Installing XP Pro on Thinkpad T61

Is there a guide that anyone knows of that provides good instructions on how to install Windows XP Pro SP2 onto a Thinkpad T61?
Thanks.

 

u can find a lot of stey by step on this thread man. just use the search function.

 

do a search for T61 reinstall or T61 reformat

 

All of the directions that I have found include turning off the AHCI SATA and make it run in IDE compatibility, but couldnt I just load the Intel drivers onto a floppy and pop it in when the XP Pro setup asks for device specific drivers?
I would try slipstreaming with nLite, like I did to get XP Pro onto my old Inspiron 1520 and it worked well, but it seems like nobody has gotten that to work for the T61 yet.

 

You could, but I doubt it would work. ACHI is not fun to play with -- just be safe and turn it off in the BIOS during install, and turn it back on afterwards.

 

Correction Dudes! the achi function inst that nasty to mess with. Simple put it in compatibility mode when you install xp pro. After the install and after you get all your drivers just go here http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=migr-62909 That is the driver for the achi function for you SATA controller. Download that and go to the location where it extracted. C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM\PREPARE then click the "install button" after that restart the computer and enter the bios and turn on the achi function. Once you log in it will install your sata controller and there you go now you have SATA speeds!!

As for you concern with you xp instilation. Download you NIC driver before you install xp since xp has no drivers for T61's. Once installed download the latest microsoft .net framwork cause you will need that installed in order to intsall lenovo system update. Run system update which can be found here http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-66956 This program is great for getting all of your drivers and thinkvantage software. Once you have got all the drivers you need go here http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64133 these are windows xp patches that lenovo released that will help you with performance. Once you do the SATA driver , the system update, and the xp patches along with all the windows updates, windows xp will be running perfectly. Othen then those few things you should'nt have any other problems so xp instilation walk throughs are not needed.


Thinkpad T61 Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHZ, 4 gig-ddr2, 160 gig HDD, nvidia quadro 140m, 14.1 1440X900

 

Good to hear.

 

Try this guide.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188992

 

I second this. lol

 

I am screwing with this all day . I hate Vista. I was able to erase hard drive but when i put XP disk in it does not see the hard drive. Do you have any luck?

 

Did you follow my guide step by step? It says to go into your BIOS and change the SATA from AHCI to Compatibility before clean install.

 

I think I got it all you have to do is change one thing in bios and XP started going.# Start the BIOS Setup Utility menu.
# Select Config.
# Select Serial ATA (SATA).
# Select Compatibility. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=migr-62909#install

 

We are good I just got it from lenovo site I don't have SP2 will this be a problem you think?

 

I believe SP2 is free from Windows Update.

 

In Bios you need to disable AHCI (advanced host controller interface) if you want to install XP.

 

Driver were pain in the neck I could not install them one by one. The simplest thing was I install "thingVantage Productivity Center" and it did it all for me. Wow this was ez

 

I can't believe people are having so much problems installing the XP ... hell I even posted a website on here that says how to make you own XP installation CD. I did it, it works great.

about the drivers - just download and install everything that is posted on the lenovos website. The only thing is that AHCI in the bios that you need to turn off, install XP, install the AHCI driver, and turn it back on .. then install every driver that you downloaded ..

about the drivers - those unpack in the different folder so you need to run them from there. If it's no execution file, then open Device manager, right click on the item that says "unknown device" that you know you're about to install that one, click update driver, and point to the folder that the driver got unpacked .. Example: it says "unknown audio device", well, duh, you unpack the audio driver, and do the device manager thing that I just described ..

now some drivers have utility program that goes with those, such as the LAN driver, and the wireless driver .. just install both of them.

so in short, everything that you need is posted on the web.

also, read the readme.txt file that goes with the driver for additional instructions. You can find things like the modem driver wont work unless you install the UAA HD audio driver first ... but as I said, everything is on there

 

That's where the issue is, it's not all posted on the Lenovo website or else people wouldn't come here to create proper guides for everyone. For example, the Lenovo website does not state that you have to browse the audio drivers folders DURING the UAA installation in order to install it. Another example is the installation of the integrated camera.

So in order to compensate for all the difficulty and ambiguity of some of their installation instructions, I created a very thorough guide that will install all your drivers and clear all the unknowns in device manager. It's all in my signature. I also provided a link to the hotfixes, which Lenovo also does not state to install.

For the most part though, following their instructions are very critical except for the integrated camera, modem, audio, and UAA. I provided the proper way to install them in the guide I created.

 

I must be dumb as a rock!!

When looking at the install instructions for the Intel Matrix Storage Manage Driver for XP, it says that the driver must be installed before the OS?/ How is that possible?

I guess I am at that point where you look at a word like "dog" and start to question if it is spelled right!! I have read and re-read the guide. I have had XP up a couple of times and it was working but then I saw I did not load the storage manager before the OS. I also dont have many of the specific device descriptions in device driver that I should.

Papa

 

Unless you have a floppy drive, you shouldn't follow the first set of instructions for XP. When it says 'before the OS', it means do it using a bootable floppy disc so it can be installed before your OS loads. AND REMEMBER THIS IS JUST ONE SET OF INSTRUCTIONS. Refer to the guide in my signature for complete instructions.

Follow this instead:

If you do not have a diskette drive, you can install Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver by the following alternative procedure:

Start the BIOS Setup Utility menu.
Select Config.
Select Serial ATA (SATA).
Select Compatibility.
Install Windows XP and Service Pack 2.
Download Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver from the Web site and extract the driver to C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM.
Run Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver. To do this, go to C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM\PREPARE, and double-click install.cmd.
Turn the computer off and then on again.
Start the BIOS Setup Utility menu.
Select Config.
Select Serial ATA (SATA).
Select AHCI.
Start Windows XP. The Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard appears.
Click No, not this time and click Next.
Select Install from a list or specific location(Advanced), then click Next.
Select Search for the best driver in these locations. Then select Include this location in the search:, specify the path, C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM, and click Next. The Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard appears.
Click Finish.
When the System Settings Change window appears, click Yes. The computer restarts.

 

Got it! You are pretty good, anyone ever tell you that?? ;-)

Now, I posted more dumbness earlier. I am down to 7 yellow question marks. I will check where I left the message, you may have answered there.

Migraines suck! It's like I am thinking through mud!!

Papa

 

There's no such thing as a dumb question. OK OK. Maybe some, but definitely not when it comes to clean installations on a laptop.

I'll address your other problems on the other thread.

 

OK, done! Used a slick little program that identifies everything on the system, including each pci address.

Thanks for the help!

Papa