startup disk probs on Thinkpad

Similarly to my earlier thread, I have another pain-in-the-butt problem, this time with my IBM Thinkpad laptop running XP Home.

I would like to reinstall W2K Pro over the XP OS (I don't like XP, and besides, my other laptop already runs W2K and it seems to be less problematic, so please when responding, don't try to convert me to XP!)

The way I want to go about it is to go to:
1) boot up with a W2K startup disk in a:
2) eject the floppy drive and exchange it for a CD drive
3) load the W2K installation disk into the CD drive and install as per normal.

The problem is my thinkpad can physically only accept into its casing EITHER the internal floppy a: unit OR the internal CD drive unit at any point in time. Now when I run the startup floppy, it asks if I need CD support (and I say yes), but it reads the system files from the a: floppy, however it does not find any CD drive (since I can only slot in a: floppy drive OR a CD drive, and at this stage it is working off the floppy), so it does not load up the CD driver! Another classic chicken and egg comedy!!! So then of course I am unable to eject the floppy drive to put in the CD drive to complete the installation.

MGs - guys - what does a stressed newbie like me do to overcome this (and when will the nightmare end???I want computers to be simple - life is too short!)

 

what model thinkpad

do you have a bootable win2k cd?

 

your win2k cd should be bootable. just hit F12 when the IBM logo shows to choose cd for temporary boot device.

 

let me get this straight before I do something stupid

1) my W2K disk is an upgrade disk - does that change anything?

2) do I understand you correctly that if I want to overwrite my XP with W2K (using the above upgrade disk, which of course only upgrades from a 98 or 98SE and will not overwrite XP unless I first reformat the harddisk) that I have to

(a) reformat my c: drive and then
(b) just slot in my w2k disk and away we go?

If I reformat c: to overwrite the XP OS, where will the computer load up the CD driver from??? surely the CD driver will have been wiped out by the c: reformat?

 

1) the only thing the upgrade disk requires will be for you to enter a previous version of windows cd at one point during the installation

2) yes to both

3) the cd rom works like in a desktop. you can boot off a cd without drivers installed on an unformated drive.

 

Thx guys-u've been good.Hope Santa reflects that ;-))

Thanks for all your help. Merry Xmas and a great New Year in 2004!

 

...actually, still having a problem - need more help

Guys,

I'm back from Xmas holidays, tried the routine you advised and hit a problem.

I put in the win98 startup disk (made on my desktop 98 system) and booted from that (answering that I'd like to use cd support). Thinkpad (which can only have the removable internal floppy OR the CD drive installed at the same time, but not both) naturally replied that no valid CD drive is found so the CD driver is not loaded from the floppy (logical so far), but the rest of the routine completes and I end up with an A: prompt. I then type "format c:" (I've tried format d: etc), to which the PC replies "Invalid drive specification". So how am I supposed to reformat my hardrive so that I can install the W2K upgrade?

I also tried UNSUCCESSFULLY to find a workaround by doing the following:
I reinstalled XP using the laptop manufacturer's original CD. I don't know if this is relevant, but I have not registerd this XP system since I do not intend using it, so I just chose to register within the next 30 days.

I booted up the laptop with XP and went into Accessories menu and then Command Prompt to get me into dos prompt. I then typed format c: and got the warning that all data will be lost etc etc (Y/N) etc, so I types Y. It then says that: "Format cannot run because it is used by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount to this volume (Y/N)", so I type Y, to which it replies: "Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use"

 

did you try that putting the cd drive in and setting that as first boot device

 

on my thinkpad when the ibm logo shows up it gives you a choice to hit F1 for the bios or F12 for temp boot device. Choose F12 and choose cd rom. Have the win 2k disk in the drive and it should boot into the install screen. Choose to format from the windows installation that way you dont have to deal with booting off the floppy. At some point in the installation it will ask you to install the win 98 disk to prove you had a previous version. Once its checked that cd the installation will ask you to put the 2k disk back in the drive and continue with the installation.

 

Just boot off the windows 2000 upgrade cd. It will ask where you want to install to on a big blue screen, just delete all the partitions and hit 'c' on the single unpartitioned space. When it asks for a qualifying prOduct just put in a Windows 95/98/NT4.0 cd and it will ask you to put in the Win2k cd again and continue on like normal.

edit - I guess I type to slow =P