My T42p died after 4.5 years of awesomeness... boot problem.

[Basar]

So I think my T42p died after 4.5 years of awesomeness. Or did it? Not sure.

I use(d to use) my Thinkpad for basic communication needs: instant messaging, voice chat with friends and colleagues, etc. So I received a call from a contact on Skype but my voice didn't reach their side. So after trying to solve it within Skype and through Windows Sound Controller, I decided to restart... well, that was the last time I saw my T42p with an OS

So, now when I try to turn it on, it turns on and shows the initial boot screen with the IBM and Thinkpad logos but doesn't go any further. It just waits... well, I waited 10 minutes once, so I don't think its gonna go any further. I pressed the Access IBM button to see if it would do any good, nope, nothing So I push the Power button for 10 seconds and normally this action shouldn't give any beeps, just shuts off the computer, but now when I press it, it gives a deep and sharp *beep* noise.

Anyone had a similar issue? I dont' care about the laptop anymore honestly, it's 4.5 years old but I would like to rescue my data on the harddrive and I would like to do it without utilizing any adapters (hence, without taking out the harddrive) but if I need to, is it easy to remove the harddrive on these machines? And what kind of adapter would I need?

Here're the specs which I had saved a while ago:

Product: ThinkPad T42p 2373-Q1U [change]
Operating system: Windows XP [change]

Original description: P M 765, 1GB RAM, 60GB 7200rpm HDD, 15 UXGA(1600x1200) TFT LCD, 128MB ATI FireGL T2, CD-RW/DVD-R Multi-Burner, IBM 802.11a/b/g wireless(MPCI), Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint Reader, 9c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

Many thanks for reading/helping

[rkawakami]

First order of business when confronted with a power-up/boot problem is to remove all "unnecessary" items from the system. This includes all memory, hard drive, Ultrabay drive, easily removable interface cards (like PCMCIA, MiniPCI, ethernet, bluetooth). You are basically stripping down the machine to the bare essentials. Then power it up. You should get the beep code for missing or bad memory. If so, then at least some of the motherboard is working properly. Continue by installing just one memory module and repeating the power-up. With a single (good) memory module in the system, it should boot and allow you to get into the BIOS. If you don't attempt to access the BIOS, then after a few seconds, you should see a "no operating system found" message. Keep adding in one piece at a time and powering up again. If you get to the point where the system is again hung, then the last part you re-installed is probably the cause of the problem.

In order to remove any (or all) stuff from your system, you can use the Hardware Maintenance Manual. The copy for the T4x system is here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 46464.html

The hard drive is very easy to remove. Take out the single screw that holds the hard drive cover (right front corner) in place, then with the lid open, use your thumbs to pull out the drive/cover assembly.

As far as getting the data off your hard drive, if the T42p doesn't work, then you're going to have to remove the drive and use some sort of adapter. Either an Ultrabay hard drive adapter (if you have another Thinkpad) or an adapter to connect it to a desktop IDE cable.

[Basar]

rkawakami,

Thanks for your lengthy response. I spent the whole afternoon yesterday on doing what you recommended. Bareboned the laptop but still no good. I think it is a motherboard issue... since I was going to buy an X200 soon anyways, I will just try to recover my data from the HD instead.

So I bought an IDE to USB enclosure kit today, and installed my 2.5" drive. I was able to recover everything in directories other than My Documents/Desktop. When I plug in the drive, it just shows up as an external drive, and takes me to the root of my previous C: drive. When I click on Documents and Settings, it shows me the list of users but when I click my previous "admin" user, it denies access The exact error is: ... is not available. Access is denied.

Any recommendations? I don't want to have to pay zillion bucks to recover my documents...

[RealBlackStuff]

You must "take ownership" of the My Documents folder, when this HD is in another machine.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

[Basar]

RBS,

Thanks. It was apparently something to do with my company laptop which I don't have admin rights on. So after plugging the drive to a personal desktop computer, I was able to see full contents.

Thanks anyways...

BR.