how to get recovery CD without charge?

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epigram · #1 Post by **epigram** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:06 pm

my T41 is under warranty (just into 3rd year) but when i asked for the recovery CD, ibm support in singapore told me i had to pay for them!

#2 Post by **jdhurst** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:42 pm

epigram wrote:my T41 is under warranty (just into 3rd year) but when i asked for the recovery CD, ibm support in singapore told me i had to pay for them!

True. First changed under IBM, then maintained and made more rigorous by Lenovo. Get out your chequebook

... JD Hurst

chan_man · #3 Post by **chan_man** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 2:57 pm

I had heard that the recovery disks can still be free if requested within 30 days of purchase. The only other way (I found this out last week) was that if the hdd crashes, they will send a new hdd along with the recovery disks. At least this was what I was told when I requested a replacement hdd for one that had just died.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:12 pm

It probably depends on the service person you talk to. While there are guidelines to follow they seem to be able to authorize things when needed.

agarza · #5 Post by **agarza** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:53 pm

This worked for me:
- Say that you need the recovery CD's because your Thinkpad crashed: explain to the guy on the phone that you've made a set of recovery CD's using Rescue & Recovery, then you installed Linux but after install you was not able to enter Windows nor Linux.

- Next, say you tried the recovery CD's you made, but they didn't work.

Then ask the guy if the CD's would cost you $$, I did that and the guy told me that NO, they're free of charge.

If the guy refuses, then ask for the supervisor, since it's not your fault, the recovery CD's you made failed.

Good luck

epigram · #6 Post by **epigram** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:21 pm

thanks for the tip.

tried that but got caught out when they realised that my T41 was an older generation that did not allow the making of recovery discs.

oh man, i think i'm blacklisted for life!

smugiri · #7 Post by **smugiri** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:47 pm

Read this thread then drop me a PM.

agarza · #8 Post by **agarza** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:45 pm

Ahh what a shame. But you could have lied and tell them that you installed Rescue & Recovery and then created the CD's right

taz42zero · #9 Post by **taz42zero** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:12 pm

the recovery cd's are on the extra partition so we can burn from there? i thought that was only there to restore from booting up. are the ibm programs on there too? such as the active hard drive protection? how do i burn the recovery from the partition to cd? i bought my t41 used and it didn't have the cd's with it and don't really want to pay ibm $45 for them...

agarza · #10 Post by **agarza** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:52 am

No, to my knowledge you can't use the data on the recovery partition, you can burn it to a DVD thought, but I don't think in the first place it will boot. I suggest you to try again with Lenovo Tech support. They should send you the CD's free of charge.

taz42zero · #11 Post by **taz42zero** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:12 pm

benottomex wrote:No, to my knowledge you can't use the data on the recovery partition, you can burn it to a DVD thought, but I don't think in the first place it will boot. I suggest you to try again with Lenovo Tech support. They should send you the CD's free of charge.

yeah, i'll try again with them. i can't remember if i told them i am a new owner of the system. i'll try again. it'd be nice to be able to recover the os if my drive crashes completely.

i was able to find all the ibm programs (access ibm, hard drive protection, battery maximiser, record now, etc...) though in the c drive, i think it was c:\program files\ibm tools.

and if anyone cares, those programs are vista compatible too (at least the ones i used). i had bought another hard drive and put vista rc1 on it, and put some of the ibm programs on it with no incompatibilities thus far....

ZoneMan · #12 Post by **ZoneMan** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:38 pm

You can get a set of the recovery cds for free just by telling a rep that your service partition is corrupt.
Tell them you tried to run the recovery from the service partition and the service partition starts up then hangs.

Techs are advised to ask you if you have re-imaged the machine, if you say yes...No recovery cds for you. If you say you just want a set...No recovery cds for you.

The only way the support center (In Atlanta GA by the way) will give you a set is if you have a defective Hard drive or if your service partition is corrupt.

And yes the newer machines have the ability to burn a set of cds under the start menu and also in the recovery partition.

Does not matter that you called already, when you call back you will get a different tech, a lot of the times they will not look at the previous history.

Goodluck

Zone

jhonyl · #13 Post by **jhonyl** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:15 pm

Don't bother with these recovery CDs. Make a clean install. It is much better. Much. There is a long thread here that explain how you can make a clean installation CD from your I386 directory. Do that. I did it. It is much better. Much.

NS · #14 Post by NS » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:26 am

@epigram,

Look for support rep: Mr Lim Po San. He is very friendly and he will be able to help out. His service is very good. I recommend his service to you.

*I had a HDD failure that day and he teach me how to go about changing and also teach me a lot on how to repair & maintain my thinkpad even though i already know how to repair my thinkpad because of you guys teaching me how to.*

monsieurlee · #15 Post by **monsieurlee** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:29 am

i called at 3AM PST here in California one Saturday night. i had an warranty Q and I ended up chatting with the guy on the phone for a bit. later i asked him for the disks and he said he'll send them out to me. he said he is supposed to charge them but he'll send them to me for free.

epigram · #16 Post by **epigram** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:05 am

thanks all for the tips.

got help from smugiri.

how to get recovery CD without charge?

how to get recovery CD without charge?

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