Where are the original disks? Recovery CDs?

Message

xtypestereotype · #1 Post by **xtypestereotype** » Wed May 19, 2004 12:20 pm

Has IBM dumped the practice of shipping recovery CDs with Thinkpads?

I just opened up the Windows XP wrap and it was nothing but a manual thing with no CDs whatsoever... The Thinkpad manual then mentions everything is on the HD....

Is this the case with all Thinkpads nowadays? Or have I purchased a cheaper model?

I usually format the HD to do my own thing and to remove all the pre-installed crap but I like to know that the original stuff could be put back on in case I want to...

Is there any stuff on the HD I should back up to CD or can I just give it a clean start?

dcdomain · #2 Post by **dcdomain** » Wed May 19, 2004 12:24 pm

From what I know, everything is on a hidden partition. You hit some sort of button or whatever and it wipes out everything for you and loads a fresh install.

Has anyone partitioned the drive so that doing that type of reformat will only wipe out the OS parition, keeping my data partition in tack?

csv96 · #3 Post by **csv96** » Wed May 19, 2004 12:25 pm

This is standard on all Thinkpads now. There is a hidden recovery partition on your Thinkpad to restore everything to the original factory state. Unless you use special partition software, it's pretty much protected against accidental deletion. It's accessible by pressing the blue Access IBM key during boot up. You can also call 1-800-IBM-SERV to request a set of recovery CD's (free during the first 30 days) that do exactly the same thing.

xtypestereotype · #4 Post by **xtypestereotype** » Wed May 19, 2004 12:56 pm

This hidden partition is not readable from Windows? Any way of burning it to CDs?
I checked Windows' Disk Manager and the only thing there was drive C...
This hidden thing is currently taking about 4-5GBs and I dont really want to just leave it seating there when it will be used twice a year if that much...

csv96 · #5 Post by **csv96** » Wed May 19, 2004 1:11 pm

In the bios, there's an option to unhide the recovery partition. You can then use partition software to remove the partition.

Lmax · #6 Post by **Lmax** » Wed May 19, 2004 1:48 pm

Just call the number and order the discs (they're free), they will come in a few days and they do the same thing the partition does.

Max

snoopy318 · #7 Post by **snoopy318** » Sat May 22, 2004 11:21 am

hi guys

i got my ibm T41p (2373 GEH) with everything in late feb
i was using sony Z505 and R505 before this T41p, so partition
is my favourite.

however after i got my T41p, after installating partition magic and did a
15/45GB partition, i realised it is not compatiable with ibm rapid restore.
so i either have to give up rapid restore or partition, and i gave up partition in the end.

i was told my ibm i could either format the computer, do a partition through dos or something, then after that, press the ACESS IBM, and it will do a hidden recovery image on the C: and D: will
remain as a normal NTFS data drive.

has anyone tried that before ?

coz with t41p, due to the fact that they need to keep it a slim and light weight, there is just the ultra slim bay, and there is no extra ultra bay 2000 as an additional drive

does anyone know how to make partition in dos ? it needs the start up disk right ? any other better solution/suggestion?

i got my t41p in hk in feb, so it's after 30days already, if i get the recovery cd, how much will it be, and does it affect any of our warranty terms ?

thanx in advance

#8 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat May 22, 2004 12:15 pm

A couple of things here:

1. For what you are doing, please get yourself the recovery CD's right away. I don't think they are too expensive, but I always get mine early and free. With recovery CD's you can experiment and then re-image if you need to. You will be glad you have the CD's

2. I re-imaged my 30Gb spare drive, installed Partition Magic 8, installed a separate OS, and didn't harm the PreDesktop Area in any way. But I don't use Rapid Restore, so maybe we are saying the same thing here.

3. What do you mean about the slim ultra-bay? It holds a hard drive the same as the Ultra-Bay 2000. It needs a special adapter, but it works - I have one.

... jdhurst

snoopy318 · #9 Post by **snoopy318** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:13 pm

thx so much

but after i got the recovery cd, what do i do with it ?
is it exactly the same as other brand name laptop where they come with the recovery cd as well ?

but if we alread have the hidden 5GB partition inside the HD, what is the advantage for having the recovery cd ?

dclee012 · #10 Post by **dclee012** » Sat May 22, 2004 10:27 pm

b/c maybe you'd want to delete the hidden partition and free up that space... or if you crash the entire hd or get a new hd all together. it's just good to have in general. esp since it's free w/in 30 days.

snoopy318 · #11 Post by **snoopy318** » Sun May 23, 2004 12:46 am

jdhurst wrote:A couple of things here:

1. For what you are doing, please get yourself the recovery CD's right away. I don't think they are too expensive, but I always get mine early and free. With recovery CD's you can experiment and then re-image if you need to. You will be glad you have the CD's

2. I re-imaged my 30Gb spare drive, installed Partition Magic 8, installed a separate OS, and didn't harm the PreDesktop Area in any way. But I don't use Rapid Restore, so maybe we are saying the same thing here.

3. What do you mean about the slim ultra-bay? It holds a hard drive the same as the Ultra-Bay 2000. It needs a special adapter, but it works - I have one.

... jdhurst

with my t41p 2373 GEH (with a/b/g, bluetooth, combo, fireGL 128mb graphic)

how about this jdhurst,
on my c:\ 55GB HD(which 5gb was hidden, so left with 55GB to use)
1) i will give up on rapid restore
2) i installed partition magic 8, do a partition of C:\15GB and D:\40GB
and just carry on my usual work on the laptop

say if anything unfortunate happens to the C:\ windows partition,
solutoin 1:
then i press the Acess IBM when start up and restore it to factory settings, will it ask me to choose where (c:\ or d:\) i want the image to be recovered to ?

