Thinkpads Forum

it just dawned on me - where are my cd's?

i got my T60 - and i have no windows cd's no drivers cd's with it ?!

what the? should lenovo supply these - did they forget to pop it in the box?

what else am i missing? anyone?

thanks

IBM/Lenovo does not include discs with their computers, at least that has been my experience with my t43. If you look at your thinkvantage software, there should be a program to burn some recovery CDs.

Option B would be to call Lenovo and request a set of discs. Sometimes they will charge you, sometimes they will not. I got lucky and they sent me a set for free.

As Rosemarycane said, you burn the set of R&R media yourself when you get the system. There is a Predesktop area that is designed for on-board recovery, restore, and backups. Should you ever want to make a clean install of Windows XP or any other OS on your system, make the R&R disk set first, around 6-7 CDs or 1 CD and 1 DVD.

HTH

ah... that's awesome idea

thanks.


question - where does it store the R&R sets?

question though - what happens when Vista comes out? how do we update the 'internals'?

romka wrote:question - where does it store the R&R sets?

There is a hidden partition 4.7GB large on the hard disk. This is where the Recovery DVD content is stored.

romka wrote:question though - what happens when Vista comes out? how do we update the 'internals'?

Not sure what you're asking here.

You bought a computer with Windows XP on it. When Vista is released, you will presumably go out and buy the CDs/DVDs so you can restore your installation from that. There is no value in the XP recovery disks from that point, as they contain the XP versions of drivers and ThinkVantage software.

romka wrote:question though - what happens when Vista comes out? how do we update the 'internals'?

Sell your grandmother's fine china and buy a retail copy of it.

agreed, but will ibm allow us to purchase recovery disks with all the drivers? in order to update the internal partition with Vista+drivers and not XP+drivers?!

or are we stuck with XP on the hidden partition - even if we will be running Vista.

sorry for sounding stupid - this is my first IBM. so I want to get my head around the feature-set.

romka: there are MANY ways to delete this partition if you want to.
Google it. It's quite easy, even for someone who is not computer savy.

romka wrote:agreed, but will ibm allow us to purchase recovery disks with all the drivers? in order to update the internal partition with Vista+drivers and not XP+drivers?!

or are we stuck with XP on the hidden partition - even if we will be running Vista.

sorry for sounding stupid - this is my first IBM. so I want to get my head around the feature-set.

Yes, you can buy the R&R disk set. Although none of them have Vista or any Vista-specific drivers on them. I suspect that, once Vista is out, IBM/Lenovo will do that.

You can't change the OS that gets installed from the partition, in this case it is Windows XP, just yet.

romka wrote:agreed, but will ibm allow us to purchase recovery disks with all the drivers? in order to update the internal partition with Vista+drivers and not XP+drivers?!

or are we stuck with XP on the hidden partition - even if we will be running Vista.

sorry for sounding stupid - this is my first IBM. so I want to get my head around the feature-set.

There are no stupid questions mate.

As markgreene pointed out, you can remove Recovery Partition at any time using partitioning tools or whatever. Hopefully you will have made the recovery CD/DVDs first.

I seriously doubt that you will be able to legitimately buy a "T60 Vista Recovery" package from Lenovo. This would violate their license with MS, because you bought the machine with an XP license.

EDIT:

christopher_wolf wrote:Yes, you can buy the R&R disk set. Although none of them have Vista or any Vista-specific drivers on them. I suspect that, once Vista is out, IBM/Lenovo will do that.

Chris, I can't see how Lenovo would let you buy it (legitimately), because these recovery disks only cost US$45 to buy -- this obviously does not cover the cost of a full license.

astro wrote:

christopher_wolf wrote:Yes, you can buy the R&R disk set. Although none of them have Vista or any Vista-specific drivers on them. I suspect that, once Vista is out, IBM/Lenovo will do that.

Chris, I can't see how Lenovo would let you buy it (legitimately), because these recovery disks only cost US$45 to buy -- this obviously does not cover the cost of a full license.

Yes, the R&R disk set; as far as I know, you cannot purchase just the Windows XP disk + OEM drivers from IBM/Lenovo.

christopher_wolf wrote:

astro wrote: Chris, I can't see how Lenovo would let you buy it (legitimately), because these recovery disks only cost US$45 to buy -- this obviously does not cover the cost of a full license.

Yes, the R&R disk set; as far as I know, you cannot purchase just the Windows XP disk + OEM drivers from IBM/Lenovo.

My understanding based on the experience of purchasing recovery discs from IBM/Lenovo is as follows:

( ) Each Machine Type has it's own unique software load.
( ) You must call tech support to order so they can confirm the model & serial number to insure the disks are specific for that machine.
( ) We have alread paid for the license upon purchasing the computer. Therefore the charge is for the disks only.
( ) They will only sell disks that are exactly the same as what came on the computer.

Finally if you use the disks on any other computer they shut the fans down and the computer has a melt down....

I agree with astro's and archer6's take on things. Recently a user wanted to get a different language version of the Product Recovery Discs, and IBM/Lenovo wouldn't sell it to him.

okay - fair enough...


question is this then

will it be possible to get all the lenovo software for vista off say lenovos website.

so if i do end up cashing out for vista - will i still be able to load up the lenovo software onto it - [not the same software as for XP- but the ones meant for vista].

?

romka wrote:will it be possible to get all the lenovo software for vista off say lenovos website.

No doubt, they will release the Vista versions when Vista is released, or shortly thereafter. Unless they REALLY want to piss off their customers.

It is a shame that they don't seem to be ahead of the game like companies such as ATI who already have Vista beta drivers available. Then again, Lenovo/IBM makes a [censored] lot more software than ATI.

astro wrote:

romka wrote:will it be possible to get all the lenovo software for vista off say lenovos website.

No doubt, they will release the Vista versions when Vista is released, or shortly thereafter. Unless they REALLY want to piss off their customers.

It is a shame that they don't seem to be ahead of the game like companies such as ATI who already have Vista beta drivers available. Then again, Lenovo/IBM makes a [censored] lot more software than ATI.

That and IBM/Lenovo would have to deal with the support for that amount of software, all ATI has to handle is the occasional user bug report and talks with their hardware partners about the drivers themselves...Otherwise, they don't have to field support calls or what not; just make the drivers well.