IBM ThinkPad T40 Cant Install Windows Xp

[Virus-j]

Hi All.

My Neighbour Been having some trouble with his laptop, He told me it would'nt Turn on Anyway Just had a look at it now and the only Prob is it has no Operating System.

So i just got My Old Windows Xp Disc Out and have been trying to install it for the past Hour But it gets Up to about 23% then DisplaysCannot copy the file ntcmdsw.chm I Kept Pressing Retry But Same Message. Tried to Skip it aswell But it then Gets up to about 32% then another files wont Copy. Basically some will some wont.

Tried pressing Skip all the way Through but In the End another message pops up saying cannot install windows Xp....Suprise Surpise....... Theres hardly nothing on the hard drive iv skipped most of it....Lol

So anyone got any ideas please ?

 

[Easy Rhino]

either the optical drive is turning to crap the the media is degraded.

 

[Batou1986]

sounds like a cd or cd drive

 

[Virus-j]

Think your Right, Is there another way i could Install Xp ?

 

[Batou1986]

im pretty sure there's a way to create a usb bootable install from a cd, check google

 

[Virus-j]

Just created a Bootable Usb, Managed to get it to copy all the files Now But after that the computer Restarts To begin Windows Xp Setup BUt as soon as it Begins to Boot up this message pops Up :

Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.

Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.

Any ideas please ?

 

[Easy Rhino]

Just created a Bootable Usb, Managed to get it to copy all the files Now But after that the computer Restarts To begin Windows Xp Setup BUt as soon as it Begins to Boot up this message pops Up :

Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.

Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.

Any ideas please ?

when you installed XP did you make sure to have it install on the internal hdd and not the usb?

 

[Virus-j]

Yep Installed on the internal One.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Yep Installed on the internal One.

try a different OS to see if it is a hardware failure or just windows XP fail.

 

[3volvedcombat]

Possible bad hardrive.

 

[Virus-j]

I do Have some Windows 7 Disc Suppose i could try them.

If my Hard drive in the Laptop is Bad is there Any Fixes or Does it all grind to a halt ?

 

[Easy Rhino]

I do Have some Windows 7 Disc Suppose i could try them.

If my Hard drive in the Laptop is Bad is there Any Fixes or Does it all grind to a halt ?

pretty much done. you will have to replace it.

 

[micropage7]

is your HDD sound strange that unusual? if yes, it could be start from there but anyway the problem its like bad reading from your installer, try to install it from external cd/dvd rom and make sure you choose clean install

 

[Virus-j]

Thanks, Hard Drive Sounds Fine Really Quite Actually. Just Tried windows 7 But Got to 6% and Tells Me that it cannot Install the Required Files as the files may be corrupt. Definatly Must be the Hard Then as That Disk has only been used once when i installed it on My Dads pc and that Worked Fine.

Would try a External Aswell But I dont Have one..... Each time i tried to install a OS i done full format. From what it has Done it looks like both the DVD Drive and Hard Drive have had it : (

I take it my only option would be to replace them ?

Edit, Just come up on the Screen BootMGr is Missing.

 

[Batou1986]

It could be bad memory as well causing the data being written to the disk to be corrupt.
Its happened to me a few times in the shop even in new laptops.

 

[Virus-j]

Well, You have just given me a thought now that you have said that. When i got the laptop it would'nt start up at all Just a Black Screen No Beebs Etc Then i turned it off then back on and it started Beeping So i took out the memory.

Then i started it up again Screen Came on. So i turned it back off again stuck the memory in and it was fine Screen came on. then i got to trying to install Xp and as you know that didn't got to plan.

I will Try Replacing the Memory tommo.


EDIT : just had a thought Supposing if i connected my Portable Hard drive to the Laptop then installed on there and then once im on Xp would there be any way to Fix the Hard drive like any software ?

 

[Virus-j]

I just stuck some New memory in Still same Though. Wont Copy Certain files over to the Hard Drive.

I also Just Tried a Different Hard Drive but The Laptop Wont Even Recognize That i dont know if the one i stuck in worked though as i just found it in my Box of parts. I Managed to test out the Dvd Drive on a Different Laptop Ibm Still But Newer Model and that worked Fine.

So it does look Like It's the Hard Drive, I did have a Idea though i was gonna Connect up my Portable Hard to the Laptop and install Xp on that and if i can get the laptop to boot up I have heard of some programmes That can Repair Bad Sectors. Think software was Called HDD Recovey 1.71

Would that be worth doing ?

 

[Virus-j]

Well Last night i managed to Install Windows Xp on the Laptops Hard Drive, i did try installing it on the portable but it wouldn't Work. Not Sure how i got it working on the laptops Hard Drive though just started to install : p

Anyway I have not Cleaned the Hard Drive and Ran a Disk Check All Appears to be working and the Laptop is Booting Fine But i have a Few Probs If someone Could Help me with these Google.

1) If i download a Ex off the Internet and Save the File to Desktop then try to run it i get Something Like C:/Document and setting Blah Blah.Exe is not a valid win32 is not a valid Win32 application

2) Im having trouble with the Mouse Buttons, This laptop has a Eraser Type Mouse (Not sure what there Called Pic Below) + Buttons and Also a Touch pad and Buttons But for some Reason the Erasers Buttons SOMETIMES Work with the Touchpad and the ones For The touch pad Dont at all ???????

 

[scaminatrix]

Awww man, I had one of the thinkpad's. I loved it because it's so easy to reinstall OS every time, you don't need a CD or USB stick.
When you installed OS, you didn't delete all the recovery partitions on the HDD did you?

Go into BIOS and run an option that's like "factory restore" or something like that.
The recovery partition has the original XP loaded on with all the original stuff. You don't even need a recovery CD, it's all on the HDD.

 

[Virus-j]

Thanks Scaminatrix, Well There was no Recovery Partion on it when i Got it from my Neighbour The hard Drive was Formatted. Apparently They had a Engineer look at it but he Couldn't Fix it So i reccon he had something to do with that : p

 

[robn]

...Blah Blah.Exe is not a valid win32 is not a valid Win32 application

2) Im having trouble with the Mouse Buttons...

My sister has a similar laptop, and the mouse nipple and trackpad work together fine. Also if you haven't changed any Windows settings and you are getting "not a valid win32 app" errors then either there are OS problems (google exe file association) or what you have downloaded is corrupted. I'd guess that still points to broken hardware for both issues. Maybe there isn't much life left in that laptop.

 

[Virus-j]

"Maybe there isn't much life left in that laptop"

Im starting to think so, Have just found out the Battery Wont Hold a Charge as soon as you remove the Recharge Cable the Battery Goes 100% - 98% - 48% - 2% in a matter of minutes.

Well for some reason the Dvd drive is working fine Yet i cant install windows xp from it. So i had to make a Bootable Windows Xp Usb Stick. But The only way the Only way i could get it to install using that was to start installing Straight Away so i skipped the Step to Copy the Files Over to the Hard drive Before it started installing Xp.

"not a valid win32 app"

That Erroer only Comes Up on Certain Exe Files. I installed the Exe Drivers Ok But when i came to installing Windows Live Essentials and CC Cleaner "not a valid win32 app" popped up.

THere are Also problems with the Touchpad and mouse button + keyboard, Looks like they need replacing.

I done a Scan on the HD aswell no Bad sectors yet it wont Install xp the normal way.


I think it's safe to say this Has had it, Did tell my Neighbour i would fix it for him for £50 But By the Time iv fixed it i would of replaced the whole laptop i think...Lol, And from what iv Read about the Thinkpads T Series They have alot of Problems In Regards To Power Keyboard Etc .....