T500 Recovery Media

I have a t500 which came with Windows 7, because of my company policy I had to remove windows 7 and make it windows xp.
In doing that, deleted the recovery partion without making a backup of it. Which was dumb.
So, if I want to go back to windows 7 on the machine I can't do it b/c I lost the recovery partion.
When i called Lenovo they said I would have to pay $45 to have them create new ones and ship it.
So my quesion is, is there any other options to get windows 7 or the partion back?
If I get a copy of windows 7 will my windows 7 registration code on the bottom of the machine work?
Thanks

That's too long.
If I can't get the recovery CD's I'm trying to find out if I just get a clean install of Windows 7 if the product key will activate Ok or not.

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Can't Find Create Recovery Media Feature on T500 (XP downgrade from Vista)

Laptop is a T500 (2082-RF1), with XP Pro (sticker on bottom says Vista).
I cannot find any option to create recovery discs.
There is no Recovery option in ThinkVantage.
Doing a search for "recovery" finds only 3 files in PC Doctor folder. None of them are launch files that I can recognize so I dare not attempt them.
How do I access (or install) the Create Recovery Media function?
Solved!
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Okay, for anybody else this could help...
Go to Control Panel...
Click the Levono's System health and Diagnostics icon
and follow the flow of instructions... you'll be led to download the Rescue and Recovery.
Now, why lenovo didn't include this with all new laptops, or make it easier to find (on the start-up screen, through ThinkVantage, etc) makes you wonder.

T500 - HDD for Ultrabay - can it be used for Recovery Media & Backups & Page File & data?

I'm learning to check first before buying things.
I am considering getting a generic ultrabay SATA adapter
http://cgi.ebay.com/SATA-adapter-IBM-THINKPAD-43N3412-R400-W500-X200S-R500-/130441260492
and a WD 7,200 HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136278
Can the ultrabay HDD be used for Recovery Media, and also Backups, page file, and other data?
And can the Backups on this HDD be deleted, so only the last backup is present?
Also, is it possible to use a HDD in the ultrabay slot, without an adpater? My T500 is a desktop replacement currently, so the HDD wouldn't need to be protected from movement or bumps.
Thanks for any ideas

For all of you who know less than I do, a HDD in the ultrabay slot can be used as a Recovery boot, and for the R&R backups.
These must both be put on the primary partition of the HDD.
I believe, but can't test or confirm, that another partition (logical partition) could be added to the drive and used for page filing and data.

How to get a Recovery media for Satellite L305D S5900

I am a Ghanaian who bought a Toshiba laptop about seven months ago. The model is Satellite L305D S5900. I am also in Ghana. I found out from the documents that came with the laptop and your forum that I can order for Recovery media for it with no charge on the software itself.
How do I get this Recovery media for my machine as I am in a different country? What are the things involved?
Thank You.

Your T500 can burn CD's at the least and if you can access Windows, you should be able to burn a set of recovery discs.
Other than that, I suggest calling support to see what they can do to help. The number in the U.S. is 1-800-426-7378.
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ThinkPad Twist s230u and ThinkPad x201 Tablet Creating Recovery Media

Hi Lenovo Customer Support,
ThinkPad s230u( model number: 3347CTO) - Window 8 Pro.
Before I start using my Laptop, I want to create a Recovery Media as is shown when installed with all partitions. Meaning if I format all contents of Laptop I want a recovery Media brings back computer as I go it in the first place include all partitions. By default there are five hidden partition and one ntfs.
What is the procedure how to Create a Recovery Media? I heard only Flash Recovery exist for Window 8.
Also I have Window 8 Pro but when I tried this link procedure http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/Create-Win-8-recovery-media-in-ThinkPad-Thi... I saw only Window 8 option and even then it reboot and did not work.
Also I did Flash Recovery and Took Faster with USB 3.0 Flash around 10 min around 16GB Space
Is it possible to do CD Recovery too ?
ThinkPad x201 Tablet(Model Number: 30933PG) - Wundow 7 Pro
Can you do Flash Recovery Media and CD Recovery Media under Window 7 Pro Enviro.
If you upgrade Hard drive to 1T and RAM to 16 G RAM , Can you Still do the Recovery Media?
What is the Procedure to successfully create Recovery Media.
Thanks.
saad

