Thinkpads Forum

If you patch vista and do all of the updates for the ThinkVantage utilities before you create your recovery disks, will you get all of the updated software?

No, you will get what is inside the hidden partition.

So you get a fresh installation after you use the CD-s you made, but without the updates you made to the system.

thomasw80 wrote:If you patch vista and do all of the updates for the ThinkVantage utilities before you create your recovery disks, will you get all of the updated software?

You can make a backup disk through ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery or put backups on an external media, that way you'll have a copy of an up-to-date system with all updates in a form of a backup.

ryengineer wrote:

thomasw80 wrote:If you patch vista and do all of the updates for the ThinkVantage utilities before you create your recovery disks, will you get all of the updated software?

You can make a backup disk through ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery or put backups on an external media, that way you'll have a copy of an up-to-date system with all updates in a form of a backup.

Thanks, I figured as much, but was hoping it would make a patched copy.

After burning the start recovery disc, how many discs should I need? The start disc went very quick, and after that the PC burned only one DVD before telling me it was finished. Should there be more?

j-dawg wrote:After burning the start recovery disc, how many discs should I need? The start disc went very quick, and after that the PC burned only one DVD before telling me it was finished. Should there be more?

It depends on how much data you've on your drive.

Make sure we are talking about backup disks through Rescue and Recovery here and not regarding "Rescue media" or "Recovery disks".

Warning...probably useless stuff ahead. If you're not really bored, you can just skip to the next line of bold text.
I made the discs using Create Restore Media. I stupidly wasted a DVD on the first disc, but then it only burned one more DVD. Should there have been more? If so, I can make another since I followed it up with a factory restore from the partition...just 'cause.

I'm planning on fiddling with this machine a bit and it's going to involve playing with partitions. I want to try a clean install of Vista, I want to dual-boot with Ubuntu 8.04 when it's released, I want to try making a media/documents partition so I can easily clean up my system, etc.

But I also want the option to undo everything; in other words, I want to be able to put the discs in the drive and make the computer as though I had just pulled it out of the box, bloatware and all. I burned just two discs using the restore media program in the Thinkvantage folder, and one of them (the start recovery disc) was far from full. Since I used single-layer DVDs and there seemed to be more than two DVDs' worth of stuff on the hard drive when I received the PC, I was wondering if something had gone wrong. Should there be more?

I also had a question or two about Complete PC Backup. It claims to make a total image of the drive, but the drive also includes that Lenovo restore partition. Will Complete PC Backup put that partition on my discs? I don't want it there. Ideally, I'd be able to lose the partition and its functionality but then get it back just in case I ever wanted it. I'd want the Complete PC Backup discs to not include it. is that possible?

My apologies for the probably useless information.
I know I sometimes ramble, so I guess I'll just summarize what I'm asking.

Question 1:
If I burn recovery discs using the ThinkVantage utility that's supposed to bring my computer back to totally out-of-the-shipping-box condition--is it normal that there would be only two DVDs, including the "start restore" disc? It seems like there should be more.

Question 2:
If I use Windows' Complete PC Backup, it claims to create a complete image of my drive. Will this include the factory restore partition? I don't want that. Can I make it not back that up, or will it just not do it since that's separate from Windows?

Thanks for all the help. I also sort of hijacked this thread, so my apologies to thomasw80.

1. Yes, two disks are normal inculding the startup disk, Rescue and Recovery created for my T60 that way too.

2. Windows Complete PC backup includes hidden partition also, I'm not aware of anyway to deselect the hidden partition from Windows backup procedure.

Ah. My confidence is restored. Thank you very much.