Windows 7 Launch

[#1]

No Lenovo people could answer or give any information to my question?  I am afraid my question buried between other comments or this thread itself regarded as virtually closed.  Should I re-post my question as separate thread?

I do understand this is not official support channel of Lenovo, but this board is open for posting for limited period of time and this is good chance to clarify my thought by asking Lenovo people, I think I should not wait forever until someone notice my question here.

Admin?

[#2]

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JRBC wrote:

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mkohut_Lenovo wrote:

jwcharp

Microsoft's regulations state that we can only ship a Windows recovery CD set equal to the COA on the bottom of the system (with the exception of those machines during the free upgrade program time period).  If your system  has a Vista COA, we are prohibited from sending you a Win 7 recovery CD set.

Even if we were enabled to sell these recovery CDs, our contract with Microsoft would forbid it. 

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Matt

I do not think that is quite true.

I bought a T61 with Vista Business COA on it, nothing else, no downgrade, nothing.

Nevertheless Lenovo sold me Install & Recovery Discs for XP Professional - at a cost, naturally (~$50).  If Lenovo can do this for XP, which was not the original COA, then they can do it for Windows 7 as well.  I don't mind paying something reasonable for it, I just need the ThinkPad adidtional software and support.  They need to be ThinkPad Windows 7 discs, not generic Microsoft discs.  That's why I bought a ThinkPad.  I'm in it for the long haul.  I bought a 4 year warranty, and so on, on a top-of-the-line machine.  It's like buying a Mercedes versus a Neon.  We make choices, and we expect the perofmrance and reliaibility.  My T61 has been nothing but a pain and low grade experience, and yet I paid top dollar for it.  I need rsome ecompense for this poor value from Lenovo to keep my loyalty and buy ThinkPad again in the future.

John Chamberlain

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The reason you can get the xppro disks is because ms's policies state that you can downgrade from vista business to xppro. therefore you won't be getting win7 disks.

[#3]

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emoacht wrote:

No Lenovo people could answer or give any information to my question?  I am afraid my question buried between other comments or this thread itself regarded as virtually closed.  Should I re-post my question as separate thread?

I do understand this is not official support channel of Lenovo, but this board is open for posting for limited period of time and this is good chance to clarify my thought by asking Lenovo people, I think I should not wait forever until someone notice my question here.

Admin?

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maybe try PM?

[#4]

emoacht,

The intent would be that all updates for Windows 7 preloaded systems would go through the same EE process such that future updates should not degrade the original experience.

Mark

[#5]

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Mark_Lenovo wrote:

emoacht,

The intent would be that all updates for Windows 7 preloaded systems would go through the same EE process such that future updates should not degrade the original experience.

Mark

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Mark,

Thanks for your clarification.  So, I will not need worry about when I upgrade the drivers.  Good to hear. 

Thanks again.

emoacht

[#6]

Recently purchased three W500s, pre-loaded with Vista Pro.  All three notebooks are eligible for the free??? (costs $38US) upgrade to Win7.  Here's my issue:

I LIKE that the units are tweaked.  I like the EE applets that ship with the units and I USE the recovery partition... don't want to lose it... don't want to recovery to Vista.

Will the Win7 upgrade program ship 'Install and Recovery' discs???

If not, is there a way to manually create the recovery partition so that it recovers Windows 7?

I'm beginning to think this 'Upgrade' program blows... large!!!

[#7]

Recently purchased three W500s, pre-loaded with Vista Pro.  All three notebooks are eligible for the free??? (costs $38US) upgrade to Win7.  Here's my issue:

I LIKE that the units are tweaked.  I like the EE applets that ship with the units and I USE the recovery partition... don't want to lose it... don't want to recovery to Vista.

Will the Win7 upgrade program ship 'Install and Recovery' discs???

If not, is there a way to manually create the recovery partition so that it recovers Windows 7?

I'm beginning to think this 'Upgrade' program blows... large!!!

[#8]

Hi lenp00,

This may help calm you a little bit.

I have, in addition to a newer Lenovo, a T61p that I wanted to run with Win 7 and retain all the ThinkPad extras. I really had no trouble doing this, as long as I did a "clean" install.

