How to reinstall Windowx XP on an IBM Thinkpad A31p laptop PC

[Orak Listalavostok]

QUESTION:
Where am I supposed to obtain the WinXP installation CDROM for my IBM laptop?

BACKGROUND:
When I received my first company IBM Thinkpad A31p about a year ago,
instead of handing it to the IT department to image with the corporate
standard Windows 2000, I immediately (broke company rules and) formatted
the two 60 Gbyte disks & installed a dual-boot Win2K/RH Linux 7.3 setup
myself.

That was a mistake. Why?

Because I lost all the IBM-supplied WinXP drivers when I ran fdisk & format
on the original hard disk. But, there was no turning back. One by one,
over time, I fixed all hardware and driver conflicts on that Win2K system.

In fact, it was fun finding the drivers & software. I learned a lot.

However, for my next corporate IBM Thinkpad A31p, I didn't make the exact
same mistake. Instead of handing it to the IT department, I simply left
the WinXP OS as it came installed & upgraded my user software as needed
(saving a backup of every installation program as I performed the task).

BUT THERE IS ONE INSTALLATION PROGRAM I AM MISSING. Windows XP.

OS SUMMARY:
In neither case did my IBM ThinkPad A31p come with a Windows XP CDROM.
In both cases, there is a Windows XP Product Key on the bottom of the laptop.
Each also has a Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity on that sticker.
In both cases, I can ask my IT department to back up and install WinXP.
However, I like to do things myself when I can (this should be easy).

CURRENT SITUATION:
If I wish to reinstall the Windows XP operating system on my newer WinXP
IBM ThinkPad, I assume I merely need to press F-something (which shows
every time I reboot). I assume that will reinstall Windows XP wiping out
all my additions (so I won't do it until/unless I first backup contents).

NOW TO MY QUESTION:
On my older IBM ThinkPad A31p laptop (which I had reformatted &
installed Windows 2K/Linux) HOW DO I GET WINDOWS XP ON IT NOW?

That is, where am I supposed to obtain the WinXP installation CDROM?

NOTES:
I assume I already paid for WINXP in the purchase of the IBM A31p laptop
since the sticker says so on the bottom.

Q: Where do I legimately obtain the WinXP CDROM for my IBM A31p laptop?

Thank you,
Orak

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

QUESTION:
Where am I supposed to obtain the WinXP installation CDROM for my IBM laptop?

BACKGROUND:
When I received my first company IBM Thinkpad A31p about a year ago,
instead of handing it to the IT department to image with the corporate
standard Windows 2000, I immediately (broke company rules and) formatted
the two 60 Gbyte disks & installed a dual-boot Win2K/RH Linux 7.3 setup
myself.

That was a mistake. Why?

Because I lost all the IBM-supplied WinXP drivers when I ran fdisk & format
on the original hard disk. But, there was no turning back. One by one,
over time, I fixed all hardware and driver conflicts on that Win2K system.

In fact, it was fun finding the drivers & software. I learned a lot.

However, for my next corporate IBM Thinkpad A31p, I didn't make the exact
same mistake. Instead of handing it to the IT department, I simply left
the WinXP OS as it came installed & upgraded my user software as needed
(saving a backup of every installation program as I performed the task).

BUT THERE IS ONE INSTALLATION PROGRAM I AM MISSING. Windows XP.

OS SUMMARY:
In neither case did my IBM ThinkPad A31p come with a Windows XP CDROM.
In both cases, there is a Windows XP Product Key on the bottom of the laptop.
Each also has a Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity on that sticker.
In both cases, I can ask my IT department to back up and install WinXP.
However, I like to do things myself when I can (this should be easy).

CURRENT SITUATION:
If I wish to reinstall the Windows XP operating system on my newer WinXP
IBM ThinkPad, I assume I merely need to press F-something (which shows
every time I reboot). I assume that will reinstall Windows XP wiping out
all my additions (so I won't do it until/unless I first backup contents).

NOW TO MY QUESTION:
On my older IBM ThinkPad A31p laptop (which I had reformatted &
installed Windows 2K/Linux) HOW DO I GET WINDOWS XP ON IT NOW?

That is, where am I supposed to obtain the WinXP installation CDROM?

NOTES:
I assume I already paid for WINXP in the purchase of the IBM A31p laptop
since the sticker says so on the bottom.