Reasons am asking this questions:
Sometime you test your computer doing a lot of things learning new technologies etc and suddenly you decide ok I want to take it back to factory state. Until now, most Thinkpad laptop does not come with recovery media. So how can I assure that my Recovery Media includes everything I used to have when I first receive unit.
I want to learn how to do that by myself by learning from the experts.
Until now what I know as follow:
ThinkPad x201:
I tried recovery media 3 DVD only with original hard drive works. I did not try Flash and not sure there is option yet.
If I upgrade unit with 1T hard drive and 16G Ram, How can I do Recovery Media?
ThinkPad Twist s230u:
I tried Flash and followed procedure on link in previous post. I took me less than 15 min to recovery whole. The question is does this process recover all the parts that is included when I receive unit.
I was unable to do recovery since I am not sure when in the Flash and during process showed to choose operating system was only Window 8 option not Window 8 Pro which came with unit.
I was able to do reset within system took longer and worked.
Is the recovery part build-in in the hardware or software partition? Is it included in the recovery Flash with all partitions?
Thank You. Awaiting for anyone to reply.
saad

Re-Installing Windows 7 Using Recovery Media (DVD's)

Notebook: HP-430 Notebook
OS: Windows 7 (64-bit)
HDD: 298 GB
When i newly bought my HP-430 notebook, I re-partitioned HDD using some other third party software.I created one additional partition (M:\). Here is the info, of how i had repartitioned....
C:\ - 100GB (changed from 284 GB to 100 GB).
D:\ - Did not make any changes.
M:\ - 184 GB (Created a drive by my self).
Then after some days for testing purpose i thought of using recovery manager. So i run the setup and chose the First option (System Restore) which said that it will only reformat the system drive (C:\), and will not perform any other HDD changes. But to my surprise it deleted/reformated the full HDD, and i lost all my documents, music, photos, and all my important files, which i had stored/backed up on M:\ (which i had created)....
Can some one tell me why the hack this happened.....????
Then now, next point. After recovery manager had restored the OS, i again repartitioned it, But this time with Windows Disk Management Tool. But Windows Disk Management didnt allow me to shrink(resize) the C:$Systemdrive) less than 150 GB. So i resized C:\ to 150 GB from 284 GB, and created one more drive (M:$ of size 147 GB. And i deleted the Recovery Drive (D:\), but i have created the Recovery DVD's before deleting Recoevery Drive from my HDD.
Again now its time for me to reinstall Windows 7 using Recovery media, as i have messed up with some system files while installing a theme for Windows 7, and now my OS is completely unstable. So now i want to reinstall windows 7, but I cant understand which option to chose in recovery manager (when run from Recovery DVD's)
Options shown in recovery manager
1. Recover using Microsoft Recovery
2. System Recovery (The option which i had chosen for the first time and got all my stuff deleted)....it says it only reinstalls the OS and wont perform any other HDD changes.
3. Minimised Image Recovery
4.Factory Reset.
So now my question to you guys is that.......which option do i chose in recovery manager so that all my backed up content and my stuff on M:\ (which i created) wont be deleted..and the OS will be reinstalled.....
PLIZZZZZ HELPPPPPPPPPPPP.........................
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
I don't believe that any of the recovery options from the Disc will retain your custom partition - As far as I know, the only time you will get a prompt to keep a custom partition is when using the 'Minimized Image Recovery' option from the Recovery Partition D which you have removed.
You could try the following work-around.
Download the correct Windows 7 Disc Image from the link below - this must be exactly the same version as your OEM installation - ie if your notebook came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit this is the version you would need to download.
Windows-7 sp1-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit
Use an application such as ImgBurn to burn the ISO correctly to a blank DVD - a guide on using ImgBurn to write an ISO to a disc is Here.
Use the disc you create to perform the installation - when you get to the option to choose the type of installation, choose Custom and select the C partition.
When asked, enter the Windows activation key found on the underside of your notebook, then when the installation has completed, use the 'Phone Method' detailed in the link below to activate the OS - this method supported by Microsoft and is popular with people who just want a clean installation of Windows 7 without the additional software load normally bundled with OEM installations.
http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-to-activate-windows-7-by-phone.aspx
Any additional drivers you may need can be found starting Here.
Regards,
DP-K
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Error message: this computer is not supported by the system recovery media.

