Thinkpads Forum

Hi, everyone.

I have a Thinkpad X31 with a 40gb HD. If I look at the HD property, I only see 34gbs. I remember people told me the 6 gb is a hidden partition for the old imaging utility (Rapid Restore? Old version of Rescue and Recovery?)

Now I've installed the newest version of Rescue and Recovery and I noticed now they seem to keep the image directly in my normal partition in C drive. So I now have wasted space on having two images around. Can I safely get rid of the old backup partition? In fact, is it even possible to still use that partition at all? The new Rescue and Recovery doesn't seem to be able to use it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

As far as I know the R&R software does not use the hidden partition to store an image of your backed-up installation. It always does this either on the normal harddisk (C:) or you can set it to save the recovery image to an external harddisk (note that in that case, R&R tends to turn that external disk into one big partition, so if you had it partitioned and data already on it, that will be gone). Having the recovery image on an external disk is security against suffering a harddisk crash, so probably wiser. An old 2.5" laptop harddisk in a cheap external USB enclosure is perfect for the job.
The hidden partition holds R&R programs that can run even if the C: partition no longer functions (Windows having been totally screwed up by whatever), and it also holds the installable OS that was delivered with your computer, instead of providing you with a Windows XP disk set and a CD with drivers and support software. Many people gripe about that, understandably; but from the viewpoint of someone running a fleet of business notebooks this is understandable. Sales reps and other mobile workers are not in the habit of lugging around recovery disk sets, and when their system crashes far from home they will at least be able to push the magic Access IBM or ThinkPad button and get a working laptop back up in a hurry, that will get them connected to the web. Either one has a full set of Recovery disks (meaning one Rapid Restore disk and 6 Recovery disks for a T42, for instance) or one has the hidden partition. Or both, of course... The partition/recovery disk set is your equivalent of the Windows XP disk set. So think twice about wiping it. First burn an R&R disk set!

Several folks, including me, with a T42 have had the experience of creating R&R disks where we get 6 + 1 created. This will not restore. There are supposed to be 7 + 1 disks. When ordered from IBM, a set of R&R disks has 7 + 1.

They sent me several sets of 6 + 1, and I kept calling back until I finally got a complete set. I say 7 + 1, as that is how they are numbered when received via ordering, i.e., 1 of 7, 2 of 7, etc.

I had two extra sets of 6 + 1 (now both sold), and I burned a copy of disk 7 of 7 for each set. The first person who bought a set said it definitely required the 7th disk. Also heard from a person who cut a set on his system and got 6 + 1, as I did. He said it would not restore.

So, if you created a R&R set from your T42 and got 6 + 1, it probably won't work if you need to restore. Don't know if it matters, but mine is 2378 R4U.

carl3 wrote:Several folks, including me, with a T42 have had the experience of creating R&R disks where we get 6 + 1 created. This will not restore. There are supposed to be 7 + 1 disks. When ordered from IBM, a set of R&R disks has 7 + 1.

They sent me several sets of 6 + 1, and I kept calling back until I finally got a complete set. I say 7 + 1, as that is how they are numbered when received via ordering, i.e., 1 of 7, 2 of 7, etc.

I had two extra sets of 6 + 1 (now both sold), and I burned a copy of disk 7 of 7 for each set. The first person who bought a set said it definitely required the 7th disk. Also heard from a person who cut a set on his system and got 6 + 1, as I did. He said it would not restore.

So, if you created a R&R set from your T42 and got 6 + 1, it probably won't work if you need to restore. Don't know if it matters, but mine is 2378 R4U.

I find the above confusing and not entirely accurate. When I made my Product Recovery Discs for my T42, there is the Startup Disc, then there are the (6) Product Recovery Discs. You boot up the Startup Disc, and after entering Rescue and Recovery you choose to restore Factory Contents. Some info is copied from the Startup Disc to the hard drive, then the ThinkPad reboots back into Rescue and Recovery (from the hard drive this time). Once again you have to choose restore Factory Contents, then when prompted you put in each of the (6) remaining Product Recovery Discs. Several reboots later you have the original Factory install on your hard drive. Note that Predesktop Security in the BIOS should be set to "Normal". I have used these discs that I burned, and they did work. Also, I have read that the Startup Disc of the Product Recovery Disc set is the same as the Rescue Media CD, which can be created by itself.

I don't know why it is confusing and it is accurate for the several cases I mentioned. Since your experience was different, it would appear that, as I said, it may not work for some.

I have no idea if it is related to the type/model.

The set I bought from IBM support has 8 disks.