Anyone Having Trouble with Rescue and Recovery 4 with WinXP?

[eecon]

Both R&R 4.1 (with the patch) and R&R 4.2 are giving me trouble in WinXP. Already uninstalled 4.1 through Control Panel and installed 4.2 through system update to see if that would help. I'm using Zone Alarm Security Suite rather than Norton.

Still usually hangs at either the start or end of a base or incremental backup ..... just sits there saying it's backing up while the status bar shows either 0% or 100%.

I let things wait overnight before trying to cancel but it's still hung up in the morning. I have to force it to close through Task Manager.

On reboot, R&R will no longer open so I have to uninstall it and start over with a fresh reinstall. I'm getting tired of this and ready to try the Acronis True Image 11 that I downloaded.

But before doing that, I wonder if there is any required WinXP service that I may have inadvertantly disabled or if it's the Zone Alarm that's causing R&R's troubles?

Is there any downside to not having R&R installed? (fortunately, I already have factory recovery disks) .... Thanks

[mattbiernat]

i never got any trouble from RR because I used the older version 3.0 or something. "don't fix...(update).... something that ain't broke." however despite my RR working fine i don't have it installed. for now i simply have 2 recovery DVDs which i can pop in at any time to restore my system within 20 minutes.

[eecon]

i never got any trouble from RR because I used the older version 3.0 or something. "don't fix...(update).... something that ain't broke." however despite my RR working fine i don't have it installed. for now i simply have 2 recovery DVDs which i can pop in at any time to restore my system within 20 minutes.

Thanks .... I too never have any trouble from RR v3 on my older T42. I think RR v4 is buggy.

[alacrityathome]

Move to Acronis. Smooth 10 minute back-up or recovery.

[mattbiernat]

Move to Acronis. Smooth 10 minute back-up or recovery.

7 minute recovery with RR. can't beat that! all you have to do is make an image onto the hard drive, which unlike acronis will not be accessible by viruses.

[eecon]

Move to Acronis. Smooth 10 minute back-up or recovery.

7 minute recovery with RR. can't beat that! all you have to do is make an image onto the hard drive, which unlike acronis will not be accessible by viruses.

1. An image with RR4 to my T61's HD?

2. Or, an image with RR4 to an external USB HD (which would be my first preference)?

3. Or, to DVDs (my 2nd preference)?

4, Or, it does not matter which location?

Thanks

[eecon]

As an afterthought, I wonder if my troubles with RR version 4.1 and 4.2 are because I'm trying to use them while docked (Lenovo advanced minidock) ??

[alacrityathome]

Other advantages of Acronis:

...hard drive or MBR is messed up....image is separate.

...you can do Acronis on your hard drive if you wish and F11 recovers the recent image

...you can do Acronis on DVDs, etc

But, the first advantage for all the putzing and fooling around with vmware or dual booting....gives you a separate backup

But, just a personal preference I suppose.

[ryengineer]

If you've Outlook installed then check the following post from Roadster:

Please Help: Continuing Problems with Rescue and Recovery.

[mattbiernat]

1. An image with RR4 to my T61's HD?

that would be the most convenient solution.

[eecon]

If you've Outlook installed then check the following post from Roadster:

Please Help: Continuing Problems with Rescue and Recovery.

Thanks for taking the time to mention this Outlook .pst file size issue, however all my Outlook 2003 .pst file sizes have always been under 500mb so I don't think that is the problem.

My RR 4.2 has been uninstalled and reinstalled several times now (including a complete removal of CSS 8.1 which I don't need). My security chip is disabled in my BIOS, which also is the latest 12/27/2007 release per System Update.

All that happens when I try a base backup after a fresh install (or a repair install) to either my laptop's C: drive or to a DVD is that the RR backup status window opens and sits there showing zero status with no HD activity for a couple of hours. When I try to cancel nothing happens. When I try to close the RR program via WinXP task Manager, it says it is stalled waiting on a response from me. I can't figure out what that response is so I then force it to close via Task Manager and reboot.

After the reboot, RR will then not open at all. After another repair or complete reinstall of RR 4.2 and then another reboot, it will open and immediately go to the the backup status window on it's own, as if it is trying to continue with the previously cancelled back up.

