Rescue and Recovery problem!

Hey guys, its been a while. I've been pretty happy with my T61 overall, other than the occasional moving stuck pixel.

Anyway, to get right to the point, when I received my T61 back in July I decided to do a clean install of Windows XP (it came with Vista Home Premium). Of course, just to be safe, I made a backup copy of Vista using Rescue and Recovery.

Today, I suddenly got the urge to give Vista Home Premium a chance. So, I booted up my computer with the first recovery disc. The Rescue and Recovery screen appeared and presented me with tons of options.

I chose the "recover to factory installed state" option. Now, the problem is, a few seconds after the recovery process began, I got the following error message: " Product Recovery could not find file D:\Preboot\Utils\Convert.cmd"

I am at a complete loss here!!! I searched the forum but it seems nobody else has had this problem. If anybody has any ideas how to fix this please let me know. Thank you so much.

 

Your using the recovery discs or R & R?

 

Can you not just do a system restore off the hidden partition without using those backup discs?

 

Yes you can

 

I'm using the recovery discs. I tried booting from the 1st recovery disc and it just brought up the R & R menu

I believe i deleted the hidden partition when I did my clean install of XP. Is there any way I can check this just to be sure?

 

1. Press WINDOWS + R to open Run window
2. Type "diskpart" and press ENTER
3. Type "list disk" in command prompt and press ENTER
4. Select the main disk (usually the largest one).
For example, if your main disk is disk 0, type "select disk 0"
5. Once the disk is selected, type "list partition" and press ENTER

If, at this stage, only 1 partition shows, then you have indeed deleted your hidden partition. If 2 partitions are listed, (and assuming you have not created any yourself) then you have not & your hidden partition is still available.

 

Hi Guys,
I too am stuck with the same problem in my R61-Thinkpad. It came with Windows Vista Basic. I upgraded it to Vista Business. Everything was working on fine except when i felt the need for reinstallation. I prepared a Rescue & Recovery Disc for the same but the DVD-Disk was written only approx. 560MB or so. I felt something was wrong but now when i am trying to do the rescue & recovery after inserting the DVD Disc. Now after choosing the adequate options when i do the factory reinstallation it is showing as D:\preboot\utils\convert.cmd as missing. CAN ANYONE HELP IN THIS CASE ????? I have even downloaded the entire Rescue & Recovery from Lenovo Website but is also showing as an error 1370: Drive G error. Please help

 

I wish I could help you, but I actually get exactly the same error. In fact it happened to me just about 10 minutes ago.

After having installed a clean XP install I wanted to restore the Vista Business factory install again.

So I also booted the Startup disc and after having chosen to restore to full factory state I get the same error message:

"Product Recovery could not find file D:\Preboot\Utils\Convert.cmd"

It would be greatly appreciated if someone could shed some light on this.

 

After a clean install without delete the hidden partition (assuming the partition is still there but no ThinkAdvantage is installed), how should someone proceed to reinstall the original manufacture configuration? Downloading and installing first the ThinkAdvantage from Lenovo website?

 

As mentioned I have the same issue, but I think it might have something to do with the MBR (Master Boot Record).

Lets troubleshoot a bit here. These are the following things I can think of which might have affected the error:

- Installed Rescue and Recovery 4.1 some weeks ago
- Deleted the hidden factory partition prior to installing Windows XP
- Installed Windows XP
- Used Acronis True Image to make backup images of my XP install

I get the error when I use the first set of Recovery discs which I made when I just got my X61. At that time I believe the version of Rescue and Recovery was 4.0. I used a total of 3 DVDs to burn the Recovery discs.

After a while I updated Rescue and Recovery to version 4.1. I was then prompted to create new Recovery discs which I did. This time I only needed 2 DVDs. A message said that the first/old set of Recovery discs should be discarded.

The strange thing is this:

1. I can use the latest set of Recovery Discs (the 2 DVDs) to put back the system to factory state. Although for some odd reason, Rescue and Recovery seems to not be included in this 'new' factory state.

But then I get an error when using the ThinkVantage button at boot (using the newly installed hidden partition). I am told that Bootmgr is missing.
I want to use the hidden partition to recover the factory install, as I want to use a custom manifest file (eliminating most bloatware) which I created using the Base Software Administrator.

2. I then tried to install factory state using the old recovery discs. This is where the error pops up (the same error as the OP is experiencing).

At the end of the day I don't want to make a clean Vista install, but want to use the hidden recovery partition to recover to factory state - but using a base software administrator custom manifest file. I tried to deploy the manifest file directly from Base Software Administrator, only to get an error message stating that bmgr32.exe is missing.

So I would greatly appreciate if someone could assist here.

All of this has me wondering if the MBR has been damaged/changed and that I somehow need to restore/change the MBR back to pre-state. Any sound advice?

 

I have experience the same problem with the T61p and the ThinkVantage Recovery tools. Both 4.0 & 4.1 will produce the ill fated "Product Recovery could not find file D:\Preboot\Utils\Convert.cmd". In my case, I was wanting to save the image to change out the hard drive (80G @5400 to 200G @7200rpm). Hence, I needed the recovery on DVD instead of the hidden files on the HD.

HOWEVER, there is a fix!!! If you have experienced 4.0, it will burn 3 DVDs for you (or 1 Boot CD, and 2 DVDs); while a correct burn of 4.1 will burn you 4 DVDs labeled Start UP, 1C,2C, & C Final. If you have tried using 4.0 to rebuild the image, it will lead you through the menu tree to the point you are given the option of rebuilding to the "Factory" or "Customized Factory". Then leading you past the radial buttons to wipe your HD clean. After agreeing to all this, that is when you get the "Product Recovery could not find file D:\Preboot\Utils\Convert.cmd" statement.

How I got around this is by using ThinkVantage 4.1 tools. When booting up with 4.1 you will notice a new menu structure with two huge buttons, RESTORE, and BACKUP. With a small link down at the bottom to Advance. My most immediate reaction was......this is not the same as 4.0. I don't want a restore (thinking about the HIDDEN backup on the HD), nor do I want a Backup. Then clicking on the Advance link leads you to the same menu structure that was in 4.0. If you follow the same menu structure again as in 4.0 to "FACTORY" or "CUSTOMIZED FACTORY" rebuild, you will get the same results of "Product Recovery could not find file D:\Preboot\Utils\Convert.cmd". SOOOOOOO in 4.1 when you boot to first menu screen with the huge RESTORE and BACKUP button, click on RESTORE.. Then immediately you will notice a different procedure. Unlike your previous experience of continuing with the Start Up disk, it will ask you for "C FINAL" disk. It will then begin the imaging and restore process. It will ask you for each of the 4 DVDs during the process. When it finishes, remove the DVD and reboot. WALAH

I hope this helps.......as this posting was done on the my re-imaged T61p.

Regards,
jlsenter