Lenovo ThinkVantage (Rescue and Recovery 4.5)- User Manual

Preface Information presented in this guide is to support Lenovo computers installed with the ThinkVantage®Rescue and Recovery® program. The Rescue and Recovery program is an essential tool that enables users and administrators to restorebackups, access files, diagnose problems, and make Ethernet co...

Chapter 1. Overview The Rescue and Recovery program represents a unique combination of ThinkVantage Technologies. Thisintegrated application provides a suite of powerful tools that can be used even if the Microsoft Windowsoperating system will not start. The Rescue and Recovery program has the follo...

– Open browser: Starts the Opera Web browser (Web or Intranet access requires a wired Ethernet connection). – Download files: Allows you to download needed files to the partition in the \SWSHARE folder in the Windows partition. – Map network drive: Helps users access network drives for software down...

Chapter 2. Installation Prior to installing the Rescue and Recovery program, you can customize the Rescue and Recovery XMLfile for your enterprise and then deploy it to client systems. The XML file packaged with the Rescue andRecovery program is named rnrdeploy.xml. Once the XML file is customized a...

the readme file. The Readme file contains up-to-the-minute information on software versions, supportedsystems, system requirements, and other considerations to help you with the installation process. Installation requirements This section addresses system requirements for installing the Rescue and R...

• For installation target directory paths that do NOT contain spaces, use the following command line as an example: setup.exe /a /s /v"/qn TARGETDIR=F:\TVTRR" • For installation target directory paths that contain spaces, an escape character '/' must be placed preceding the double-quoted tar...

Table 1. Examples of running Setup.exe (continued) Description Example Perform silent administrative installation specifying theextract location for the Rescue and Recovery program. setup.exe /a /s /v”/qn TARGETDIR=”F:\TVTRR”” Perform silent uninstallation. setup.exe /s /x /v/qn Perform installation...

Windows Installer looks for a .tvt file with a compatibility code (for example: AA, AB) that is equal tothe minimum version compatibility code and a level that is greater than the current version level (allother version fields in the .tvt filename must match the minimum version exactly). If it does ...

Table 3. (continued) Property Description EMULATIONMODE Specifies to force the installation in Emulation modeeven if a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) exists. SetEMULATIONMODE=1 on the command line to install inEmulation mode. HALTIFTPMDISABLED If the TPM is in a disabled state and the installationis ...

Image creation Table 6. X:\PQ\PQIMGCTR / CMD=X:\PQ\RRUSAVE.TXT /MBI=1 / IMG=X:\IMAGE.PQI Script language Result SELECT DRIVE 1 Selects the first hard disk drive. X:\PQ\PQIMGCTR Creates the image program. /CMD=X:\PQ\RRUSAVE.TXT PowerQuest script file. /MBI=1 Captures the Rescue and Recovery Boot Mana...

Compatibility with BitLocker To achieve compatibility with BitLocker Drive Encryption, it is recommended to install the Rescue andRecovery program to your operating system after the partitions are properly set up with the MicrosoftBitlocker Drive Preparation Tool. When setting up the BitLocker parti...

2. When restoring a system that is using Windows 7 and BitLocker, a message will display, indicating that there was an error at shutdown. The message can be ignored and everything should operate normally. 3. For OEM or non-Lenovo standard preload systems, you need to suspend the encryption of the Wi...

Chapter 3. Configurations This chapter provides information that you will need to configure the Rescue and Recovery program foryour enterprise. Within this chapter, you will find the following topics: • “XML and ADM file configurations” on page 13 • “Recovery methods” on page 13 • “Backups” on page ...

File rescue File rescue used before restore, prompts the user for the backup storage location and then the user selectsa backup. The Rescue and Recovery program will display the files that the current user is authorized toaccess. The user then selects the files, folders, or both to be rescued. Exclu...

Note: Do not power off your computer during this operation. e. Click OK . A progress bar is displayed. You can add custom tasks to run either before or after a rejuvenation. See the ThinkVantage Technologies XML/ADM Supplement for the rejuvenation settings. Note: Some operating system settings are s...

• Required components are always installed upon recovery. • Optional components are displayed for the user on the Base Software Selector menu. • Restricted components are not installed upon recovery, and are not displayed to the end user. Manifest files Customizing the recovery process is controlled...

