Vista Rescue and Recovery discs don't work

I have a T61 (7659-D22) that came with Vista Business preinstalled. I made (and verified) a set of R&R discs, then used a set of WinXP discs supplied by Lenovo to install XPPro.
Now I am trying to use the Vista discs I made to install on a brand-new drive in the same machine, but after I select "Restore my machine to its factory state" (or whatever the actual wording is), I just get the hourglass thing "for ever" with no evidence of disc access.
Any suggestions?

I wrote:
I do have a backup of the R&R partition -- created with Macrium Reflect -- but the special MBR needs to be present for F11 to work. The only means of repairing the MBR seems to involve the use of a floppy, but of course this machine does not have a floppy drive.
I restored the Recovery partition (created with Macrium Reflect) and marked it Active. Although F11 still did not work, the machine rebooted into the R&R partition anyway and gave me the option of formatting only Drive C:. The only very minor glitch was that when it rebooted it booted into the R&R partition again rather than into C:, and I had to use Partition Wizard to mark C: as the active partition. It then booted into C: and went on its merry way configuring Windows Vista.
Maybe I can then recreate a usable R&R Startup CD -- but maybe it doesn't matter as long as I can preserve the image of the Recovery partition somewhere -- on a DL DVD-R perhaps.

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Cant restore from rescue and recovery discs

Hi Guys
I bought a set of Windows 7 64bit Lenovo Rescue and Recovery Discs approx. 18 months ago so I could "restore" my X201 if and when the hard disk died, well the day has come and the discs dont work !!!
I have attempted to "restore" to the new hard disk 3 times and this is now starting to become a joke.
I boot the 1st disk, then I'm asked to insert the 2nd and then 3rd disks, I dont have a 4th disk but the process asks me for one. I believe that this is all working as it takes a number of hours and the drive lights is flickering except when I'm being asked to insert the next disc.
After the final re-boot. following the "Setting up drivers - 100%" on the screen I get a message box that says "Setup cant configure windows for your configuration", this is after I have had the "Starting Windows 7" booting on the screen.
Has anyone had any experience with Win 7 64bit R & R discs for a X201 ???
TIA
NG

I assume your issue is laptop boot mode related.
In order to restore from Lenovo Recovery discs set laptop should be in legacy boot mode. Check out this option in BIOS setup. Unfortunately you'll can't change boot mode later. But this mode just speeds up a boot process only 2-3 secs.
Boot and installation processes don't inform the customer about error boot mode related.
Check out the 1st disc. If it consists a folder like BOOT and files like BOOTMGR and WINRE.WIM (all of them are for boot process) and folder like FACTORYRECOVERY - it's OK and your 1st data disk is bootable too.
If you had partition like Lenovo_Recovery (Q: usually) on your x201 with factory images you could make Factory_Recovery Discs set yourself w/o purchasing it from Lenovo.
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Recovery discs don't work, Toshiba wants $25? - Qosmio G35-AV660

I have a Qosmio G35-AV660. Basically, my recovery discs don't work. The first one does, but when it asks for the second one, I put it in, and it just spins and spins, and then pops out and it asks for the second disc again. I called Toshiba about this, and they went through the spiel about how it costs $25 and how it's not their fault, and that's the price for them to get it from this other company. I told them that I was willing to send my discs in, to verify that they aren't working right, and that I'm not trying to cheat them out of a free set of discs, but they wouldn't hear of it.
I just want to be able to get QosmioPlayer working again, and the only way I can do that is with the recovery discs, and there's no way I'm paying $25 for something I already have, that should work, but doesn't, for no reason whatsoever.
If anybody can help me out, either with a disc image (I only need the second disc), or a spare second disc, I'd be incredibly grateful.

Also, I can prove that I own both discs, either with pictures, or MD5 keys, or whatever.

