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IBM support is heading down already!

post #1 of 15
4/5/05 at 10:04pm
Thread Starter 
First, a little background...

Thinkpads don't come with a set of recovery CD's; it's built into their recovery system and relies on a a hidden partition on the hard drive that contains an image of the original factory setup. They do allow you to create a set of recovery CD's using an option in the Start menu, but you can only build one set. After that, the option is disabled unless you restore the factory settings... then you can create another recovery CD set.

I don't want to get into an arguement regarding this setup; normally it works ok, but there are situations where it has completely backfired for me. Last fall my hard drive crashed on a T42p. I called for a replacement hard drive and unbelievably, there was none available. They said it could be a week to ten days before I rec'd my hard drive. So for $ 150 I bought one and because I had requested a set of recovery CD's withing 30 days of receiving my laptop, I was able to get back up and running within a day.

IBM's policy was that they would send you a set of recovery CD's if you called within 30 days of your purchase. I always called and got a set of recovery CD's.

I just received a T43 and wanted to upgrade the hard drive from the 80 gig Hitachi (with the clicking sound) to a 100 gig Seagate (without the clicking sound). I created a set of recovery CD's with the option in the Start menu using 1 CD-R and 1 DVD-R. Swapped the drives and attempted to setup the hard drive using the recovery CD's. No luck. Hung after it had been running for an hour. Re-booted and went into the recovery process and hung again. Finally gave up and re-installed the original hard drive.

I called today to get a set of recovery CD's. Well GUESS WHAT?

IBM has changed their policy and you can no longer get a set of recovery CD's free - THEY COST YOU $ 45 BUCKS for something that should come with the laptop. I explained all this to the tech today and they would not send me a set of recovery CD's without pay $ 45. That sucks big time.

As I explained to the tech, if the recovery CD's that I created would have worked, I wouldn't be calling. At least Dell provides you with recovery CD's with your laptop and doesn't waste your hard disk space with a hidden partition.

I've been using IBM's for the last 10 years, but the tide is turning and I'm going with the tide. My recommendation is NOT to buy an IBM laptop unless the recovery CD's come with it.

On top of all that, read this post in the www.thinkpads.com forum regarding recovery CD's.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic...ht=recovery+cd

Makes you wonder if IBM is doing this to squeeze a few extra bucks from its customers. If this was a Dell, at least I would have the option to return it for any reason under the sun.
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post #2 of 15
4/5/05 at 10:46pm
Actually it appears that Dell is not giving the CD's on the new computers either, check the Dell section for details. And they do put a recovery partition on the drives.
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post #3 of 15
4/6/05 at 7:10am
My HP came with two CDs, one system recovery disk and one drivers recovery disk. There was no recovery partition on the hard disk.

The best way to get a good start is to install Windows XP off a Microsoft CD, and then download drivers off IBM's website. If you have a Windows XP CD laying around, it might be worth the hassle.
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post #4 of 15
4/6/05 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Speedde423
Actually it appears that Dell is not giving the CD's on the new computers either, check the Dell section for details. And they do put a recovery partition on the drives.
So on a Dell how do you perform a recovery?
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post #5 of 15
4/6/05 at 8:02am
having the recovery info on a hidden partition is a lame excuse for not having a REAL recovery cd both windows image and driver disc, im never buying dell or ibm. IMO that is way to damn cheap

also that takes away HDD space which is also unacceptable, if i pay for a 60GB drive i want to USE it, not have half the drive tucked away being useless. also what if the HDD fails? how the hell do you use the recovery partition? idiots
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post #6 of 15
4/6/05 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjfcpa
So on a Dell how do you perform a recovery?
There is a way to access the recovery partition at startup. I've never had to use it, so I don't know exactly how, but it is a key combination. It may be Ctrl + F11, but I don't know for sure. It also appears that Dell includes a program that lets you make a recovery CD.

Luckily my computer was shipped with the XP CD, before Dell started that junk of not shipping CD's. So if need be I don't have to worry about that partition at all.

