Thinkpads Forum

I learned from a thread on here that you get one crack at creating Recovery Media on a new Vista system. As shown here.

If you go the one CD and one DVD route, is there any special DVD type you want to use. DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-???. Since you get one shot at this, I guess you don't want this written to a rewritable format?

I'm new writable DVDs, and all the naming formats. Just stepping up from using CDs, for a loooooong time.

One thing to note, the process goes through the extra step of verifying the disks, so you are less likely to produce a coaster.

A more specfic question:

DVD-R
DVD+R
DVD-RW
DVD+RW

Will it make a difference?

In reality there isn't too much difference between DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. DVD-R tends to be a little more compatible with older players, but that's an issue that more related to mass-producing movies or music. DVD+ tends to be better at things like real-time recording (e.g., video surveillance). Also, I think DVD+ tends to be a little more expensive. You can go with either R or RW (+ or -), depending on your preference. I would recommend DVD-R or DVD+R just so you or someone else doesn't accidentally erase it.

The bigger issue you should worry about is the brand, which can really make a difference. Verbatim and Tayio Yuden are your best bet for avoiding a pile of coasters.

There is also another format called DVD-RAM, avoid using it as the first bootable disk.

lenovo wrote:The Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery workspace does not support booting from a DVD-RAM disc. As a result, do not create rescue media, Product Recovery CDs, backups, or archive backups where the first disc of the set is DVD-RAM media. Other DVD formats are supported.