I feel like a puppy dog chasing my tail and getting dizzy.

My T42 with RR 3 has never had any of these problems and it even used to have Norton AV installed at one time (that I later replaced with Zone Alarm).

I've tried all variations with my T61 and RR 4.1 and 4.2 ..... docked, undocked, with CSS, without CSS, Zone Alarm active, Zone Alarm shutdown ..... holy mack ..... I think I may have corrupted my registry or something. I've never had any Norton products on my T61 .... maybe it needs Norton or something to let RR work?

Right now I'm sitting here with RR and CSS unistalled and frustrated ..... time for a brewsky break.

I'm ready to try the Evaluation version of Acronis 11 in the morning.

[alacrityathome]

Thought I should at leasts try RR4....so I could compare with Acronis.

Took 38 minutes to make a hard drive image. Also the process stopped and I had to shut down Norton 360 which I don't have to do with Acronis.

Then, after it finished, I restarted and pressed the Thinkvantage button and found out that when you remove the hidden partition, you can not access the stored image.....which I would want to do if I lost the o/s capability. Acronis would handle this. And, i assume RR4 could handle it if you stored the new image on external media and used a recovery boot disc.

Acronis took 11 minutes to make the hard drive image without the other challenges. And, it replaces the hard drive image in 12 minutes.

Anyway.....I guess each to his own....but I support Acronis.

[eecon]

Thought I should at leasts try RR4....so I could compare with Acronis.

Took 38 minutes to make a hard drive image. Also the process stopped and I had to shut down Norton 360 which I don't have to do with Acronis.

Then, after it finished, I restarted and pressed the Thinkvantage button and found out that when you remove the hidden partition, you can not access the stored image.....which I would want to do if I lost the o/s capability. Acronis would handle this. And, i assume RR4 could handle it if you stored the new image on external media and used a recovery boot disc.

Acronis took 11 minutes to make the hard drive image without the other challenges. And, it replaces the hard drive image in 12 minutes.

Anyway.....I guess each to his own....but I support Acronis.

Thanks for the info .... I found out why RR4.2 won't work on my T61:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/th ... 1511en.txt

Quote from the installation readme file link just above reads:
________________________________________

Software versions to use with this release
==========================================
Software needed to operate the Rescue and Recovery program include
the following:

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher)
- Microsoft Windows XP or 2000
- Norton AntiVirus 2004: If you have a computer with Norton
AntiVirus 2002 or 2003, you are eligible for a free upgrade to Norton
AntiVirus 2004
________________________________

I'll be dog-gone ..... Lenovo and Symantec may be merging .... time to buy those call options and leaps!

I don't have Norton on the T61 so I guess I'm out of luck and will have to use another backup solution ... maybe I'll try Arconis after all.

[CYoung234]

This is my first post to this forum. I have been using Thinkpads since a T21 I had corporately some 8 years ago. They are generally wonderful machines. I am currently using a new T61 7664-1KU with 3GB of ram. I was having some problems with it locking up, so I decided to recover the HD. I was surprised when F11 would not give me a choice to recover the factory contents, even though the SERVICE001 partition is there and should be intact.

I had made a set of Recovery Discs - 1 CD and 1 DVD, seemed a bit small? So, I tried to boot off the Startup Disc, and that would not work either. I happened to have an old startup disc for RNR 3.1 from a Lenovo 3000 that I am in the process of selling, and I was able to recover the machine from that, using the Disc 1 I had originally created for the T61 when I first got it.

I also contacted Lenovo Technical Support, who offered to sell me a set of Recovery CDs for the usual $45 + shipping. They said they can only give them out for free if my HD fails - not much comfort there.

After reinstalling, I am making another set of recovery discs to see if they will work. My F11 startup does give me the option to restore to factory, so all appears to be okay. I will also do a backup once I have everything configured the way I want it. I have never really had any problems with RNR before, it has always worked well.

I currently deploy off-lease T42s in my company to be used by people who travel (we are an MEP consulting firm, with no IT support, so I do quite a bit of desktop support in between my own MEP design work). On those systems, RNR appears to be pretty bulletproof, and I have the recovery CDs anyhow.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I am trying to decide whether I should stick with RNR or start using Acronis, and whether I should push Lenovo harder to supply the recovery media.

