safe to delete R&R partition after making R&R Media?

[zeus77]

Just got my new X61... I'm wondering if it's safe to wipe the 5G R&R partition if I've done the ThinkVantage-->Create R&R Media routine? Would I lose any functionality at all (other than the convenience of the blue button)? That's nearly 5% of my disc drive wasted, for a feature that I'll hopefully never need...

Of course I realize the risks of the media getting lost, damaged, etc, but I can deal with that (if possible, I'll make 2 independent copies, compare them as a check for a good burn, and then rip them as an .iso to a monster external HD where wasting 5G isn't an issue).

Thanks.
zeus77

[ryengineer]

Sir, it's totally up to you, if you need the extra 5GB then you can delete it provided you already have Product Recovery Disks handy.

[Ideasmiths]

Just got my new X61... I'm wondering if it's safe to wipe the 5G R&R partition if I've done the ThinkVantage-->Create R&R Media routine? Would I lose any functionality at all (other than the convenience of the blue button)? That's nearly 5% of my disc drive wasted, for a feature that I'll hopefully never need...

Of course I realize the risks of the media getting lost, damaged, etc, but I can deal with that (if possible, I'll make 2 independent copies, compare them as a check for a good burn, and then rip them as an .iso to a monster external HD where wasting 5G isn't an issue).

Thanks.
zeus77

I have experience with T40, T43, X60, X60T and my short answer is "No".

1) If you create CD RnR backup, there is a high possibility that these CD won't work. The reason is that during the writing of the backup information, there may be a missing part while transfering onto the CDs. CDs also deteroriate if you store it in wrong place. If you insist on removing the hidden partition, the best idea is to run it once after creation to ensure it works.

2) I personally have stopped using CD RnR and instead use an external HDD as the backup medium. In addition to this, I download Acronis/Norton Ghost/or whatever-equivalent and clone the 4GB of hidden partion to an external HDD/upload to online storage. Acronis has a free 15 days trial that serve this purpose well.

3) I don't delete my hidden partition, it has saves me a lot of head banging vs saving a small fraction of the HDD space by deleting it.