What do you do with your factory OS on your new X61(s)

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apbudha · #1 Post by **apbudha** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:52 pm

What do you do with your factory OS on your new X61(s)?

#2 Post by **ryengineer** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:25 pm

I perform "Custom Factory Restore" (a newly integrated feature in Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery, perhaps it's 8-10 months old now) using the blue button and use everything except Symantec's Norton Antivirus and Client Security Solution. YMMV on your requirement.

tselling · #3 Post by **tselling** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:06 pm

Since my X61s came with 32-bit vista basic, I got the $5 any-time upgrade DVD from CompUSA and did a clean install of 64-bit vista basic to take advantage of 4gb ram.

RedGreen · #4 Post by **RedGreen** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:42 pm

When I got my X61s it had Vista Home Basic installed. I made backup discs and wiped the Vista partition and installed Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP (although I don't really ever use XP).

rhema83 · #5 Post by **rhema83** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:15 pm

My X61 comes with Vista Home Basic on a 80GB 5400rpm HDD. First thing I'd do is to make a set of recovery discs. Then I'd replace the HDD with a 7K200, and install Vista Business (which I have an academic license for).

Still debating between x86 and x64 while waiting for the X61 and the 7K200 in the mail.

apbudha · #6 Post by **apbudha** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 5:10 pm

RedGreen wrote:When I got my X61s it had Vista Home Basic installed. I made backup discs and wiped the Vista partition and installed Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP (although I don't really ever use XP).

I'm looking to do this over the summer (dual boot with Ubuntu and Vista). I heard that are certain tweaks that should be made for the Ubuntu to work compeletly. Did you run into any problems with suspend?

immaculate · #7 Post by **immaculate** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:52 pm

i've done all of my thinkpads the same way: request restore discs, blow away hidden partition, wipe factory load and re-image. my latest x61s came with vista home basic which i immediately wiped and replaced with vista ultimate.

aaron

bergje · #8 Post by **bergje** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:24 am

My X61s came with Vista Business.

I created backup media and removed Vista along with the recovery partition and created a XP-professional / Ubuntu gutsy dual boot system

. Although I also never use windows XP, just for the occasional software that isn't available for Ubuntu and sometimes a game. Initially I had to put more trouble in XP to install it and get everything working than I had with Ubuntu Gutsy where most things worked out of the box.

roblim · #9 Post by **roblim** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 2:37 pm

I remove the factory hard drive, and replace it with a 7200 rpm drive. Put the factory drive in a bag and put it in a safe place until I need it when I resell this laptop.

RedGreen · #10 Post by **RedGreen** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 8:38 pm

apbudha wrote:
RedGreen wrote:When I got my X61s it had Vista Home Basic installed. I made backup discs and wiped the Vista partition and installed Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP (although I don't really ever use XP).
I'm looking to do this over the summer (dual boot with Ubuntu and Vista). I heard that are certain tweaks that should be made for the Ubuntu to work compeletly. Did you run into any problems with suspend?

I posted a little guide for getting things working in the Linux specific part of these forums that worked for me on my X61s (the thread is titled "Ubuntu 7.10"), go ahead and take a look, go ahead and post in that thread with any questions you have. And remember to backup everything before you make any changes.

I have been able to get hibernation to work but have not yet added it to the list of instructions. Have not yet worked on suspend.

Ubuntu worked out of box very well, wifi, sound, the card reader, even a lot of the fn+ key combos all worked great.

sbell22 · #11 Post by **sbell22** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 1:12 am

Wow - ThinkPad blackbelt city!!

Has anyone posted instructions of how to wipe the restore partition and re-image without it?

thanks

apbudha · #12 Post by **apbudha** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:08 pm

ryengineer wrote:I perform "Custom Factory Restore" (a newly integrated feature in Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery, perhaps it's 8-10 months old now) using the blue button and use everything except Symantec's Norton Antivirus and Client Security Solution. YMMV on your requirement.

Anyone: Are we all assuming all Thinkvantage related software is non-bloatware? Is there you consider unnecessary, that you disable after restoring?

apbudha · #13 Post by **apbudha** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:13 pm

rhema83 wrote:My X61 comes with Vista Home Basic on a 80GB 5400rpm HDD. First thing I'd do is to make a set of recovery discs. Then I'd replace the HDD with a 7K200, and install Vista Business (which I have an academic license for).

Still debating between x86 and x64 while waiting for the X61 and the 7K200 in the mail.

anyone: when you say create backup discs/media, are you doing this per Vista's mechanisms using howto's sprinkled on the web, or is there a way to do this with thinkvantage utilities?