Can't install Win95 on IBM ThinkPad

[ray123]

Hello. I got this IBM 365X ThinkPad and it only has a floppy drive. I decided to just install Win95 via floppies but I cannot boot from any Boot floppy known to boot in other computers. It starts up with the IBM logos and memory count and then an icon appears which looks like on the right it has a larger square with a one in it, to the left, it looks like an icon of a Desktop computer, and above the one, is what looks like half of a hand straight up; these are all together. I wonder if it's some kind of protection thing.

I also cannot enter setup; supposedly, F1 is the key for that.

thanks

[ktkendall]

Does it say press F1 for setup?? Sometimes the ESC key will get those logos and other screens off so you can actually see the computer POST and see what key to actually press for setup. Hopefully your PC is just not set to boot from floppy, and you may need to just get into that BIOS to set it to boot from floppy. Sometimes it is the DEL or F2 key..

[ray123]

None of those suggestions seems to help. I wonder what that icon I described means? I can't seem to get into the BIOS. It doesn't say F1 but I just found a web site that said this ThinkPad uses F1. I hate to buy anything IBM but I got a deal I couldn't resist on this Laptop.

[ktkendall]

Just tried my thinkpad, and it is F1, just be sure your hitting it soon enough. I get a little padlock with sounds like what you are describing next to it, the little square thing and a blinking cursor to the right when I press F1, and that is because I do have my BIOS passworded.. That sounds like the case for yours also. I'm not sure how you go about clearing a password on a laptop. Most PC's have a jumper just for that or you can take the cmos battery out for a bit. Just be real careful if you open that puppy up, cause laptops are a whole different animal inside and if you open it up you may never get it back correctly to working order..
FOUND THIS:

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview...&cc=us&lang=en

Doesn't sound good for you after reading this cause it sounds like yours has the power on password set.. That would explain why it won't boot from floppy cause with a power on password it won't go any further till the correct password is entered..

[glc]

I got a deal I couldn't resist on this Laptop

This may be why.

[GaryRouth]

Here are links to a specifications page and to the manual for that laptop, they might come in handy:
specs - http://www.jdr.com/PDF/ibm-365x-120.pdf
manual - ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs...s/36xusegd.pdf

The manual has the same warning as the link ktkendall gave you - about needing the password reset for a fee by IBM support. It also mentions that there are three levels of passwords: supervisor password, power-on passwords, and hard disk passwords (this is all before any network logon or Windows passwords!). . . You can see why the corporate world finds the IBM brand attractive. Check in the manual, though = it has graphics for the varous password logons. You should be able to tell from there which prompt you're getting. If it's the power-on one, you'll need to spend a few more dollars to get that laptop past the password. If the vendor you bought from has the password, they *should* have provided it to you at point of sale. You might contact them for such information, or to see if they have any workarounds.
. . . Gary