Love my (free) X41 Tablet... now how to upgrade it?

[Merlyn2009]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully this is an easy set of questions, but please provide novice/intermediate level answers as I'm still learning. I was given an X41 Tablet (type 1869) with no OS loaded (former owner booted directly from company LAN?), an on-board 1GB memory card and the docking station with CD/DVD drive. I loaded Windows XP and its running great. Now the issues...

#1 Where can I find the software to run the tablet program? I have the stylus, but no program to take notes on this clever little machine.

#2 Can I upgrade the memory amount (with a replacement 2GB memory card maybe)? One non-forum article said that 1GB was the maximum amount of functional memory, but I wanted to ask the experts.

#3 Is there a secondary (backpack style) battery available? I've replaced the original battery, which would only hold about a 45-minute charge, but wanted to extend my working time for long train rides, etc.

This is a great machine and perfect for my needs (even if its not exactly cutting-edge anymore), so I'm trying to max its utility. Any other recommendations are very welcome!

Thanks and have a great Christmas.

[Tasurinchi]

Welcome to the forum!

For #1 you will need the tablet version of XP, Win7 and the newest Linux distros have tablet functions out of the box. I guess it will be possible to upgrade from XP to Tablet, but have never done this

#2 is possible. You'll need a 2GB RAM PC2-4200 stick, I have one of those in my X41T. Due to chipset limitations your tablet will support maximum 2GB RAM

No clue about #3....

Cheers!

[Merlyn2009]

Thanks for the fast response. Rather than trying to reload an entire OS (particularly when this one is running smoothly), is there an aftermarket program I could buy and load to allow the tablet function? Thanks again~

[RealBlackStuff]

There's no such beast AFAIK, but check your 'new messages' at the top of this page.

[Merlyn2009]

A little frustrated. I was able to make the disks to load Windows XP Tablet edition and it worked. The entire process was pretty easy. But now I can't connect to the Internet! My Internet connection is being managed by the Thinkvantage Access program (which loaded automatically), it showed a good connection, but wouldn't bring up any webpages! I get an error message that says "res://C:\WINDOWS\system32\shdoclc.dll/dnserror.htm"

In exasperation, I removed the Thinkvantage program to manage the internet connection through Windows. But no luck! I get the same error. Can anyone help me solve this riddle? Thanks!

[Merlyn2009]

Dear RealBlackStuff and others,

To further clarify the situation - after the 7 XP TE disks loaded up (the files that RealBlackStuff so kindly aimed me toward - thank you), there were frequent automatic reboots as the new OS "took effect." Between these reboots I was able to log into the internet and surf around a bit. It was extremely fast and effective - I was very happy. Then the last reboot happened and Thinkvantage Access Connections appeared. From that point forward I could not access any websites. My computer appears to connect to the internet, but I get the "res://C:\WINDOWS\system32\shdoclc.dll/dnserror.htm" error when I try to open a web page. This problem persists even after I removed Thinkvantage Access Connections from my system and had Windows manage the internet connections. No joy.

Could the Thinkvantage program have overwritten or corrupted a system file when it loaded up and caused the DNS error?

Is there a way to reload the XP TE Operating System, but NOT load up the Thinkvantage software? When I loaded the XP TE Op System, I did not see any options regarding what specifically was loaded and what was not. It seemed to just run along asking for each of the 7 disks after the initial R&R disk.

FYI, I did not bother loading the XP TE Supplemental Disk as several forums recommended against the "bloatware." It's frustrating because otherwise the new OS seems to run beautifully (other than the Internet problem): fast boot, programs open up smoothly and fast, etc! Please help - I feel like I'm so close to a great fix! Thanks again for your thoughts~

[RealBlackStuff]

Do both Ethernet and WiFi not work?
Is there a wifi card in the machine?
Any question marks in Control Panel/System/Device Manager?

WHY did you go on the internet, before the laptop was even finished installing?
And most likely without any AntiVirus software
You may have already caught a virus or worse.
Go get the Antimalwarebytes software (using another computer and a USB stick), then install/update/run it.

[Merlyn2009]

I'll check Ethernet tonight. The WiFi was working on my kid's iPad, but would not work on the x41. There is an Intel wifi card installed inside the machine. DM shows no question marks at all.

Maybe it was a bit foolish to go to the internet while it was installing, but I was curious and only went to cnn.com. Shouldn't have picked up a bug there, but I'll snag the antimalwarebytes software and install it to be safe.