I replaced a bad samasung hard drive in my Pavilion dv6z 3200 with a Seagate Momentus XT 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 32 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Solid State Hybrid Drive ST750LX003 and when trying to restore Windows 7 64 bit OS get the error message "this computer is not supported by the system recovery media"

Is the new hdd at least as large a capacity as the original? Can be larger capacity, but sometimes smaller will cause error.
Enter BIOS by tapping F10 key. Is all system info intact/complete?
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What is difference between "Product Recovery Media" and "Recovery Media"?

Both of the above are options in my ThinkVantage Folder. I asked Lenovo (Atlanta?) and uhm...they did not know either.
....And will either option give me the option of doing a clean Vista Ultimate install minus bloatware?
thks
J
Message Edited by jc321 on 11-13-2008 03:02 PM
Message Edited by jc321 on 11-13-2008 03:03 PM
Moderator Note; please update your profile with your correct country location as per the forum rules. Products, options and services vary from market to market. Knowing your location helps us help you
Message Edited by andyP on 11-14-2008 12:25 AM
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Got it - thanks.
For such a critical function one would think they would make that a tad more clear. You can also click on the Lenovo Partition. It will prompt you to create Recovery Media there as well. The contents of which match neither the Product Recovery Media nor the Recovery Media.

I need recovery media for an old Toshiba but apparently can't order it. Help!

The other day my TOSHIBA laptop - MODEL # PSM43U-01700P - must've got a virus or something because it started to slow and was unable to open some programs. Thinking the computer was about to go, i started saving my personal files onto a disk, and just after doing so the computer Blue screened and now upon start up it stops and says that it's missing a file <Windows root>\System 32\ ntoskrnl.exe and must have it added in order to continue. I of course, however, didn't realize that upon buying the computer years ago that i should have created my own recovery disks, thinking foolishly that the company would always have this media on hand to order should the need for it arise(Plus i doubt i would've done it properly since i'm not really a computer genius, surprise, surprise)
Anyway. . .
My problem is that when i tried to order the recovery media for this ancient model, i was told that Toshiba no longer carries this models media at all. So i was just wondering if possibly there's a similar model's media that Toshiba does carry that i'd be able to order instead of this model's that would still work with my computer. I was able to do this with an old DELL I had, and was hoping the same thing was possible with a TOSHIBA.
I'm crossing my fingers here guys. Hope to hear back from you. I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks.

Satellite M45-S169
Try these third-party vendors.
   Digitalmedia-labs.com
   MyRecoveryCDs.com
   RestoreDisks.com
   RestoreCD4u
-Jerry

How can I get a 64 bit recovery media for a Satellite L455D-S5976

This machine came with a 32 bit processor along with a 32 bit operating system. Not long ago I upgraded the processor to a dual core AMD Turion 64x. I created recovery media, but it is a 32 bit version. I have an upgrade win 7 that I believe will do the trick but I would rather do it with the Toshiba recovery media. Anyone have a possible solution.

Note that you are not addressing Adobe in these user forums.
You are requesting help from volunteers users just like you who give their time free of charge. No one has any obligation to answer your questions.
Volunteers need to know at a glance whether they have an answer for you or not. Very few of us around here are familiar with Elements.

Error message when trying to create Recovery Media Creation

I have a HP Pavilion 15 Notebook PC 15-n235sa and when trying to create my Recovery Media Creation on a 32GB Flash drive it comes up with the error mesage We are experiencing errors in recovering media creation. Please try again.
This is after.46% of Verify Disk section. So it is almost there.
I have tried 4 or 5 times with the same result.
Help!

Please try another USB Flash Drive or DVDs. USB Flash Drives indicating Windows 8 compatibility may not work for creating the recovery image. If you are still unable to create your HP Recovery Media, please contact official HP support in your region / country, via the HP Worldwide Support Portal, to see if HP Recovery Media is available for your computer. When you request this media, indicate that it is free because the HP Recovery Manager failed to work properly.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
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Recovery media USB no longer working properly

