I recently got a great deal on an X41T (Type 1866-6SU) that came without the hard drive, and want to install an XP OS on it. I'm having difficulty finding restore disks for the laptop, but since my intended software applications (including Adobe CS2 Suite) for the Tablet are XP family-friendly and don't play well with Vista (conflicting reports on Windows 7), I want to stick with XP.

Although I may be able to re-construct the OS with an XP disk (retail, not OEM) and Lenovo site downloads, does anyone know if Lenovo still offers recovery disks for this 2005 model? It was my understanding that Lenovo will only offer them (if still available) for units still under warranty (this one isn't).

Also, has anyone had success doing an XP Pro SP2 disk & Lenovo Driver Download install, and achievng full functionality of tablet features?

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

I don't believe that Lenovo is still offering X41T restore disks. Your best bet may be to post a WTB (Want To Buy) in the Marketplace.

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In researching online how to get the best performance from the X41 Tablet, I've come across references to the factory restore image being part of the problem. In an article entitled "How to speed up your Lenovo X41T", the author talks of original IBM X41 utilities and bloatware that, when installed as part of the recovery process, have a profoundly negative affect on system performance.
My thinking here is that maybe installing the original factory image isn't the best way to go.

What do you think of using an OEM XP Pro SP2 disk (with the XP Tablet PC COA key that came with the tablet) and select driver/utility downloads from the Lenovo site as a better approach for installing the XP OS in 2011?

I don't believe that you can activate an installation made from an OEM XP disk using the COA on the bottom of the system. Assuming that you could, then yes you could download selected software/drivers from the Lenovo support site. If I were in your position, I'd probably go the opposite direction; perform the system restore using the factory disk but then remove what I don't want.

x41t restore discs come with a disc called supplemental product recovery cd. This is what puts most of the so-called bloatware in the computer. When it prompts you to insert it, just say no. The install will ask for it at the beginning and at the very end. Not inserting it will give you a fairly clean installation.

Edit: A barebones xp install won't give you tablet features even if you could get it to activate, which won't. Xp tablet os was never offered to the public for sale, only to the mfgrs. So to get the tablet features to work, you have to install the os from Lenovo's restore discs.

Dave