Table of Contents

How to Use Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76

If you have a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop that needs some basic-level hardware maintenance, such as changing the serial number of the motherboard, you may need to use the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 or later. This is a bootable image that can be used to access some features that are otherwise locked to non-authorized service personnel or general public. However, you will also need to disable the EEPROM protection before using this diskette, otherwise it may not work.

In this article, we will show you how to download, create and use the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 on your Thinkpad laptop.

Step 1: Download the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76

The Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 is an executable file that can be downloaded from the Lenovo website or from other sources such as Archive.org[^1^]. The file name is i7tm38us.exe and it is about 3 MB in size. You will need a Windows machine to run this file and create the diskette image.

Step 2: Create the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Image

After downloading the i7tm38us.exe file, you will need to run it on your Windows machine. This will create some files in C:\DRIVERS\Maintenance Diskette folder. You will then need to insert a USB drive or a floppy disk into your machine. Finally, you will need to run the C:\DRIVERS\Maintenance Diskette\i7tm38us\usbfmtpw.exe file to copy the diskette image over to your removable media. Make sure you verify that the copy is completed and safely finish the usbfmtpw.exe program.

Step 3: Disable the EEPROM Protection on Your Thinkpad Laptop

Before you can use the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 on your Thinkpad laptop, you will need to disable the EEPROM protection that prevents unauthorized access to some hardware features. To do this, you will need to restart your laptop and press the ESC key repeatedly at the startup logo (pre-boot) time until you see a message saying “Entering IBM Predesktop Area”. This will bypass the EEPROM protection and allow you to use the diskette.

Step 4: Boot from the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76

After disabling the EEPROM protection, you will need to boot from the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 that you created earlier. To do this, you will need to press F12 at the boot-time and choose your removable media as the boot option. This will load the diskette image and show you a menu with some hardware maintenance options. You can then select the option that you need and follow the instructions on the screen.

Conclusion

The Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76 is a useful tool for performing some basic-level hardware maintenance on your Lenovo Thinkpad laptop. However, you should use it with caution and only if you know what you are doing, as messing with BIOS settings can lead to problems that are not easily fixed. You should also make sure that you disable the EEPROM protection before using this diskette and enable it again after you are done.