28 replies to this topic

[Technique]

Well after advice i read somewhere i did the following....

Using UltraISO, i created .iso images of all the DVDs mentioned. I shifted them onto the USB stick - it didn't work.

I followed this guide and then copied all .isos to the USB stick - again didn't work.

So i followed this guide http://www.intowindo...-working-guide/ all the way to the bottom, including the BOOTSECT.EXE info & again it didn't work.

Here's what i posted elsewhere:

Quote

Seems the YouTube method doesn't work after all

Inserted USB stick - get the error message "BOOTMGR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart".


EDIT: So i followed the DOS command as shown here http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-in...working-guide/ where it mentions BOOTSECT.EXE etc. Followed the instructions as it says & exited.
Inserted USB stick into laptop, turned on ..... get the same error message i just mentioned "BOOTMGR is missing"

[Technique]

Contents of the Q drive:





Still can't get this to work.

[xorangekiller]

I have a wild and crazy suggestion. Since you have the recovery discs (which presumably work) and merely want to transfer them to a flash drive, why use Lenovo's solution at all?

You could use the discs to restore your computer to its factory state, then write Clonezilla to your recovery flash drive and use it to backup your system. The result will be a bootable flash drive with both Clonezilla and a factory image of your hard disk that you can restore at any time.

Alternatively, you could use Clonezilla to backup your hard disk as-is (if you don't necessarily want the factory state represented by your current restore discs) and have a bootable flash drive with Clonezilla and an image representing the current state of your computer that can be restored at any time.

Fear not! Even if you have never used it before, Clonezilla is well documented and has the beginner in mind. Read the prompts as they are presented to you and you should have no problems using it.

[soldier1st]

goretsky, on 07 January 2013 - 03:53, said:

Hello,

Have you tried contacting Lenovo's technical support? They may be able to send you recovery media or explain a way to reset the Create Recovery Media wizard.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

That would work but it would cost money, which he should not have to.

[soldier1st]

This "Create once" policy is stupid and retarded. Why should users be restricted to be allowed to make only one copy of the recovery disks?simple. It's all about money and control. If users want more than one set then they need to fork over more money.

[+BudMan]

ad did you follow the instructions from the thread you posted?

ust use the official usb tool from MS to make the usb pendrive bootable.

http://store.microso...m/Help/ISO-Tool

then delete all the files inside and copy the ones from the recovery partition.

There are other methods but this is really dumb proof.

[Technique]

xorangekiller, on 11 January 2013 - 05:11, said:

I have a wild and crazy suggestion. Since you have the recovery discs (which presumably work) and merely want to transfer them to a flash drive, why use Lenovo's solution at all?

You could use the discs to restore your computer to its factory state, then write Clonezilla to your recovery flash drive and use it to backup your system. The result will be a bootable flash drive with both Clonezilla and a factory image of your hard disk that you can restore at any time.

Alternatively, you could use Clonezilla to backup your hard disk as-is (if you don't necessarily want the factory state represented by your current restore discs) and have a bootable flash drive with Clonezilla and an image representing the current state of your computer that can be restored at any time.

Fear not! Even if you have never used it before, Clonezilla is well documented and has the beginner in mind. Read the prompts as they are presented to you and you should have no problems using it.

Just a quick question....

Let's say i set up Windows 7 as a fresh install - no Lenovo extra crap, no extra programs that i may want to install .... JUST a basic clean install of Windows 7 64 bit.

And then i cloned this to a pen drive which was made bootable (I have Acronis True Image - would this be any good for the job since i already have it?)

Is this likely to work on a 16GB USB pen drive or would i need a bigger one?

[xorangekiller]

I'm not very familiar with Acronis True Image, but it is likely that will be enough space. Clonezilla lets you specify the compression level, which you should probably set to high so that everything fits on your flash drive. I'm assuming that Acronis True Image has a similar option that you could use.

If you're just doing a clean install of Windows 7, why bother making an image of it? Presumably if can install Windows 7 now, you will be able to do it in the future should you ever need to perform system recovery.

[Technique]

xorangekiller, on 11 January 2013 - 18:55, said:

If you're just doing a clean install of Windows 7, why bother making an image of it? Presumably if can install Windows 7 now, you will be able to do it in the future should you ever need to perform system recovery.

Good point - which is why i should probably have a few programs installed on there too that i'd install as standard - FireFox & Chrome. MS Office. These are just some i install as standard every time.

[xorangekiller]

That sounds like a good plan: create an image with what you would normally want installed. I do recommend that you install ThinkVantage System Update and at least some of the Lenovo utilities though. Unlike the utilities provided by most OEMs, most of the ThinkPad utilities are actually really useful IMHO. Also, the system update utility can be used to automatically install and update drivers for your computer from Lenovo. That one feature is worth it in-and-of-itself, to me anyway.

[Technique]

Hmm it seems according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7 my 16GB pen dive would not be enough for Windows 7 64 bit.

States you require 20GB

[xorangekiller]

Technique, on 11 January 2013 - 22:50, said:

Hmm it seems according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7 my 16GB pen dive would not be enough for Windows 7 64 bit.

States you require 20GB

20 GB of space is required for installation. Your backup will be a compressed image (Clonezilla will gzip or lzma it, I'm sure Acronis True Image does something similar). That's why the Windows 7 installation disc is only 3.5 GB: its also compressed.

[+goretsky]

Hello,

Usually if the recovery media creation process fails for some reason the computer manufacturer will send replacement media for free.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

soldier1st, on 11 January 2013 - 06:11, said:

That would work but it would cost money, which he should not have to.

[Technique]

goretsky, on 12 January 2013 - 04:10, said:

Hello,

Usually if the recovery media creation process fails for some reason the computer manufacturer will send replacement media for free.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

That's handy - but if i call them to say oh it's failed 1) I suspect they wouldn't just auto-believe me and 2) i suspect they'd just sent new DVDs, so kinda what's the point?