Salvaging an OLD laptop - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 11:42 AM

a friend of my dad's just gave us his old laptop.

i knew it didnt work but i didnt know the problem when i took it in. it gave me a shitload off error messages and had tons of problems.

anyway, here is what i know about it

it's an ibn thinkpad
got about 4 gb's of space
it has winnt on it.
file system is fat 32 i think

so, i boot up w/ a 98 bootdisk and i look thru the files.

the i386 directory is still intact, so i might be able to reinstall winnt on there.

i wanna put win98 on there, but there is a couple of prob's.

1) it doesnt have cdrom drive
2) no network card either

it has a modem out, but i dont have a dial up account.
it has serial ports, but i dont have the wires to hook it up and i dont know how to do that.

so, what can i do w/ this?

try to install winnt from the 386 folder?
put dos on there?
put win 3.1 on there (thru floppy's)?

any suggestions are welcome

hrdwareguy · 06-26-2003, 12:23 PM

I would try and reinstall WinNT from the i386 folder. That's your best bet to get anything decent to work on it. Then go get yourself a PCMCIA NIC card for it and you'll be set.

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 12:33 PM

i really dont know anything about adding anything to laptops. this is my first one.

isnt there any way i can use a serial cable to hook 'em up??

hrdwareguy · 06-26-2003, 12:54 PM

Serial cables can be used for transferring files with something like lap link (if it's still even made) or for some (old) multiplayer games. But as far as serial connection for internet...forget it.

Phatmonkyz · 06-26-2003, 01:48 PM

If you had some extra money you could buy an external cd-rom drive and hook it up with usb

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 01:57 PM

this is too old to have usb.

it does have scsi support!

i'm not even dreaming of internet on that thing, no way.

i just wanna network so i can get a decent os on there and an office suite.

WetSpot · 06-26-2003, 02:27 PM

I had an old Backpack CD Rom with dos drivers. I'd look for someone with one to borrow if I were you. Or look on ebay - 12.00 for this one right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...4&category=166

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 02:31 PM

real sweet.

i did a search on pricewatch for cdrom drives (parallel) and bam, it's $120. the whole laptop prolly worth $50.

i'd love to buy that one off of ebay, but i really doubt i can get my mom to let me use her credit card.

i know somebody that might have this though, my comp tech teacher back in high school. problem is high school is closed. but i can wait. thanks

rocinante2003 · 06-26-2003, 02:32 PM

I have run into this problem many many times.

The hard drive is of good size, so that works in your favour. The absolute easiest way to do this is also the one you have to be the most confident in doing. Buy a IDE 2.5 Inch 44 pin to 3.5 Inch 40 pin convertor.

Something like this, runs 12 bucks

*** BE CAREFUL **

REMOVE LAPTOPS CELL

Make a directory on Your desktops C Drive and copy your Win98 CD into this folder.

Power down your Desktop PC.

Your Desktop should have 2 IDE Ribbon cables, one that connects to the Hard Drive, and one that connects to the CDROM. If this is the case, remove the power and the IDE cable from the CDROM Drive.

If you only have 1 Ribbon cable, that connects to both the Hard Drive and the CDROM, then you will need to make the laptops hard drive a slave. This is simply done by looking for the jumper, which is usually located on the same edge as the IDE connection strip. There will be some markings that are labeled MAS, SLA, CSL and they will represent the way the plastic jumper needs to be positioned. It should be set to MAS (master) and you will need to make it SLA(Slave). Remember its location so you can return it back before putting it back in the laptop. Remember, you only need to do this if you only have 1 IDE cable in your desktop, which is unlikely.

Once you have swapped the CDROM, with your Laptops Hard Drive, make sure you have connected power and the IDE ribbon cable.

Power up your desktop, and enter the Bios. Most computers you press the DEL key. Some Compaqs, Dell, use F11.

Once in the Bios, look around for the Hard Drive setting. Most Bios have an auto search feature that will automatically locate new hard drives and CDROMS.

Your bios should now recognise a nice 4gb Hard drive as the Seconmdary Primary, or in the 1 ribbon scenario, Primary slave.

Save the settings and exit the bios.

Once windows has booted on the desktop pc, your CD rom letter will now be the laptop hard drive. You may choose to format it using Fat32 at this time.

Move the directory you created with the Windows98 CD onto the Laptops drive. You may want to double check the sizes of the directories to make sure they match. Once you are confident that the data is now on the Laptops drive, power your Desktop down.

Remove the Laptop drive, and return the Jumpers to the original state, if you changed them. Return your CDROM into the desktop.

If you have a Windows 95 or 98 Bootdisk find it now

If you dont, you can get one fromhere

Replace the Laptop drive into the laptop, making sure the jumper settings are the same as they were before, and instert the boot disk. It should boot and load some basic files. Once booted, change to the new Windows directory with the CD contents on.

There is a win98 folder within this, run setup.exe and install windows 98.

It sounds very complicated but it probably took just as long for me to type this as you could probably do it lol.

Summary.

Remove laptop Hard Drive
Copy Win98 CD to a directory, something like WIN98CD
Remove CD Rom from Desktop
Check the Jumper configuration on the laptops hard drive
Copy WIN98CD onto Laptops Hard drive
Install Drive back into Laptop
Boot, and Install from the WIN98CD

Good luck.

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 02:46 PM

that's a nifty way to do it.

i have a question though, it doesnt recognize the entire hd space.

fdisk says i have almost 5 gigs and i can only see about 2.5 gigs of it. i dont know where the hell the rest is at.

WetSpot · 06-26-2003, 02:54 PM

rocinante2003,

Good idea, I would still go w/ the backpack, tho. The price for the converter is ~$10-15 (But I must say that this is a GREAT thing to have around, VERY handy!) the backpack will be in the same price range, and he'll have a cd-rom drive to use after the install. Not a flame, just a thought

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 03:03 PM

i'm leaning towad wetspot's idea, since i'm not very comfortable messing around inside a laptop. i've never even seen the inside of a laptop and i'm not too confident about takin and hd out.

i need to get the backpack thing for cheap though

WetSpot · 06-26-2003, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The_Dude
i'm leaning towad wetspot's idea,

Please never use the term "towad wetspot" again. sounds...bad

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 03:53 PM

hahhaha, sry

Jolt · 06-26-2003, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The_Dude
that's a nifty way to do it.

i have a question though, it doesnt recognize the entire hd space.

fdisk says i have almost 5 gigs and i can only see about 2.5 gigs of it. i dont know where the hell the rest is at.

The disk's most likely partitioned; the C: drive is FAT (NOT FAT32, as NT4 can't work with that), and the second partition is NTFS. IBM factory installs of NT4 were always like that, as soon as their HD's passed 4gb (the largest partition you can create during NT setup). NT4 could handle FAT partitions up to 4gb, even though DOS/Win* have always been limited to 2gb.

An NTFSpartition is not accessible from a bootdisk unless you load a driver in your config.sys...presuming you're even able to come up with such a driver...

Definitely the easiest way to get a modern OS onto a laptop with no CD or NIC is to pull the HD and stick it into another machine.

I have two suggestions to that end...you can get the required adaptor for $7 + s/h from www.pc-pitstop.com, or PM someone here who'd be willing to do the job for you if you don't want to/have the time to.

rocinante2003 · 06-26-2003, 05:53 PM

You know what I like about this place, no ones trying to out smart each other. You wouldnt believe how arrogant people in IT can be. GOOD SUGGESTIONS GUYS.

OK, yes, the external CD route via PCMCIA or Parallel is a very good method, but take a couple of things into consideration.

1. You will need to instal PCMCIA or Parellel Drivers for DOS, or a dos boot disk to recognice a CD drive. It can be a pain in the ass to do.
2. If my old brain serves me correctly, Windows 98 can fail to instal from an external non atapi device because after the system check after the first reboot during installation. windows doesnt load PCMCIA - etc. drivers. Easy to work around, just copy the win98 dir to a temp directory in the C:

3. The reason FDISK is only seeing a part of the drive is because some versions of Fdisk only see FAT partitions. One of the reasons I like XP is it will prep the drive no matter whats on the MBR.

Once again, pat on the back guys..

The Dude - Dont under estimate the value of your notebook, its worth far more than 50 bucks

Any semi modern laptop is a really good tool, especially if you can run office.

The_Dude · 06-26-2003, 07:08 PM

if i can office on there, yes!

but i got winnt up and running now. there were enough setup files left in the i386 folder to do the install.

BuDDaH · 06-26-2003, 09:37 PM

Download a boot disk from www.bootdisk.com that contains WinME, thats should help and if there is nothing you want to save from that drive, give it a good repartitioning and format...

Jolt · 07-01-2003, 06:02 PM

Hey Dude...got a Linux or *BSD bootdisk? That'll recognize the partition map correctly

Going farther on this tangent, have you considered installing *ix instead of Windows on the lap?

