How do I boot my Thinkpad

November 26, 2007 10:48 AM

My Thinkpad won't boot up normally. Now I'm trying to get it to boot from either the Windows XP Pro installer disc, or the recovery disc I just created from the IBM site, but I can't get either to run. How do I do this?

I uninstalled some software yesterday and now my Thinkpad will boot up once in every 50 tries but then it goes to the BSOD if I try to do anything. All the other times I hear the hard drive spin up but I just get a blank screen.

I understand that I may lose all my data - that's not too big a deal, most stuff's backed up - but I can't even get to a screen where I can re-install windows, or boot from CD. Hitting F1 or F12 or enter doesn't appear to have any effect.

If it helps, it's an X31, so there's not ROM drive - I'm trying to boot with the docking bay.

posted by forallmankind to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

x31 owner here. f1 and f12 are definitely the right keys to try. have you tried the blue "access ibm" button instead? (it will give you a menu including f1 and f12)

ideas:

try taking the battery out of the machine altogether; alternately, take the battery out and put it into the docking bay (assuming you have an x3 base and not one of the more generic docking stations). and then try to start up.

if that doesn't help:

remove the machine from the dock, remove the battery, unplug the ac adapter.

press the power button and hold about 5 seconds.
wait 5 seconds.

repeat the last 2 steps 5 times. (or more if you feel like it)

put back ac, try to power up. put back battery, try to power up and select boot device.

another thing to consider is that the x31/32 series get extremely hot if you are not careful (and often even if you are), and the motherboard will flake out and eventually die.

if you do get it working again, I would suggest installing tpfancontrol and get it working to boost fan speeds. it made a big difference for me in terms of heat (i.e. thermal dissipation from cpu and motherboard i.e. extending life of the machine)

also some of the airflow into the machine is thru the bottom, so consider that vs. what sort of surfaces you're placing it on (the dock actually makes it hotter, even a tabletop or your knees is better...!)

also also, the machine gets much hotter when the battery is charging; if at all possible, try to charge the battery only when the machine is turned off (I know this is annoying as hell and not always possible)

do check out the thinkpad forums, and feel free to email me.
posted by dorian at 11:40 AM on November 26, 2007

Continued...
posted by grouse at 1:04 PM on January 20, 2008