T61p-Unable to boot/ Reinstall & Recover after driver update

[HitsOfMisses]

I applied Vista SP2 for Ultimate 32-bit a few days back & system booted normally.

Immediately after that, I downloaded & applied a few driver updates from Lenovo (Intel AMT, Display, HDD, Finger Print, etc.)

When I rebooted the machine, I got an error message (forgot the exact words) & to use Renstall & Recover disc.

When I reinstalled my machine with R&R, I get a message "The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click OK to restart the computer, and then restart the installation."

I've reinstalled my system several times (7-8) since then & I still get the same message.
1.) What is the best way to reinstall my system?
2.) Can I recover my data? The data was kept in a non-system created folder in the root drive. c:\xxx

I went through several posts on this & other forums for a possible solution with no luck. Can Knoppix or utilities in Hiren's boot CD help? I've 2-3 yrs old version.

Can I pay Lenovo to fix it if I'm out of warranty? I need to my data recovered.

Thanks for your time.

[HitsOfMisses]

Can someone please respond? I'm getting restless.

Thank you!

[sktn77a]

Well, Lenovo probably won't be able to help with this problem. If I understand correctly, you've tried several times to "re-install" your OS. Did you do did this from the recovery partition or recovery CDs? If so, your only hope to recover the data is a professional recovery company (expensive!) and even they may not be able to recover the files. If you just did a Window-type Restore (to a previous configuration) then you should be able to put your hard drive in an external USB case and recover the files directly on a second computer.

It sounds like your OS installation has become corrupt. My experience with this is that a clean install from the recovery partition (or preferably, the recovery CDs) is the best solution.

[mixz1]

Do not try anything further with your hard drive. Invest a small amount of money in a USB enclosure. Remove the drive from you Thinkpad and put it into the enclosure. Plus the enclosure into a working computer and see if you can recover your data. Once you've accomplished that (or, in the worst case failed to accomplish that), remount the drive in your Thinkpad, format and do a clean install from your recovery discs, if possible. Good luck.

[HitsOfMisses]

I re-installed the OS from the Recovery CD since the one from the partition was not working (got a message "cannot find Bootmgr Press Cntr-Alt-Del to restart).

I did not get any other option to do Windows Type restore (Last known good config or boot in Safe Mode initially). Only got a message to "Insert Install & Recovery disc to reinstall the OS".

I've also tried the followings & did not succeed:
1.) Bought an Ultra USB to IDE/SATA converter cable & conected it to another PC. However, it failed to recognize the HDD.
2.) Ran HDD Diagnostics from Lenovo BIOS. - No error reported.
3.) Acronis Disk Director - No luck
4.) SpinRite 6.0 - No error reported, no luck.

As mentioned earlier, a clean install from both recovery disc or partition does not work. From CD, the entire installation goes through & at the end I get a message that "Error installing OS. Press OK to restart the machine & reinstall". And then, same thing happens & it goes in a loop.

Lenovo asked me to contact their Business Partner. Most of them listed in my area has their Tel no. changed or disconnected. A few either does not work on Lenovo (and they are still listed as BP) or does not work with individuals.

Has anyone tried Encase? How does forensics guys recover the data? During good old times (15+ yrs back), I used to copy the 2nd copy pf partition from 7th sector on sector 0 (the corrupted one) & it used to fix things up. I'm not sure how does it work on NTFS or SATA. I'm sure, there must be a way.....

Please help. I've over 150GB of data!!!

Thank you!

[GomJabbar]

I am a little unclear about which Recovery discs you are talking about. If it is the Product Recovery Disc set that you make from: All Programs > ThinkVantage > Create Recovery Media > Product Recovery, you have likely overwritten all your data on the hard drive already. If it is a backup set from Rescue and Recovery, then there is still hope.

If you have a Rescue Media CD (the first CD of the Product Recovery Disc set), boot that up and explore your hard disc from there. If Rescue and Recovery will boot from your hard drive, you can do the same thing from there. From booting Rescue and Recovery you can copy files to another hard drive or a USB thumb drive.

[HitsOfMisses]

The "Recovery Disc Set (4)" that came with the laptop.

I pressed F8 before booting from "Start Recovery Disc" (1 of 4) & tried Safe mode, w/ Command Prompt, & couple of other options you get below. That has not worked so far.

Is there another way to boot & try other options. 'Cause, if I don't press F8 & let it go, it asks me for the next CD.

Just fyi, I cannot boot from the Recovery Partition on the HDD.

Thanks for your response.

[GomJabbar]

The "Recovery Disc Set (4)" that came with the laptop.

I pressed F8 before booting from "Start Recovery Disc" (1 of 4) & tried Safe mode, w/ Command Prompt, & couple of other options you get below. That has not worked so far.

Sorry, but that does not make sense. F8 is for getting the SAFE MODE boot menu of Windows. F8 has nothing to do with the Recovery Disc Set.

If you boot the first disc of the Recovery Disc Set, AFAIK, that should bring you to the Rescue and Recovery desktop (do NOT choose "Restore Factory Contents", because if you do, you will overwrite all data on all partitions of your hard drive). I do not have experience with the T61p, but that is the case with my T42. From the Rescue and Recovery desktop, you can copy files from your hard drive to another drive.

[GomJabbar]

If the Service Partition is still on your hard drive, you can try repairing it with the following:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-54483

Before using the "Rescue and Recovery - Recovery repair diskette", press F11 at the Lenovo splash screen to boot into Rescue and Recovery. F11 can work when the ThinkVantage button will not.

If you bought your computer 2nd hand from another user, there is no telling what might have been done to the Service Partition or Windows. That user may have given you a Recovery Disc set that is different than that supplied by Lenovo.