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Hello, I have recently subscribed to this list and per the request just wanted to explain a little about the environment I am in. I work in the Intelligent Workstation Technical Support group of a large Insurance and Financial Services Company. In addition to over 8,000 PC's, we have an installed base of approximately 100 ThinkPads (a mix of 700/720/750/755/360's). Most of the high-end boxes being used by programmers and analysts in our IS Department and are running OS/2 2.11 or WARP. Most of the rest are running DOS/Windows. We are expecting to be installing and supporting hundreds of Notebooks in the coming year. We also have a growing number of executives who use ThinkPads as a single workstation for in and out of the office. Many of them have docking stations and a few have port replicators. We are struggling with the issue of software installation and support on Notebooks. Our current methodology for desktop workstations is to wipe the hard drive when it comes in and install either DOS/Windows or OS/2 (and applications) over our Token Ring network. We are primarily a LAN Server-based shop and use a DLR client boot disk to pull down DOS/Windows. For OS/2 we are using the CID process and Netview DM/2 to push the operating system down from code servers (also on the Token Ring). All applications are also installed over the network. Now comes the part where I am hoping to get some assistance from this group. ThinkPads today come with a huge amount of preloaded software. I think the last time I checked a 755CE had about 300MB used when delivered. If we wipe the hard drive to install our configuration of DOS/Windows (or OS/2) we have "lost" all of the preloaded demos, tutorials, and of course the approximately 15 "applications" such as Taxi, Organizer, and Prodigy. Many of our users are requesting some or all of the preloaded software. So, we are considering a couple of options. We can continue to wipe the drive and create a method to re-install the preloaded software (which could take a lot of effort). Or, we could try and apply the customizations we require (such as PCMCIA modem support, Token Ring and LAN Requester support, and or standard terminal emulation software) on top of the preload. But, what if the hard drive dies six months or a year from now. How do we get the Notebook back to its original state. Anyway, I don't want to ramble on too much longer, but we would be very interested in hearing from any sites that are in a similar large corporate environment. How are you handling these or related issues? Thanks, Ed Holub Network Systems Programmer USAA 210-456-3895