Factory rescue and recovery disc usage

I figured I'd ask here before I get very, very angry.
My ThinkPad SL400 has experienced a massive failure. I was able to rescue my documents, etc., but the boot software was corrupted and I needed to do a complete system restore. I didn't have viable rescue and recovery discs and so paid $45 plus shipping to order a set of them from Lenovo. They came with instructions, which I have followed.
Step 9 of their instructions states:
"When all of the data has been copied from the last disc in the set, a message is displayed prompting you to restart the computer. Remove the disc and then click Yes.
Note: The remainder of the recovery process is fuly automated and no action is required by you. the computer will restart into the Windows desktop several times and you might experience periods when no activity is apparent on the screen for several minutes at a time. This is normal."
Unfortunately, that's not what happened. When I rebooted the machine I got a message stating:
8206 - Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key.
I've restarted the machine several times with no different answer. I tried booting from the first two Rescue and Recovery discs they sent and neither worked to complete the boot process. I tried changing the boot device to the hard drive and it didn't work. I called Lenovo Technical Support and they told me that, even though I had JUST PURCHASED the discs, they would not answer my questions about how to use them.
I am feeling very much like I just poured $50+ down a rathole with a company that won't stand behind its products.
Hopefully you guys can give me some suggestions before I call my credit card company and ask them to remove the charge as a fraudulent purchase.

So i guess you selected the optical drive to be the first one to boot in the boot up list?
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Rescue and Recovery restore does not work because of incorrect display size

I am unable to restore my system when booting Rescue and Recovery from the Service Partition or DVD. R&R configures my monitor resolution as 640x480x16 but displays as if there we many more pixels available. The result is that only a portion of the screen is visible and crucial commands are cut off and unusable.
I have read elsewhere that this might be corrected by updating the DisplayResolution parameter in the WINBOM.INI files found in the \MININT and \MININT\SYSTEM32 directories. I have tried this, setting DisplayResolution=1024x768x16, resetting to the default 640x480x16 and even removing the parameter altogether, all to no effect. My monitor always comes up at 640x480 and screens are always cut off.
A puzzling feature of this problem is that Opera help screens do not exhibit this problem. They display at an appropriate size, maximize correctly and so on.
Any help would be appreciated,
Herb
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi hgirard,
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=341939#p341939
Does this help?
Maliha (I don't work for lenovo)
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How to create Rescue and Recovery disc for Windows Vista Home Basic with G530 Lenovo Laptop?

Hi All,
I have purchased G530 Lenovo laptop 2 weeks back.
I coudn't find installation/recovery discs in my laptop box.
I went across the forums and came to know that it is not available now-a-days as it was coming previously.
So, anybody can help me, how to create a recovery disc?
This is needed when I format my laptop.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Umesh.

Click on what used to be the "Start" button and search for "create" or "recovery". It took me a while to find it but it is there.
Use a cd for the first disc and 2 DVD's for the other discs.
T60 2623-D7U, 3 GB Ram. Dual boot XP and Linux Mint.
T400 2765-T7U Windows 7
Registered Linux User #160145
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Satellite A300-243 - Easy Keys & Recovery Disc don't work

Hi, I just bought a new Toshiba Satellite A300 243 and I decided to reinstall system to Vista Ultimate 64 bit (because of the 4GB ram usage).
It took me a few hours, but in the end I found all needed drivers and everything is working fine, except one thing - those multimedia keys (I think they're called Easy Keys). Start, Stop, Next track and Preview track works fine, but the first (by default used for toggling illumination) and the second (by default used for starting W Media Player) just don't work. I have installed the latest version of VAP for 64 bit Vista and in Toshiba Button Support I'm not able to change anything. The list, where normally I'm able to choose a key to edit its function, is empty. I found a few similar problems on this forum, but without any useful answer - lookes like the only way is to use the Toshiba Recovery option, and at this point I'm getting to my second problem.
The second problem is in Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator and Toshiba HDD Recovery tool. At first, before I reinstalled Vista to 64 bit version I wanted to create Recovery Disc, but Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator just didn't started. Then I found the HDD Recovery option, and I read, that this tool is placed on a hidden partition, so I thought I will be able to recover the old system with this tool in case of any compication. So I reinstalled the system and wanted to go back to 32 bit, because it looked like its slower and at first I wasn't able to find all necessary drivers. And what a surprise - Recovery tool disappeared!
Now the only thing I'm missing on 64 bit version is those two multimedia keys.
And the last question - is there any chance to get a Recovery Disc with Vista 64 bit?

