Thinkpads Forum

I just received X300 today. Inspired by the build quality and design, I still don't like bloatware on my PC.
As there is no image on the SDD itself, can I perform custom factory restore with the recovery set DVDs included in the box?

Thanks

jamess wrote:can I perform custom factory restore with the recovery set DVDs included in the box?

Yes, this is exactly the purpose of the DVDs.

Zeitgeist wrote:

jamess wrote:can I perform custom factory restore with the recovery set DVDs included in the box?

Yes, this is exactly the purpose of the DVDs.

No, you cannot.

If your machine has hidden partition then you can do it via pressing the ThinkVantage button during boot and performing the custom restore option from the predesktop area.

Booting through Rescue and Recovery disks don't give custom restore option and you can only do it through service partition.

jamess wrote:As there is no image on the SDD itself, can I perform custom factory restore with the recovery set DVDs included in the box?

Are you running Vista Business or Ultimate? If so, better double check those CDs to make sure they're not XP first.

My X300 had the recovery partition and I created the recovery CDs before I wiped it because they didn't come in the box. It came with XP though.

ryengineer wrote:

Zeitgeist wrote: Yes, this is exactly the purpose of the DVDs.

No, you cannot.

If your machine has hidden partition then you can do it via pressing the ThinkVantage button during boot and performing the custom restore option from the predesktop area.

Booting through Rescue and Recovery disks don't give custom restore option and you can only do it through service partition.

Yes, you can. X300 with vista has no hidden partitions due to the small hdd capacity. X300 with xp does have the hidden partitions, however, under xp you can use also the DVD/CD even though it is faster to use the hidden partition.

EDIT: Lenovo includes the DVDs only when the hdd has no hidden partition, so you have a notebook with Vista.

I don't see any mention of OS in the original post.

The custom restore option through recovery disks is a two step process:

1. Installation through the disks.
2. Performing custom restore through service partition after installation.

This is more time consuming.

On the other hand if the hidden partition is intact then all you have to do is hit the ThinkVantage button and perform custom restore.

Lenovo isn't consistent with image deployment on X300, be it Vista or XP, both can have hidden partition on factory preload.

Tried and tested - there is no way to perform custom factory restore directly from recovey DVDs. Will check however if it's possible now, once the system is installed. I suppose i hit the thinkvantage button on startup and follow the procedure?

Regards,a.

ryengineer wrote:I don't see any mention of OS in the original post.

Lenovo isn't consistent with image deployment on X300, be it Vista or XP, both can have hidden partition on factory preload.

See http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... d=621#M621

Again x300 with vista comes with DVDs and without a service partition, with xp vice versa.

Since the orginal post mentioned DVDs his x300 has Vista.

Zeitgeist wrote:See http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... d=621#M621

Yes, I've already read the link before.

You are probably not understanding my point, let me make it clear.

Thinkpad X300 went public on Feb 26th on lenovo.com, however that wasn't the day it was released publicly for all audience, imagine the number of units shipped before that date to business partners, dealers, contracted business companies and retail sector etc. etc.

Lenovo has changed the image on X300 now but early adopters have units with service partition on their SSD regardless of OS.

If you read the whole conversation on lenovo forum you would note that X300 can have service partition under Windows Vista too.

jamess wrote:snip.....Will check however if it's possible now, once the system is installed. I suppose i hit the thinkvantage button on startup and follow the procedure?.....snip

Correct, nevertheless it merely depends on the version of the image you've, either it will create service partition to allow you an option of factory restore in the first place in Predesktop area or else it won't.