My recovery partition was gone, long ago. I did RnR a lot, but not for quite awhile. The following is what you do:

1) If you have the set of recovery disks (usually 3) that either came with your machine or that you made from the option on the "start" menu, use them to restore your machine to its' original state. There is no need to do any updates or anything else after the recovery. if your recovery partition is still intact (usually S) just continue with the next step.

2) Inset your upgrade disk (or your full disk, for that matter) and have it install to your C drive WITHOUT FORMATTING OR CHANGING ANY OTHER PARTITIONS, unless those partitions were created by you.

3) After the install is complete:

     a) Install the Lenovo "System Interface Driver"

     b) Install RnR 4.3 (it must be 4.3)

     c) Take a complete backup to your choice of media

     d) Create the single RnR recovery disk for when you can't get into your system

     e) rock on

When you begin installing the other Lenovo drivers and applications, do them in the correct order. It doesn't matter for most of them but, for instance, you should install the wired and wireless drivers before installing Access Connections. The "readme.txt" that most of us overlook will usually tell you what the other software requirements are.

Also, BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE CORRECT DRIVER FOR YOUR HARDWARE!!! Just because an entry in the download list says, for example, "WiFi" doesn't mean it is the correct match for your hardware. The same machine number can have one of several hardware devices, depending on what you ordered.

GOOD LUCK!!

[#9]

Thanks for the outline of what you did, Mark.

I have a brand new Lenovo machine with Vista on it and all the Lenovo supplied software.  It is a totally green machine and I am keeping it that way until I install Win 7.  Too complicated to say how I got to this point but there I am.

Do the Lenovo supplied Windows 7 upgrade disks NOT include ALL the drivers and other Lenovo supplied software such that one could reformat the disk and do a completely clean install?  Or is one required to do what you did that frankly sounds to me like an upgrade which preserves Lenovo supplied drivers and applications during the install.

What about the BIOS.  Any need to update it from Vista to Win 7?

I wish I had my kit so that I would really know what it includes and what it excludes.  Quite frustrating waiting for it to arrive.

[#10]

Hi sfoeuroflyer,

You should definitely update to the latest BIOS for your machine. For my machine it was designed for Win 7.

You should also definitely make your set of recovery disks for Vista. This option is available from the "start" menu. It may be under the "Thinkvantage" entry. I have a caveat to this recommendation. You can only make ONE set of these CDs/DVDs. They restore the machine to exactly what it looked like when you received it. As far as I can tell, and I could be off base here, there is a file on the Q disk that gets erased (or renamed) when you make the set. This prevents you from doing it again. I have not been able to test what would happen if you waited to make the set until the new OS is installed. I'd really like to know!

Unless one of the Lenovo folks wants to jump in here and tell us if you can do your new "clean" install and them make your recovery disks, then I'd make them now. This will allow you to recover a dead disk with a replacement, albeit back to Vista, but you could them re-install Win 7 and have RnR available. On the other hand, I have used a RnR full backup with success AFTER an install of Win 7 and having done the "Product Recovery" on the Vista OS.

I think we really need some Lenovo input here. What I have said above is true, but it would be nice to be able to make the "Product Recovery Disks" after doing the upgrade. Remember that "Product Recovery Disks" are different from the rescue disks that you can make at any time.

[#11]

Hey Mark!

Thanks for the great post.  I will eventually get around to installing Win7 but I really want to nail this upgrade/recovery issue down b4 I spend a lot of time doing the upgrade.

A few more details:

- my personal W500 is virgin, hasn't been turned on since coming out of the box.  I didn't want  the hassle of installing all my apps then doing a 'clean' install and re-install for all the apps.

- the W500 did not ship with 'Installation and Recovery discs'

- we have volume licensing for Win7, so I'm on the fence about getting the Lenovo upgrade offer if it doesn't buy me anything more, i.e. any of the 'Lenovo' specific tweaks/applets

a question or two:

- correct me if I'm wrong, but using your procedure I would have to recover from the disc I made rather than the recovery partition, since the partition would still contain VISTA, no?

- where in the proces do you recommend installing the Lenovo drivers and Apps, I would guess after b)

- I assume the drivers and apps must be D/Led from the Lenovo support site?

I apologize if some of these points sound newbie simple, it's just that I value my time and don't want to waste any more than I have to.

My biggest frustration... I don't understand why Lenovo wouldn't simply have a set of 'Installation and Recovery' discs available to those of us that are eligible for their 'free' upgrade.  I would certainly pay for that!