Clean Install Guide (works for 32-bit or 64-bit)

Guide updated to include some specifics about backing up before clean install.

 

Hmmm... I just finished the procedure described here and... ABR did not restore activation as promised...

Here is the log from the ABR restore:

What did I do wrong?

Victor

 

Not sure what you mean.

It says "Activation has been restored" on the bottom. That's what you want, right?

 

Yes, that's what I want, but unfortunately when I go to Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System: It shows that Windows is not activated (30 days remaining).

Does this mean that ABR is buggy?

If so, why does it work for others and not for me?

BTW, another point where I noticed discrepancy between what you describe in your guide and what happened in my system is the part where you wrote:

I did have a recovery partition, but when I reaced that "Where do you want to install Windows", I saw only one partition and it was partition 2 (about 69GB).

This is weird. I panicked and restored to "factory installed state" - using the recovery media, because the recovery partition was somehow damaged in the process... It seems like everything that could go wrong went wrong in my case except... the recovery media: It turns out that the single DVD that I created before this entire adventure was sufficient to restore the system to the exact original state when I opened the box (and yes, control panel shows that Vista is activated - with the latest & greatest BIOS ver. 1.08).

So we have a positive confirmation here.

I am suspending clean install for now, until I understand why ABR failed in restoring activation.

Victor

 

Can we delete the recovery partition after the clean install...or is it best to do it before? Thanks

 

That's personal preference. I say "Yes". I don't need it. If I want to recover I'll just use the anytime upgrade disk and start all over. Or even better would be to use a program such as Acronis True Image.

^^^Question and Answer^^^

@VC6 - Not sure what to tell you my friend. My guess is you were kind of "panicked" through the whole thing and missed a step somewhere.

There is really no need for panic. Your system will not self destruct. I responded to your post in 7 minutes !!! You had 30 days until Vista would have expired. Until then you could have just followed the steps in post #76 to manually activate. Or you could have even went the telephone activation route.

Seriously if you just follow the steps including the prompts in the screen shots it works.

 

hey sorry if this was answered before but does this work for other laptops that arent lenovo?

 

Should work for all Vista systems. See "Credits" at the bottom of the guide and follow the link to Orev's Clean Install Guide. He made the ABR utility.

 

To see the recovery partition, right click "Computer," click Manage, click Disk Management, and you should be able to see Disk 0 with both the hidden recovery partition and the Primary partition with the OS.

After you have extracted the key code, if you wish, you can go ahead and delete the recovery partition through command "Diskpart." If you're going to delete the recovery partition, it would be a good idea to do this before you go ahead and do a clean install. That way you can delete the partition without having to use a 3rd party software later after the OS has been reloaded.

Edit: Please note that once you have done a clean install, you will not longer have access to the recovery partition without the 1st recovery disk. There seems to be a problem with the MBR sector of the hard disk once you do a clean install.

 

Delete it before since you have the choice. No harm done to delete it after though.

 

Actually, I performed every step very carefully. IMHO something in my system is different than the ones used so far for you process. Or... there is a bug in ABR.

I am not interested in manual activation. I really like the OEM one - which after performing the "restore to factory installed state (using only 1 DVD!) is back to normal. I guess that I will have to live with "unclean" installation until ABR exits the state of Beta.

Your procedure is fine. It's ABR that didn't do its job perfectly.

Regards,
Victor

 

vc6 - I sent you a PM.

Just so everyone knows. vc6 has a Lenovo 3000 N100 that he is trying to do a clean install. I don't know if anyone has tried the ABR utility on that model. I don't know of any reason why it shouldn't work, but we'll work through it.

Also, in response to him saying "I am not interested in manual activation. I really like the OEM one" It doesn't matter if you use the ABR or manual method. The end result is always an OEM activation. ABR backs-up the OEM activation BEFORE Vista is clean installed and restores the OEM activation AFTER. As stated in the Frequently Asked Questions on the bottom of the guide.

 

OK problem solved. I got a response back from Orev (the author of ABR utility). The ABR utility does not work when used with a DVD. vc6 was trying to use a DVD for the ABR utility. You need to use a USB, Internal Drive, or External Drive as it states in the guide. Folks... just use a USB drive. They are cheap and it's easy.

Orev is going to work on a new version of the utility that will work with CDs or DVDs. Until then, just use a USB drive. And all will be good. I will amend the guide to make it clear not to use a CD or DVD for the ABR utility.

 

Actually it's just going to yell at you if you try. There's no amount of bugfixing I can do be able to write to a DVD

 

Sorry if this has been answered before.

I have a t61 with DVD-ROM. Will borrowing a friend's external CD burner work ? And how many CDs will that take to make the recovery disks ?? Sounds like it will be almost 10..

Anyone have luck calling Lenovo and asking for the disks?

Thanks

 

Say is it possible to zip the stuff that's saved on the USB drive for future use?

