Thinkpads Forum

Dear all user,

I am new user of T61p and have a question about recovery (as IBM/Lenovo always not provide recovery disc).

Just wonder, should I make the recovery disc once I got the machine before I installed any other software in it?

Or the recovery process will make the recovery disc only with the factory pre-load content?

Thanks a lot.

apoon204 wrote:Just wonder, should I make the recovery disc once I got the machine before I installed any other software in it?

Definitely yes.

Here is a guide with schematic.

Hi apoon204

For a very thorough step by step on the recovery process see See ryengineer's FAQ "How to use Recovery CD Disc set"

I have written a shorter step-by-step that follows. I didn't have all of the discs mentioned in ryengineer's FAQ. Hope this helps.
All the best,
DenTP4rm

ThinkPad factory restore step-by-step w/ Rescue & Recovery CDs

1. Boot from Rescue & Recovery CD. If R&R CD is not already in drive, as soon as you turn the machine on, hit the F1 key. It will take you into the BIOS. There you can configure the machine to boot first from the CD drive. To do this in the BIOS select "Startup" then "Boot", select your CD drive and move it to the top of the list using the F6 key. Before you reboot go ahead and open the drive and put in the CD marked "Rescue and Recovery Disc 1". Hit F10 to Save and Exit. The machine will restart and boot from the R&R CD.
2. Once it has booted into the Rescue and Recovery environment on the left side under "Rescue and Restore" choose "Restore your system".
3. To restore to factory state choose "Restore my hard drive to the original factory state." Assuming you have the appropriate media say "Yes" to the warning that will appear.
4. At the next window you can save any files needed. If you need to save files you will have to reboot with some kind of USB media attached. Follow the prompts to save the files you wish, selecting them in the left screen and confirming in the right. (Be aware that, in saving files to external media it will save them in the same directory structure as on the original drive. If you save a file in C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Cookies it will recreate that same structure on the USB device and save the file there.) When you complete this process it will take you to the last step which is to restore your system. If you are not saving any files choose "I do not want to save any files" and proceed.
5. Follow the prompts, okaying as you go. Next it will begin copying files from the Rescue & Recovery CD via "Predesktop Installer".
6. When this process ends it will tell you to remove the CD and power off the machine. Remove R&R CD, press and hold down the power button for about 10 seconds.
7. Restart without anything in the CD drive.
8. A Product Recovery pop-up may open saying "If you have a "Product Recovery Supplemental Disc", please insert it into drive D: now and press Yes, otherwise press No." You can press "No". (According to Bill Morrow's FAQ "How to use Recovery CD Disc set" http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=46996, "Not all recovery disc sets come with a Supplemental Recovery Disc. If there is a Supplemental Recovery Disc, it will be clearly marked as such.")
9. It will then ask for Disc 1 of the Product Recovery CDs. Load this and the process will begin.
10. If using a DVD the machine will do the rest, if using CDs just keep feeding it discs until it finishes.
11. At the end it does not ask you to remove the last CD. You can leave that in the drive until you reach the end of the entire process (Step 17).
12. It will eventually boot into Windows and a "Factory Preinstallation" checklist window will appear. Then "Please Wait, Preload Customization in progress..." with a DOS window in the background showing various system activities going on. The video is probably XGA (1024x768) at this point, but don't worry about that.
13. It will eventually reboot and enter the UXGA format (or whatever the native resolution is for your screen) but will continue with more of the above.
14. It will reboot again, this time with the IBM blue timeline desktop.
15. Finally it will get to a screen that asks for configuration settings like language & keyboard.
16. There will be screens that ask you to register with Lenovo, then Microsoft. Neither is required.
17. Windows activation should not be required. Eventually you will get into Windows and be ready to go.
18. I think the whole process takes about two hours.

What if you installed programs before making the CDs ?I installed a whole bunch of stuff before making the CDs .Now I want to start from fresh .

pfbmgd wrote:What if you installed programs before making the CDs ?I installed a whole bunch of stuff before making the CDs .Now I want to start from fresh .

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but, I don't believe installed programs will have any effect on your restore. To my knowledge the CDs are generated by system files in the protected area of your hard drive which are not affected by subsequent installations. Be aware that once you generate the CDs that function will no longer be available. See the link ryengineer posted (3rd post). However, you can make copies of the CDs as a backup, which I recommend. Actually, you can just use one CD and a DVD if you have a DVD burner. That makes the restore a lot easier.
DenTP4rm

There are two things that Rescue and Recovery media creates:

1. Rescue Media
2. Product Recovery Disks

The functionality of 1st option is:

It is very useful even if you haven’t even used Rescue & Recovery tool to make a backup. If you ever used the Windows 98 Universal Boot Disk, think this as that boot disk on steriods. The CD it creates contains a Lenovo-customized copy of Windows PE. Even if Windows won’t boot, you can use this disk to access your data on your hard disk in a GUI format. If the worst happens and you have to reformat and start over, it also contains drivers so that you can dump your data to a CD or DVD or USB HDD as well.

The second option creates Product Recovery disks that puts your machine to out of the box factory settings (including the OS and drivers, applications, tools etc., creates the hidden service partition including the predesktop console as well) and it doesn't matter when you create it, however I suggest it should be the 1st thing you do upon receiving your machine.

In my opinion, do a clean install first, optimize Vista with tweaks then do any back ups or recovery disks. Heres a good guide for doing a clean install

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144783

Tailic wrote:In my opinion, do a clean install first, optimize Vista with tweaks then do any back ups or recovery disks. Heres a good guide for doing a clean install

no No NO!
Now what did I say?
Everybody now... NO

Create your recovery disks before doing the clean install. After is too late.


Edit: Just to be absolutely clear; I am talking about the Product Recovery Discs here, not about any R&R backups one may make.

Don't take Tailic's advice.
Make a recovery set before doing anything more, just in case you need them. Then you can do a clean install or whatever you want to do knowing that even if you blow all the partitions away you can still go back to factory condition. If nothing else it is handy to restore it before you sell it. The recovery set is pretty much a set of discs with the contents of the restore partition on them and is not affected but any programs you have installed.

Sorry, Tailic, but GomJabbar and carbon_unit are absolutely right. First you make the Recovery discs (that's what my earlier post was about), then you can do a clean install or whatever. If you do a clean install you will wipe out the partition on your drive which makes the Recovery discs and your only option will be to buy a new set from Lenovo (about $50 with shipping). You've got em for free sitting on your HD. Take advantage of it.
DenTP4rm

Tailic wrote:In my opinion, do a clean install first, optimize Vista with tweaks then do any back ups or recovery disks. Heres a good guide for doing a clean install....snip

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Just wonder, if I replace another new hard drive inside the machine, can I still use that recovery disc to setup Vista?

I am not quite sure how Thinkpad deal with the license of Vista, by hardware ID (just like XP OEM version) or independent with the change of system?

Thanks a lot~

Using the recovery media will not be effected by installing a new hard drive, as long as you've made the recovery disc set beforehand. The license (COA) stays with the machine, not the hard drive.