Hello
As you said for the easy keys or also called illumination buttons you need the Toshiba Value Added Package. The Satellite A300-243 belongs to the PSAG8E series and therefore you can find all drivers and tools on the Toshiba website:
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com => Support & Downloads => Download Drivers
Before you install the VAP, make sure that all drivers are installed and SP1 for Vista at least. Then you can install it and normally then you can use the FN keys, illumination buttons, etc.
Make also sure that you have installed the newest BIOS for your notebook.
About your problem with the recovery disk creator and HDD recovery option I can only say that these features are only available on the preinstalled Vista version. That means if you upgrade to Vista 64bit you cant use the HDD recovery option anymore and also the recovery disk creator.
So if the recovery disk creator doesnt work you should use the HDD recovery option but this is not stored on a hidden partition. These files are stored on the second partition of HDD in the folder HDDrecovery. The hidden partition that you mean belongs is a Vista feature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Recovery_Environment
But just one question: Did you already create a recovery disk?
Greets

Satellite U300-13U fails to boot and Recovery disc fails to work too

Hi All,
I have the above computer (or should I say my wife) & it has been nothing but a right pain since the first day we got it.
I have had it about 2 years & must have had to reformat the HD at least 6-8 times using the Product Recovery Disc as laptop wouldn't boot.
The laptop runs Vista.
Anyway problem I have now is that once again laptop fails to boot but for some reason Product Recovery disc also fails to work.....
What can I do...
I have read on various forums that it might work if I reformat the HD first using some s/w on a bootable CD but how/ what S/W do I use.....?
The laptop has a 160Gb SATA HD installed. How can I check this is all working.
I have no idea if current problem is S/W or hardware related..
Does Toshiba have a utility I can use...?
Many thanks for any help....
John

Hi Paolo,
Thks for the reply. I have made some success since I posted. I actually downloaded Ubuntu & created a boot up disk. I have managed to successfully load this alongside the Vista (which doesn't work) & everything seems OK - so all I can say is that it must be somekind of s/w issue or perhaps damaged sectors or something on the Vista install.
I am happy to use Ubuntu - it will be interesting to see if I have to do anymore reformats in future...
Thks, John

Rescue and Recovery 4 does not work)))

All of the sudden my ThinkPad R61 does not start Win XP anymore. As there is not much data on the machine I tried to use the Recovery & Rescue CD that came with the ThinkPad as described in document MIGR-70803 (http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-70803).
I can see the screen shown under step three (http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/tvt_startup.gif) and after that the one shown under step four (http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/rnr_startup_screen.gif).
On this screen appears a dialog box saying "Warten bis Initialisierung der Services abgeschlossen ist." (Wait until initializing of services has been completed). After a wile the dialog box disappears and a few seconds later the CD stops turning.
After nothing happened for quite some time the machine reboots and the process starts again.
What type of recovery is that? How can I get my machine back to work?
Thanks a lot for your help.
wegone

Hi,
what you are experiencing for a situation is not directly caused by the REcovery program. This is some failure of the startup process. The process, that you see is correct, and also that the CD stops to turn is correct, as the files are copied on the local HDD. Once it stops turning, it should take about 2 min and then should a new screen popp up.
As this is not happening, then this might be some issue with the load process, or of the driver.
Please go to BIOS and change the SATA mode from AHCI to Compatibility, if this will change the situation.
In case it will not, then please tell me, what is the exact issue, that you see, when you try to start into Windows.
Please also run the HDD advanced test from the BIOS, so that you can be sure, that this might not be caused by a damaged HDD.
Please keep me posted.
Cheers

Satellite L505-s5993/windows 7 factory system recovery and recovery disc did not work

