My Lenovo T61 with Vista Ultimate just bit the dust yesterday (3 weeks
out of warranty, I might add) and after many calls with Lenovo Customer
Support it looks like there is probably a simple fix if only I can get
my hands on the Vista Installation Backup Disc to run the Windows
repair process. Some files must be corrupted or missing and the
Windows diagnostics will be able to try to repair them. This disc is
available through Microsoft for a small fee of $15 or so, but only if
you purchased the retail version from Microsoft directly. Who does
that? Not to mention, if one had purchased it from Microsoft directly
there would be no need for this disc unless you lost the first one, but
I digress. Because I have an OEM version installed by Lenovo, I never
got a disc with the computer and now they claim they cannot provide me
with this disc because they don't have it, or a license from Microsoft
to provide it to users. I guess I was mistaken when I assumed that I
was actually purchasing a copy of the operating system because
apparently I do not "own" anything. I know that Dell has a disc like
this for sale but I am not sure if it will work for me. I was told by a
Lenovo rep that any Vista installation CD will do (it could belong to
anyone) because it will identify my product key when I put it in. What
really gets me is that Microsoft won't sell it to OEM version customers.



I know I can reimage my computer entirely and go back to square one but
I would prefer to atleast try this first to save my personal data and
programs, if possible. And if I need to reimage, I might as well go
back to XP because I never had any hassles like this before Vista
entered my life.

Any other thoughts? I appreciate any feedback.




--
AmandaHatesVista

Your Lenovo ThinkPad has a Windows Vista recovery partition.
Find your User's Guide that came with your ThinkPad and read
the instructions on how to perform a system recovery.

If you cannot locate your User's Guide, download one from here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...testyle=lenovo

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

"AmandaHatesVista" <AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx

My Lenovo T61 with Vista Ultimate just bit the dust yesterday (3 weeks
out of warranty, I might add) and after many calls with Lenovo Customer
Support it looks like there is probably a simple fix if only I can get
my hands on the Vista Installation Backup Disc to run the Windows
repair process. Some files must be corrupted or missing and the
Windows diagnostics will be able to try to repair them. This disc is
available through Microsoft for a small fee of $15 or so, but only if
you purchased the retail version from Microsoft directly. Who does
that? Not to mention, if one had purchased it from Microsoft directly
there would be no need for this disc unless you lost the first one, but
I digress. Because I have an OEM version installed by Lenovo, I never
got a disc with the computer and now they claim they cannot provide me
with this disc because they don't have it, or a license from Microsoft
to provide it to users. I guess I was mistaken when I assumed that I
was actually purchasing a copy of the operating system because
apparently I do not "own" anything. I know that Dell has a disc like
this for sale but I am not sure if it will work for me. I was told by a
Lenovo rep that any Vista installation CD will do (it could belong to
anyone) because it will identify my product key when I put it in. What
really gets me is that Microsoft won't sell it to OEM version customers.



I know I can reimage my computer entirely and go back to square one but
I would prefer to atleast try this first to save my personal data and
programs, if possible. And if I need to reimage, I might as well go
back to XP because I never had any hassles like this before Vista
entered my life.

Any other thoughts? I appreciate any feedback.




--
AmandaHatesVista

"AmandaHatesVista" <AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx

>
> My Lenovo T61 with Vista Ultimate just bit the dust yesterday (3 weeks
> out of warranty, I might add) and after many calls with Lenovo Customer
> Support it looks like there is probably a simple fix if only I can get
> my hands on the Vista Installation Backup Disc to run the Windows
> repair process. Some files must be corrupted or missing and the
> Windows diagnostics will be able to try to repair them. This disc is
> available through Microsoft for a small fee of $15 or so, but only if
> you purchased the retail version from Microsoft directly. Who does
> that? Not to mention, if one had purchased it from Microsoft directly
> there would be no need for this disc unless you lost the first one, but
> I digress. Because I have an OEM version installed by Lenovo, I never
> got a disc with the computer and now they claim they cannot provide me
> with this disc because they don't have it, or a license from Microsoft
> to provide it to users. I guess I was mistaken when I assumed that I
> was actually purchasing a copy of the operating system because
> apparently I do not "own" anything. I know that Dell has a disc like
> this for sale but I am not sure if it will work for me. I was told by a
> Lenovo rep that any Vista installation CD will do (it could belong to
> anyone) because it will identify my product key when I put it in. What
> really gets me is that Microsoft won't sell it to OEM version customers.
>
>
>
> I know I can reimage my computer entirely and go back to square one but
> I would prefer to atleast try this first to save my personal data and
> programs, if possible. And if I need to reimage, I might as well go
> back to XP because I never had any hassles like this before Vista
> entered my life.
>
> Any other thoughts? I appreciate any feedback.
>
>
>
>
> --
> AmandaHatesVista

If the drive can be accessed at all (you indicate that you could possibly
"repair" the installation) you need to take the drive out of the laptop, put
it into a USB enclosure and copy the data files off the hard drive onto
another system. Once that is done, put the drive back into the laptop and
use the system that Lenovo has given you to restore your system to its
factory specifications. Once that is done, copy the data back again.

The laptop manufacturer is only required to provide some way to return the
machine to the "as originally shipped" status when they provide you with a
MS operating system. This may be OEM install disk, an install disk that is
basically a drive image as it was shipped or a rebuild partition on the
drive. Apparently this third method is what you have. Unless Lenovo
decides to provide a separate OEM disk (which apparently they won't do) you
can only recover this way easily. They have also provided you a method to
create a image DVD for your system as originally shipped. This will all be
spelled out in your operating manual.

If you decide to go to XP, make sure you download all the drivers necessary
for your laptop onto either a thumb (USB flash) drive or a CD before
attempting. Apparently there are drivers for this laptop on their web site.
Also back up the data on your drive using the method first shown above.

See here!

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...dont-have-one/

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience



"AmandaHatesVista" <AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:AmandaHatesVista.2d29d7c@xxxxxx

>
> My Lenovo T61 with Vista Ultimate just bit the dust yesterday (3 weeks
> out of warranty, I might add) and after many calls with Lenovo Customer
> Support it looks like there is probably a simple fix if only I can get
> my hands on the Vista Installation Backup Disc to run the Windows
> repair process. Some files must be corrupted or missing and the
> Windows diagnostics will be able to try to repair them. This disc is
> available through Microsoft for a small fee of $15 or so, but only if
> you purchased the retail version from Microsoft directly. Who does
> that? Not to mention, if one had purchased it from Microsoft directly
> there would be no need for this disc unless you lost the first one, but
> I digress. Because I have an OEM version installed by Lenovo, I never
> got a disc with the computer and now they claim they cannot provide me
> with this disc because they don't have it, or a license from Microsoft
> to provide it to users. I guess I was mistaken when I assumed that I
> was actually purchasing a copy of the operating system because
> apparently I do not "own" anything. I know that Dell has a disc like
> this for sale but I am not sure if it will work for me. I was told by a
> Lenovo rep that any Vista installation CD will do (it could belong to
> anyone) because it will identify my product key when I put it in. What
> really gets me is that Microsoft won't sell it to OEM version customers.
>
>
>
> I know I can reimage my computer entirely and go back to square one but
> I would prefer to atleast try this first to save my personal data and
> programs, if possible. And if I need to reimage, I might as well go
> back to XP because I never had any hassles like this before Vista
> entered my life.
>
> Any other thoughts? I appreciate any feedback.
>
>
>
>
> --
> AmandaHatesVista