Thinkpads Forum

Greetings!

I recently purchased a T420 with a fresh install of Win7 pro (new authentication number and all), successfully registered the OS, and now want to make a set of restore discs of the OS should I need to start over.

On my X200 there is a 'Q' partition on the hard drive where the rescue media is stored however I do not see such a partition on the T420 drive.

Opening Lenovo's Rescue & Recovery, under Manage Settings, there is an option labeled 'Create Rescue Media', I chose that, inserted a DVD and after a few minutes it finished and instructed me to label the disc: Rescue and Recovery Start Up Disc.

To my surprise that was the only disc it created and it isnt even half full; unlike when I created the back up discs for the X200 sometime back; it required a few DVD discs.

So I'm guessing that that is not the back up of the OS, my question then is how do I go about getting a set

If I ran into trouble would the discs for my X200 work (both systems are running Win7 Pro)

TIA

Last question first: I'm guessing that your X200 recovery set will not work too well when reinstalling it on the T420. The hardware differences may be too great. However, that said, if you have a spare disk drive it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. All you will lose is some time.

If the T420 is still under warranty, I believe you can get a recovery set without cost by calling Support and giving them the model type and serial number. If it's not under warranty then you'll be charged for them. Last time I did this I think it was around $50. Note that by giving them the type and S/N, you'll only be able to get the OS that originally shipped with the system (which usually means whatever COA is still on the system).

The other (potentially low cost) option is to put a WTB in the Marketplace detailing exactly which OS you need (32-bit, 64-bit, Home, Premium, Ultimate, etc.).

Thanks for your insight & suggestions rkawakami.

Just a note for anyone who passes by this thread and is in the same boat as me; as of yet I have not located a Lenovo set of win 7 Pro with their utilities and drivers, however I did discover that there is an official download site from which you can freely download a ISO copy of a Windows OS. I have done so to hold me over till I can get the Lenovo set.

NOTE: You will still need a legally purchased product key to use the software; this is not a hacker site; it is a legitimate partner with Microsoft providing a portal for users to download a clean legal copy of the OS for their computer.

Digital River Win 7 download site: http://www.mydigitallife.info/official- ... tal-river/


Have a Magical Day

Sounds like the previous owner installed a clean version of windows (not Lenovo) and updated it with all the Lenovo software. But that would not create the recovery partition that the Lenovo rescue and recovery software needs. Sounds like, instead, it created a "system repair disk".

sktn77a wrote:Sounds like the previous owner installed a clean version of windows (not Lenovo) and updated it with all the Lenovo software. But that would not create the recovery partition that the Lenovo rescue and recovery software needs. Sounds like, instead, it created a "system repair disk".

I thought the same; as well as they may have deleted the partition for some reason before I took possession of the unit; which would be weird, but there are strange folk out there