Hello, I tried the free factory restore but it would not work. I ordered the restore disk from Toshiba. The instructions on the disc say to insert disk, then press "c" while turning on. This does not work. I have pressed f12 and booted from dvd/cd. this did not work. it starts downloading window files, windows emblem does it's little dance goes away and i'm left with a blank screen and my cursor. Should i just throw the thing away or is there something else i can try. Any help would be greatly appreciated. FYI-I have a Satellite L505-s5993/windows 7
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I have managed to get my computer up and running but am having trouble with the drivers. I replaced the hard drive with a western digital 750gb and went to the intel site to have its trouble shooter check my drivers. See Below:
raphics Driver
Product Detected
Mobile Intel® 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Current Driver Installed
8.15.10.2869
Your driver is current.
  Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility (Chipset INF)
Product Detected
Intel® 6, 5, 4, 3, 900 Series Chipsets
Current Version Installed
9.4.0.1026
This version is valid.
  Audio Driver for Intel Desktop Board
Product Detected
Realtek High Definition Audio
Current Driver Installed
6.0.1.7071
This device is unknown or unsupported. Please contact the manufacturer for possible updates. More information>>
  Wireless Networking (WiFi)
Product Detected
Realtek RTL8191SE Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC
Current Driver Installed
2007.1.1002.2009
This device is unknown or unsupported. Please contact the manufacturer for possible updates. More information>>
I can run my computer by ignoring the digital signatures(f8 when starting then scrolling down) I can't seem to find what i need on the toshiba site. Thanks for any help!! Noel

Rescue and recovery not working

I wiped my hard drive and installed Ubuntu. Now I need Vista back to use some testing software for my state bar exam. Rescue and Recovery discs as well as f11 system restore keep giving me a startup error. Is Vista gone for good? Lenovo wants to charge me $45 to send discs that will work. Can get an an .iso for this version (Vista Business 64 SP1, I think) somewhere and use my product activation key on the bottom of the PC? I don't have time to search the forums and i'm not really an expert. Please help.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/04/29/windows-vista-with-sp2-rtm-slipstreamedintegrated-dvd-iso-i...
something here should work for you.
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Rescue and Recovery after update from Windows Vista to 7

I've updated my 2 years old Lenovo T60 from the preinstalled Windows Vista to Windows 7. For short: I like it.
I kept the recovery partition but now want to update it, to keep it in sync with the current windows and Rescue and Recovery versions. By the way, due to earlier problems the system in this versions is not functional anymore. I tied to read the manual of Rescue and Recovery, but didn't get it...
Is their an "easy" way (or documentation) to accomplish that?
Thanks and Greetings

T60-user wrote:
I've updated my 2 years old Lenovo T60 from the preinstalled Windows Vista to Windows 7. For short: I like it.
I kept the recovery partition but now want to update it, to keep it in sync with the current windows and Rescue and Recovery versions. By the way, due to earlier problems the system in this versions is not functional anymore. I tied to read the manual of Rescue and Recovery, but didn't get it...
Is their an "easy" way (or documentation) to accomplish that?
Thanks and Greetings
The factory partition can't be updated - it is your recovery for what came out of the box with the system. You can create factory recovery CD's/DVD's and store them somewhere just in case, and then you should be able to remove that partition and reclaim the space. At that point, Rescue and Recovery for Win7 becomes your sole recovery option.
There is a lot of new architecture in the Win7 version of R&R so you can't "upgrade" it from Vista - you'll need to install the new version in Win7. It would probably be a good idea to burn your Vista Rescue and Recovery backups to CD/DVD before you upgrade, too.

Rescue and Recovery Issues!

Hello All,
I purchased a T60p about a year and a half ago along with the 3yr. extended warranty. I have been trying to recover a saved backup on my hard disk since I have had some problems with Windows but have run into a serious problem. I have tried to restore from rescue and recovery but keep getting a password entry dialog box. I didn't set one up since I've owned the computer and this is confirmed by the dialog box that states for me to set one up and try again. I even tryed to use the "forgot password" option and it still sends me around in circles for a password entry. I have contacted customer service several times and got a set of rescue and recovery discs to set it up to factory state but the password thing still comes up on bootup even from the CD. The last suggestion from customer service was to purchase a SATA drive-to-USB cable to back up the data to another computer. But other than seeing the contents of the drive directories I cannot back it up (probably a protected partition). I am at a loss here and was wondering if anyone could help.
The files on this hard drive are vital for me to recover as they contain lots of personal pictures of family (some now gone), CAD work, as well as other irreplaceable info.
Can anyone suggest a course of action? Is there a service that can retrieve the data? I have no problem reloading the applications I just need the data files.
Couple of questions:
Why can't I reinstall Windows from the discs sent to me from Lenovo (only the R&R disc is bootable)?
Can I reinstall Windows on the drive without loosing the data on the R & R partition?
Please Help!
Nemo
Message Edited by Nemo on 09-04-2008 05:07 PM
Lenovo Type 8743-CTO Built in 2007 w/ 3 yr. Extended Warranty

