Broken recovery partition - X:\preboot\utils\convert.cmd

[gbdrbob]

Hello,

I've just received my eBay purchased x61s. First thing I tried to do was a full recovery to factory settings. Pressing the thinkpad button during boot launches the R&R recovery area. However attempting to perform a recovery results in an error "Product Recovery could not find the file X:\preboot\utils\convert.cmd"

A web search throws up literally hundreds of people with this issue (on lots of different thinkpad laptop models so I don't think it is a hardware specific) but no solutions other than to re-image the drive using recovery discs (suggested here).

I don't have recovery discs. I don't have an external CD drive to connect to the x61s to make them (though I can rig one up temporarily with an internal drive and a usb->ata adapter if need be).

I suspect that if I try and make the recovery discs myself using the the "create recovery discs" wizard within windows they will just contain a copy of the already broken recovery partition and I'll be no better off. Before I waste time trying this can anyone confirm if this is the case?

I've confirmed that the recovery area does have lots of files in it using rrutil form the ThinkVantage Administrator Tools

So is the only option to get recovery discs from lenovo - do they still send out discs for free in this sort of situation or do they now always charge? My X61s still has a year of warranty left.

Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated.

[BeeJayEmm]

Since your X61s is still under warranty, follow your impulse to call Lenovo and explain the situation. They may very well send you recovery disks gratis, depending on the representative with whom you speak. If that doesn't work, call again and try a different representative. Other options include posting an LF (looking for) or WTB (want to buy) ad in the Marketplace forum here. List your machine type and model in the ad (something like 7667-34P;not your serial number) and someone here may send you copies for a very reasonable price. You can also use the search function above to look for threads about sources of Recovery disks (I think http://www.<promotion of site not allowed>.com/ is one) or try eBay. Good luck!

[gbdrbob]

I rang support and told them about the error message. Stated I was trying to restore to factory settings because I suspected a virus on the machine.

First person I spoke to asked me to run a hard drive diagnostic using a program from the Lenovo website and then call back with the result. I did this (the quick test told me to run the full test, after running the full drive test the HD passed), called back, and the lady I spoke to offered straight away to send me recovery discs.

[BeeJayEmm]

I'm glad to hear they took care of you. Sounds like you have a plan for rigging an external CD drive to use the disks, too. Soon you'll be enjoying your new ThinkPad!

[gbdrbob]

Fully restored to factory settings. Went almost without a hitch. Running the preloaded ThinkVantage System Update failed with the message "Error 95 received from the Package Index Server" and I had to manually install the latest version 3.14 from here.

Then I left the laptop running a few hours as it installed all the windows and Lenovo software patches and updates published since 2007.

Interestingly system update did not offer the latest version 4.22 of Rescue and Recovery as an update, it offered 4.10 instead. Perhaps a forced install of version 4.22 by the previous owner caused the issue with the recovery partition?

When I have the time to risk another full recovery from the CDs I'll try updating R&R to the latest version and update to this thread with the result. For now I'm leaving it at the preloaded version 4.0.

[RealBlackStuff]

That "Error 95.." hints towards the laptop not having the proper TYPE-MODEL-SERIAL info.
Boot up, press F1 to go into the BIOS. There you should find the System serial info in the format e.g.:
733545U9912345 which should be interpreted as
type/model 7335-45U and serial-no. 99-12345.
If this is missing let us know.

[gbdrbob]

That "Error 95.." hints towards the laptop not having the proper TYPE-MODEL-SERIAL info.
Boot up, press F1 to go into the BIOS. There you should find the System serial info in the format

All the info is visible in the BIOS and matches the numbers on the label attached to the laptop base.

I think the error was simply due to the preloaded system update being too old to automatically upgrade itself (the recovery discs were dated January 2007). Once I manually installed system update 3.14 it worked fine.