Hi
I made a Recovery media USB using the creator last year. I tried to use this to yesterday to restore my laptop to factory setting to be certain of removing any viruses/malware. I pressed F12 after booting and followed the Toshiba wizard to choose the Recover to out-of-box state option. However I eventually got the message "There is not enough space on HDD recovery. You need an additional 13.0 GB to copy these files. HDD recovery - space free 10.2 GB, total size 10.3 GB."
I thought this was strange because I was using the recovery media of the USB not the hard disk. Also there was over 50GB free anyway. So I proceeded to rerun the wizard and chose to erase the hard disk and all partitions so as to free up the HDD space it was requesting. This took about 24 hours. I reran the wizard and got the same warning öf not enough space on HDD recovery. Again this did not make sense because the hard disk was now totallly wiped and there should be about 300GB available on a 320GB formatted disk.
I then reran the wizard, chose system recovery options and system repair. It then asked for installations discs which of course I do not have. The problem now is that booting from the USB now always asks for the installation discs, it does not go back to the Toshiba wizard. When I checked the USB drive I noticed that it had been modified when trying this repair, eg. files BCD, BCD.Backup.0001 in the BOOT directory were modified on 12 July 2014. Is there anyway I can make it go back to the Toshiba wizard?
Thank you
Mike

It also says on the screen:
File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000098
Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data does not contain a valid OS entry.

Does anyone know how to use the Yoga 2 Pro Recovery Media?

Hey guys,
Tech support is not being helpful at all. I paid $60 just for some recovery discs to recover my accidentally formatted Yoga 2 Pro. The discs came with no instructions whatsoever, and using them is weird. First of all, there is two disc 1's, no disc 2, yet there is a disc 3 and 4. Support confirmed this is normal. There is also no prompt between discs 1,1, and 2, so despite making my best guess at when to switch, I can't confidently say I'm not screwing things up.
After the whole process completes, the bios can't find bootable media.
Tech support confimed that I'm missing a small step, but won't disclose what it is unless I pay for premium support.
Can anyone provide instructions for the recovery media? Tips or pointers that you remember when you are installing?
thanks!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Take a picture of the disks and upload it here. Worst comes to worst, ditch those disk and install a retail version of Windows 7 (unactivated---so it won't be illegal to use). Use a bios windows key snooper > Take your OEM key to Microsoft website and legally download a copy of Windows 8 for free.
....also, does the OKR system not work? I am aware that you reformated your main drive... but, did you change the tables or partition sizes?

Creation of Recovery Media failed

I just got an Ideapad N580 a few days ago & have been getting familiar with it.
I just updated the OKR utility to the latest version as of tonight. Then I attempted to create Recovery Media for the first time, according to:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT076024
I bought a new 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive and intended to use that for the media, according to the instructions.
I captured the screen shots of progress toward creating the media. See this PDF.
The last page shows that the flash drive was named RECOVERY and has about 18 GB of information on it.
I did not delete the original source partition on the original HDD.
My new recovery media didn't work. I put a non-Win8 drive into my N580 (one that could not boot, although otherwise it was OK), and the RECOVERY drive into a USB 3.0 slot on the N580.
I got the LENOVO splash screen and flashing of the access LED on the flash drive, then the screen blanked and the cycle repeated endlessly. Sometimes there was a rapid cycling of the splash screen and sometimes it froze up.
Apparently I had only one chance to create successful recovery media. Now where do I turn?

hi tresho,
Can you try to:
1. Restart the PC and repeatedly tap F2 on startup to boot into the BIOS
2. In the BIOS, navigate to the Boot Tab and set UEFI Boot to Disabled.
3. Press F10 to save and exit BIOS and repeatedly tap F12 to display the Boot Options
4. On the Boot Options, check if you see USB HDD / USB Key, and press Enter to boot from the flashdrive
Your USB recovery drive should now boot.
Let me know your findings
neokenchi
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Using Recovery Media on External DVD Drive

Now that I know my internal dvd drive is fried, can I use my recovery media utilizing my external dvd drive?
I have a x205 9800 running Windows 7.
I put the recovery media in the external dvd drive and it still wants to run it from the internal.
I have disabled my internal "mat**bleep**a dvd ram uj-850s". No luck.
Any help would be deeply appreciated.
Thanks
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Hi Tamkhai,
The USB dvd drive is plugged into my laptop. I am able to get into the boot up area with F12, but it will only allow me to change the order. I put the USB to the top of the list. I restart the computer and it brings up the Toshiba Recovery window. I select OK. It says "Insert Disc 1." I insert disc 1 into the external and then it tries to utilize the internal dvd drive. Even if I disable it or uninstall the dvd drive it still wants to go directly to it.

T500 Recovery Media

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