Table 10. Network settings (continued) Setting Windows control file keyword Description Domain administrator DomainAdmin= Sets the domain administrator for thecomputer. Domain administrator password DomainAdminPassword= Sets the domain administratorpassword for the computer. Advanced settings are us...

Scheduling backups and associated tasks The scheduler is not designed to be specific to the Rescue and Recovery program; however, theconfiguration is stored in the registry. When the Rescue and Recovery program is installed, it will populatethe scheduler with the appropriate settings. Here is a desc...

These steps enable Windows RE on the Windows 7 operating system. Conversely, when using the SystemPreparation Tool with the Generalize option, a sysprep plug-in disables Windows RE by undoing these steps. The key point here is that, unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 is responsible for managing various...

="C:\TVTRR" REBOOT="R"" /w 2. Install the Rescue and Recovery program using the MSIEXE file: a. For all MSI files, add the following installation-log generation code: /L*v %temp%\rrinstall.txt b. To install the setup files using the MSIEXE file, enter the following command: : Per...

3. If you want to exclude .mpg and .jpg files from the backups, set the registry entry to include them at: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Lenovo\Rescue and Recovery\Settings\BackupList. For more information onincluding and excluding backups with the registry see Include and exclude backup files with Registrysettings...

Table 13. Password Persistence considerations Issue Impact if Password Persistence is enabled If a user logs into an old backup with the current accountand password, then none of the Encrypted File system filesand folders will work because those files were encryptedagainst the original account and p...

Rescue and Recovery program takes a backup that sets the Archive bit on all files in the MSMQ directory.This means the entire directory will be backed up every incremental. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Lenovo\Rescue and Recovery\Settings\Backup\PreBackup]"Pre"="cmd""PreP...

– x for files or folders that you can choose to exclude – s for files or folders that the user can choose to add to Single Storage The following are examples of entries: S=*X=*i=* I=*.ocxI=*.dllI=*.exeI=*.iniI=*.drvI=*.comI=*.sysI=*.cplI=*.icmI=*.lnkI=*.hlpI=*.catI=*.xmlI=*.jreI=*.cabI=*.sdbI=*.batI...

OSAppsList The Rescue and Recovery 4.5 program provides the ability to selectively restore particular files and folderswhen doing an OS & Apps restore through the registry key settings: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Lenovo\Rescue and Recovery\Settings\OSAppsList The OSAppsList setting will define what files, fo...

Table 14. RRUTIL.exe files and customization options File or Directory Customization options \MININT\SYSTEM32 WINBOM.INI Add a static IP address, change video resolution. Note: If you customize the winbom.ini file for the Rescue and Recovery program, you must customize all winbom.ini files. \MININT\...

• Add or update files in the Predesktop Area. • Delete files from the Predesktop Area. • Rename files in the Predesktop Area. • View the files in \RRbackups directories. • Add backups to \RRbackups directories. • Get files from \RRbackups directories. • Display the disk space usage of \RRbackups dir...

Note: Wildcards are not supported in this function. You must understand the Predesktop Area environment before attempting any modifications. Put files in the Predesktop Area directories RRUTIL /p <path> Update (add/replace) files in \preboot, \minint, or root of the PE partition either virtual...

List all of the contents of the \RRbackups directories. Display the file size and date of each file in thebackup as well as its location. The list below is an example of a backup directory with a base backupand one incremental backup. Directory of \RRbackups\C\0\03/11/04 08:02:44 AM 50003968 Data003...

c:\SWTOOLS\C\0 Data0 Data1 EFSFile HashFile Info TOCFile toC:\RRbackups\C\0 Data0 Data1 EFSFile HashFile Info TOCFile Determine \RRBackups space consumed RRUTIL /bs Determine the amount of space that is consumed by \RRbackups 1. Ability to determine how much space is consumed by backups. Listing by ...

Example: pdaguixx.ini This example refers to pdagui xx .ini, which is a configuration file where you can customize elements of the Rescue and Recovery environment. See “Customizing the preboot environment” on page 32. Note: xx in the file name represents one of the following two-letter language abbr...

Example 2 : Adding mass-storage controller drivers (such as SATA) to the PredesktopArea 1. Create a subdirectory under \minint\system32\ to contain the driver. 2. Copy *.sys into \minint\systme32\drivers. 3. Update \minint\system32\winpeoem.sif to include the subdirectory containing the driver (for ...

