Driver problems XP Pro

A friend formatted and re-installed XP Pro on his IBM P40 laptop. He then visited the manufacturers site and downloaded and installed the required drivers for the video card, wifi etc., using a different laptop. Apparently the site requires make and model no's then it ensures you get the correct drivers.

Yet nothing works. The video is still at the windows default setting which no options to change the resolution. Wifi still isn't working, and a visit to device manager shows quite a number of problems. He has downloaded one of the update scanners onto a pendrive via another machine and tried to install it on the IBM. The IBM apparently refuses to install it, giving a message about a faulty Microsoft Installer. Yet it installs correctly on the other laptop, ruling out a corrupt download file.

Suggestions greatfully received.

Has he put the latest Service pack on? and down all the updates?
The installer may be expecting a newer version of Windows Installer - that should be updated with the updates

Apparently can't connect to the web. The LAN card needs a driver which was downloaded installed but won't work

The Installer update - Installer update

Service Pack 3 download - SP 3 download

he'll need to check the installation requirements

Thanks that means we can download onto pen drive and install on the XP machine?

assuming pen drive is big enough - yes (you need to check what SP3 needs installed first - and make sure that is installed, think needs SP1)

I'd suggest checking upgrading to SP3 first and see if that cures issues of installers

Thanks very much. We'll see what happens.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

A friend formatted and re-installed XP Pro on his IBM P40 laptop. He then visited the manufacturers site and downloaded and installed the required drivers for the video card, wifi etc., using a different laptop. Apparently the site requires make and model no's then it ensures you get the correct drivers.

Yet nothing works. The video is still at the windows default setting which no options to change the resolution. Wifi still isn't working, and a visit to device manager shows quite a number of problems. He has downloaded one of the update scanners onto a pendrive via another machine and tried to install it on the IBM. The IBM apparently refuses to install it, giving a message about a faulty Microsoft Installer. Yet it installs correctly on the other laptop, ruling out a corrupt download file.

Suggestions greatfully received.

For an xp reinstall.

1. backup data.
2. Grab drivers as your friend has done.
3. grab the latest service pack.
4. wipe hdd
5.install windows.
6. update windows with latest service pack (if xp is less than sp2 - do not conenct to web)
7 update drivers.
8 install programs
9 move back data

Latest update. The links supplied by Ken were downloaded and installed correctly. We now have a XP SP3 laptop that boots to desktop, but doesn't seem to install the new drivers. He has looked on an IBM forum and it appears others were having similar trouble. However he tried all the suggested fixes but without success.

Totally baffled and open to suggestions.

silly question - they haven't manage disable unsigned drivers (system properties - hardware tab)?

Is there anything being written to the event log (in run box type eventvwr ) - probably system or application section

If someone has a USB Lan/Wifi dongle - then might be worth plugging that in and seeing if that will allow it to connect to internet

Are you absolutely sure about that model number? P40 doesn't sound right for an IBM laptop model number.

I agree. It does not sound right

IBM did Thinkpad laptops with the a variety of model numbers, but none starting with 'P'

They did, however, do a T40 and a T40P models.

Possibly one of these??

But where did the drivers that were supposedly downloaded come from if the P40 model never existed?

Just had a look on several laptop screen replacement vendors sites; can find no reference to a P40 model on any of them.

I believe there was a Samsung P40, but drivers for that wouldn't work on an IBM. Also many laptops (the Thinkpad T40 being a case) can come with different wireless network cards, so the model number alone may not be enough information.

Many Thinkpads have a built-in ethernet port, in addition to wireless networking. If that was the case it would be the easiest way to get updates.

Thanks Ken I'll pass that on.

Are you absolutely sure about that model number?

Not really, I'll ask again. Apparently the drivers were obtained from the IBM website where model number and serial number are entered and it gives a list of required drivers, so I assume he has the right ones.

EDIt: To add, the ethernet card won't work, probably also needs drivers. The machine was fully functioning prior to this format and reinstall.

Edited by wingco1 (Tue 23-Mar-10 10:54:52)

It is a T40.

Edited by wingco1 (Tue 23-Mar-10 12:01:04)

As there were a number of different ethernet/wireless cards used in that model it may just be a question of picking the correct one, but the video shouldn't be a problem as they all used the same chipset.

I suspect that Kenneth's suggestion to first install SP3 is the best course of action. It may even be that SP3 contains the correct drivers, but at least it should allow you to install the other software. Proprietary laptops are a bit of a pain with most OSs!

SP3 has been installed, but the problems remain the same. No internet access, no access to the video display, no LAN it's all rather baffling. Apparently there are other driver problems, but the Ethernet card driver and video resolution are more pressing.

Thanks for your input.

If everything else fails, it might be worth risking a tenner on this disk.

This may sound like a silly comment, but it can catch people out. I believe that with these drivers you download them and run the file (by double-clicking on it). This does not install the driver but extracts it to a directory on the hard disk (should be a subdirectory in the directory C:\drivers\win); you then have to run setup.exe from within this directory to actually install the driver.

Thanks, will pass that on. It seems like the last resort.

Thanks to everyone for your input and suggestions.

If it's had a recovery using the IBM software, the network card drivers are supposed to be under:
C:\drivers\win\ethernet\winxp

If under the Device Manager the ethernet driver is red x'd you could try re-installing and pointing the location of files to the above.

HTH

Thanks for that. It's not been restored, it's been formatted and a clean reinstall of XP. Unfortunately that's as far as he managed to get so far. He is awaiting the arrival of the driver CD linked to by AEP.

If everything else fails, it might be worth risking a tenner on this disk.

Everything else did fail. We took your advice and risked £9.99 +VAT+p&p on the CD. Everything is now working like it should.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to you, as does my friend. Thanks very much.

All's well that ends well. Well done for persevering

Glad that worked for you.