Help: T40 Recovery Disk file needed (BOOTCAT.BIN)

[JLTook11]

Can anyone send me the BOOTCAT.BIN file from the #1 of 4 Recovery CDs for the T40? JLTook11 at comcast.net

Short version of a long story...

After trying many different ways to use the FWBACKUP / FWRESTOR process to create a backup image set from the HSA, I went ahead and spent the $50 to order the recovery CDs from IBM. They finally showed up yesterday, BUT the install died after a minute or two -- upon investigating I found that the disk image contained in the BOOTCAT.BIN file was bad!

IBM is resending the CDs (3 to 5 business days), but I think I can make this work with that one file.

Many thanks in advance!

[BillMorrow]

what is the FRU# and or part # from the first CD..??

i have an extensive archive on recovery CD sets..
PM me when you have this info..

[JLTook11]

Well, it turns out that is was not a problem with that file after all -- when I originally tried the install, the recovery CD booted up fine but then displayed the following error after a minute or so:

"CDR101: Not ready reading drive X" Abort, Retry, Fail

After several more attempts, I made an assumption that the disk was corrupted because that file looked suspect (only 1K and not a valid image like BOOTIMG.BIN)....

Well, I just tried again in order to get some additional info for this post and this time the install went a bit further -- actually displaying the blue IBM Recovery screen before once again displaying the CDR101 error.

So... I gave the CD disk surface a good wiping down and held my breath to try yet again..... SUCCESS!! It is going thru the IBM Factory Preinstallation steps in Windows as I type!

Bill -- thanks so much for your assistance.

[Merel]

When experimenting with my laptop and Ubuntu I inadvertently blew away my recovery partition.

I contacted IBM/Lenovo and found out it would cost me about $50 CAD for the disks. I don't really want to have to spend that money for a laptop that is on its last legs.

Is there any one who has ISOs of the XP Pro Recovery CDs or does someone have a Ghose Image or DriveImage Image of a fresh T40 HD so I can rebuild the partition?

Any help would be appreciated.

ThinkPad T40 2373-14U

[sktn77a]

The recovery disks are convenient, but mostly have out of date drivers on them. You could just do a clean XP install and then get the latest drivers from the IBM/Lenovo support site.

[Merel]

But I need the Recovery Disks to do a clean XP install. I dont have a recover partition on the T40 anymore.

I need to actually rebuld that partition to do a clean XP install.