T42 Recovery CDs

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batrachian · #1 Post by **batrachian** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:28 am

I just got my T42 and it does not come with Recovery CD as every one else. I was told that we can call IBM and ask for those CDs for free and someone else did get them for free. However, when I called Tech Support and was told they are $45.

Are those CDs free within the first month of the purchase?

Thanks for the input.

Leon · #2 Post by **Leon** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:58 am

sometimes yes, sometimes no. depends on who you get on the phone....

batrachian · #3 Post by **batrachian** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:01 am

So Tech Support is the place to ask for those CDs?

#4 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 2:37 am

generally, yes..

but now there is (or should be) a utility on your T42 that will create these recovery CD's for you..
you'll need 7 decent brand name CD-R's..

you only get to do this once and then the utility will refuse to make a second set..
you CAN, of course, run the recovery from either the HDD (recovery partition) or the CD's and VIOLA!! you get another go at creating a whole new set..

NathanA · #5 Post by **NathanA** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:39 am

I, too, was refused a set of CDs from IBM customer service, and I called within 30 days. I was told that if I had called a few months ago, I probably would have been granted my request (though I didn't OWN a recent ThinkPad until very recently, so I couldn't very well do that, now could I?), but since then the "policy has been changed" and ANYONE who asks for a CD set will be charged $45 for one with only ONE exception: if your hard drive dies, IBM will send you a new HDD PLUS a recovery CD set (so I guess the HDD doesn't come preloaded with anything on it...totally blank).

It's not a HUGE deal, I guess, but I would much prefer some pressed/manufactured CDs rather than my own homemade CD-Rs, if for nothing else other than longevity's sake.

-- Nathan

batrachian · #6 Post by **batrachian** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:33 pm

But somebody did get those CDs for free most recently. Are they in luck?

Can we just tell IBM the harddrive is dying and they will ship those CDs and new hard drive for free?

sugo · #7 Post by **sugo** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:44 pm

batrachian wrote:Can we just tell IBM the harddrive is dying and they will ship those CDs and new hard drive for free?

It's immoral. Please don't abuse the warranty. No one here wants Lenovo go out of business.

glarkin · #8 Post by **glarkin** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:18 am

My T42 was delivered last week and I too called support for my free set of recovery CDs after reading this forum. I told the lady I was calling within the 30 day period to receive my free recovery media and she said, "Why does everybody think that?". She said they don't give those with the laptop and that I'd have to create my own set using the utility. I'd expect that from an inexpensive or off-brand laptop, but not a Thinkpad.

Nomad-Man · #9 Post by **Nomad-Man** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:20 pm

My personal opinion is that no matter what laptop you buy it should come with a set of disk's, recovery partion or not. But I can also see the other side of the coin too from the vendors veiw point.

Since im probably not going to get a set either unless i fork over 50.00 for them, which I also think is a little pricey.
I got to wondering, since im probably going to be going out on monday and getting me one of those external harddrives. If its possible to make a set on cd and then somehow put the same thing on the extrernal harddrive. In case the cds ever take a crap.

Dont know if laptop and the external harddrive would have issues with one another if i ever need to reinstall.

Whata think??

Wizzke · #10 Post by **Wizzke** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:13 am

I didn't have any problems and received my cd's for free just a couple of weeks ago ...

Matt · #11 Post by **Matt** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:23 am

You're almost better off making your own set with the Create Recovery Disks tool, especially if you have a DVD burner as you can burn just one CD-R and one DVD-R to take the place of the 10 or so CDs that you could get from IBM.

rhobite · #12 Post by **rhobite** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:05 am

I'm glad you brought that up. I'm stuck with a set of seven CD's. Can I take the last six and combine them into a DVD somehow? I have a DVD burner in my PC.

#13 Post by **aamsel** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:37 am

That won't work. (transfering CD-R to DVD-R or DVD+R).

But, once you do have a set of CD-R's, you can duplicate them with Nero, etc. and then you can have a backup set to file away in case one of the CD-R's "goes South".

Andrew
Austin, TX

rhobite wrote:I'm glad you brought that up. I'm stuck with a set of seven CD's. Can I take the last six and combine them into a DVD somehow? I have a DVD burner in my PC.

Zeitgeist · #14 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 3:13 pm

Just run R&R, copy the image to your (network?) PC and use its DVD burner.

rhobite · #15 Post by **rhobite** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:12 pm

Zeitgeist wrote:Just run R&R, copy the image to your (network?) PC and use its DVD burner.

Do I need the recovery partition to do this? I killed it to get the space back.

skuehne · #16 Post by **skuehne** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:44 pm

I called IBM last week to get a set of recovery CDs, about two weeks after I got my T42. No problem, had the package here by noon the next day. Excellent!

I certainly prefer printed CDs over CDRs, especially because IBM only allows you to burn a single set (as Bill mentioned here earlier). Do you really expect your homemade CDRs to work in a few years (worst case: your warranty has just expired) when you might need them?

In fact, I don't like the practice of not including those CDs (how about a reall OEM Windows XP CD?) but instead shuffling gigabyte of stuff on the hard disk. We've paid for 40, 60 or 80 GB, not 35, 55, or 75 ...

Sven

T42p · #17 Post by **T42p** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:11 pm

Which number do i have to call to get phone support? i can't find it anywhere and I need it because my DVD/CD-RW won't open sometimes and I want them to replace it.

Leon · #18 Post by **Leon** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:36 pm

800-IBM-SERV

MobileGuru · #19 Post by **MobileGuru** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:41 pm

IBM doesn't provide recovery discs for free anymore unless the HDD has crashed. This is because of a license issue with MS not letting IBM provide more than 1 source of recovery media with any given box. Since you have the tools to create a recovery set within the bios now (ie there is your 1 source) IBM can't include a second set in the box. When the HDD dies, it is assumed that 1st source is gone, so the recovery discs can be sent.

Lame? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Big Deal? No.

skuehne · #20 Post by **skuehne** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 3:22 pm

Well, if you repartition your disk or wipe it completely as soon as you get your new machine, you'll not be able to burn your own set of recovery disks. IBM does acknowledge this and provides great customer support ...

But as I said earlier in this thread, a better solution would be to include a set of CDs with every new ThinkPad.

Sven

MobileGuru · #21 Post by **MobileGuru** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:19 pm

It all comes down to dollars and cents .. the argument was always that the savings acheived by pulling the discs outweighed the cost of having to send a few free copies out .. but now that the license agreement disallows secondary copies, the rules have changed. If someone does send one out for free, it is nothing more than a customer satisfaction thing that anything else.

MobileGuru · #22 Post by **MobileGuru** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:21 pm

skuehne wrote:Well, if you repartition your disk or wipe it completely as soon as you get your new machine, you'll not be able to burn your own set of recovery disks. IBM does acknowledge this and provides great customer support ... Sven

I guess the key point there would be IF YOU WIPE IT .. knowing that you may need the image later and you don't make it .. the mistake is yours to make.

skuehne · #23 Post by **skuehne** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:06 pm

MobileGuru wrote:It all comes down to dollars and cents .. the argument was always that the savings acheived by pulling the discs outweighed the cost of having to send a few free copies out ..

Given the fact that there are usually huge discounts for a wide variety of users available, the added cost of a simple DVD or set of CDs is neglible.

Sven

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