The Rescue and Recovery program has twenty-two entries in the left panel. Although functions are different,each entry has the same basic elements. The following is an example of a left-panel entry: [LeftMenu] button00=2, "Introduction", Introduction.bmp, 1,1, 0, %tvtdrive%\Preboot\Opera\ENum...

Defining entry fields Button00=[0-10], "title" The text following the button type parameter specifies the text or title of the button. If the text exceeds thewidth of the left panel, the text is cut and ellipsis points indicate that more characters follow. The full titletext is displayed whe...

Changing entries and functions in the right panel Changing the right-panel entries require editing the pdagui xx .ini (where xx is the language designation) file. For information regarding getting pdagui xx .ini from the Rescue and Recovery environment and replacing the file, see “Example: pdaguixx....

• HELP Help • LICENSE License • CANCEL Cancel • Command0 %tvtdrive%Preboot\Helps\en\f_welcom.htm • Command1 %tvtdrive%Preboot\Helps\en\C_ILA.htm To hide the Welcome window, change NoShowCk=0 to NoShowCk=1 . To change the display fonts for the title and welcome text, edit the last three lines of the ...

Opera will not save settings after it is closed If you are using the Rescue and Recovery program under Windows 7 and want to have the Opera browserremember its preferences during the current boot to the Predesktop Area, modify the opera.exe file. Specifythe full path to the settings file on the fift...

If you do not want any of the Internet Explorer favorites to be displayed in the browser provided in theRescue and Recovery environment, complete the following steps: 1. Get the C:\PREBOOT\STARTUP\OPERA_010.CMD for editing by using the RRUTIL process as described in “Using RRUTIL.EXE” on page 26. 2....

3. Open the file for editing.4. Locate the [Link Popup Menu].5. Remove the two semicolons, and then save the file. When the Rescue and Recovery program is closed and reopened, a user is able to right-click a link and the “Save Target As” option is displayed. Thisresults in display of the Save As win...

IPConfig =9.44.72.36StartNet=YesSubnetMask=255.255.255.128 4. Get the \PREBOOT\SWWORK NETSTART.TBI file by using the RRUTIL process described in “Using RRUTIL.EXE” on page 26. 5. Change factory -minint to factory -winpe 6. Comment out the following lines: regsvr32 /s netcfgx.dllnetcfg -v -winpenet s...

The directory to place the scripts or programs is \Preboot\Startup. Scripts or programs in this directory areprocessed alphanumerically. For example, a script called a.bat would be processed before 1.exe. To place a script or program in this directory, complete the following steps: 1. Get the RRUTIL...

No password This option uses no authentication and allows the user to enter the Predesktop Area without using apassword. Password access There are three options for password access: • Master password • User ID and password or passphrase • No password Master password The master password is a single p...

3. The Create Rescue Media function is embedded in the Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools application. 4. A message prompts to create the rescue media when performing a backup, if the Rescue and Recovery program detects that no rescue medium has been created before. For more information about the Create Resc...

Chapter 4. Best practices This chapter provides best practice scenarios to install and configure the Rescue and Recovery program foryour enterprise. Within this chapter, you will find the following topics: • “Scenario 1 - New rollouts” on page 45 • “Scenario 2 - Installing with WIM files and Windows...

Updating You may need to make a major change to your system, such as a service pack update to Windows. Beforeyou install the service pack, you force an incremental backup on the system and identify that backup byname by performing the following steps: 1. Create a FORCE_BU.CMD file and push it down t...

Table 22. UPDATE_RR.CMD script @ECHO OFF::Obtain the PDAGUIen.ini file from the RRc:\RRDeployGuide\RRUTIL\RRUTIL -g getlist.txtc:\RRDeployGuide\GuideExample\RROriginal:: Make a directory to put the edited file for import back into the RRmd c:\RRDeployGuide\GuideExample\put\preboot\usrintfc:: Open th...

13. Reboot For more information about Windows 7, WIM files, or ImageX, see the following Web site:http://www.microsoft.com Scenario 3 - Standalone install for CD or script files For a standalone install for CD or script file, complete the following steps: 1. Use one batch file to silently install th...

b. Give certain groups abilities to take backups, delete backups, schedule options, and password restrictions, then change groups and see if settings persists. c. Through Active Directory, enable Antidote Delivery Manager. Place packages to be run and make sure reporting is captured. Scenario 5 - Pe...

