Major Problem with Recovery CD's

[ryengineer]

I believe I have a set lying around somewhere, I'll upload Rescue and Recovery disk (1) for thinkpad X61 on a server in a day or two.

[chuckb74]

Thanks so much

Let me know when....I will be patiently waiting.

Sincerely
cb

[ryengineer]

Pm sent.

[chuckb74]

UPDATE Spoke to Lenovo again this AM they are sending me a new set of disks.......will take the better part of the week to get here.....

They were reluctant to discuss any other issues until I try the new recovery disks, they said that since the error was during a copy process, that the new disks should solve the problem. Asked them to research the error/file name (_init_.pyc) that is causing the error...but basically they were not interested in researching it. Made them log it in my record.

I mentioned the concept of trying R&R 3.0 or 3.1 and they said it could not hurt anything and to give it a try.

So now I am having trouble create a bootable disk with R&R 3.x on it.

[chuckb74]

GOOD NEWS / Bad NEWS

I obtained an iso of an earlier version of R&R.

The Good news first.....I got the download and Burned using IMGBurn and it worked.....Success!!!! The program loaded and I went throught the prompts for full factory restore...........and

(Now for the Bad News)..............

EXACT SAME ERROR.

Same file, same folder....the whole nine yards!

Crazy.

I am waiting on my new/replacement Lenovo Disks (with dwindling faith) but I have a win xp question:

Question about using another xp cd?

I have a Win xp cb and it has already been installed on a system.

Am i wrong to assume that I can use this win xp disk and install it on my x61 then use the product key from my vista that I am replacing to get through the microsoft police.....aka the WGA download.

I am not certain how lenovo is handling this new product key with the xp recovery disks. There are no product keys on the recovery disks at all.

So in my small mind I think I am going to be using the vista product key with the recovery cd's???

[ryengineer]

Chuck, I had restored a machine successfully using the same 1st disk I sent you, also via a non lenovo external USB DVD-RW. I suspect now that your HDD could be defective. But I suggest you wait asking for it's replacement until you've tried the new set that IBM has sent you recently (in case of failure).

Product Recovery disks use Volume Licence Key (VLK) and according to Microsoft terms they don't require a physical key as long as the OEM key on the back of your machine is licensed to the same manufacturer as the provider of recovery disks. So, if you would contact Microsoft on this matter then they'll redirect you back to lenovo and lenovo will only be sending you recovery disks for Windows Vista downgrade to Windows XP [without a key (as VLK already complies the terms)].

Lastly, IBM support will not be looking in _init_.pyc, I studied Python (an object oriented language like Java) nearly a decade ago and .pyc is the extension for it's files, if someone were to look into this bug then it would've been software programmers who had coded the program. But the bigger question here is, what's causing it? the source of this problem IMO could be either:

1) a bad image or
2) a defective HDD,

causing the error to appear due to some sort of incompatibility between the hardware and the software.

But I have a firm belief that your using a non lenovo DVD-RW is not the cause.

[chuckb74]

Rye ,

Thanks for the input and the assistance.

I defer to you on all of your points here....it sounds like I am cheering for a bad image as opposed to a defective hdd.

Any ideas what would happen if I bought a new Win xp disk?

Just curious? Don't wanna spend the $$$.


But it still brings up the question..........

What did superfungus do to remedy this situation???

superfungus where are you?

Thanks all....i'll let you know as the drama unfolds.

[ryengineer]

snip....Any ideas what would happen if I bought a new Win xp disk?....snip

If you buy Windows XP retail or oem version then it would come with a COA, through which you can install and activate a clean install of Windows XP without ThinkVantage tools, drivers and utilities that you can also install from lenovo website later on. However, I suggest you hold on from buying anything until you've tried out the new set of disks and a HDD from IBM.

[chuckb74]

Update Sun Dec 23rd

Got a new set of rescovery CD's from Lenovo and tried the recovery/reinstall and I got the same error.

Cannot talk to Lenovo due to Sunday......and I may not get too until next week due to c-mas holiday.

rye mentioned hdd problems. I have done a hdd test from the bios and it shows all ok.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
cb

[ryengineer]

There is a possibility that the diagnostic test wasn't able to detect errors.

Have IBM send you a new replacement HDD if it does the same then send out your machine to IBM Support Center or take it to any local IBM authorized repair center and ask them to perform a restore.

[chuckb74]

Let me tell you what I did last night ....partly out of boredom, partly out of curiousity.

I have an already installed win xp disc (from another system). I installed it on my x 61 to see how the machine would run and it installed smooth and ran great, I never loaded any drivers just got it up running barebones.

Then I used the recovery discs to try to recover win xp.......and the same error occurred.

I thought maybe if I had xp running then I would be able to recover to it easier???

Since I was able to get xp installed does this give you any ideas about my hard drive possibly being OK?

Just Curious?

Thanks again for your time and assistance.

[ryengineer]

snip....Since I was able to get xp installed does this give you any ideas about my hard drive possibly being OK?....snip

You were also able to install Windows Vista on that HDD I believe. It is hard to tell where the problem lies. So far you've tried two sets of Product Recovery disks of Windows XP + one with v3.0 of Rescue and Recovery I sent you, give replacement HDD a shot considering it as a hope of getting Windows XP from recovery disks otherwise if you're happy with the version of Windows XP you installed then don't bother.