IBM thinkpad t42 boot up problem.

Has it been damaged? Dropped? I would guess your Graphics/Video Adapter may be done. If you boot to safe mode, any difference?

You can have your T42 working again by doing the following:

1. In the windows didnt start succesfully screen choose to boot in safe mode with command prompt
2. when it starts, enter the command chkdsk (that means check disk)
3. accept all the changes done by running the command above and restart your laptop
4. everything should be OK now

Good luck!

you may need to replace the gpu fan and thermal paste thats what it sounds like to me and they are known to go bad

try to boot your PC first on safe mode and restore the computer back to the date where it is working fine by using system restore. if same issue occur. you have to reinstall your operating system by using the recovery disk. your windows is already corrupted.

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Go in to the setup and change the boot order, to CD then Hard drive. When you boot it will at the bottom of the screen show you press .... for setup. The restart Ensure that your operating or recovery disc is in the dvd rom, when it promps press any key to boot form cd, do so, wait for the system to run setup when it prompts press... to run ASR (automatic system repair) do so. This shoul sort it out, if not, it might be harware failure. Good luck

Try these steps:

1. Remove battery and unplug AC adapter
2. Press power on button for 30 seconds or so (one min is also too)
3. Attach battery and plug into wall
4. Power "ON" as normal

If you are still getting the "Z" and a black screen then I would have the video card or hard drive looked at and replaced. Start with the video card and then look at the hard drive


thinkpad-t42-wont-boot.html">http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/laptop-support/234433-ibm-thinkpad-t42-wont-boot.html

Hi,
The Thinkpad T42 doesn't have a reset button on it like the older IBM's used to.

There could be a problem with the battery. With the machine turned off remove AC power and then the battery. Plug in AC power again and see if the laptop will boot without the battery.
If it boots let it load up as normal and then shut it down again, reinsert the battery and try to boot it up. If it boots fine, if not then there is a problem with the battery.

Please post back if you need anymore advice.


Good luck.

The sympton is rather vague, but I suggest the following options, to be followed one by one, until one of them works for you.

1) Boot your system in Safe Mode (if Windows is your OS) by pressing F8 after the usual "beep" provided by the BIOS after it detects all is fine. If it boots up, which takes a little longer than usual, then your system is probably Ok, although it may have a configuration problem.
Reboot the machine from the shut down menu and hopefully it will work Ok. If not, then, depending on whether you have Windows Vista (or better), try:

2) Boot again pressing the F8 key, but this time locate the option that reads something like "Last known good configuration". Highlight it with the arrow keys and press Enter.
If you have System Restore set on your drive(s) your laptop should boot up normally.

3) The last option would be for you to go into your system BIOS and run at least a HD detection test, followed by a memory test, etc., but I would only recommend doing this if you know what you're doing. If not, ask a friend for help.

How far does it get on the boot process? Does it open the operating system completely before shutting down? Do you get any error messages, and does it go to a black screen stating Windos wasn't shut down properly? Answer these and I'll have a better idea of what's going on.

try pressing Fn F7