Q: Where do I legimately obtain the WinXP CDROM for my IBM A31p laptop?

Thank you,
Orak

This might be a good time to consult your IT department.
They will most certainly have a WinXP CD. They would
also have advised you in the case of your first IBM Thinkpad
that there are several ways of installing multi-booting:

a) The gentle way: Use a partition manager to resize partitions
on the fly, non-destructively, then add OSs one by one; or

b) The sorched earth method: Wipe everything, then start
afresh.

 

[.BRIAN.]

On 3/29/2004 7:20 PM, Orak Listalavostok wrote:
[snip]

Holy shit. Are you f'ing serious? You're one of the biggest damn
idiots I know.

 

[JHEM]

QUESTION:
Where am I supposed to obtain the WinXP installation CDROM for my
IBM laptop?

Contact IBM support and tell them you are installing a larger HD in your
machine and need the Recovery CDs for it. Initially, they will tell you that
you can't have them, but if you escalate the call to a supervisor you'll
eventually get them.

They'll probably charge you around $35 for them if you're unlucky. If lucky
they'll send them for free. To prevent this problem in future, the next time
you get a new Thinkpad call support within the first 30 days of ownership
and they'll send them to you free without any questions.

Regards,

James

 

[Orak Listalavostok]

I called IBM EasyServ Support (1-800-772-2227) and they sent me the
Original XP installation disks. You will need to provide your ThinkPad's
model and serial numbers.

Calling IBM worked (I think).

Since the USENET is all about helping others, here is what I needed
to do to order my IBM Windows XP Recovery CDROM today:
- I called IBM Customer Support 1-800-IBM-4YOU (1-800-426-4968)
[Three good things about that number]
a) They don't assume you speak the wrong language (this isn't Spain!);
b) They don't lie, saying the wait is "Due to excessive call volume";
c) They don't make you wade through endless choice hierarchies.
- IBM Customer Support immediately directed me to IBM Technical Support:
1-800-426-7378
a) Press or say "1" for HARDWARE SUPPORT;
b) Press or say "1" to PLACE A SERVICE CALL;
c) Press or say "1" to ENTER YOUR 4-DIGIT TYPE NUMBER.
After I entered my TYPE number (from the bottom of my A31p ThinkPad),
a technician came on asking for the serial number & date of purchase.

The tech said they don't work on corporate machines so I quickly corrected
myself telling them I'm the guy who works on this laptop.

They then said I needed to call within 30 days of purchasing the IBM
A31p ThinkPad laptop if I wanted the Windows XP IBM A31p ThinkPad
recovery cd sent to me, gratis.

Thinking quickly on my feet, I said, "But the hard disk crashed" (which,
in a way, is true, even if it was a self-inflicted crash of sorts).

IBM Support kindly relented (hey, I paid over $5,000 for this thing
all beefed up with 1 Gbyte of memory & 512 Gbyte IBM Memory Key,
IBM cordless mouse, IBM expansion carrying bag, two extra batteries
(one for the bay and one oversized), a USB floppy drive & an expansion
bay floppy drive, an extra DVD ROM for copying disk to disk, on-site
warranty for an extra $150, and two new IBM 80 Gbytes disk - so I don't
feel too sorry for IBM who never told me until now I only had the
first 30 days to request the IBM Windows XP Recovery DISC CDROM.

The tech asked my name & address (which I took to be a good sign) and then
put me on hold for quite a few minutes (I'm not sure why). When he
came back, he said, amazingly, I'd have it TOMORROW (by Airborne
Express)! Wowser. That's fast.

I'll let you know what's in the package & how to use it when it arrives.

Orak

 

[Orak Listalavostok]

This might be a good time to consult your IT department.
They will most certainly have a WinXP CD. They would
also have advised you in the case of your first IBM Thinkpad
that there are several ways of installing multi-booting:

a) The gentle way: Use a partition manager to resize partitions
on the fly, non-destructively, then add OSs one by one; or

b) The sorched earth method: Wipe everything, then start
afresh.

Thanks Pegasus for the kind admonition.
Indeed, everything you say is true. I now know, after the fact.

Actually, in reality, IT would have just DONE the job and simply
handed me a complete working system, dual boot & everything.