[eecon]

I currently deploy off-lease T42s in my company to be used by people who travel (we are an MEP consulting firm, with no IT support, so I do quite a bit of desktop support in between my own MEP design work). On those systems, RNR appears to be pretty bulletproof, and I have the recovery CDs anyhow.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I am trying to decide whether I should stick with RNR or start using Acronis, and whether I should push Lenovo harder to supply the recovery media.

First, welcome to the Forum and please let us know how the RR goes on your T61 (also the version of RR used). My experience is the same .... RR is bullet-proof on my T42 but unreliable on my T61.

BTW, how did you test the last set of recovery disks you created with the F11 key (can you share with us a brief description)?

I just tried one last base backup with RR v4.2 on my T61 .... scheduled it for start at 10:00 pm last evening and it started and opened the status bar window. It was still at 0% this morning and would not cancel when I pressed the cancel button (all consistent with the symtoms I described within my first post at the top of this thread).

I'm uninstalling RR for good right now, and then after breakfast, I'm deploying the Eval version of Acronis 11.

I've concluded that once RR4 fails on a WinXP T61, and it is prematurely terminated, you will never get it to work again short of a complete reinstall of entire Operating System.

Although I could spend more time on this with Lenovo Customer Support (and I have next-day On-Site Warranty), I will never again feel secure with RR for my T61, even if Lenovo Support somehow gets it to work again.

RR on my T42 however is a different and happier story.

[CYoung234]

First, welcome to the Forum and please let us know how the RR goes on your T61 (also the version of RR used). My experience is the same .... RR is bullet-proof on my T42 but unreliable on my T61.

BTW, how did you test the last set of recovery disks you created with the F11 key (can you share with us a brief description)?

I tested the recovery disks by trying to boot from them. The v4.? RNR startup disk would not boot, but a 3.x one from my Lenovo 3000 did. Once it asked me for media I used the Disc 1 from the original T61 Recovery Media, and it worked.

BTW, I re-made the Recovery Discs now that I got the HD restored, and it is working fine. I am doing a base backup of the configured HD right now, so it appears all is well.

[eecon]

I tested the recovery disks by trying to boot from them. The v4.? RNR startup disk would not boot, but a 3.x one from my Lenovo 3000 did. Once it asked me for media I used the Disc 1 from the original T61 Recovery Media, and it worked.

BTW, I re-made the Recovery Discs now that I got the HD restored, and it is working fine. I am doing a base backup of the configured HD right now, so it appears all is well.

Thanks for the info .... Glad to hear RR4 is working for you

Is it v4.2 from the latest System Update?

I tested my RR v4.2 boot disk that I burned onto a DVD and it boots okay (just like hitting F11 or the T61's Blue Key). They say that first disk should be a CD rather than a DVD, but I made one of each a CD and DVD and they both boot the same. As for the Recovery Product Disks to restore to factory state, I used a DVD and everything fit onto it. I've never tried it out, though .... not sure how far you can take a test without accidentally wiping out the system and restoring back to factory state.

I also discovered that each time you uninstall and then reinstall RR, you get back the option to make a another set of Product Recovery Disks. Nice to know in case you lose them or Lenovo does not want to send you replacements. I think as long as you have not messed with the hidden service partition that came from the factory, every new set of new Product Recovery Disks burned will be clones of the Disks that the Factory would send you if you paid $45 or had them set for free if you called in with trouble making them initially. I had trouble initially and they sent factory disks (about 6 or 7 CDs) for free, but it's more convenient to carry around only 2 emergency disks if you make your own using DVDs.

