worth deleting the recovery partition on T61?

I only use linux, so ordered with Vista Basic, and plan on removing it as soon as it comes. I therefore have no use for ever using the recovery partition

I've read that people still warn not to delete the hidden partition as it contains more than just the recovery partition. Stuff like diagnostics etc..

can't you get a diagnostic CD like Dell does and do it that way?
i'd kinda like to save a few GB of extra space

your thoughts ?

 

I burned the Recovery Media via the OS ThinkVantage Program (takes up 1 CD and 2 DVDs) and then deleted the hidden partition (restore partition).

It is just under 7gb on my 80gb drive. Since you are getting the 160gb drive you might just want to keep it for safe keeping, but there really is no NEED that I could see.

I did do a totally fresh install of Vista Home Premium with just the drivers on their site and I could get everything I needed Only thing is a few things like the Fingerprint software and Power Manager were not listed under T61...had to search under T60 to get them. But no problem as the apps missing were universal.

Is what I do then is make a Ghost Image of the Drive (after I did a fresh install) (you need to have Symantec Ghost) that I can later use as a recovery if I so need it. and the nice thing is that it is a recovery that I made, so no bloatware and all settings how I want them to be intially

 

which version of Ghost do you use? My old version ghost has problem in writing DVD...

 

Ghost 11.

You also need the newer ghost to be able to image a Vista partition.

Is what I do is make the image, copy it over to an external HDD, bring it to my other machine, make a Ghost Bootable ISO, then edit the ISO and add in the Image file (Ghost does not let you make the ISO with the image file already in it, at least if it does I have not found that feature). Then I have 1 DVD that will boot up to ghost and has the image file right on it.

My image file with High Compression, Vista Home Premium, and all thinkvantage/drivers was right around 3.8gb.

 

but what about diagnostics
is there a way to do them once you've deleted the partition?

 

Great! Thanks,Grentz!

 

Is there anyway you can restore your computer from that backup stored on your external hard drive? Assuming the computer crashed and can no longer start up.

 

Hey syxbit, I only use linux too. Is there any chance you tried to call Lenovo and get a refund on the windows license? It says in the agreement that if you disagree with the terms of the agreement, you may return it to the software vendor for an applicable refund. Just curious if you'd heard of this or tried!

Check out http://community.linux.com/community/07/01/03/227237.shtml?tid=12

 

i don't think it's worth the effort.
so does anyone know about running diagnostics, or what else the hidden partition is needed for?

 

This so called hidden partition, is it hard to find? Tell me how.

As i speak its almost finishing complete recovery backup dvds.

 

i would like to know that too.

 

Wheres the partition? If i delete this will i be able to use my recovery disc after.

 

If you are talking about me, yes there is. I use ghost which is a self booting software package that I can restore the image I made with it back to the machine.

Only diagnostics I have heard of running from the recovery partition are the PCDoctor things (stupid for power users) and some sort of web browser thing. Overall I have been building my own machines for years so I do not really require any of the diagnostic stuff, but who knows, the normal consumer may want to keep that stuff if it is there (never really checked to be honest)

You will not be able to find it with windows or most normal programs. You will need a partition manager like Partition Magic or Acronis. If you are a power user and like freebies you can also use the UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD) ( http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/). There are a few very rough dos partitioning apps on there that can work to remove the partition (thats what I used).


Also my trial of putting Ghost and the Ghost image on the same disk did not work out. It got corrupted some how. So I guess I will have one Disk with the Image and one with Ghost itself (2 total disks) to do my own customized recovery

 

Some people have been successful at getting their license revoked and a refund. See the following story on Slashdot:

http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/05/1946215

This specific case was with Dell but I think getting a refund requires similar steps, no matter who manufactured the machine.

One thing you should think about however: if you bought the machine with Windows installed, the manufacturer might expect you to have Windows on the machine when you call them for service. Sometimes it does not matter (e.g. if the problem is clearly and immediately diagnosed as faulty hardware) but sometimes it does. If the CSR at the other end of the line asks you to perform a series of tasks to diagnose the problem and if he insists that it can only be performed with Windows, you are screwed if you only have Linux installed. As much as I hate this state of affairs, that's the reality we have to deal with. That's why I'm likely to avoid manufacturers that force-feed Windows down the throat of all their customers for my next laptop.