They wouldn't have admonished me about anything. I wouldn't
have learned a thing either. But then again, it would have been
zero effort on my part. That's always the IT tradeoff it seems.

If someone else does your work; they learn; you don't.

There is one other tradeoff. The IT folks in my corporation insist
on putting the Microsoft OS on the first 80 Gbyte disk of the new
IBM A31p ThinkPad laptops; then they put Redhat Linux Enterprise 3.1
on the SECOND 80 Gbyte hard drive (with something called GRUB on the
first hard drive). I prefer to put both operating systems on the
boot drive and then use the second 80 Gb disk either as an extra
Linux-only disk. Then I can remove that second disk when I need to
use the extra bay battery I bought; or I can remove the second disk
to use the second CDROM drive I bought so that I can burn CDROMs
without having to take the source cdrom out to burn the target.

So, for most people, your advice is totally correct (especially since
I paid for the extra on-site warranty which my company adds to every
Purchase Order by default!).

But, if someone else does my work, they benefit. I don't.
My whole point of being on the Internet is to learn what I can by
asking and doing. If I called IT, they'd just do it for me.

Orak

 

[Crispin]

(cross posted)
Be careful when using this CD. It's not a simple Windows XP install
CD but a complete restore disk. It will likely destroy any partitions
you have set up on the main drive and run through scripted utilities
to install drivers and apps.

If you really want to learn, my advice would be to borrow a regular XP
install CD from IT (or anyone, the license that came with the laptop
is clearly included) and install it yourself. Then install any device
drivers and IBM apps from IBM's device driver matrix:
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TPAD-MATRIX

I used to create laptop builds for Thinkpads at my old job and
everything you need from modem drivers to the Battery Maximiser app is
available for download there.

Good luck!

I called IBM EasyServ Support (1-800-772-2227) and they sent me the
Original XP installation disks. You will need to provide your ThinkPad's
model and serial numbers.

Calling IBM worked (I think).

Since the USENET is all about helping others, here is what I needed
to do to order my IBM Windows XP Recovery CDROM today:
- I called IBM Customer Support 1-800-IBM-4YOU (1-800-426-4968)
[Three good things about that number]
a) They don't assume you speak the wrong language (this isn't Spain!);
b) They don't lie, saying the wait is "Due to excessive call volume";
c) They don't make you wade through endless choice hierarchies.
- IBM Customer Support immediately directed me to IBM Technical Support:
1-800-426-7378
a) Press or say "1" for HARDWARE SUPPORT;
b) Press or say "1" to PLACE A SERVICE CALL;
c) Press or say "1" to ENTER YOUR 4-DIGIT TYPE NUMBER.
After I entered my TYPE number (from the bottom of my A31p ThinkPad),
a technician came on asking for the serial number & date of purchase.

The tech said they don't work on corporate machines so I quickly corrected
myself telling them I'm the guy who works on this laptop.

They then said I needed to call within 30 days of purchasing the IBM
A31p ThinkPad laptop if I wanted the Windows XP IBM A31p ThinkPad
recovery cd sent to me, gratis.

Thinking quickly on my feet, I said, "But the hard disk crashed" (which,
in a way, is true, even if it was a self-inflicted crash of sorts).

IBM Support kindly relented (hey, I paid over $5,000 for this thing
all beefed up with 1 Gbyte of memory & 512 Gbyte IBM Memory Key,
IBM cordless mouse, IBM expansion carrying bag, two extra batteries
(one for the bay and one oversized), a USB floppy drive & an expansion
bay floppy drive, an extra DVD ROM for copying disk to disk, on-site
warranty for an extra $150, and two new IBM 80 Gbytes disk - so I don't
feel too sorry for IBM who never told me until now I only had the
first 30 days to request the IBM Windows XP Recovery DISC CDROM.

The tech asked my name & address (which I took to be a good sign) and then
put me on hold for quite a few minutes (I'm not sure why). When he
came back, he said, amazingly, I'd have it TOMORROW (by Airborne
Express)! Wowser. That's fast.

I'll let you know what's in the package & how to use it when it arrives.

Orak

 

[Orak Listalavostok]

If you really want to learn, my advice would be to borrow a regular XP
install CD from IT (or anyone, the license that came with the laptop
is clearly included) and install it yourself. Then install any device
drivers and IBM apps from IBM's device driver matrix:
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TPAD-MATRIX

Agreed. IBM makes it trivial to obtain & install all necessary Microsoft
Windows-based drivers; however, I've heard corresponding IBM ThinkPad A31p
drivers for Linux (RHE 3.1) are not easily found ... do you have any
suggestions for the Linux side of our IBM A31p laptop disks?