The_Dude · 07-01-2003, 06:18 PM

well, after i get some medium to transfer files, i'm thinkin about linux or windows 98 maybe. anything but NT

06-26-2003, 11:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	Salvaging an OLD laptop a friend of my dad's just gave us his old laptop. i knew it didnt work but i didnt know the problem when i took it in. it gave me a shitload off error messages and had tons of problems. anyway, here is what i know about it it's an ibn thinkpad got about 4 gb's of space it has winnt on it. file system is fat 32 i think so, i boot up w/ a 98 bootdisk and i look thru the files. the i386 directory is still intact, so i might be able to reinstall winnt on there. i wanna put win98 on there, but there is a couple of prob's. 1) it doesnt have cdrom drive 2) no network card either it has a modem out, but i dont have a dial up account. it has serial ports, but i dont have the wires to hook it up and i dont know how to do that. so, what can i do w/ this? try to install winnt from the 386 folder? put dos on there? put win 3.1 on there (thru floppy's)? any suggestions are welcome __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 12:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
hrdwareguy "Officer, I was in fear for my life" Location: Oklahoma City	I would try and reinstall WinNT from the i386 folder. That's your best bet to get anything decent to work on it. Then go get yourself a PCMCIA NIC card for it and you'll be set. __________________ Gun Control is hitting what you aim at Aim for the TFP, Donate Today

06-26-2003, 12:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	i really dont know anything about adding anything to laptops. this is my first one. isnt there any way i can use a serial cable to hook 'em up?? __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 12:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
hrdwareguy "Officer, I was in fear for my life" Location: Oklahoma City	Serial cables can be used for transferring files with something like lap link (if it's still even made) or for some (old) multiplayer games. But as far as serial connection for internet...forget it. __________________ Gun Control is hitting what you aim at Aim for the TFP, Donate Today

06-26-2003, 01:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
Phatmonkyz Insane	If you had some extra money you could buy an external cd-rom drive and hook it up with usb __________________ The Vagina - the mysterious hole from whence you came, and into which you hope to cum again. Good Times

06-26-2003, 01:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	this is too old to have usb. it does have scsi support! i'm not even dreaming of internet on that thing, no way. i just wanna network so i can get a decent os on there and an office suite. __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 02:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
WetSpot Tilted Location: Louisville, KY	I had an old Backpack CD Rom with dos drivers. I'd look for someone with one to borrow if I were you. Or look on ebay - 12.00 for this one right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...4&category=166

06-26-2003, 02:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	real sweet. i did a search on pricewatch for cdrom drives (parallel) and bam, it's $120. the whole laptop prolly worth $50. i'd love to buy that one off of ebay, but i really doubt i can get my mom to let me use her credit card. i know somebody that might have this though, my comp tech teacher back in high school. problem is high school is closed. but i can wait. thanks __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 02:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
rocinante2003 Insane Location: Dallas	I have run into this problem many many times. The hard drive is of good size, so that works in your favour. The absolute easiest way to do this is also the one you have to be the most confident in doing. Buy a IDE 2.5 Inch 44 pin to 3.5 Inch 40 pin convertor. Something like this, runs 12 bucks * BE CAREFUL REMOVE LAPTOPS CELL Make a directory on Your desktops C Drive and copy your Win98 CD into this folder. Power down your Desktop PC. Your Desktop should have 2 IDE Ribbon cables, one that connects to the Hard Drive, and one that connects to the CDROM. If this is the case, remove the power and the IDE cable from the CDROM Drive. If you only have 1 Ribbon cable, that connects to both the Hard Drive and the CDROM, then you will need to make the laptops hard drive a slave. This is simply done by looking for the jumper, which is usually located on the same edge as the IDE connection strip. There will be some markings that are labeled MAS, SLA, CSL and they will represent the way the plastic jumper needs to be positioned. It should be set to MAS (master) and you will need to make it SLA(Slave). Remember its location so you can return it back before putting it back in the laptop. Remember, you only need to do this if you only have 1 IDE cable in your desktop, which is unlikely. Once you have swapped the CDROM, with your Laptops Hard Drive, make sure you have connected power and the IDE ribbon cable. Power up your desktop, and enter the Bios. Most computers you press the DEL key. Some Compaqs, Dell, use F11. Once in the Bios, look around for the Hard Drive setting. Most Bios have an auto search feature that will automatically locate new hard drives and CDROMS. Your bios should now recognise a nice 4gb Hard drive as the Seconmdary Primary, or in the 1 ribbon scenario, Primary slave. Save the settings and exit the bios. Once windows has booted on the desktop pc, your CD rom letter will now be the laptop hard drive. You may choose to format it using Fat32 at this time. Move the directory you created with the Windows98 CD onto the Laptops drive. You may want to double check the sizes of the directories to make sure they match. Once you are confident that the data is now on the Laptops drive, power your Desktop down. Remove the Laptop drive, and return the Jumpers to the original state, if you changed them. Return your CDROM into the desktop. If you have a Windows 95 or 98 Bootdisk find it now If you dont, you can get one fromhere Replace the Laptop drive into the laptop, making sure the jumper settings are the same as they were before, and instert the boot disk. It should boot and load some basic files. Once booted, change to the new Windows directory with the CD contents on. There is a win98 folder within this, run setup.exe and install windows 98. It sounds very complicated but it probably took just as long for me to type this as you could probably do it lol. Summary. Remove laptop Hard Drive Copy Win98 CD to a directory, something like WIN98CD Remove CD Rom from Desktop Check the Jumper configuration on the laptops hard drive Copy WIN98CD onto Laptops Hard drive Install Drive back into Laptop Boot, and Install from the WIN98CD Good luck.

