All Lenovo Systems with Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery software installed.

• 1 Set of Recovery Media for your system

  • This can be created from the Create Your own Recovery Media. (OR)
  • A Lenovo System with a working Recovery Partition (Hit F11 on POST or The Thinkvantage Button).
    • Jump down to Step Five if you have a Lenovo preload on a working Hard Drive.
• A Lenovo System

1-2 Hours (depending on size of the preload).

This document will take you through the entire Thinkvantage product recovery process to restore your Lenovo Factory preload. These instructions will only work on Lenovo systems and are not intended to be used on other manufacturer's equipment.

WARNING:
This process will COMPLETELY wipe out any data that you have on your Lenovo Computer.

DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS UNLESS YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR SOFTWARE

NOTE:
This guide will have two sections for each step of the process.

1. The first column will be for media shipped in the early 2008 (summer) and will be labeled as (Pre-2008 Media)
2. The second column will be for media shipped in the fall of 2008 and on. This will be labeled as (Post-2008 Media)

WARNING: DO *NOT* Reboot or Shut down the system until directed to by the Thinkvantage Rescue & Recovery Tool. If you reboot the system or power it off before the restore is completed you will have to start over.

Step One
To begin open your recovery media package and pull out the media. Take the CD labeled Rescue & Recovery Startup Disc Disc 1 of 1 and insert it into the systems cd drive.

Step Two
Turn on the system by pressing the power button.

Step Three
You should see the following screen.

If your system does not boot to this screen your startup sequence will need to be changed.

• Power off your system.
• Turn on the system and as soon as you see the Lenovo logo press F1 to enter the BIOS. You will now see a screen with a option showing Startup.
• Select this option using the keyboard and move the CD Drive to the top of the list.
• You should see a screen like the following.

Step Four
The Rescue and Recovery tool will now load from the Recovery Media.

Step Five
You will see the following screen.

Pre-2008 Media

Click the Continue button.

Post-2008 Media

Click the Continue button to accept the license agreement and continue the recovery.

Step Six
Next you will see a few options to choose from on the following screen.

Pre-2008 Media

Click the Restore Your System option on the Left.

Post-2008 Media

Click the Full Restore Button.

Step Seven
You will now see a warning message.

Pre-2008 Media

Click OK to continue.

Post-2008 Media

Click Continue.

Step Eight
You can now select what kind of a recovery you wish to perform.

Pre-2008 Media

Click the Restore my Hard Drive to Original option to complete a full recovery. If you want to restore from other rescue and recovery backups you can do so from here.

Post-2008 Media

Make sure that Factory Recovery is selected and click on the Restore button.

Step Nine
A Warning message about data loss will now appear.

Pre-2008 Media

Click Yes to continue.

Post-2008 Media

Click Continue.

Step Ten
The following screen will appear.

Pre-2008 Media

Select I do not want to save any files and click on the Next button.

Post-2008 Media

Click the OK button to continue.

Step Eleven
The Restore Factory Contents Wizard will now run.

Pre-2008 Media

Click the Next button to continue.

Post-2008 Media

Click the Next button to continue.

Step Twelve
You will see the following screen.

Pre-2008 Media

Do NOT power off the system while the machine is running the recovery. Click the OK button to continue

Post-2008 Media

Select the I accept option for the License Agreement and then click the Next button to continue.

Step Thirteen
Another screen will appear.

Pre-2008 Media

Click the Next button to continue.

Post-2008 Media

Click the Next button to start the recovery.

Step Fourteen
Accept the option shown on this screen.

Click the Next button to start the recovery.

Post-2008 Media

The recovery will now start processing files.

Step Fifteen
The Recovery has now started and you will see the following screens as it begins to copy all of the files.

Pre-2008 Media

Follow the instructions on the screen. The recovery will restart after rebooting.

Post-2008 Media

Follow the instructions on the screen. The recovery will restart after rebooting.

Step Sixteen
You will now be asked to insert the next recovery disc.

Pre-2008 Media

If the recovery media has a supplemental disc click Yes and insert the disc now. If it does not, click No to continue.

Post-2008 Media

Insert the next Recovery Disc and click OK.

Step Seventeen
The following screen will appear.

Insert the next recovery disc and click the OK button to continue.

Post-2008 Media

The Recovery tool will now start copying more files off of the next Disc.

NOTE: The next few screens will be the same as shown here. As directed by the program put each disc into the system. Do not remove any disc until directed to by the recovery software.

Step Eighteen
After all of the recovery discs have been used the system will now reboot.

Pre-2008 Media

Post-2008 Media

Let the program automatically continue.

Step Nineteen
Click Next to restore the recovery files from the new Recovery Partition on your systems Hard Drive.

Pre-2008 Media

Post-2008 Media

Step Twenty
Once all of the files are copied over to the system it will need to reboot.

Pre-2008 Media

Click Yes to reboot.

Post-2008 Media

Click Yes to reboot.

Step Twenty One
Let the system boot up on its own. At this point you will see a lot of different screens and your system may reboot multiple times.

This is completely normal.

Leave the system alone and do not touch it for a while so that it can restore all of the original factory windows settings and files.

NOTE:
If your system appears to be stuck at the screen above and has done nothing for a long period of time (1+ hours).

Click and hold the left mouse button while over the Preload System Setup Window and move it out of the way. In very rare occasions another application may have a window open that requires you to select an option to continue. Do so and the recovery should then continue.

Step Twenty Two
Your recovery is now complete. You will know when your system recovery is complete when you see the Windows welcome screen just like it was when you first turned on your system.