Recovering Lost or Damaged Software

This section describes how to recover lost or damaged software. The following table shows what is needed to recover your system.

Problem Tools Provided For More Information
Windows 98, Windows 95 and Windows NT
You need to diagnose your computer. Use the PC-Doctor program. See Using the PC-Doctor Program for general information.
You need to recover a lost or damaged device driver. Use the Software Selections CD. See Using the ThinkPad Software Selections CD for general information. The CD-ROM also contains online help for detailed instructions.
You need to recover (reinstall) a lost or damaged software application. Use the Software Selections CD. See Using the ThinkPad Software Selections CD for general information. The CD-ROM also contains online help for detailed instructions.
You need to recover your entire hard disk. Use the Recovery CD (Windows 98 and Windows 95 only). See Using the Recovery CD for general information.
OS/2, Windows 3.11 or DOS users
You need to recover a lost or damaged device driver. Go to the ThinkPad Web site to download the latest hardware device driver diskettes; then install them. See the web site for general information.

Using the PC-Doctor Program

The PC-Doctor program allows you to run diagnostics tests on your computer. You have the option to run test sets, or individual tests. To run PC-Doctor, do as follows:

  1. Click Start.
  2. Move the cursor to Programs, PC-Doctor; then click PC-Doctor for Windows.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Using the ThinkPad Software Selections CD

The ThinkPad Software Selections CD is provided for your installation convenience. If you need to reinstall a software application or a hardware device driver, put the ThinkPad Software Selections CD in your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. The menu of the features appears automatically.

Your Software Selections CD contains telephone numbers for some software vendors. These vendors can help you with questions about their software. See the CD for details.

The following features are included:

Using the Recovery CD

You can restore the contents of your hard disk to what it was at the time of purchase.

Attention: The Recovery program erases your entire hard disk, including the operating system, software, and personal data. It then restores your operating system and hard disk to its factory-shipped configuration.

The Recovery CD consists of the original preinstalled software and device drivers.

The recovery process might take up to 2 hours.

Your computer supports startable CDs. To use the Recovery CD, do as follows:

Note:Make sure the UltraBay FX has the CD-ROM/diskette drive device (or DVD-ROM/diskette drive device) installed.
  1. Insert the Recovery CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
  2. Power off the computer; then turn on the computer.
    Note:Make sure that the boot priority for CD-ROM is higher than the hard disk drive. See the User's Reference.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.
  4. When a completion message appears, remove the Recovery CD from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
  5. Restart the computer.

    The computer restarts with the preinstalled configuration.

ThinkPad Web Site or Bulletin Board

IBM supplies all of the altest hardware device drivers and system BIOS for your computer onthe ThinkPad Web site at:

http://www.pc.ibm.com/support

You can also use the IBM bulletin board service.

For more information about online support services, see Online Support Services.