However, it sure would be nice to be able to use RR v4.2 to make and carry arround a backup of my "current state" WinXP system ..... I would only need about 3 DL DVD's plus the rescue boot disk. Darn-it
______________________________________________

Sat Jan 26 12:18:17 2008 RescueRecovery: Running: hh.exe rnr.chm
Sat Jan 26 12:19:44 2008 RescueRecovery: Loc=2 NoPrimary=1
Sat Jan 26 12:19:44 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sat Jan 26 12:19:44 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sat Jan 26 13:19:11 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sat Jan 26 13:19:11 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sat Jan 26 13:19:12 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sat Jan 26 13:19:12 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to display message '300', waiting...
Sat Jan 26 13:19:29 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sat Jan 26 13:19:29 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to display message '300', waiting...
Sat Jan 26 22:20:24 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sat Jan 26 22:21:29 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sat Jan 26 22:21:29 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sat Jan 26 22:21:29 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sat Jan 26 22:21:30 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sat Jan 26 22:34:14 2008 RescueRecovery: Loc=2 NoPrimary=1
Sat Jan 26 22:34:14 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sat Jan 26 22:34:14 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 03:43:28 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:37 2008 RescueRecovery: Running: C:\Program Files\Lenovo\Rescue and Recovery\rejuvenate_gui.exe
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: Loc=1 NoPrimary=1
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 10:02:32 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 10:02:32 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter

[alacrityathome]

eecon,

Glad it worked out for you.

With Acronis, you can place a hidden recovery partition on your hard drive which can be triggered at boot with F11 to re-image the hard drive with a recent XP hard drive image. But, you can not have both the original RnR of the Thinkpad and the Acronis. You have to choose one. I prefer a recent image and a 12 minute re-imaging. That's the other advantage....the speed of re-imaging as opposed to the RnR of the original system.

Acornis True Image Home 11.

Alacrity

[eecon]

eecon,

Glad it worked out for you.

With Acronis, you can place a hidden recovery partition on your hard drive which can be triggered at boot with F11 to re-image the hard drive with a recent XP hard drive image. But, you can not have both the original RnR of the Thinkpad and the Acronis. You have to choose one. I prefer a recent image and a 12 minute re-imaging. That's the other advantage....the speed of re-imaging as opposed to the RnR of the original system.

Acornis True Image Home 11.

Alacrity

No, unfortunately, it has not worked out for me.

I only was able to make a set of recovery disks for use in restoring to original "factory state".

RR v4.2 still chokes every time I try it after an uninstall and reinstall. It seems to be hanging up waiting for a "user" to provide some kind of input as soon as it is started. I've tried it logged on as Administrator and myself on this stand-alone WinXP T61.

I'm uninstalling RR right now for the last time and installing Acronis 11 because I need to get my system backed up!

For everyone's info, here is last part of my RR.log file showing the last few attempts to run RR v4.2 .... It's really sad that we can't get a 100% rating on this poll regarding a working Lenovo WinXP backup solution
______________________________________

Sun Jan 27 03:43:28 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:00 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 03:47:37 2008 RescueRecovery: Running: C:\Program Files\Lenovo\Rescue and Recovery\rejuvenate_gui.exe
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: Loc=1 NoPrimary=1
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 03:50:00 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 10:02:32 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 10:02:32 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 12:54:49 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 14:35:00 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 14:35:00 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 14:56:04 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 14:56:04 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 14:56:04 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 14:56:04 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 14:56:21 2008 RescueRecovery: Loc=1 NoPrimary=0
Sun Jan 27 14:56:21 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 14:56:21 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 15:04:40 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:04:40 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:04:40 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:04:40 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:05:50 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:05:50 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:05:50 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:05:50 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:08:19 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 15:08:19 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 15:10:11 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:10:11 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:10:11 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:10:11 2008 RescueRecovery: IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY: Error 21 winGetDriveData
Sun Jan 27 15:11:57 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 15:11:57 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to run command 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lenovo\msgbox.exe', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 15:16:02 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 15:16:02 2008 RescueRecovery: Unable to send ENCRYPT_OFF IOCTL: Error 1 SetFilter
Sun Jan 27 15:16:02 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 15:16:02 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to display message '300', waiting...
Sun Jan 27 15:16:19 2008 RescueRecovery: getProxyPipeName-WTSQuerySessionInformation(user) failed. Error 1702
Sun Jan 27 15:16:19 2008 RescueRecovery: No user found to display message '300', waiting...

[CYoung234]

Thanks for the info .... Glad to hear RR4 is working for you

Is it v4.2 from the latest System Update?

Sure would be nice though to be able to use RR v4.2 to make and carry arround a backup of my current system using only 3 DL DVD's plus the rescue boot disk. Darn-it!

