIMITED** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:48 pm

Thanks for the tips,

yes we have tried severl hard drives in the unit, got the hard drives formatted and then again on trying to install XP the system crashes at 2% and powers off. So then we un plug the power, turn it back on with the battery power, plug the power cord back in and try to install and this cycle just repeats.

This all started with the laptop locking up and I could not even get to the task manager to shut down. So when I tried to run a norton scan disk to see if there were problems thats when it crashed and would not boot which then lead to a hard drive wipe and now at the current problem.

Any help guys would really be appreciated since I do not have the expierence with these units and am not sure if it is hardware or software.

It does seem strange to me that it powers off when it crashes and thats why i was thinking that maybe it was ibm software related and not noticing a driver or something

#4 Post by **rkawakami** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:59 pm

I would suggest you go to Lenovo's download site for the T41, here:

Software and Drivers for T40/T41

and grab a copy of PC Doctor for DOS (under the Diagnostics heading), either the DOS bootable CD or the floppy disk version. After creating the media, boot the system and start running some of the diagnostics. I'd start with memory first just to insure that it's okay. Secondly, run the CPU and systemboard diags. Then proceed to the Fixed Disk diagnostic and see what that turns up.

danage · #5 Post by **danage** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:19 pm

might be a memory problem. can you try using other modules?

agarza · #6 Post by **agarza** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:20 am

Seems like a motherboard problem to me

The Spirit of X21 · #7 Post by **The Spirit of X21** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:01 pm

I agree with benottomex. It sounds like something's going on with the planar - something not unheard of in the T4x series.

Crashing on xp install@ 2%

Crashing on xp install@ 2%

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