T60p vanilla XP installation

[Giovanni]

Hello all,

I've been poking around through the various topics on how to do a vanilla XP installation on a T60p machine, and I want to make sure I do it right so I don't make a fatal mistake. From the XP OEM CD topic, I gather that you must basically:

-Create the R&R CDs to have a copy of the rescue partition and have the ability to do a default Lenovo install.

-Get the Lenovo CD key from the Thinkpad using the key finder.

-Use nLite to create the XP CD, merge the drivers you need, and install.

At this point I believe it's OK to remove the R&R partition since you have the CDs. The main thing I'm wondering about is: is any of the Lenovo software useful/necessary? I've been told doing vanilla installs of an OS on a laptop is often difficult because of the different drivers. If anyone has tried that XP OEM CD tutorial and knows if everything there is OK to do, or if you need more than it lists, I'd be very grateful.

I have an XP Pro reinstallation CD that I got with my Dell, so I figured I would extract everything from that and use it to create the XP installation disc, rather than copying stuff from the hard drive. (That apparently is an option listed on the nLite site.) If I've left anything out that you need to know, please tell me. Thanks to those who can help.

[xta]

in drive C, there should be a folder called SWTOOLS. you should copy that whole folder onto an external drive or back it up somehow. it contains application software for various things (such as dvd player)

[killigrew]

And you don't need any keyfinder, just look at the botom of the thinkpad

[Giovanni]

Sorry for the belated reply, I was "blessed" with the flu. Now then...

And you don't need any keyfinder, just look at the botom of the thinkpad

According to the tutorial:

The CD that is created in this tutorial embeds the Lenovo OEM key (different from the one on the bottom of the machine) and doesn't require activation as long as it's installed on the same machine the license came with.

That's what I thought you needed to get with the key finder. Is that not correct?

I guess I'll burn a DVD with the Lenovo folders as well.