[PKApprentice]

Hey,

I have a lenovo XP that used to be a vista. I need to perform a system restore, but I don't have a restore disk. Is there any way to system restore without a restore disk? Model number (I'm pretty sure) is MT-M: 6305-V1U

I DO have an XP restore disk for a Dell. Could I use this restore disk on the Lenovo?

Thanks for your help!

PKApprentice

Edited by PKApprentice, 19 June 2012 - 01:21 PM.

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Welcome to Geeks to go
The short answer is NO

What is the problem please

To eliminate confusion - system restore is the use of a restore point establ;ished within windows to restore to an earlier date

System recovery is either the use of a partition on the HDD to recover, either a soft recovery which is in effect a reload of windows or a complete recovery which formats the C partition and reloads to factory condition. Not all recovery partitions offer the soft recovery option

[Macboatmaster]

Welcome to Geeks to go
The short answer is NO

What is the problem please

To eliminate confusion - system restore is the use of a restore point establ;ished within windows to restore to an earlier date

System recovery is either the use of a partition on the HDD to recover, either a soft recovery which is in effect a reload of windows or a complete recovery which formats the C partition and reloads to factory condition. Not all recovery partitions offer the soft recovery option

[PKApprentice]

There's no real problem. I am attempting to give away a group of Lenovo computers that our office no longer needs to a charity. The charity needs to have computers that already have an operating system installed, and the office wants to ensure that all the data is completely gone before we give the hardware away. There are no restore disks for the computers, and they had been upgraded a few years ago.

I thought the best action to take was to restore them to original factory settings.

Can you think of any options. Thank you again for your help.

[Ztruker]

I have used Dell Recovery CDs to load non Dell systems. As long as they are both OEM versions of the same type, Home or Pro and you have a valid OEM (not retail) CD key then it will (probably) work. If there are any differences then it will not work.

Try one, nothing to lose.

[Macboatmaster]

When I asked what is the problem I was meaning that it may have been worthwhile trying to fix - whatever error was causing problems - before the drastic step of a recovery

Of course we now know the situation.

I am attempting to give away a group of Lenovo computers that our office no longer needs to a charity. The charity needs to have computers that already have an operating system installed, and the office wants to ensure that all the data is completely gone before we give the hardware away. There are no restore disks for the computers, and they had been upgraded a few years ago.

With respect this vital information, had it have been included in your opening post, would have enabled us to reply with more meaningful advice.

Some branded computers come with a recovery partition on the hard drive, depending on how XP has been installed this may still be there.

Also depending on how confidential the information on the computer, there is little to beat a complete format of the HDD.

You could of course do this and install Ubuntu - completely free and free software - as much as most people need.

An examination of the HDD in computer management may well reveal if the recovery partition is still there.

Ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop


and of course as my colleague Ztruker has said

[Macboatmaster]

PKApprentice

I wondered how you progressed with these computers for the gift to the charity