The other question I have with a cold install (which I agree is better
overall than the IBM Recovery CDROM method) is I've heard (but never tried)
that Windows XP goes on differently than the previous Microsoft installs did.

For example, to install Windows 2000 Pro, all I need to do is create a
C:\WINNT directory and then set the PC to look first to the CDROM. The
questions then come from the Windows 2000 Professional CDROM blue menus.
First it asks where to put the operating system (which should never go into
the slash partition), and then on and on for 30 minutes or so. Then the
drivers go on, right after PC Magazine INCTRL5 (to track exactly which
files are put where by whom).

Is it the same with Windows XP?

I have a legitimate Windows XP product key & Microsoft WinXP COA,
both clearly stickered on the bottom of each IBM ThinkPad A31p laptop;
but, I was under the impression the OS wouldn't install without some
supposed divine intervention from Microsoft themselves. No big deal,
I guess ... I just don't know what that is. I'm under the impression
it has something to do with an algorithm that enumerates the hardware
and then disallows a repeat installation that doesn't reproduce near to
that number.

Am I way off here?

Orak

 

[Orak Listalavostok]

If you can't boot from a CDROM, you can download 6 WinXP setup boot disks:

support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q310994&ID=kb;en-us;Q310994
Then you can run the clean install using your Windows XP OEM product key:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

If you use the IBM recovery disks, it's much harder to do a clean install.
The 1st Recovery CD just restores WinXP, but it automatically formats the
drive to a FAT32 file system. You can convert the files system using the
WinXP CONVERT command, but the Windows XP help system recommends not
doing that - it recommends installing WinXP on a preformated NTFS drive.
If you pre-format & then run the IBM Recovery Disks, you're back to FAT32!
The recovery CD-ROM will re-create the pre-existing FAT32x file system
every time. Some people have suggested the following workaround:
a.- Re-install per the recovery CD.
b.- Install Paragon Hard Disk Manager, and using this software suite
re-partition the hard drive the way you want it.
c.- Do a defrag on the XP partition.
d.- Use Paragon Hard Disk Manager to convert the existing FAT32x
filesystem to NTFS. This is important, do NOT use the Windows
convert utility to convert the filesystem to NTFS or you will wind
up with 512 byte clusters. This is inefficient and per my tests
(and the tests of others) significantly slows disk access.
Select a size of 4k for your clusters, this is 8 sectors per
cluster in Paragon. This is the most efficient size for your drive
size. And don't worry about wasted space with these size clusters,
this is NTFS and smaller files are stored in the MFT in their entirety,
not in mostly empty clusters. This cluster size also allows you to
take advantage of the compressed folder option in Windows.

Also note that Partition Magic uses the Microsoft conversion utility and
creates the unwanted 512 byte cluster size. As far as I know Paragon in the
only utility that allows cluster size specification during a conversion.
Paragon will also allow you to convert the cluster size should you have
inadvertently used the Microsoft utility. I would recommend against
re-conversion of the cluster sizes (in other words, re-sizing after having
already converted to NTFS once), as the MFT will not be correctly located on
the disk surface.

The reason Microsoft does not recommend conversion is because of the 512
byte cluster size that results. When a drive is formatted from scratch,
using a full install CD, Microsoft will properly create the 4k cluster
sizes.

Once conversion has completed, defrag again.

IBM uses the FAT 32x file system because it is easier for inexperienced
users to apply recovery techniques. Note that it is *NOT* easier to recover
a FAT file system than an NTFS one. NT/2K/XP makes it pretty easy to recover
from some fairly catastrophic file system errors (which would be
unrecoverable on a FAT filesystem), but it takes a bit of practice to become
familiar with the required utilities. I prefer NTFS because of the
file-level security it offers, and the journaling capability that offers
better stability and reliability.
And should you be considering Linux, RedHat 7.3 installs fine on the
IBM ThinkPad A31p series.

