Thinkpads Forum

I have a T61 with XP on it. If I called Lenovo and purchased the recovery media would they sell media to me with Vista instead of XP? I figured this could be a cheaper/easier way to try out Vista on my laptop that to take a trip to BestBuy and take out a second mortgage.

I am thinking the answer is no. But I figured asking here would be a good place to start before a Lenovo CSR gets the best laugh of their day at my expense.

Short answer is no...

Long answer is if you where to acquire a set of disk say from ebay, chances are that Vista would not register. Those computers that where bought with Vista will run both Vista and XP. Those computers bought with XP will not activate Vista, so you will need a 'key' to use it beyond 30 days. Or you'll need to know how to bypass it.

DAH wrote:snip..........Those computers bought with XP will not activate Vista, so you will need a 'key' to use it beyond 30 days. Or you'll need to know how to bypass it.

There is an exception to that i.e. the long gone free Vista upgrade from Moduslink in the beginning of this year where the original machines came with Windows XP and users were provided with the Vista upgrade and then sent appropriate Windows Vista Product recovery disks, when asked.

The answer to original poster is still no.

Oh well. Figured as much. The only thing with getting the recovery media from Lenovo is it would be prepackaged with all the drivers needed, and utilities that come with a ThinkPad.

I'll call anyway this afternoon and give it a shot. If I have to pay full price for the OS on the recovery media, that is acceptable, but not my first choice.

It pays to call support....

I called out to lenovo support and asked them about buying recovery media for my laptop with Vista even though it didn't come with it. I got a student discount on Vista Ultimate on recovery DVDs coming at me now with a proper COA. Cost me $175.

Just an FYI if you guys decide to want to upgrade.

k2jsv wrote:snip.......I got a student discount on Vista Ultimate on recovery DVDs coming at me now with a proper COA. Cost me $175.......snip

Product Recovery disks don't come with COA, you simply bought a retail version of Vista from lenovo.

It will be interesting to see what you actually get. I do not believe you'll get the three disk set of recovery media, but I've been wrong before. I hope you do post back with what you get, did you get a part number?