Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

Just got an x200s with Vista installed. I would love to do a clean install of XP.

I've noticed 2 other partitions. Lenovo describes them as ->

C: is your available file storage space.
S: holds critical start up (booting) information.
Q: contains the critical data needed for system recovery.

Okay. So if I want to do a clean install of XP on my system, are either S or Q needed if I never use Vista again?

And what would be the best/safest way to install XP on my machine?

Thanks!

If you had purchased a topseller model, it should come with the xp recovery CD. If you swear up and down that you will NEVER use Vista, just use the recovery CD and make it xp. You can always use the Recovery software to make a backup of the Vista install before you do the xp recovery.

Uisng XP recovery CDs is an option, but this won´t be a clean install of XP then.

1. I believe S, Q partitions are needed to be able to boot into R&R predesktop area and perform contents recovery to the factory state (some other recovery options are included there too). So, if you are completely sure that you will never need to use the predesktop are, you can certainly get rid off those partitions without any concerns.
2. If you still want to has the option spare to restore to the Vista image, you can create R&R recovery CDs upon the first system start or before you have installed/uninstalled anything or have done any changes to the original system. Thus you won´t need the two partitions anymore (especially if HD space is a consideration) and you will be still able to restore the Vista factory contents of the ThinkPad say in case you want to sell that laptop later. You can create these recovery CDs using Rescue&Recovery from within Vista.

Since X200(s) doesn´t come with a built-in CD/DVD driver, you will need to use an USB 2.0 CD/DVD drive in order to install XP or any other windows.

Hope this helps,

Marin