I got a laptop its an ibm thinkpad 600 was got on internet ad said it worked just neeed to install os was wiped clean how ever when I got it and turned it on all that comes up is a screen that says thinkpad on it. I have and IBM homemade bootdisk from a friend and it don't work either where do I start? I will never trust any one whom says just in stall os which I have done before. Thanks in advance to any one whom can help with this problem. I am all ready out a chuck of change.debsc3065.......Well , I believe what you are seeing would be what would be EXPECTED if there was no O/S installed ........ So what o/s are you planning on installing ?

dl65 I have the SIMPLY mepis linuxBy the way this laptop only has a cd rom in it.you'll need to configure BIOS to boot off of a cd-rom, and next time you boot have the linux install cd in, this should allow you to install Linux.You need to press F1 when you see the IBM logo to change these OPTIONS however. I don't remember if that one could boot off CDROM. Hopefully it will.

If you need a bootdisk you can go to www.bootdisk.com If that machine only let's you use a CD or a floppy at one time there are some workarounds.

What operating system, and what is the hardware - RAM, HARD drive, etc.

Let us know what you find.

This PROBABLY would have gotten more notice in the Hardware Section. Just a thought.