THINKPAD 600X

[coatesville]

I have this lap top which is ThinkPad 600X 26454EU. It was being used by a drafter and it was partitoned into two drives C: and D; and each one was just 2gb of hard drive but the computer has 12.05 gb and says it is on drive O. What happened was that this person asked me to format the drives and to try to make it all one drive as he has lots of big programmes he has to use. So I did FDISK on each of the drives showing and got rid otf the partition but unfortuantely I lost drive D altogether now I can only find drive C with the 2gb and where the drive O is I do not know. I can`t get into BIOS as it appears to be lost apparently this person hasn`t any passwords or says he can`t remember any. and he never did have use of the the 8gb of hard drive their is on the computer. I do not have any drivers for any of the hardware so when it comes to installing that will have to download from IBM or elsewhere. My question is how do I get the hard ware to be found on computer? Am sure it has something to do with BIOS so is their any way it can be unlocked?

[mjc]

You should be able to find what you need here (http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/DSHY-3TLQ2L.html?lang=en_US&page=brand&brand=root&doctype=&subtype=Cat).

If you have already fdisked the dirve then everything on it is lost (D and O...there are ways of recovering them but not likely to get everything back).

Also when you ran fdisk what version did you use (Win95, 98 or ME)? did you select "large drive support"?

If you ran fdisk from the original release of Win95 (95a) then the largest partition you can have is 2GB, if you did not select large disk support then the largest is 2GB....

Does he have the factory restore disk?

If so running that should return it to factory fresh configuratioon.....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.


[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 03-01-2002).]

[coatesville]

I fdisked it with the 98 startup disk and I used large didk support. Have no idea what was done the first time. Anyway the disk is now formatted have just reloaded windows but nothing else am waiting until I can get an answer . Looked where you mentioned to look but find the disks are all high density disks and I only have an a drive. I can however download to another computer and have it sent to a CDRW. nO THEY HAVE no disks whatsoever for the computer. That of course is the problem. I would like to be able to get into the BIOS bu so far am unable to.

[mjc]

Ok...your a drive isn't a 1.44MB floppy?




The BIOS information can be viewed by selecting System Information in the BIOS Utility menu:
Power on the system.
When the message Press F1 for IBM BIOS setup Utility appears at the bottom right hand corner, press the F1 key. Wait for the BIOS Utility screen to appears.
Select System Information . BIOS version is displayed at System BIOS Version line.


VII. Simple Boot Flag function
This function automatically optimizes the behavior and boot performance of the BIOS and operating system, based on the installed operating system and previous boot.

If this function is Enabled and once a Plug and Play-capable operating system, such as Windows 98, is installed, the system BIOS does not configure such hardware resources as system interrupts, memory ranges, and I/O port ranges for all the devices in the system.

If you are going to use a non-Plug and Play-capable operating system, disable this function so that the BIOS will configure hardware resources.

(Important Notice)
If you are using multiple operating systems in addition to Windows 95/98, you must DISABLE the Simple Boot Flag in Easy-Setup.

To modify the Simple Boot Flag:
Hold down the F1 key on the ThinkPad and power on the system.
Open the Config icon.
Open the Quick Boot icon.
Set Simple Boot Flag to Enable or Disable depending on configuration.




I looked at a couple of the drivers (like the mouse and it is less than 1.44MB), so I don't see a problemwith putting them on floppies...and windows should have loaded some basic drivers for most of the hardware.


------------------
mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[coatesville]

I thank you for your help but it didn`t work tried all that. I finally phoned IBM and they said I needed the startup disk to do it or else they could talk me through it if I wanted to pay $75.00. I have opted for the startup disk hoping it will fix problem. They still tell me if I do the FDISK and put it in large drive it should work but it isn`t for me all I can get is the 2gb ram that was partioned . I SUGGESTED TO THEM THAT IT COULD BE A BIOS PROBLEM BUT THEY SAID NO.
I can only get into a couple of things in my BIOS can get into the Simple BOOT Flag but it didn`t help any when I tried it both ways. I have no idea why the BIOS is locked hopefully the startup disk will unlock it.
By the way I can download all the disk from IBM needed for restoring. Am a bit leery about using the BIOS update. Will probably wait for the startup disk to come whenever that is. They mentioned something about 2 weeks. Presume it is being sent by snail mail. Anyway do thank you will let you know my outcome.
IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE IDEAS WOULD BE HAPPY TO TRY THEM.