Vista recovery partition

[Gerd222]

Hi,
I've got the r61i thinkpad with windows vista. it has a recovery partition instead of a recovery dvd. Now, i'd like to install xp without destroing my vista partition. I found a good instruction, but therefor I need a vista dvd.
Now my question: how can I create this dvd?
this whole partitioning puzzles me. I just made a recovery with the lenovo tool and now my C: has grown to 45(!) gb. except of a few little programs like winamp my system is completly virginal. thats not normal, isnt it?
furthermore I dont see the partition or the image anywhere. i hope for you help:)
thx so far

[Stargate199]

I know exactly what you are doing.
Any Vista DVD will work just fine because all versions of vista are contained on the same disk. Another way around this problem is install XP as normal and use Vista boot pro. This program can rewrite the Vista bootloader and add XP to the startup list. So what you will need to do is grab all the drivers from Lenovo's site and burn them to a disk. Repartition your hard drive so you can install XP (make sure all your data is backed up). Now install XP. If you have an Vista DVD handy, pop that in after installing XP and rewrite the Vista Bootloader. If not, install all the drivers for XP and then download and install Vista Boot Pro. Rewrite the bootloader and reboot. Now you should be able to dual boot. Vista Boot Pro should be able to take care of any modifications you need to make the vista's bootloader.

As for that recovery you made, what happened is the program made a backup image of your hard drive and stored it on your drive. For best results, you will want those images saved to an external hard drive. Otherwise those are useless to you if your hard drive crashes.

[Gerd222]

thx thx thx, finally an answer that fits to my question:)
I'll go and try