OR will the ACCESS IBM recovery function wont work at all as it is a different partition size (not 60GB as it was supposed to be) ?

solution 2
insert the recovery cd and image back on C:\ if they let me choose to recover on C:\ or D:\

Txiasaeia · #12 Post by **Txiasaeia** » Sun May 23, 2004 1:04 am

snoopy318 wrote:thx so much

but after i got the recovery cd, what do i do with it ?
is it exactly the same as other brand name laptop where they come with the recovery cd as well ?

but if we alread have the hidden 5GB partition inside the HD, what is the advantage for having the recovery cd ?

You're entitled to it and it's free, reason enough

Also, it increases the resale value if you can actually provide the original software that came with the machine.

snoopy318 · #13 Post by **snoopy318** » Sun May 23, 2004 1:36 am

Txiasaeia wrote:
snoopy318 wrote:thx so much

but after i got the recovery cd, what do i do with it ?
is it exactly the same as other brand name laptop where they come with the recovery cd as well ?

but if we alread have the hidden 5GB partition inside the HD, what is the advantage for having the recovery cd ?
You're entitled to it and it's free, reason enough Also, it increases the resale value if you can actually provide the original software that came with the machine.

but then everyone with thinkpad now, on their hard disk, we all have the hidden partition recovery image, dont we ?

the recovery cd is more worthwhile if we change to a new hard disk ourselves, where there is no hidden partition in the new HD or if we accidentally delete the hidden partition
correct ?

#14 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun May 23, 2004 7:37 am

Snoopy318 - I think (but I don't know, because I haven't tried) that if you use the hidden partition to recover your machine, it will wipe out any partitions created by Partition Magic.

I recall having difficulty with recovery a couple of times (even without additional partitions), and IBM's suggestion was to find the fdisk command on the recovery CD, delete all partitions, delete the master boot record, and let the recovery proceed. I posted the instructions here somewhere. That for sure will delete your other partitions.

All of that is one reason why I use VMware instead

... jdhurst

snoopy318 · #15 Post by **snoopy318** » Fri May 28, 2004 8:26 am

jdhurst wrote:Snoopy318 - I think (but I don't know, because I haven't tried) that if you use the hidden partition to recover your machine, it will wipe out any partitions created by Partition Magic.

I recall having difficulty with recovery a couple of times (even without additional partitions), and IBM's suggestion was to find the fdisk command on the recovery CD, delete all partitions, delete the master boot record, and let the recovery proceed. I posted the instructions here somewhere. That for sure will delete your other partitions.

All of that is one reason why I use VMware instead

... jdhurst

hi jdhurst
i got this reply from ibm support "The recovery program defaults to C, regardless of its partition size.

Thank you for contacting IBM. "

so what u did was, u installed partition magic, make a partition, windows on C and D drive as pure data ? and when u press ACCESS IBM to do a recovery it would let u until u find FDISK in dos and delete all the partition ?

if thats the case, that means all stuff in D: (which u thought by having D drive to keep all your data, when C dies, it wont affect your D) but instead ALL the stuff in the entire single HD is gone .
is that right ?

cynic · #16 Post by **cynic** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:22 am

When you use the recovery program, all partitions are wiped and new partitions are setup (notably, a single partition.) It's as simple as that. If you think creating a separate partition using any partition software will protect that data on the base installed drive, it will not happen.

However, you could image that data partition to an external drive to protect it on a regular basis so that if you do run into problems, you could image the data partition, run the recovery program (which will wipe all partitions), re-squeeze the original system partition and setup your data partition, and then image back the data partition into that space.

snoopy318 · #17 Post by **snoopy318** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:39 am

cynic wrote:When you use the recovery program, all partitions are wiped and new partitions are setup (notably, a single partition.) It's as simple as that. If you think creating a separate partition using any partition software will protect that data on the base installed drive, it will not happen.

However, you could image that data partition to an external drive to protect it on a regular basis so that if you do run into problems, you could image the data partition, run the recovery program (which will wipe all partitions), re-squeeze the original system partition and setup your data partition, and then image back the data partition into that space.

thx so much cynic

yes coz frequent backup is annoying
i miss my old previous sony laptop where the HD is already partition, unless u r being bad luck n infected by really really nasty virus that totally blow up your HD, otherwise D:\ is hardly ever affected, according to my 3yrs of 3 sony laptop experience

cynic · #18 Post by **cynic** » Fri May 28, 2004 11:12 am

You can still do that (even delete the recovery partition once you get the recovery disks.) I wouldn't, but if it makes you more comfortable...

Easiest thing I do is use Acronis TrueImage and image my disk to an external Firewire800/USB2 drive every month. It takes about 15 minutes to backup my whole drive and I have about 10 backups that use a total of 60GB on a 200GB drive. You can even restore to different levels in an incremental lineup and leave notes with each backup. It's very easy. (Plus, you can handle partitions separately-- though I always do the entire disk) It also comes in handy if the whole drive fails or when co-workers who like my setup and get T series laptops, I can just give them my base optimized setup in a few minutes (my system is tweaked to the maximum for performance as a single user) I also use the Acronis ExploreImage function to mount the backups if a file is missing or I need to revert to old work. It mounts the backup as a virtual drive keeping all the security in place and it works as fast as anything on my normal hard drive. I have to thank Tselling for recommending Acronis (she's around here, somewhere, on thinkpads.com's forum.) I've completely rid myself of Ghost after I started to use it.

Where are the original disks? Recovery CDs?

Where are the original disks? Recovery CDs?

Who is online