14. When the installation completes, log in to Windows. 15. Change the drive letter of the Partition 1 to S . 16. Activate Partition 1. 17. Copy C:\boot*.* to S:\, and restart the computer. 18. Start your computer from the Windows 7 installation disc, and click Repair your computer to repair the ope...

Appendix A. Administrative tools ThinkVantage technologies offers tools that can be implemented by corporate IT administrators. These toolscan be downloaded from the Lenovo Web site at:http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=TVAN-ADMIN#rnr Command line support The following sections ...

Table 23. RRcmd parameters (continued) Command Result listsystem List the value of uuid and index of stored backups in the backup location. For example: rrcmd listsystem location=U listbackup The listbackup command must be used with listsystem . It displays more detailed backup information. For exam...

StartTimeHigh=0x01C51F46 To run the CONVDATE utility, complete the following steps: 1. Extract the Rescue and Recovery Administration tools from: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=TVAN-ADMIN#rnr 2. Open a CMD window. 3. Type in Convdate . 4. Set the date and time in the convdat...

• -listtables List all of the sections and the tables of system information. • -silent Run with no output to the screen. • -section section1 sectiont2 ... Return in the XML output file only the data from the specified section(s). • -vpd Only collect the vital product data. • -leveln Sections are gro...

• > 0 = failed When MapDrv is launched with no parameters, the user is prompted for the network share, user name, andpassword. It then attempts to connect to the specified network share using the specified credentials. The following table provides information about the parameters and the result o...

Table 26. BMGR32 parameters (continued) Parameter Result /THINK Configure the boot manager to use the blue button on the keyboard to enterthe Predesktop Area. /TOC tocvalue Set the BIOS TOC location (16 characters that represent 8 bytes of data). /U0 Show partition 0. /U1 Show partition 1. /U2 Show ...

• Boot State Determines the current state of the machine: – 0 – Boot normal to operating system. – 1 – Boot to the service operating system – 2 – Boot back to the normal operating system from the service operating system. • Alt Boot Flag Boot to alternate operating system; DOS for example. • Previou...

Table 28. Parameter (Required): Description /A Clear MBR and install PC DOS MBR Parameter (Optional): /Dn Apply changes to drive. Use n =0 for the first drive. /Y Yes to all /? Display Help /H Display Help Active Directory Support Active Directory is a directory service. The directory is where infor...

As described previously, computer and user policies are defined by the administrator. These settings can beinitialized through the XML configuration file or through a Group Policy in the Active Directory. Computer anduser preferences are set by the user on the client computer through options in the ...

Table 30. \Rescue and Recovery (continued) Policy Description PDALogonMode Select the authentication mode for logging in to the PDA. WindowsPasswordRecoveryOptioninGUI Show, gray, or hide the GUI option to configure password recovery. Settings The following table provides the policies for the Settin...

Table 32. \Rescue and Recovery\Settings\User interface (continued) Policy Setting Description CopyBackups CopyToSecond Show, gray, or hide the Copy To Second radio button. Default: Show. CopyBackups CopyToNetwork Show, gray, or hide the Copy To Network radio button. Default: Show. Delete BaseBackup ...

Table 33. \Rescue and Recovery\Settings\Backup (continued) Policy Setting Description VerifyDisc Enable or disable Verify Disc when backing up to a CD/DVD or creating an archive to thosemedia. Default: Enabled. BatteryPercentRequired Battery Percent Required is essential before commencing a schedule...

Table 34. \Rescue and Recovery\Settings\Restore Policy Setting Description PasswordPersist Show or hide the Password Persist option in Restore dialog boxes. Default: Show. PreRestore PreWinRestore Command to run prior to a restore operation from Windows.Include the full path to the file, if that pat...

Appendix B. User tasks Users belonging to different user groups have different rights and abilities to perform various user tasks. Windows 7 The following table presents the tasks that the limited users, power users, and administrators can performwith the Rescue and Recovery program in a Windows 7 e...

has extended options. When the Rescue and Recovery program is started, you will see the simplified userinterface by default. By disabling the simplified user interface, you can have advanced user interfacedisplayed each time the Rescue and Recovery program starts. You can disable interface switching...

Appendix C. Notices Lenovo may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in all countries. Consultyour local Lenovo representative for information on the products and services currently available in yourarea. Any reference to an Lenovo product, program, or service is n...

Trademarks The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both: LenovoRescue and RecoveryThinkVantage Microsoft, Internet Explorer, Windows, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft group ofcompanies. Other company, product, or service names may be tr...