06-26-2003, 02:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	that's a nifty way to do it. i have a question though, it doesnt recognize the entire hd space. fdisk says i have almost 5 gigs and i can only see about 2.5 gigs of it. i dont know where the hell the rest is at. __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 02:54 PM	#11 (permalink)
WetSpot Tilted Location: Louisville, KY	rocinante2003, Good idea, I would still go w/ the backpack, tho. The price for the converter is ~$10-15 (But I must say that this is a GREAT thing to have around, VERY handy!) the backpack will be in the same price range, and he'll have a cd-rom drive to use after the install. Not a flame, just a thought

06-26-2003, 03:03 PM	#12 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	i'm leaning towad wetspot's idea, since i'm not very comfortable messing around inside a laptop. i've never even seen the inside of a laptop and i'm not too confident about takin and hd out. i need to get the backpack thing for cheap though __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 03:53 PM	#14 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	hahhaha, sry __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 05:53 PM	#16 (permalink)
rocinante2003 Insane Location: Dallas	You know what I like about this place, no ones trying to out smart each other. You wouldnt believe how arrogant people in IT can be. GOOD SUGGESTIONS GUYS. OK, yes, the external CD route via PCMCIA or Parallel is a very good method, but take a couple of things into consideration. 1. You will need to instal PCMCIA or Parellel Drivers for DOS, or a dos boot disk to recognice a CD drive. It can be a pain in the ass to do. 2. If my old brain serves me correctly, Windows 98 can fail to instal from an external non atapi device because after the system check after the first reboot during installation. windows doesnt load PCMCIA - etc. drivers. Easy to work around, just copy the win98 dir to a temp directory in the C: 3. The reason FDISK is only seeing a part of the drive is because some versions of Fdisk only see FAT partitions. One of the reasons I like XP is it will prep the drive no matter whats on the MBR. Once again, pat on the back guys.. The Dude - Dont under estimate the value of your notebook, its worth far more than 50 bucks Any semi modern laptop is a really good tool, especially if you can run office. Last edited by rocinante2003; 06-26-2003 at 05:58 PM..

06-26-2003, 07:08 PM	#17 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	if i can office on there, yes! but i got winnt up and running now. there were enough setup files left in the i386 folder to do the install. __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-26-2003, 09:37 PM	#18 (permalink)
BuDDaH The Matrix had a point... Moderator Emeritus Location: 10th Mountain ASB Fort Drum, N.Y.	Download a boot disk from www.bootdisk.com that contains WinME, thats should help and if there is nothing you want to save from that drive, give it a good repartitioning and format... __________________ I'd hit that so hard whoever could pull me out would become King of England! Last edited by BuDDaH; 07-10-2003 at 11:37 AM..

07-01-2003, 06:02 PM	#19 (permalink)
Jolt Insane Location: Over here	Hey Dude...got a Linux or BSD bootdisk? That'll recognize the partition map correctly Going farther on this tangent, have you considered installing ix instead of Windows on the lap? Last edited by BuDDaH; 07-10-2003 at 11:36 AM..

07-01-2003, 06:18 PM	#20 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	well, after i get some medium to transfer files, i'm thinkin about linux or windows 98 maybe. anything but NT __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal