ThinkVantage Update Retriever

Hi,
I am having some trouble getting the ThinkVantage Update Retriever to Get New Updates.
Update Retriever is installed on a Win2k3 machine. When I run the program straight after its been installed the "Get New Updates" link is greyed out(disabled) and it sends me to the Import Updates Screen.
I have uninstalled it serveral times and reinstalled but it never gives me the First Time Setup screen.
When I uninstalled it I removed any left over registry entries to do with lenovo\thinkvantage. I have deleted all files in Program Files and I couldnt find any in %appdata%.
I guess my question is how do I start this program from scratch and run through the First Time Setup wizard, enabling Get New Updates.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Loris

 

Well, maybe someone else can give you a more direct answer, but...

Why not just go the the Lenovo Support and Downloads pages and update your laptop yourself. You don't need Thinkvantage update to do the job for you when you can make sure it is done properly yourself.

 

Hmm, this is not just for me its for 600+ users.
In the past we had it running on a win2k3 server with no problems supporting 4 machine types.
User would connect to a local repository so that we could push out updates from lenovo we approved. Basically so each user didnt re-download the same updates and also to allow only certain updates on our network. Much like windows update (WSUS).
Ever since we've switched to a different win2k3 server the above issue has arised.

Loris

 

bump, surely someone knows something about this

 

Hi Loris

Did you find a solution to this, I have the exact same problem when installing Update Retriever on non-Lenovo-products.

 

Nope, ive been trying all week and cant get it to first time install still.
Ive tried several reg cleaners, but no go

 

Loris,

we experience exactly the same problem over here. We tried everything. Reinstall, uninstall, clean install on different OS without success.

Nils

 

why don't you try calling lenovo support

 

I have done this already three month ago, no one replied to my request.

 

"No one replied" ??? They have to reply if you call them. If they said they would call you back, then call them again.

If you contacted them via e-mail you'll never get anywhere that route. Persistence!

However, I still say the best way of making sure you have properly installed drivers is to go to the Driver Matrix Page and look at the dates and install the most recent drivers. Even on 600 laptops... at least they would have been installed by now instead of fumbling around with ThinkVantage System Update. Besides, I doubt that all 600 computers are having issues. People often get hung up on having the latest drivers even when their system is running perfectly fine. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Drivers do not "expire". Just because a driver is "old" doesn't mean that it can't function perfectly fine for the life of the machine. The only need to install new drivers is if it specifically fixes an issue you are having. Just my .02

 

I am having the same problem with about 2000+ laptops to deploy system update on.

One of two things I am noticing that may be at the root of this problem:

1. Are you running update retreiver on a non-Lenovo system?
2. Did you upgrade from an old version of upate retreiver?

Stallen, it's not just about making sure everybody has the "latest" drivers, it's more about streamlining the imaging and deployment process and making sure all the laptops have the "same" drivers and software installs. Working properly, this software would be invaluable to any large corporation deploying Lenovo systems.

 

1. Yer, update retriever is running on a virtual 2k3 server at the moment.
2. Yes it was an update. But I have created a new virtual server identical to the one I have been using and done a clean install of update retriever and still I am unable to get new updates.

I've had to resort back to using a much earlier 2006 version of update retriever to get it to work properly. Unforntunately there is no Vista support on it.

The thing is we've already modified the registry on an image we create for our lenovo\ibm laptops to point at this 2k3 server. So it really isnt an option to install it on a different server with a different o\s or configuration. This server also has other services installed so it cannot be re-built.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. Lenovo released a new version not to long ago 24-10-07 I believe but it still won't work properly.

 

I am now %99 sure it's that it is because it is not running on a Lenovo system. When installing you will notice that it tries to install some sort of SM Bios driver. If you look at the logs under it's program files, there is an entry that says: Severe: Non Think/Lenovo system.

I am in the same boat as you are as I cannot continue to run this thing on a laptop and have no IBM servers. I have also found that the older version of update retriever does not seem to find all the available updates as this one does.

I am planning on attending this free workshop and hope to get some answers there:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/training/tzi317.html

 

Also, regarding your problem in setting the server in your image... If you are using A/D and Group Polices, Lenovo supplies an ADM file that makes it very easy to apply a policy to change the location on your entire domain.

 

Yer when i first started using and retriever I tried the ADM. I set all the required values and scheduled it to go off at a certain time. But it just never worked when I tested it. So I just ended up editing the registry.
If we ever get the latest version working which is currently 24-10-07 I will give the ADM another go.