and that will make the difference?

A very thorough guide - thanks.
I have just bought my first ThinkPad, an X31. It is configured with Chinese XP and uses IBM's hidden partition. Do you think that your guide is equally applicable to my machine? I am hoping that it does as it seems that the folders i386, drivers and ibmtools would be free of fonts and language-dependant files.
I would like to keep the hidden partition for the ability to reload with the original software if I ever decide to sell it on.

Hi all,

Some updates!!

Finally, I just go ahead and install the slipstreamed WinXP w/ SP2 and use the product key given in "unattend.txt" file (from the original "I386" directory shipped with the ThinkPad) to register. After the refresh installation, there is no activation prompts at all (at least 2 days alreay, under vmware, the system prompts for activation almost immediately after installation).

So, just using the original product key in "unattend.txt", I was managed to properly install the fresh XP_SP2 and bypass the activation process.

Thanks all of you who helped or shared with me!

I think you should be fine. Just make sure that you get the Chinese service pack for WinXP not the English version provided in the guide.



Thanks Oxleyrd for sharing your experience. Any one else with a SP1 machine was successful in using the product key from the original unattend.txt to bypass the activation for WinXP with SP2?
I just want another confirmation before I update the guide.

Actually I want to load English.
Well, last night I tried it and it failed complaining that the service pack language and windows version did not match. So there must be language-specific files in the i386 folder.
So, I copied the i386 folder from the XP Home cd and tried again. Installation failed after the first reboot with this error "One of the components that Windows needs to confirm setup could not be installed." Untranslatable message Win32LastError is 14001.". I did not even get to enter the product key.

UCI_MECH... great guide. Wish I was so knowledgeable.

General question to anybody who can answer. I have a "new" X31. I have my own independent copy of WinXPSP2 already slipstreamed and ready to go, with a separate, valid key. Rather than reformatting the existing HD, I'm planning to take it out and insert a larger, faster one. Can I:

1. Backup all the IBM folders from the existing HD OR just download what I want from IBM (e.g., rescue-recovery).
2. Insert the new hard drive and install my own XPSP2.
3. Install all the IBM specific tools and drivers...

.... and still expect the "full functionality" of the IBM extras as if I had used the recovery CDs on a new hard drive?

For example, should I format the new HD and leave a 5 GB partition aside so that I can then install the rescue-recovery tools there? Would it work and actually restore XPSP2 as I've set it up in the main partition then?

I've done this on other laptops, but I'm new to IBM and there seems to be a LOT of stuff specific to the ThinkPads.

ozone,

All the necessary drivers are recoverable from ibm.com
As far as the applications and tools, most of them can be downloaded as well from ibm.com. There is however some exceptions such as InterVideo WinDVD and norton antivirus. Those are available in IBMTOOLS folder on your X31 and also available on the recovery CDs but I'm not sure if you can install them separately from the CDs without installing the whole partition.

So, my advice would be to backup the following folders IBMTOOLS and DRIVERS on a CD-R or DVD-R to be in the safe side.

I eventually had to do this:
1. downloaded the ThinkPad software installer and burnt it to cd,
2. booted up with XP Home cd and deleted the only visible partition,
3. created two partitions in the space - one large and one small (5Gb) for data),
4. exited and rebooted and immediately pressed the blue "Access IBM" key,
5. allowed it to restore the Chinese XP Home system,
6. once in Windows copied the three folders c:\i386, c:\ibmtools and c:\drivers to the 5Gb partition,
7. rebooted with the English XP Home cd, deleted the main partition, reformatted it for NTFS and installed Windows into it,
8. once in Windows inserted the cd containing the ThinkPad software installer and ran it pointing it to the three folders that I had saved to the 5Gb partition; this allowed me to install all the applications and drivers needed to get up and running,
9. now with lan and wireless lan connectivity I could download SP2 and run Windows update etc,
10. using my Ghost cd rebooted and backed up to two cd-rws.
Not as nice as your solution and requires Ghost but fairly simple.

Thanks UCI_MECH. Actually, I don't care for Norton or WinDVD as I usually use PowerDVD and have a virus package from where I work. I think what I'll do is just backup the whole IBM contents onto an external hard drive I have.

Thanks for this great guide!

I have a quick question: If I want to keep the hidden partition intact, can I just leave it alone and do a fresh install on the C: drive? Will this screw up with the install?

unfortunately these instructions do not work if your machine shipped with SP2.

the boot disk you create will ask you to insert a windows SP2 update CD, which doesn't exist unless you mailed in to microsoft and had them send you one..

Well dang, maybe I wont do this clean install like I was planning on since my T42p was shipped w/ SP2. Has anyone found a solution to this?!

wha? boot disc asking for updated cd? impossible.


