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Laptops and driver discs

RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
edited February 2009 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
Is it true that new Lenovo laptops don't come with driver and Windows CDs? I bought a new one and it didn't come with one, so I went to the store again to retrieve them and the guy told me that they didn't come with them anymore. Is it true?

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  • RandomEngyRandomEngy Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I could see why they would leave out the driver disk if all of the drivers are available via Windows Update, but IMO you should get an OS CD for reinstallations. I don't know the specific Lenovo policies.

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  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    go to the website and download drivers. The Windows install files are usually located on a seperate partition of the hard drive.

    That's generally how it works now.

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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    The drivers on the disc that comes with your computer are outdated before you even open the box, so I'm not too broken up there, but the fact that computers these days don't come with OS installation discs pisses me right off.

    But then, I use Linux and get Windows for free (legally), so maybe I shouldn't worry.

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  • RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Daedalus wrote: »
    The drivers on the disc that comes with your computer are outdated before you even open the box

    Well, yeah. That's true. But still, it will be annoying if Vista doesn't come with the wifi network drivers if I have to format someday.

    Thanks.

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  • shadydentistshadydentist Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    My Dell didn't come with driver disks because it came with an automatic recovery partition, but Dell will ship you the driver disks for free if you ask.

    That's Dell though, I don't know what Lenovo does.

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  • EgoEgo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Acer likes including tools for burning your own installation cd and/or recovery cd, might be worth checking to see if Lenovo is doing that. Not near as good as getting a Vista disc with your purchase, but a lot better than ending up with a recovery partition and nothing else.

    Ego on
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  • RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Wait, Recovery Partition? I only see C: on My Computer.

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  • EgoEgo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Usually they're hidden so you won't see 'em in windows (you'll see 'em with a linux live-cd though,) typically you get into them on boot much like the BIOS.

    Ego on
    Erik
  • RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    So if I want to format I just have to start in safe mode or Linux?

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  • dguriondgurion Registered User new member
    edited February 2009
    Does it have any kind of prompt during the boot up process? Usually it'll say "Hit F2 for Recovery Mode" Or something along those lines.. And it'll automatically take you through the whole process.. A recent HP laptop that I was reinstalling had a separate recovery partition. You just hit a certain key during boot.. And thats it.

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  • RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Oh, that's just too awesome! By the way. If I use the original Win XP CD that came with my previous laptop on another computer to format it, will it cause trouble?

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  • syndalissyndalis Getting Classy On the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Products, Transition Team regular
    edited February 2009
    RockinX wrote: »
    Oh, that's just too awesome! By the way. If I use the original Win XP CD that came with my previous laptop on another computer to format it, will it cause trouble?

    yep. OEM copies are not meant to be transferred from machine to machine. they are tied to the original hardware.

    Some of them (dell, I am looking at you) go so far as to have edited files on them that will fail activation if the hardware profile is different from the machine it was tied to.

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  • RockinXRockinX Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Oh, that sucks. My last laptop was HP, though.

    Anyway, I tried going to the recovery partition and it looks like the lame recovery mode that Windows XP has.

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  • dguriondgurion Registered User new member
    edited February 2009
    The thing is.. With these newer laptops.. Sometimes its hard to find drivers for Windows XP, for all the different hardware.. If you want to try going to XP.. Then you will want to get drivers for everything first. I don't know about the XP cd that came with your old laptop.. But.. Technically it should work.. UNLESS as stated above.. The files were modified to only recognize a certain hardware profile..

    In the recovery option... Is there an advanced mode? I don't know about Lenovo's.. But.. On the HP laptop that had Vista on it.. It went to a graphical interface.. And the default option was to just do a system restore to a certain date.. And in the advanced part, it had the option to fully restore it to the factory setting.. Have no idea about Lenovo's..

    Which model is it? Have you tried looking on their website to see if they provide any information?

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  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Lenovos (ThinkPads anyway, I haven't used any other Lenovo laptop) allow you to burn a set of recovery CDs/DVDs that images a factory install. The tool should already be installed on the machine, under ThinkVantage -> Create Rescue and Recovery Media or similar. You can order a set of recovery discs from Lenovo, but that costs some $$$.

    It's their way of cheaping you out of actual recovery media or (God forbid) an actual OS disc.

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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Lenovos ship with a recovery partition, it's accessible when you hit the Thinkvantage button during bootup. This button's blue on ThinkPads and grey (I think) on their consumer line (N series, and now IdeaPad). I think this is a WinPE environment that lets you do backups or restores, or restore to factory image. As Zxerol said, once booted into Windows there's a ThinkVantage utility that lets you create the recovery discs. I'm not sure if when using these recovery discs on a new or newly formatted drive, if they will create the recovery partition.

    I got a free set of more recent recovery discs direct from Lenovo (still under warranty). Told them I upgraded my hard drive and could not perform recovery due to absence of the recovery partition. They sent me their current recovery media, which was nice cause it had SP1 baked in and my old recovery image did not.

    If you run Windows and drink the Lenovo KoolAid, then when doing a fresh install of Windows all you need is Network Drivers and ThinkVantage System Update. TVSU will let you download all the drivers for your system.

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  • exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully Employed Near Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    RockinX wrote: »
    Oh, that sucks. My last laptop was HP, though.

    Anyway, I tried going to the recovery partition and it looks like the lame recovery mode that Windows XP has.

    Most likely it's just a script that says "COPY THESE FILES HERE AND MAKE THE MBR RIGHT. OK DONE. ENJOY XP ON YOUR FORMATTED DRIVE HOPE YOU BACKED UP! :D"

    at least that's how recovery partitions were in the past (HP in particular).

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  • risumonrisumon Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    The Acer my dad bought recently was the same way. Had the tools to do a recovery though.

    Best buy guy tried to sell us a recovery disk for $60, but no thanks to that.

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