Lenovo needs to get their helpdesk straightened out

[wkw]

So, a short story, and part of me venting.

I bought a T530 two weeks ago, and it came with windows 8. I got 8, not because I wanted to use it, but because it was $15 less then the exact same thing with windows 7 on it.
Before I bought it, I used the live sales chat and made sure that I would be able to put windows 7 on it. They said yes, I could.

Fast forward to yesterday, I unboxed the laptop, and went about trying to find out how to make recovery media. I google to no avail.
I cave and decide to cal tech support.

They say that
*There is no way to make recovery media on a windows 8 laptop
*That there is no way to boot into another OS
*That there is no way to install another OS

I'll take what they said on point 1 as truth. I could not find anything that would let me burn a factory restore disk.

Point 2 is UTTER BS. There is an option in the bios that allows you to disable secure boot.
Point 3 is BS as well. The fact I am halfway through installing 7 serves as proof of that.


Now, I have a windows 7 laptop and a windows 8 OEM key. Woohoo. Should have asked for a refund because Sales apparently mislead me (If I were to be a sucker and believed tech support)

[emtee3511]

So you had to purchase Windows 7 to install on your brand new T530? It had to cost more than the $15 Lenovo wanted to replace W8 with W7. Did Lenovo tell you why W7 cost more? What a mess

[Cigarguy]

That's pretty bad. I agree with your assessment.

Personally I'd just pull the HDD out, save it for the day you sell it then pop in a SSD. If it came with a SSD, clone it to a HDD, put it aside in case you want to restore it, then load whatever you want on it.

[wkw]

I really didn't ask about why the win8 cost less then the win7, but I didn't think there would be an issue.

I don't have another drive or a SSD that I could put in there yet.

I plan on getting on the phone and asking tech support to send me factory restore disks. But, the tech said that if there was an issue, that they would replace the drive.
Makes no sense. I just want the bloody restore disks

[wkw]

I explained the situation, and made a fib that the license I was going to use for win 7 was used by me already, and they said they would send me windows 7 factory disks.
They also said they do not make windows 8 recovery disks, and that actually deleting the recovery partition is a violation of the warranty, but the guy who I talked to was understanding about it and hooked me up either way.

So, I pressured the tech I was connected with for his manager's email, and told the manager he was helpful, and said tech aught to get some cake.




Someone aught to make it noted that Lenovo doesn't make or provide factory restore disks for windows 8, and that the user can not make windows 8 factory restore disks.

[Cigarguy]

That is crap. Lenovo need not make or provide discs. All they need to do is allow the consumer to burn it themselves.

[ajkula66]

... and that actually deleting the recovery partition is a violation of the warranty...

If Lenovo has support telling customers that, someone must be really hellbent on destroying *everything* a ThinkPad was known for...

[bill bolton]

someone must be really hellbent on destroying *everything* a ThinkPad was known for...

Microsoft has changed the rules for Win 8 at a number of levels in respect of the Windows eco-system, and it effects ALL vendors, so just make sure your ire is correctly aimed!

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Cigarguy]

Microsoft has changed the rules for Win 8 at a number of levels in respect of the Windows eco-system, and it effects ALL vendors, so just make sure your ire is correctly aimed!

Cheers,

Bill B.

If that's the case then why don't Lenovo just come out and say so. A simple, "We can't provide you with recovery disk as this would violate Micorsoft's agreement...." would be suffice.

[ajkula66]

Straight from Lenovo, when this thread was brought up to their attention:



It sounds like the customer received bad info from the phone support folks. Below is the situation with creating recovery media on Win8:

How to create recovery drive in Win8:

1. Open the Start screen

2. Type "create recovery"

3. "Create a recovery drive" appears in the list of results, under "Settings" (or simply run RecoveryDrive.exe)

4. Follow on-screen instructions.



Notes:

A. RecoveryDrive.exe is a native Win8 tool. It works in conjunction with the recovery partition that is installed at the Lenovo factory.

B. The recovery partition can be deleted after making the recovery drive (in fact RecoveryDrive.exe prompts you to do this at the very end of the process).

C. It is only possible to create the recovery media to USB memory key that is 8GB or larger. CD/DVD is not an option for Win8. The majority of Win8 systems do not have CD/DVD.

D. It is still possible to order factory recovery media (e.g. for HDD replacements) that will come on a set of 3 DVDs.....

[Radioguy]

C. It is only possible to create the recovery media to USB memory key that is 8GB or larger. CD/DVD is not an option for Win8. The majority of Win8 systems do not have CD/DVD.

Is MS doing backdoor deals with SanDisk? DVD media is still far more affordable than 8GB+ flash drives. Also, last I checked, DVD-RW, if not BD-RW, drives were still a standard.

[bill bolton]

Also, last I checked, DVD-RW, if not BD-RW, drives were still a standard.

Systems with writable optical drives are down to about ~50% of all new mobile computer sales, and the precentage is continuing to fall.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Radioguy]

I'd like to see where you're getting that figure.

If you are including ultralight laptops, then that's an obvious trend. My mind was centered on desktops, which I feel 8 is far from ideal for. Yet, a quick review of most desktops at Lenovo show a default optical drive, and most looked to be recordable, but that was just at a glance.

However, even if you cite some article that supports that figure, my incredulous joke becomes a little more believable. It's almost as if MS is attempting to drive a nail into the coffin of recordable optical media by this move.