I just burnt my i386 folder with some updated ibm drivers and it booted up just fine. In addition to the i386 folder, you'll need the following.

1. win51, win51p, win51ip.sp2, setupxp.htm (I got mine from a dell windows xp install)

2. windows bootfile (download at next website)

3. next go to this site to figure out how to burn the cd.

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=297

My unattend file has 2 different CD keys in it...one right after the other with a semicolon separating them. I used the first one and was prompted to register during setup but after all setup, Windows update worked fine. I have 2 questions regarding this:
1. Will I be prompted again in the future to register or have I jumped those hoops, and I'm okay now?
2. Have others seen 2 CD keys like I did in the unattend file, and if so, what did you do? Have you had problems with registerations prompts?

I used Magic Jelly Bean (Registeration Key Finder program) to check out the actual CD key used with my registered system and used that key which matched one of the CD Keys in the unattend file to be on the safe side. Do you think I did the right thing? I just want to make sure, because I don't want the registeration to come back and bite me, if you know what I mean.

BTW, what I did was slipstreamed WinXP, SP2 on a T22 and have had no issues with my XP installation. However, there were a whole lot more files at IBM's site for WinXP on a T22 than I had imagined. It appears I've lost functionality of Access Thinkpad, IBM Access Support and IBM Update Connector doesn't return anything that needs updating. I can live without all of these things, but would like to have had them. Any suggestions?

Since the Thinkpad key doesn't work anymore, I've routed it to bring up Solitaire....a game I tend to play more than any other.

Does anyone know, can we follow the steps in the guide and create our final CD, only then to head on over to http://unattended.msfn.org/ and follow all of their instructions for setting up a fully customized XP install? I would love get a super-customized CD setup
Thx
Edit: Great guide, thanks!

I was able to create a bootable WinXP CD with integrated SP2 to reinstall the OS from scratch on my T40p.

I did have to enter the s/n on the bottom of the system, then activate it.

That sounds good. Did you follow the steps in this post or your own method?

I followed the steps in 4saad.com.

I created the new WinXP CD on my desktop since I was still backing up all of my data on the Thinkpad.

why didn't you use the serial # in the file so you wouldn't have to activate?

I did try to enter the s/n copied from the unattend file, but it would not accept it, so I ended up entering the code from the Thinkpad itself to continue teh installation.

It is possible that I just mistyped or miscopied the original s/n.

yuki

I don't think so. I have received many questions from other readers about this issue. It seems that sometimes the "unattend.txt" trick does not work for SP2 especially if it was not preinstalled on the computer.

I really do not know why this trick works for some and fails with others. But what I know for sure is that it should work for everyone with SP1a.

The same thing happened to me. The serial from unattended did not work for me for SP2. I just used the serial from the back of the thinkpad. It worked and I did the registration. No complaints for me as long as it works and i don't have any problems with it.

I've been using a slipstreamed copy of XP SP1a to setup some client machines over the past few months and never had any problems with having to activate them when using an edited unattnd.txt file.

I made a new slipstream over the weekend with SP2 to rebuild a client's desktop I've been resucitating. Even though I edited the txt file with the correct info, I still had to call MS today to activate the install.

I guess it's a flaw (MS will call it a feature!) with SP2.

Regards,

James

but it is painless and there is no downside, save for the phone call????

Correct, not a problem really, provided you have a valid Product Key.

Of course, the SP1a slipstream could also be viewed as a bootleg!

Regards,

James

UCI_MECH - can you confirm or deny this allegation? I just received my 2373-HVU pre-installed with winxppro (SP2) and would like to a) make my own recovery CD's, and more importantly b) clean install XP on my little black box.

Has anyone else encountered the same issue as steelie69? Steelie, what solution do you have to your quandary of creating bootable CD's?

UCI_MECH - After what happened to Kenn (http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=6973), could you add the following to your warning in step 12:
"If you have encrypted some files, you must also save your encryption key. Otherwise you will permanently loose access to those files. For further info, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223316"

I've read the whole thread, and I can't tell if a T42 that shipped with SP2 pre-installed requires any special steps, or if the service pack integration step can be skipped. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

Kevin

Done! Thanks for the tip.


The feedback about SP2 are mixed. For the majority in this forum the guide worked flawlessly with SP2 but in the same time other people had problems with it.
I do not have a machine with SP2 preinstalled on it, so it is hard for me to tell whether the i386 folder has already SP2 in it.

I guess I should ask if I need to slipstream SP2 into my I386 folder even if my system has SP2 already incorporated, or if it doesn't matter one way or the other. Anyone have any experience with that? Thanks.

Kevin