[Thinkpad x220]: Can I use the Q-Drive to put windows on a new SSD I installed?

[Tashul]

Hi!
some time ago I bought a Thinkpad x220. It was restored to factory condition. It only had one HDD which was split into the C: and Q: drives.

A few days back I installed an SSD into the previously empty mSATA slot. The idea is, of course, that I have windows on the SSD and all my data on the Hard Drive. From what I gather the Q drive contains all the necessary files to do a factory reset.
Can I apply this factory reset to the SSD? Is there a guide on how to do this?

I've never worked with the Q-drive before and I'm hesitant to just try it out because I have a lot of important stuff on the C-drive that I don't want to lose.

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EDIT: I could just install a fresh windows copy onto the SSD from a USB stick, but I'm really curious about the Q-Drive. Also I'm assuming that the windows installation it contains has all the relevant drivers for my thinkpad. Whereas if I installed 'generic' windows on the SSD, I'd need to hunt for all the drivers.

[BillMorrow]

those are the factory image restore files in the Q drive..
don't mess with them..
unless you want to recover that space, then there should be an option to move the factory restore image and utilities to a thumb drive..

it is what i did with an X1 carbon..

wait a bit and one of the guys with more up to date experience will be along to help..

welcome to the forum..

[Tashul]

Thanks for the personal welcome, Bill!

Your comment got me thinking... What if I do the following?

1). Copy an image of the Q-Drive onto a USB stick
2). Remove the HDD from the laptop
3). Use the USB stick to do a factory restore on the SSD.
4). Put the HDD back where it belongs


The only problem I see with this solution is that the image on the Q-Drive probably presupposes that the laptop it's doing factory reset on is equipped with a HDD, not an SSD. Is it possible that my SSD gets destroyed by this?