I maintain an IBM/Lenovo T4x deployment DVD that contains all the baseline drivers necessary to get a ThinkPad installed.  You blast away the system, and this DVD allows you to be up and running (and ready to work, play, etc...) in about 1.5 hours.  This includes automated deployments of Office, CD/DVD burning tools, media codecs, drivers, all the latest ThinkVantage software and drivers, and all that stuff that usually takes a week or two to get done after a format.  A baseline install takes ~ 45 minutes to complete - and all the additional ThinkVantage tools, and all the essential productivity applications are installed in a fraction of the time it would take to do this by hand.

It has just been updated to support the T60 product line, and all drivers/software have been completely refreshed.

Each build takes about an hour to compile and test.  I have gone thru this painful process about 20 times in the past few days (About 20 botched installs, and 8 coasters later, I think I'm semi-happy with this beta.)  Build 100 (which I finished this morning) was the result of intense testing, that has taken place the last two days.  This is a major update release to previous builds since ALL drivers and installed software have been updated.  Full regression testing has been completed on a T40 2373-72U, 92U, a 2668 model, and a 2007 model.  This DVD therefore supports T40/p, T41/p, T42/p, T43/p, and T60/p under all hardware configurations, from my testing.  Additional tweaking will be necessary on p platforms since ISV video drivers are not included.

This product will be exiting the beta stage in the next 4-5 days once I'm happy that all bugs/annoyances have been eliminated.

• Supports Intel matrix AHCI SATA drivers included on most new Intel Centrino-based chipsets.  Does not require 'compatibility' mode in BIOS for re-installation of a system as the IASTOR device is recognized natively via slipstreamed drivers.
• Windows XP w/SP2 High Definition Audio support (1.0a)
• All ThinkVantage software and drivers updated - will minimize internet traffic for updates inherent to installs using older builds.
• All software packages updated.  (Adobe, ProShow, Ahead Nero, PowerDVD, et al.)
• sudowin included to comply with best-practices operation under restricted user account.  Permits Vista/UNIX/OS X style process/thread privilege on-demand escalation.
• This is likely the last, and FINAL major update release for Windows XP Professional on this hardware platform.  (An early alpha release of this deployment DVD has also just been completed for Windows Vista 5456.5 (beta 2 update,) which will represent the next major release.)
• Windows XP updates have NOT been included past Service Pack 2 in this build.  Patches will likely be included once an Upgrade Rollup pack is released, once XP enters extended support phase, in a future DVD release.  For now, corporate deployments via RIS/this media can be adequately supported by SUS/WSUS servers, which can mitigate patch deployment traffic.
• Toshiba Tecra/Satellite Pro models are supported - baseline drivers are included for most models.
• This disc provides an EXCELLENT baseline for RIS deployments to modern hardware due to the modular nature of the scripts, and the plethora of drivers included.

This DVD is now under limited release to IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad owners, that know me personally... a legal Windows XP Pro license, along with licenses for all of this software is absolutely essential to remain compliant.  I maintain volume license agreements for included applications - so you must chip in the license pool if you want a copy of the DVD.

Hint: Not all people reading this blog entry can get a copy.  I do this for fun, and I reserve the right to release this deployment media on an EXTREMELY limited scale.