(then unzip it back to the USB drive for a restore ?)



--

 

I have read that ittakes something like 10 CDs. I suppose that is fine, but it seems alot more practical to just use 1 CD for the first disk and 1 or 2 more DVDs for the second and third.

Not sure what "stuff" you are talking about. But I suppose just about anything can be zipped onto a USB drive.

 

I think the question being asked is if the Vista OEM activation can be extracted and then zipped and stashed for use later.

I am planning on doing this because while I want to use Vista x64, the applications that I am currently doing consulting work with only run on XP. So for the short term, I am planning on installing a licensed version of XP that I own. I would like to get Vista on the machine at a later date.

The other alternative would be to clean install Vista now running 4GB of ram and run a Virtual PC installation of XP for the specific work applications.

 

So my shinny new T61 came with vista home premium 32 bit and I'd like to do the clean install before I go ahead and put my primary os (64 bit linux baby!) on it.

I have time this weekend to do it, but no anytime upgrade dvd. I do however have a genuine vista home premium 32 bit oem cd here from another computer I built. Has anybody tried doing the the steps in the guide, but using a regular dvd of the same edition instead of the anytime upgrade dvd?

TIA all.

 

Actually, it seems that I have not explained well what I did: I did use the ABR utility to backup to C: (Internal Drive). Only after I did so, I burned that directory into a DVD. When attempting to restore, I copied it back to the internal drive. So, I did use ABR according to Orev's specs. In fact, even if I wanted to use ABR to directly copy to DVD, I don't think I would have been able to.

Thus, I don't think that the source of my problem has been found. At this point, unfortunately, I am giving up on clean install since it takes way too much of my time. My current solution is simply to uninstall all the bloatware/spyware/crapware that I don't need, including Lenovo "care" (care, yeah right).

When I get some available time I may actually explore this mystery and post back my findings, if I find any.

Thanks,
Victor

 

I would like to know as welll because I have a shine new OEM vista ultimate dvd...not the anytime upgrade one....does it still work the same?

 

I would think it wouldn't work. You'd need to use the vista ultimate key and activate, so just do a fresh install. You could get the home premium -> vista ultimate upgrade disc/key too, but I don't think that's much of a deal.

 

I have the vista ultmate key right underneath my sisters notebook...and it also came with the oem dvd...is that the same thing as using a anytime upgrade?

 

The 32bit retail Vista discs are identical to the anytime upgrade dvd, and I mean identical, down to the bit. The only difference when you buy them is the license key you type in which unlocks the other features. If you want 64 bit Vista, that's on another disc though.

 

Ahh perfect. I just looked at the actual disc for this oem home premium copy I have and it says "Includes anytime upgrade". I'll be doing the clean install tomorrow then.

Thanks much.

 

I believe so. But, if your sister activated her ultimate install, you won't be able to use that key.

 

I've never installed chipset drivers before... someone helpe me pleaes?

If I'm not doing a clean install right now is it still worth it for me to update the chipset drivers? I'm confused about which file to download, should I be downloading the second file, labeled INF update utility??

 

This may be a stupid question...but what kind of DVD's do you have to buy to make the recovery disks? Aren't there like 5 different types or does it not matter?

Also how much space do you need in the USB drives for the drives? I only have a 64MB one...will I need more?

Also, is it true that one can upgrade a 32 bit Vista Home Premium system to a 64 bit Vista Home Premium system with the Anytime Upgrade DVD?

 

Yes, absulutely you can save it for future use. It's small so no need to zip it.

Yes, an OEM disk is perfectly fine.

 

awesome!!!!

 

Yes. I take it you still have Lenovo System Updater installed on your notebook? If so, when you run System Updater, does the new chipset drivers show up? You can just install it that way. Make sure you backup your data/drive before you do the new install just in case. Good luck.

The ABR utility takes a little over 4mb's of space. The swtools folder is just over 1GB's, right around 1.1GB's. Just backup the ABR utility to the flash drive and use an external USB drive for the rest. Good luck.

 

A question: I know thinkpads come with software that allow you to do a custom reinstallation of Vista. In what way is the method described in this guide cleaner than just using the ThinkVantage software?

 

can we sticky this thread

 

Well it's cleaner just because it completely reformats (or cleans) the hard drive of all data during the process. Just before the anytime upgrade disk starts to install file it will wipe it clean. There is nothing on the drive. THEN it installs nothing but Vista and whatever you choose.

Custom reinstall? (or Base Administrator utility) Well first of all it is a third party utility. I try to stay away from anything I feel is not necessary. Secondly you have to trust it to do the work for you. Many people have used it and are happy with it. There have been some. I think someone even posted in this thread saying they continued to have freezes and BSODs even after using Base Administrator, but using this method of clean install resolved those issues.

The way I see it. This method of clean install it how most power users choose to clean there new systems. It's a tried and true method. It doesn't take that long. It's not like you'll be doing it everyday. I think the end result is worth it.

