T42 - can't find the option to create recovery disks

[detroitslim]

What am I missing?

I just picked up a T42, model 2373-4WU running Windows XP Pro, SP2. The rescue and recover discs are long lost by the original owner. I've been reading around in the forums, and supposedly there's a way to create your own set of R&R discs, but I can't seem to find it on this machine.

Under the Start/Programs/ThinkVantage, the options are

*Active Protection System
*System Update
*Access Connections
*Easy Eject Utility
*ThinkPad Configuration
*UltraNav Wizard


Am I missing something obvious here (which I wouldn't put past myself)? Or am I missing an option to create these recovery discs?

If anyone can help me idiot-check this, or point out where I can create a set of recovery discs, I'd be most appreciative!

Thanks -

Jeff

[andyP]

Hi detroitslim, wecome to the forum,

it may be you need to look in Access IBM instead of Think Vantage. The function would have been there originally, (Think Vantage came later).

[bill bolton]

Or am I missing an option to create these recovery discs?

Perhaps..... you can only create one set after the initial install of the IBM/Lenovo OS image, so if the previous owner has already made a set, you are out of luck.

Similarly, if the ThinkPad has been reimaged with a clean install of retail XP at some stage, you will also have no capacity for creating recovery disks.

Hopefully, someone should come along soon and guide you through the specific processes for checking where you are with recovery options on your T4x.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[detroitslim]

Thanks for that info... The "access IBM" button doesn't work, and if the recovery disk option only works once, it seems reasonable that the previous owner must have made and lost them.

Plus, that sliver of a rescue partition (the MBR I think it's called) seems to be missing when I check out the Disk Administrator, so it's likely that XP has been re-installed at some point, too.

It took a mighty amount of digging, but I think I found an old old old version of Repair and Recover 3.0 on the Lenovo website, and at some point today I'm going to try installing that and upgrading it to the current version to see if it works.

If anyone has any brilliant suggestions - and if this doesn't work, my next stop is to buy a set of repair disks from the marketplace - I'm all ears.

The funny/ironic thing about this is that I want to wipe the laptop because I'm pretty sure there's a couple of pirated software applications on there and I want a clean install so I can put my legal versions on there instead! No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.