Thinkpads Forum

Hello,

i want to upgrade to windows 7 from vista from my t61 and would like to know the best way to do it.
i would like to keep the ability to go back to the previous vista factory restore (if i sell or give away my thinkpad i would like to keep my win 7 licence).
Can i just install win 7, will this latter erase the hidden partition?
do i need to create the backup files or should i just hit the blue button on startup to recover from the hidden partition?

many thanks,

Welcome to the Forum.
If you haven't done so already, you should create a set of Recovery CDs from your Recovery partition.
Hit the blue Access button upon booting to get into the recovery environment.
If you don't have this partition, you have 2 options:
1- buy a set of Vista recovery disks from Lenovo (or on our market forum), for later use, wipe HD, install W7
2- buy a new HD and install W7 on it. Save the 'old' HD for when you dispose of your TP.