The recovery partition is nice to have, particularly if you happen to be on the road and XP crashes, but it should not be the only method for reinstalling the OS. I don't know about you, but I don't take system discs with me on road trips. It also can't be saving that much money for the companies, they still have to pay for the license, so why take the chance of losing customers.
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post #7 of 15
4/6/05 at 9:32am
Edit: Thought that previous post didn't make it.
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post #8 of 15
4/6/05 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
Quite honestly, if you're on the road and XP crashes and you need to setup XP again, you're probably going to need more than your OS. The IBM tech tried to use this BS with me and I told him it takes at least 4-6 hours to setup my laptop. It takes almost an hour and a half to sync from my other laptop to the new one using a network connection and Beyond Compare.

And if you're hard drive crashes, you're screwed big time!

I don't have a problem with their policy EXCEPT when their create recovery CD option fails, such as in my case. In that situation, they should immediately provide you with a set of recovery CD's. They didn't and I don't think it's right.
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post #9 of 15
4/6/05 at 9:56am
The Dell partition restores your computer to the condition it was new. Meaning you would have to go through setup again, but all of the drivers and such should be there. Your programs and files, however are history.

Another problem faced is if you decide to get a new HD. I don't have the option of Ghost or other programs to transfer files.
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post #10 of 15
4/6/05 at 11:31am
Did you call within 30 days of your purcahse? I think it only costs $45 after 30 days (which is still crap, BTW). This is only one of the reasons why I would not buy another IBM - I want my original CDs! Apparently, most of IBM's customers are too dumb to know how to install Windows. That, and ThinkPads are jam-packed full of proprietary junk that are just problems waiting to happen. IMO, other than build-quality, IBM ThinkPads went downhill a long time ago.
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post #11 of 15
4/6/05 at 10:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by epp_b
Did you call within 30 days of your purcahse? I think it only costs $45 after 30 days (which is still crap, BTW). This is only one of the reasons why I would not buy another IBM - I want my original CDs! Apparently, most of IBM's customers are too dumb to know how to install Windows. That, and ThinkPads are jam-packed full of proprietary junk that are just problems waiting to happen. IMO, other than build-quality, IBM ThinkPads went downhill a long time ago.
epp_b

I just rec'd my Thinkpad a week ago, so I was well within my 30 day purchase. I explained this in no uncertain terms, but the tech didn't want to pudge. I made a similar post on www.thinkpads.com and told him I wanted to send him an email regarding a comment by someone on that forum that stated there was a potential problem with some Thinkpads when trying to create your recovery CD's. He said if I sent him the link he would show it to his manager and maybe I would get some free CD's. I rec'd an email today from him stating that they were sending me some free CD's. Big deal... I should have gotten them with the laptop to being with.

Which begs the questions... if your laptop is out of warranty and your hard drive crashes and you don't have any recovery CD's; how much will IBM charge you for a set... $ 45 or $ 450?
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post #12 of 15
4/7/05 at 12:48am
I don't know, but that's ridiculous. You're paying for an OS, you should have received those discs in the first place [/RANT]

Since IBM will bundle a whole wack-load of bloatware (in the disks) that can only be removed via uninstall (and further mucking up your OS), I'd rather just buy a plain-old standalone OS disc.
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post #13 of 15
4/7/05 at 1:26am
I made my own XP disc last night for my T42, go here...
http://www.4saad.com/WhatsNew/Fresh_...tall/index.htm
it's real easy and once your done, you pop the disc in the drive and it loads Windows setup, just like any other XP CD.

I backed up all the IBM files that were on the C-Drive and now I'm going to delete the hidden partition and re-install Windows with no IBM software on it (except for the hard drive shock software) AND have my whole hard drive back (hidden partition = 5GB).
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post #14 of 15
4/7/05 at 2:38am
Wow! Does that actually restore a full, complete, stand-alone, no crapware loaded, simple plain...(OK you get the idea) Windows XP installation??
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post #15 of 15
4/7/05 at 12:52pm
I work for IBM, and would never buy one...they are fantastic machines, but way overpriced, and the whole concept of backing up your data on a different partition of the SAME harddrive is idiotic...

do keep in mind, that IBM sold it's PC business to an asian company named lenovo, and the discontination of restore CD's might hav been a decision they made, and not ibm...
i cant really confirm that tho..
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