Newbie Idiot Questions

[safelder]

1) I hit the blue "Access IBM" button to get at rescue and recovery tools. When I clicked on the link therein, I got an error to the effect that the application was not found. What's going on here? Software Installer tells me that there are no new packages available for download or install.

2) Has anybody replaced the IBM DLA and CD burning software with Roxio Easy Media Creator? If so, with what results?

3) I ran a backup of my hard drive to CD/DVD. I assume that the first one must be a full backup, but that it will furnish me options in the future to make base, incremental, or differential backups?

4) Seeing as how the backup was painfully slow on the behind-the-times DVD+R drive in my machine (T43 2687-DSU), will R&R permit me to write to a USB 2.0 HDD for future backups? (For further background, I use Acronis on my desktop, but my desktop has two HDDs. The whole point of a disk image is to put it on a different drive, which I can't do on the Thinkpad w/o an external HDD or DVDs...and I'd be using a lot of DVDs. If I get a USB 2.0 HDD, I would likely use it to maintain backups from both machines.)

5) Does R&R create true disk images or just backups?

[s0larian]

1) I hit the blue "Access IBM" button to get at rescue and recovery tools. When I clicked on the link therein, I got an error to the effect that the application was not found. What's going on here? Software Installer tells me that there are no new packages available for download or install.

When do you hit the Access IBM Button? During bios screen at boot or when XP is running? If you want access to the R&R environment, you might search the IBM Site for a R&R MBR repair tool (did you install MBR changing software like Linux, Bootmanager or so?).

2) Has anybody replaced the IBM DLA and CD burning software with Roxio Easy Media Creator? If so, with what results?

IBM DLA is crap, uninstall it. I use Nero for years, no problem so far.

3) I ran a backup of my hard drive to CD/DVD. I assume that the first one must be a full backup, but that it will furnish me options in the future to make base, incremental, or differential backups?

First "Basis" Backup is full, after that all backups are incremental until you delete all backups again.

4) Seeing as how the backup was painfully slow on the behind-the-times DVD+R drive in my machine (T43 2687-DSU), will R&R permit me to write to a USB 2.0 HDD for future backups? (For further background, I use Acronis on my desktop, but my desktop has two HDDs. The whole point of a disk image is to put it on a different drive, which I can't do on the Thinkpad w/o an external HDD or DVDs...and I'd be using a lot of DVDs. If I get a USB 2.0 HDD, I would likely use it to maintain backups from both machines.)

Yes, you can use external USB Drives. You can even make it bootable.

5) Does R&R create true disk images or just backups?

Compressed backups, even encryted if you want. But R&R is NOT an imaging tool, it is file based. Thats the reason why it is slower than Acronis. But file based R&R has also its advantages.

[safelder]

When do you hit the Access IBM Button? During bios screen at boot or when XP is running? If you want access to the R&R environment, you might search the IBM Site for a R&R MBR repair tool (did you install MBR changing software like Linux, Bootmanager or so?).

In XP. I get the nice splash screen with all the "cool" things my Thinkpad lets me do. And, when I try to use it to link (presumably it's a hyperlink to an .exe someplace), I get shot down. I have to start R&R the old fashioned way (Start>Programs>etc....how quaint!). I THINK it may be related to the switch from "Access IBM" to "ThinkVantage"--it's looking for an older version of R&R, but I've installed the newest. 'll try accessing R&R through the "ThinkVantage Technologies" shortcut (if I can find it).

First "Basis" Backup is full, after that all backups are incremental until you delete all backups again.

If I'm backing up to DVD+R, does anything still live on my HDD for R&R to recognize that I have a basis backup?

Yes, you can use external USB Drives. You can even make it bootable.

Compressed backups, even encryted if you want. But R&R is NOT an imaging tool, it is file based. Thats the reason why it is slower than Acronis. But file based R&R has also its advantages.

Thanks. I think I'll invest in an external HDD (or build my own USB 2.0 box), rather than an external burner, and partition it for laptop and desktop backups and images. Maybe put Acronis on the Thinkpad instead, since I don't expect any major changes to my desktop system drive anymore (it's hanging around for games, photo editing, and video editing--I can back up individual resultant files, I don't need to backup the program files).

[SteveDC]

Safelder, I, for one, use the Roxio Easy Media Creator, version 7.5 with a T40. I have used previous Creator versions back to version 4 or 5 or so with a T20. They all work well and it works well today, though I am now only using a small bit of the functionality (mostly formatting and recording CD-ROMs in a more user-friendly manner than using DLA).

I do not know about the Nero product mentioned above. Creator works, as I said, but it seems overkill for just recording CD-ROMs. Plus I hate Roxio's annoying spam for the product.

I never "removed" DLA throughout all this, I just have not used it. From the comments above, I guess I should remove it.

[GomJabbar]

When do you hit the Access IBM Button? During bios screen at boot or when XP is running?

In XP. I get the nice splash screen with all the "cool" things my Thinkpad lets me do. And, when I try to use it to link (presumably it's a hyperlink to an .exe someplace), I get shot down.

My guess is that you need to install or uninstall and reinstall Access IBM online User's Guide for Windows 2000/XP - ThinkPad T43 (2668, 2669, 2678, 2679, 2686, 2687), T43p.

[safelder]

Thanks. I found that Software Installer wasn't locating an update for Access IBM Online User's Guide. Once I did that update manually, everything works fine (of course, now I wonder what else Software Installer may have missed!).

I removed the pre-installed DLA, RecordNow, and DVD creator software, and replaced it with a relatively bare-bones installation of Roxio. Everything seems to work just fine, and I have more functionality with CD-RWs originally made on my desktop.

And I went ahead and put Acronis on the Thinkpad. All I need to do now is get an external HDD. When I burned the backup to DVD, R&R doesn't know a backup was made, and therefore everything is a time sucking base backup.