I will have to check to see what version of RNR is actually on there - I think it is 4.2, but I am not entirely sure. Actually, it looks like my current system will take up 1CD and 3DVDs, so, not too bad.

[eecon]

I will have to check to see what version of RNR is actually on there - I think it is 4.2, but I am not entirely sure. Actually, it looks like my current system will take up 1CD and 3DVDs, so, not too bad.

BTW, is anyone out there successfully running RR without having any CSS installed?

Or, is Client Security Solution also a requirement .... I did not see that in the list of requirements for RR v4.2.

BTW, I just fired up my older (but trustworthy) IBM T42 and it's using RR 3.1 without problems and I'm not going to even think about upgrading it to RR v4.2.

I wonder if there is a place I can find RR v3.1 for free to try as one last chance for my T61? I wonder if the RR v3.1 download files are hidden somewhere on my T42 (also running WinXP)?

[ashleys]

Software versions to use with this release
==========================================
Software needed to operate the Rescue and Recovery program include
the following:

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher)
- Microsoft Windows XP or 2000
- Norton AntiVirus 2004: If you have a computer with Norton
AntiVirus 2002 or 2003, you are eligible for a free upgrade to Norton
AntiVirus 2004
________________________________

The above information from the readme is not strictly accurate.
Thankfully I don't have Norton AV and I'm using RnR 4.2 successfully. In fact. I've been using RnR for years without any problems at all. I think what that comment in the readme means is IF you've got Norton AV you need to be at that version.

BTW, is anyone out there successfully running RR without having any CSS installed?

Yes, that'll be me again. Running RnR 4.2 on a T30 without CSS.
I take weekly full and incremental backups to an external USB drive.
I've tested booting from the pre-desktop area (F11) and the external UCB drive and a recovery media CD. All without any problems.

[eecon]

Well folks, I finally gave up on getting RR v4.2 to work on my T61 with WinXP.

I unistalled RR (also CSS) and gave Acronis True Image 11 Home a try (the free 15 day Evaluation version).

What a joy to use.

I made one full backup to my external non-bootable (logical drive only) USB HD with normal compression (it reduced the data size to about 65% of the original size) and a bootable recovery disk to use for emergency restoring from the non-booting external HD. With RR, as I recall, you can not save to an external HD that does not have a primary partition , so this is a nice bonus for me because I want all my external HDs to be non-bootable logical drives.

I also burned a two DVD disk full backup set of my T61's C Drive and used the very cool option to also make Disk 1 bootable. Now I only need to travel with the two DVD-DL disks plus a third disk for the latest incremental/differential backup.

I also burned a backup copy of the hidden Lenovo factory service partition on a separate very cool bootable DVD-SL disk. Plus I also have a set of factory Recovery disks sent directly from Lenovo.

Having all that, I wonder if I can now safely delete the original factory service partition on the T61 HD to free up more space and replace it with an Acronis Secure Zone partition which (by coincidence) is also accessible via F11 during booting into WinXP (for storing another full backup set with incrementals and/or differentials right on the T61's HD)? This would offer me the ability to restore even if my optical drive fails while traveling (as long as the HD has not failed). At home I could use an external USB optical drive to rescue boot if the T61's optical drive fails.

So, is there any reason to keep the original Lenovo factory service partition if you don't use CSS or RR and you have a set of factory rescue disks plus a backup of that service partition with Acronis?

Am I missing something here?

Anyway, thanks again to all those here who helped me relieve my frustations and fears of operating without any backups over the last few months on this T61

[ashleys]

So, is there any reason to keep the original Lenovo factory service partition if you don't use CSS or RR and you have a set of factory rescue disks plus a backup of that service partition with Acronis?

One of the first things I did with my T30 was to remove the service partition and I still use RnR, so no, there's no reason.

If you need to do a full system restore you need your current system restored, not a factory image from some years ago.
The only use I can see for it is if you were to sell the machine again and wished to supply it as it was originally.

[eecon]

So, is there any reason to keep the original Lenovo factory service partition if you don't use CSS or RR and you have a set of factory rescue disks plus a backup of that service partition with Acronis?