If I were to start from scratch and reload the entire XP TE Operating System, could I customize the install and NOT install Thinkvantage Access Connections?

Thanks sir!

[RealBlackStuff]

You upset the applecart by going online prematurely.

Make sure you are ethernet-wired into your router.
Click on Start/Run, type in CMD and click OK.
Type in: ipconfig /all and hit Enter.
What DNS servers (if any) do you see?

Default Gateway, DHCP server and DNS server should all be the same, looking like e.g. 192.168.1.1

[Merlyn2009]

As recommended, I plugged in through the Ethernet, but still can't bring up a webpage (though network connections shows "connected" for the Broadcom Ethernet card). Ipconfig shows Default Gateway, DHCP server and DNS server are all identical at 192.168.0.1.

Should I just reload XP TE?

[RealBlackStuff]

Did you install a Firewall, that is blocking internet access?
If not, a fresh install might be one option, but wait until all other options have been tried.

[Merlyn2009]

Just regular windows firewall (which I've deactivated). No antivirus running at all right now (although I have Symantec waiting in the wings). I'm installing SP3 and your malwarebytes program as a last ditch effort. If that doesn't work, I'll go for the fresh OS install. Thx!

[Raceboy]

Get rid of the Access Connections, it is a resource hog and you don't need any additional utilities for wifi and LAN with XP.

[Merlyn2009]

It worked!!! Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice. RBS - I owe you a few pints of the RBS! Best~

[billshoff]

My X41 tablet is running Win XP Pro and I've found most of the drivers but I'm missing all the tablet software. I ran System File Check hoping to fill in the gaps but sfc asked for Disk 2 which I don't have. Anybody know where I can download the tablet software...or Disk 2?

[Merlyn2009]

Sent you the files on PM.

[billp117]

For what it is worth...Windows 7 runs fine on the X41T. It loads the Tablet features and will make loading an OS a breaze. Best way to install is while connected to the internet via ethernet. Although the video driver is not the best...all other features are just fine.

[billshoff]

My copy of Win 7 only works as an upgrade and it won't load on my X41t. The error message says that it can't find the drive. I'm using a cf card for a drive.

[billp117]

I missed the CF issue...

[Tasurinchi]

I just went back from Linux Mint 12 to Win7 ultimate in my X41T, after some fiddling with the video drivers everything works fine now and I'm really happy with it. Mint 12 was working fine as well, but from time to time the tablet functions went crazy and since I got a new SSD I decided to do a try with Win7.

[billp117]

There is a known issue with the mouse/pen pointer wanting to drop to a corner...and there is a flash to correct the problem. It is a pain to load the flash software...a long story. I just put up with the problem.

[loyukfai]

My copy of Win 7 only works as an upgrade and it won't load on my X41t. The error message says that it can't find the drive. I'm using a cf card for a drive.

There are tricks to install an upgrade version of Win7 like fresh.

That's all I can say in this forum. Ugh... Google it.

Cheers.

[venik]

Like you, I was given one of these machines, and I adore it. However, the hard drive is much too slow, and I am thinking of putting an SSD into it to replace the very slow HD. I tried running WINDOWS XP on it, but it was much too slow. On the other hand, Ubuntu (Linux-- the light version, named Lubuntu) runs very well indeed on it. I do not use the tablet functions-- only the regular laptop stuff. It is a wonderful machine with Lubuntu. Try it out!

Hi everyone,

Hopefully this is an easy set of questions, but please provide novice/intermediate level answers as I'm still learning. I was given an X41 Tablet (type 1869) with no OS loaded (former owner booted directly from company LAN?), an on-board 1GB memory card and the docking station with CD/DVD drive. I loaded Windows XP and its running great. Now the issues...

#1 Where can I find the software to run the tablet program? I have the stylus, but no program to take notes on this clever little machine.

#2 Can I upgrade the memory amount (with a replacement 2GB memory card maybe)? One non-forum article said that 1GB was the maximum amount of functional memory, but I wanted to ask the experts.

#3 Is there a secondary (backpack style) battery available? I've replaced the original battery, which would only hold about a 45-minute charge, but wanted to extend my working time for long train rides, etc.

This is a great machine and perfect for my needs (even if its not exactly cutting-edge anymore), so I'm trying to max its utility. Any other recommendations are very welcome!

Thanks and have a great Christmas.

[billshoff]

Jolicloud runs well, too. http://www.jolicloud.com