Hi Nemo,
My questions may be totally irrelevant, but I'm going to ask them anyway. Just in case.
Some versions of R&R, when launched, would ask if you want to set a password or protect the backups with your windows password. As you don't mention having tried your windows log-in password, if you have / had one, have you tried using it or, if set up, the default admin account password?
Also what about the good old enter key i.e. no password, or trying "admin"?
Andy ______________________________________
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Bitlocker & ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery on 64 Windows 7 Enterprise

Hi
I am attempting to setup ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 on a X300 ThinkPad with 64bit Windows 7 Enetrprise and BitLocker enabled. A installed ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 after turning on BitLocker, as stated in considerations in ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 readme file. When I press the blue ThinkVantage button and then F11, it starts ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4, but shortly after splash screen with life-belt appears the notebook restarts and BitLocker requires keyfile to continue. When I give it the key file it boots nomally. However if I restart and attempt to enter ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 again - the same story repeats, so I'm unable to use ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4. Then I disabled BitLocker encryption on boot drive, and ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 started to work normally, without touching anythnig else.
So, finally are Bitlocker & ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery 4 compatible on 64 Windows 7 Enterprise? Any one having success with this combination?
Thanks, George

Its a known bug already reported by many thinkpad users running 64bit versions of Win7,Microsoft might issue a fix.If you want to report it to them
www.connect.microsoft.com
Cheers and regards,
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I am a volunteer here. I don't work for Lenovo

Rescue and Recovery, Rapid Restore and pre-desktop area

Hi.
I know RnR has been covered fairly extensively here, but I haven't been able to find a thread relating my specific problem so here goes...
I have an X31 with an IBM recovery disk set, now a few years old. I recently used the recovery disks to do a clean install then removed the majority of the old Thinkvantage utilities and replaced them with downloads of the latest versions. So far so good. The factory recovery from the CDs creates a pre-desktop area based on the old Rapid Restore software. This has to be uninstalled before installation of the newer Rescue and Recovery. RnR then works fine from both Windows and a Recovery CD I created.
However, pressing the blue AccessIBM (i.e. Thinkvantage) button during startup still takes me to the old predesktop area. If I try to use the "restore backups" feature from here I am informed that Rapid Restore is not installed on the system. The "security" section of the BIOS contains a predesktop setting that can be either "normal", "disabled" or "secure". If I set it to "disabled" the blue AccessIBM button now takes me to the new Rescue and Recover workspace. However, some of the other options that were available in the old Rapid Restore pre-desktop, particularly access to PC doctor, are now not available.
Incidentally, the new Rescue and Recovery workspace seems to function independently of the original hidden partition associated with the Rapid Restore workspace - if I make this visible and delete it, I can still access Rescue and Recovery as long as the BIOS option is set to "Disabled". I presume, therefore, that RnR has created an additional hidden partition of its own?
My question, therefore, is how can I rebuild the predesktop area based on Rescue and Recovery rather than Rapid Restore but still accessible by pressing the blue button at startup, still featuring the other diagnostic software and still having security settings controlled from the BIOS.
Grateful for any advice!

Hi,
the basic and most importatnt information, in this case is, that RnR can detect/read backups that have been captured using the very same version as you are using right now.
So in case you captured your backup using version xx.xx.xxx1 you cannot restore, or recover your backup using the version xx.xx.xxx2. You need to us the very same version.
As Win7 uses different version of RnR, this is the root cause.
Hope this helps.
Cheers

Vista Rescue and Recovery discs don't work

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