Recovery disks for T41

[Specter]

Hello all,

Right now I have a T42 and a T41. On the T42 there is provision for creating recovery disks in the program folder "Access IBM". On the T41 however, I can not find any such entry in the corresponding folder.

Is it possible to make recovery disks on the T41 in some other way?

[Johan]

First: Welcome to the forum!

About being or not being able to create recovery CD's, this depends of two things:

1) Whether or not the data is still intact on the HDD - because the data for the recovery disks is placed on a "hidden" partition, which can be accessed through pressing the "Access IBM" bottom. If someone has however deleted that partition (perhaps through having completely wiped and formatted the HDD and installed everything from scratch?), then the recovery data is gone for good.

2) If the data for the recovery CD's is still intact on the HDD, you may however not necessarily be able to create a set of recovery media, since it is only allowed that one set of recovery media is created (this is owing to Microsoft Windows license issues). But! In this case - if you do have the "Access IBM" functionality intact - you can make a clever trick: a) Use the "Access IBM" to restore the HDD contents to its factory state (note that this will wipe your entire C-drive!), and b) then you may create a fresh set of recovery media! Taa-daa!!

Note that you may not need to go through all this, because chances are quite good that the "T42" recovery set you already have will also work on your T41! Recovery media are usable on some specific series of ThinkPad's, e.g. the 2373-series, which includes both T41's and T42's! So simply first check if your media will wrk on your T41 - that would be the easiest solution!

PS: Perhaps you may want to browse the sticky FAQ "How to use Recovery CD Disc Set".

Johan

[sktn77a]

Agree with Johan, the recovery disks from the T42 should work just fine with the T41 - in fact, they will have more up to date hardware drivers so they might be even better!

[Specter]

Hi Johan, and thanks for taking the time to answer my question!

About item 1, I know the partition is there because I have already installed from it. When I bought the computer about a month ago, the primary partition (C) was (of course) deleted but the "Restore to factory settings" worked beautifully. So the HPA is there.

And this also means then that, according to your item 2, I can make a set of recovery disks. I did not know about this "one set of recovery disks per installation" rule you mention.

Also, it is new to me that the recovery disks are (or could be) the same between the T41 and T42 (and yes they are both 2373). I thought they were unique for the machine, since there is no activation required.

But knowing this, how do I actually make the recovery disks?

[carbon_unit]

Not all T41's had the ability to create recovery discs. You can use the T42 discs on the T41. There may be a driver or two missing. The recovery discs use a Volume License Key number that does not require activation. It is not tied to and specific unit. That same number is used on hundreds if not thousands of Thinkpads right from the factory. As long as you have a COA sticker for the OS you are good.

[underclocker]

FYI, as long as the recovery partition is present on the T41, you can create recovery disks. Do a search for FWBACKUP or FWRESTOR and you'll see how.

T42 restore disks will create a non-HPA recovery partition with a slighly more current loadset. However, a few drivers may be missing, which can be downloaded from Lenovo.com, as mentioned above.

(I've even used T60 disks to restore T43's.)

[Specter]

Perfect, thanks all! I am really happy that I have found this forum and I enjoy reading the posts a lot.

I manage several ThinkPads. I have a T42 and an old 560Z myself and then there are 4 T41:s in the rest of my family. So this forum is fantastic for me.

Thanks again!