How to install Rescue and Recovery 4.21 on Windows 2003 [ Edited ]

[Xseriesfanboy]

There should be a good amount of users running Windows 2003 on their thinkpad for various reasons. As much as I tried, I could not get Rescue and Recovery's MSI to install on my X61 running Win2003 R2 SP2, despite attempts to modify the Setup.ini file.

the changes made in setup.ini:

[Win2003Server]
MajorVer=5
MinorVer=2
MinorVerMax=3
BuildNo=3790
PlatformId=2

The returned installer error is "The current operating system is not supported for running Rescue and Recovery. Supported operating systems includes Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 or Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or later".

This is such a shame as I'm pretty sure RR would run just fine on win2003 as both WinXP and win2003 are based on the same underlying technologies and code. Please advice if there's any method such as a command switch for MSI installer to suppress OS detection error or any modification that can be made to setup.ini to get it to install on win2003 or any utility that can be used to modify MSI files and database? Thanks!

Message Edited by Xseriesfanboy on 08-31-2008 08:26 PM

Message Edited by Xseriesfanboy on 08-31-2008 08:30 PM

[Xseriesfanboy · Accepted solution]

Alrighty..I've manage to google a hack to this problem of getting Rescue and Recovery to install on Windows 2003. So let this post be a guide to how to get this done:

Getting the tools to modify Rescue and Recovery MSI (Windows Installer)

1. Download and install Orca MSI editor from http://astebner.sts.winisp.net/Tools/Orca.zip
2. Review http://ravi1337.blogspot.com/2007/05/orca-msi-editor-make-any-software.html, this guide should give you a good idea what you'll be doing with this tool.

Download Rescue and Recovery™ 4.21 from Lenovo

1.  Download Rescue and Recovery™ 4.21 for Windows XP (32-bit) or Windows 2000  from http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=thinkvantage_en/z652_setup_rnr42_016c...
2. Ensure you are downloading full install with all language pack to avoid any missing installation file due to regional settings
3. Run the installer and see that all files are extracted accordingly.

Modification of Rescue and Recovery Installer

1. Delete all files in C:\Documents and Settings\(User Account Name)\Local Settings\Temp\ this will prevent confusion on which files are unpacked and created by RR installer
2. Extract z652_setup_rnr42_016c.exe into a folder named z652_setup_rnr42_016c.
3. Execute tvtrnr42.exe
4. The MSI installer is then unpacked to the following default directory: C:\Documents and Settings\(User Account Name)\Local Settings\Temp\. Note that the installer creates two directories for installation of RR, that are {F151F2B3-0C32-44D3-90E2-E639B8024622} and _isXXXX <--- 4 randomly generated digits
5. The folder _isXXXX contain Rescue and Recovery.msi
6. On the first run of the installer, the following error will be shown "The current operating system is not supported for running Rescue and Recovery. Supported operating systems includes Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 or Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or later". DO NOT CLICK OK! This is cause the installer to purge all installation files and related directories in the temp directory. Just leave the error window as it is without clicking the OK button!
7. Copy all TVT files from folder z652_setup_rnr42_016c into both directories
8. Modify setup.ini entry for Win2003Server with notepad and save changes:
9. [Win2003Server]
   MajorVer=5
   MinorVer=2
   MinorVerMax=3
   BuildNo=3790
   PlatformId=2
10. Right-click on Rescue and Recovery.msi and edit with Orca
11. Go to LaunchCondition Table
12. Drop the following rows and save changes:

• (((VersionNT=501 AND ServicePackLevel>=1)OR (VersionNT=500 AND ServicePackLevel>=3)) AND WINSERVER=0) OR Installed- The current operating system is not supported for running [ProductName].  Supported operating systems include Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000 with Service Pack 3 or later and Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or later.
• IEEXISTS=1 OR Installed - [ProductName] requires Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher. You cannot install the Rescue and Recovery program without this version of Internet Explorer.
• INCOMPAPPNAME=0 OR Installed - [INCOMPAPPNAME] is installed and is incompatible with this version of [ProductName].  This application cannot be installed.  To install [ProductName], uninstall [INCOMPAPPNAME] and then restart this setup.
• Not SGEWRONGVERSION OR Installed - [INCOMPAPPNAME] is installed and is incompatible with this version of [ProductName].  This application cannot be installed.  To install [ProductName], uninstall [INCOMPAPPNAME] and then restart this setup.

When you're done with these modification, re-run Rescue and Recovery.msi without closing the previous error window. Rescue and Recovery should now install without any glitch! Good Luck!

Message Edited by Xseriesfanboy on 09-01-2008 06:37 AM

Message Edited by Xseriesfanboy on 09-01-2008 06:38 AM