Others have had success creating a clean WinXP install by this method:
1.- Resize C: and create D:
2.- Use IBM recovery CD and boot in XP
3.- Copy the XP installation files from C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\INSTALL to D:
4.- Format C: and install from the folder at D:
IMPORTANT - NTFS partitions aren't easily accessed from DOS.
You can leave D: as FAT32 or use www.sysinternals.com to access NTFS from DOS.

The WinXP setupp.ini controls which product key the CDROM will accept
(CORPORATE won't work directly with OEM for example). You'll find the
setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on the VL CD for Windows XP.
You have to change that VL PID="value" to:
Pid=51883OEM
in order to get the VL version to accept an OEM product key. Using a program
like WinISO will make it easier to edit the ISO, so that you can create
your own XP VL CD that takes OEM keys.

I don't recommend a "clean" install anyway because you need also to install
scores of IBM ThinkPad drivers & utilities. Its much easier to invoke the
add-remove programs to uninstall the IBM provided programs that annoy you.

Since the USENET is all about helping others, here's the latest status.

IBM, true to their promise, overnighted by Airborne Express from the
Durham Exchange Club Ind on 1717 Lawson Street, Durham, North Carolina
one package with a part number sticker "01R6024" containing 2 discs:
Product Recovery CD for ThinkPad A31, A31P Type 2652,2653,2654
Disc 1 of 2, 8/23/2002, P/N 01R6044, XP-P, EN, FRU P/N 01R6024
Disc 2 of 2, 8/23/2002, P/N 01R6044, XP-P, EN, FRU P/N 01R6024
and a sheet of paper titled "Instructions for using the Recovery CD."

Here's what I did so far (following IBM instructions verbatim):
1. To make the CD drive the first startup device in the startup sequence:
a. I shut down the IBM ThinkPad A31p & turned the laptop PC off.
b. I pressed (& held) the F1 key, & then pressed the IBM 'eyeball' button.
c. I released the F1 key when I heard repeated beeps (some see an IBM logo).
d. This started the IBM BIOS Setup Utility where I wrote down all settings.
- Then using the arrow keys, I selected STARTUP from the main menu.
- Then I selected BOOT from the STARTUP menu.
- Then I selected my CD-ROM DRIVE from the BOOT menu.
- I pressed the F6 key repeatedly until my CDROM moved to the top.
2. I inserted the bootable Recovery CD into the internal CD-ROM drive.
3. I pressed the F10 key to save & exit the IBM BIOS Setup Utility program.
4. I selected YES in the Setup Confirmation Window & then pressed ENTER
to start the IBM A31p ThinkPad from the bootable IBM Recovery CD.
5. That didn't work, so I pressed <Control + Alt + Del> to restart the A31p.
6. I answered all the questions in the recovery menu screen.
7. Finally, it said the recovery process finished.
8. I removed the recovery cdrom from the internal cdrom drive.
9. I restarted my IBM A31p ThinkPad laptop computer.
10. I restored the original startup sequence based on the written settings.
a. I again shut down the IBM ThinkPad A31p & turned the laptop PC off.
b. I pressed (& held) the F1 key, & then pressed the IBM 'eyeball' button.
c. I released the F1 key when I heard repeated beeps (some see an IBM logo).
d. In the open IBM BIOS Setup Utility I selected STARTUP from the main menu.
e. I selected STARTUP SEQUENCE from the STARTUP menu (some use BOOT).
f. I pressed the F9 key to select SETUP DEFAULTS from the BOOT menu.
g. I pressed F10 to save & exit the IBM BIOS Setup Utility.
h. I selected YES in the Setup Confirmation window & pressed ENTER.
11. I removed all extraneous programs installed by the recovery CDROM.
12. I installed the latest drivers previously archived from the IBM site:
http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TPAD-MATRIX

Improvements are always welcome because someone will inevitably follow in our
footsteps.

Orak

 

[P.T. Breuer]

Agreed. IBM makes it trivial to obtain & install all necessary Microsoft
Windows-based drivers; however, I've heard corresponding IBM ThinkPad A31p
drivers for Linux (RHE 3.1) are not easily found ... do you have any
suggestions for the Linux side of our IBM A31p laptop disks?

What do you need? My thinkpads have always worked fine with standard
linux kernels. Graphics? You can always use the vesa driver if you
don't have a native one. Sound? Surely its only an ac97 variant?
Wireless? Surely you have an orinoco chip? (Etc...).

Peter