One of the first things I did with my T30 was to remove the service partition and I still use RnR, so no, there's no reason.

If you need to do a full system restore you need your current system restored, not a factory image from some years ago.
The only use I can see for it is if you were to sell the machine again and wished to supply it as it was originally.

Since I have the factory restore disks, I could use them to restore to factory state if I ever sell it. That would re-install the service partition .... Right?

[CYoung234]

The factory recovery CD set will install the maintenance partition along with the C: drive just as it came from the factory. Great for if you ever sell the system. Check for a PM on this topic as well.

[pae77]

For my primary backup solution, I prefer to simply clone my entire hard drive to an identical laptop drive which totally avoids the necessity of "restoring" anything and the risks of potential problems entailed with that. See the Acronis forum for many examples of such problems and many posts here regarding R&R issues doesn't instill much faith in that either.

I do like and use Acronis to do the cloning to an identical laptop drive in the ultrabay slim hard drive adapter. A bit level clone is not the same as a compressed backup image and does not need to be "restored." The cloning process usually takes less than an hour. Then if/when something happens that can't be fixed with system restore, all I have to do is physically swap my cloned drive into the primary drive bay, a procedure which takes about 5 minutes and a small screw driver and I am back up. I travel with the ultrabay hard drive adapter and the backup cloned hard drive which are not hard to carry and this little package has saved my butt on a few occasions.

I do also make regular Acronis compressed back up images on an external USB drive as a secondary backup solution which I leave at home when I travel, but my primary go to solution when I need to recover my entire system is the cloned drive. For me it seems the simplest and most reliable solution.

[eecon]

For my primary backup solution, I prefer to simply clone my entire hard drive to an identical laptop drive which totally avoids the necessity of "restoring" anything and the risks of potential problems entailed with that. See the Acronis forum for many examples of such problems and many posts here regarding R&R issues doesn't instill much faith in that either.

I do like and use Acronis to do the cloning to an identical laptop drive in the ultrabay slim hard drive adapter. A bit level clone is not the same as a compressed backup image and does not need to be "restored." The cloning process usually takes less than an hour. Then if/when something happens that can't be fixed with system restore, all I have to do is physically swap my cloned drive into the primary drive bay, a procedure which takes about 5 minutes and a small screw driver and I am back up. I travel with the ultrabay hard drive adapter and the backup cloned hard drive which are not hard to carry and this little package has saved my butt on a few occasions.

I do also make regular Acronis compressed back up images on an external USB drive as a secondary backup solution which I leave at home when I travel, but my primary go to solution when I need to recover my entire system is the cloned drive. For me it seems the simplest and most reliable solution.

This sounds like great advice when traveling ... thanks.

I was already thinking of buying a larger 7200 RPM SATA HD to replace my exisiting factory 100GB 7200 RPM SATA HD. As a first step, I purchased last week an empty external 2.5" USB SATA HD enclosue (still sitting new in the box, plus it also came with a nice travel pouch).

I have the Eval version of Acronis True Image 11 Home working nicely and will purchase a retail boxed version of it this afternoon. Although I have uninstalled RR v4.2 from WinXP, I've decided not to delete the original Lenovo factory service partition because I don't plan to store Acronis backups on my T61's HD. My Acronis backups are made to an external 3.5" USB HD sitting on my desk, plus I make backups onto DVD-DL disks.

I'll continue researching larger HDs for my T61 (like maybe a 200GB 7200RM 2.5" SATA unit). My existing 100GB unit would then be used as the external clone. I'll probably never utilizize more than about about 50 or 60GB of space on my T61, so having a smaller clone should not be a problem for me. I only have the C: drive and the Service Partition and that's what I plan to keep.

I guess the big question is:

Can a 200GB HD with only 50 to 60GB of data be cloned to a smaller 100GB HD without causing problems in that it would not be "identical" like pae77 is using? If this mis-match would cause problems for use as a "quick-just-pop-it-in-replacement," I guess I'll just have to buy another identical 7200 RPM SATA 100GB HD.

Thanks again to everyone here for all the help .... I'm sleeping better knowing that the T61 finally (after 4 months now) has "verified" working backup files and a backup storage solution that finally now works for me