Sending T410 in for repair - advice please

My T410 suffers from the widely known "CPU whine" issue.
I've tried to identify the cause as per Lenovo advice here, but neither option gets rid of the noise, so I intend on ringing up support and asking for them to take it in for repair/replacement. I have nearly 18mths left on the warranty.

I just want advice on whether I need to put the laptop back to factory specs before sending it in? At the moment I'm dual-booting Win7 Pro 64bit and Linux Mint 12. The laptop originally came with Win7 Pro 32bit.
I have recovery discs for this so can put it back to that without too much hassle, although I'd rather not bother tbh. Will they tell me my warranty is invalid if I send it back the way it is?

One thing I'm not sure about is another "fix" that I've done to the computer. It had really creaky palmrests and I've sellotaped cardboard beneath both sides to mitigate the issue. Should I take these out, and ask them to fix that as well? Or leave as is? Do I risk them telling me the warranty is invalid if I leave the cardboard in place?

 

If I recall you don't need to send the hard drive along with the system for service, you can take it out of the system. I remember when I taken my T420 in for service they give you a sheet stating what items you're sending in (i.e. Power Adaptor, DVD Drive, Battery etc.) and you tick whatever is relevant before you send it away.

As for the creaky palmrest, I take out the cardboard and request a service on that too. Lenovo should be able to take care of that issue for you since the system is in warranty anyway.

 

Thanks, that really helps

 

If I were to send in a laptop, I'd assume they'd wipe it. If the hard drive isn't the problem, I'd pull it.

 

Don't send anything into EZServ that isn't part of the problem.

 

I would never send a drive with personal data on it.

 

When you get it back, make sure everything is 100%. Make sure the whine is gone, no physical damage, and the correct components are inside the laptop.

I also sent my x100e for a "CPU'' whine as well and they ended up putting a new fan in it. Just make it 100% clear what the problem is so you don't end up like me.

 

You can choose to send it back in without your hard drive, but if you send it in with the hard drive, you recognize that they may have to wipe it to fix the problem, so its your responsibility to back up your data.