There are certainly other options. The choice is yours.

 

So just so i understand:

The backup-cert.xrm-ms will be the same for all T61 and the only thing that will change is the KEY depending on the version installed ?



--

 

The key is different and it determines what version of Vista you have (basic, premium, business, ultimate...). The install disk determines 32-bit vs. 64-bit. I'm pretty sure that the cert is the same on all.

 

The drivers I'm installing aren't doing anything... like the wireless drivers don't show up in the start menu and I can't access anything. I'm new to vista... so am I doing something wrong?

 

i have n100

now im in vista installation windows
i have recovery partition

now only i can see (((disk 0 partition 2 SW_preload )))

what can i do ? i dont want to remove the recovery partition


also i dont understand when you say

(((Matrix Storage Manager Driver Download from Lenovo. Do not download and install this driver from Intel.)))

do i need to download this ? and where ?
becuase i cant find any matrix driver in this page
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...ind=0&operatingsystemind=343518&validate=true
please can you tell me all driver that i need to download from the page above


this my laptop N100
description:

T2350(1.86GHz), 1GB RAM, 120GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1280x800 LCD, Intel 950, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Home Premium

 

You are probably doing a few things wrong. Vista doesn't make this as simple as it should be.

First - right click on the downloaded file then click "run as administrator".

Second - read the "read me" file for the installation instructions. Many of these drivers require you to go to start -> programs -> accessories -> run -> then type in the file path (ie C:\DRIVERS\WIN\VIDEO\SETUP.EXE)

Third - right click on that file (often a setup.exe file) and select "run as administrator".

I am going to update the guide to make this more cleat when I get a chance.

EDIT: I forgot "accessories" in the file path... corrected.

 

I am unfamiliar with the n100. As soon as I get a chance I will do my best to answer your question.

 

Thank you.. Finall got ahold of a vista disc and I used this to get my partitions in line (worst part about lenovo's backup discs) and a fresh install.

Now that I've got everything fixed up, can anyone recommend a way to image my drive? I dont' EVER want to go through this again Does lenovo have free imaging software that I would've had on my preinstall?

 

i got my anytime upgrade disc from compusa.......i just ordered it bcoz i dint want to burn 6-7 cds.......now that i have the disc ..what should i do ..

 

Use the built in Complete PC Backup feature that is built into Vista.

 

Built in? No crap, thanks for letting me know

 

The one drawback is that yo cannot restore individual files but it does create an image that you can use to go back restore your complete system. Also, you can choose to backup/restore multiple partitions individually or in tandem. It is actually a very nice addition.

 

Vista has a built in backup/restore option that lets you either backup an 'image' of your computer...or just back up the files...it's neat!

 

I was logged in as admin when installing the drivers, and pretty much followed the steps you outlined, but still couldn't get it to work (the installing driver dialog would come up and then disappear).

I gave up trying to get the wireless software to work (everything prior to that step worked fine btw), and tried to install Access Connections to have that manage wireless instead... but I ran into a problem where it said I was missing a .dll file... which was supposed to be a part of .NET Framework, which is supposed to be a part of Vista already. Long story short I ended up using Lenovo System Update to install Hotkey, Access Manager, and the registry updates. After that wireless was fine, and I could switch Bluetooth on to install the drivers for it. System seems okay so far... still have a lot of hard drive activity, but the amount of running processes reduced greatly!

 

Sorry I didn't get back to your earlier on this. Ye, I have discovered that for some reason in order to get bluetooth to be recognized and function "Access Connections" must be installed. BUT the good news is that bluetooth will remain active even after Access Connections is removed. Personally I don't like access connections; I'm perfectly happy with windows built-in wireless management. So you can go to control panel - remove software - Access Connection and get rid of access connections now (if you choose) - During uninstall it will ask if you something like "Do you want to removed access connections and all of it's ... (?profiles? maybe). Anyway, just remove Access connections and leave the other. It will be obvious when you see it. Bluetooth WILL remain!!!

 

Stallen,

Did you find a fix for R&R boot up for Vista x64? I'm not able to boot into R&R anymore upon startup. When I press the ThinkVantage button, it just goes to the boot up dialog.

 

In all honesty I don't use R&R and I don't have a "hidden partition". I'm not sure how to set that up. I haven't really looked into it. I'd rather be able to use that hard drive space.

I tend to think that if I need to rescue and recover I can redo the clean install and use DVDs or an external drive for backing up files. But, I am also looking into programs such as Acronis True Image.

To be honest what I am most interested in right now is Vista's built in recovery program. (Located here: start->programs->accessories->backup status and configuration). It looks like it would serve the same purpose (you can image the entire system or just back-up files), but I haven't had a chance to look at it in depth.

This probably doesn't answer your question... if you find an answer please let me know and I'll add the information to the guide.