Created restore DVDs, they aren't bootable?

I have a T520. Had it for a few months. I've been having issues after updating my video drivers to beta versions (pixelated boxes on the screen and such). I tried to uninstall the beta drivers and reinstall the factory ones, but it still isn't right.

When I first got the T520, I ran the recovery DVD burning program, which made three recovery DVDs (which I labeled correctly) and one "boot disk."

I went to restore my drive to it's factory state and the restore DVD #1 will not boot. I have my DVD drive set to first boot in BIOS and even trie to force it by pressing F12 on boot. Nothing works - it just boots right into Windows every time.

Why is this happening? The restore discs created successfully and I didn't use RW discs. This is irritating.

Also tried "legacy" and "UFEI" (and both) in BIOS and it still doesn't work.

The discs appear to not be bootable and I don't know why. I followed the creation steps using the Lenovo software exactly as instructed.

 

I have two suggestions because I have seen something similar pretty recently. First of all, press F1 when you power on and go into the BIOS. Press F9 to reset all of the settings to their defaults then save and exit.

When it reboots again, press F12 when you see the Lenovo logo so it will present the boot device list. Select the CD/DVD from that list and attempt to boot from the optical media.

If that doesn't work, it's probably the media.

 

Didn't work, but thanks. Looks like the media is faulty. Nice.

Now I have to call Lenovo and beg for DVDs. Awesome.

 

You could always do a clean install: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/642274-hearsts-guide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

EDIT: Do Thinkpads have a recovery partition as well?

 

Yeah, I am currently running a clean install and I think that's what is causing issues. System update updates won't install (says I need Windows 7, which I'm running...). Also, speccy (a program that shows specs) reports "illegal vendor ID" on several components. Not sure if these issues are related to my clean install?

Something just doesn't "feel right" and I want to go back to the stock Lenovo build.

Thinkpads do normally have a recovery partition, but I did Hearst's clean install on a new 750gig Hybrid drive, so there is no partition - just pure, clean, licensed Win7 Professional.

 

Called Lenovo. 1 minute after describing the issue, free restore discs are being overnighted to me. Can't ask for any better service!

 

What about a secure way to download the .ISO images and burn them right now?

 

I'm listening. Do you have a link? It's 64-bit Win7 Professional.

 

Windows 7 SP1 .ISO images have been publicly available. The 64-bit Pro English version is here.

Either that, or I'm missing something.

 

No, you said "can't ask for any better service". I suggested better service. I have actually formally requested the feature for support.lenovo.com. It has not been implemented yet.

Sorry, didn't mean to get your hopes up.

 

I was looking for a factory Lenovo restore image (downloadable). I honestly think my issues are due to the clean install I did with Windows (maybe I have voices in my head....) so I want to use the factory build from Lenovo. I know it's nothing more than Win7 slipstreamed with Lenovo's recovery and drivers, but I'd like to use the official disc image in an attempt to avoid the issues I've been having. Semantics, maybe, but this clean install seems to feel "off" for some reason.

No worries. Hopes weren't too high...the recovery discs will be here by Tuesday :hi2: