Back to factory state with NO product CD's

[jhui]

If I want to recover the "C: drive" to its original factory conditions I know I can achieve this in the following ways:
1) create a set of rescue and recovery cd: Which will consist of one start up cd and a couple of product CD.
2) boot the machine from start up CD and select restore to factory conditions, etc.
3) select do not restore any files because I have already back them up onto my own usb drive and I can restore what I want later.
4) the system will prompt me to load each of the 5 or 6 product CD and so on.

I know also it is a good idea to keep a copy of the product CD's, in case the hard disk fails totally. However, why would I need these CD's if I have good reasons to believe the hidden partition (or the recovery disk partition) of this R51 notebook is still in good order?

Is there a simpler way to recover to factory condition without using any CD at all? I ask because I am thinking the system should be able to restall all the "product data" from the hidden partition. Why would I need the product CD's? Can I start Rescue and Recovery without the Startup disk? These are all mysteries to me although I work in computers for years. Can someone clarify this for me?

thanks.

[ryengineer]

Have you ever thought about upgrading your HDD?

Yes, you can go back to factory state via Access IBM / ThinkVantage button anytime as long as the hidden partition is intact however no system can be perfect, what if the partition becomes unhealthy tomorrow or what if the HDD dies?

[jhui]

Yes, you can go back to factory state via Access IBM / ThinkVantage button anytime as long as the hidden partition is intact"

Thanks for reply. Maybe I still haven't explained enough in the last post.

I have tried pressing the Access IBM button as you wrote but I could never find the way to launch Rescue and Recovery.

case 1: while in winxp working environment, I press that button, it brings up a menu. I press "Welcome". It brings up ThinkVantage Technologies window. I select the rescue and recovery tab. Then I try to select "Launch rescue and recovery" but the system does not do anything (nothing happen). I tried "learn more" it does not give me any useful information.

case 2: I tried in pre-boot environment and press that button, I can't work out the way to launch 'rescue and recovery' neither

Only if I insert the R&R startup cd before rebooting the laptop, the system launch R&R automatically and allows me to revert the laptop to factory state, but it requires me to insert product cd one by one which I think is rediculous. What is the use of the recovery partition if case 1 and case 2 can't work with the data in the recovery partition?

[ryengineer]

Thanks for giving me a wake up call, it seems as if your boot sector is corrupt.

Give the following solution a try:

How to reenable the F11 function (Product Recovery Program). (It works, I've personally tried it)

Or if you've a floppy drive then install the following instead:

Rescue and Recovery - Recovery repair diskette.

Sometimes upgrading Rescue and Recovery in Windows also fixes this problem, I would also suggest you try F11 key (during boot) instead of Access IBM to see if that make any difference.