ThinkVantage button startup behavior changes after Rescue and Recovery [ Edited ]

[jimmyc]

I recently bought a Thinkpad X301 (2777-CTO). When booting my computer, I see the following message: "To interrupt normal startup, press the blue ThinkVantage button". Initially, when I press this ThinkVantage button on startup, I get a "Startup Interrupt Menu", pictured at http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4773/startupinterruptmenu.png

This menu is useful since it allows me to either enter the BIOS, start Rescue and Recovery, select a device to boot from, or simply start normally. However, after choosing the Rescue and Recovery option once, this menu no longer appears. Instead, it goes straight to Rescue and Recovery from there on without giving me the choice to enter the BIOS configuration or select a boot device.

I find this new behavior problematic for a few reasons:

- The behavior of the ThinkVantage button at startup is inconsistent (a menu that should appear no longer does after running Rescue and Recovery once).

- There appears to be no straight-forward way of reverting back to the desired (original) behavior.

- The initial prompt on the power-on splash screen is now misleading. Although it still says "To interrupt normal startup, press the blue ThinkVantage button"; the way the button acts, it would probably be more accurate to say "To start Rescue and Recovery, press the blue ThinkVantage button" instead.

- This behavior breaks the "Option Keys Display" option in the BIOS setup. Although I enabled this option, which should cause the system to display which key does what (e.g., F1 for BIOS), this is not displayed.

- Running Rescue and Recovery results in a loss of functionality (instead of simply restoring the system to the initial state).

- And anytime I press the blue ThinkVantage button (as instructed) instead of F1 or F12, I end up wasting several minutes, waiting for Rescue and Recovery to finish booting before I can properly shut it down and try again.

This problem appears to have existed for a long time (since 2008; http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/241845-thinkvantage-boot-menu-boots-straight-into-rescue-... ). However, the only "solution" that I have found is just a workaround: avoid pressing the ThinkVantage button (as instructed by the power-on splash screen).

The ideal solution would be to have a BIOS (or Rescue and Recovery) update which will prevent the ThinkVantage button from losing its original function after running Rescue and Recovery. I know that this is a minor bug, but this bug and another BIOS bug (in the network boot order menu, which I'll post after this one), which arose in less than a week after I received the computer, makes me question the ThinkPad's reputation for high-quality engineering.

[joepas87]

I totally agree with you - I have the same behavior on my X200 Tablet.  I assume this has not been fixed yet.

[jimmyc]

Unfortunately, I don't think this problem will ever be fixed. When my computer was still new, I called tech support to report the bug, but the agents kept telling me that the ThinkVantage button is supposed to start Rescue and Recovery; they wouldn't acknowledge the problem.

[GMAC-R60 Retired Guru]

ThinkPad

Service and Troubleshooting Guide

Finding information with the ThinkVantage button

The blue ThinkVantage button can help you in many situations when your

computer is working normally, and even when it is not. Press the

ThinkVantage button to open the Productivity Center thinkvantage toolbox and get access to

informative illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions for getting started and

staying productive.

You can also use the ThinkVantage button to interrupt the startup sequence of

your computer and start the Rescue and Recovery

™

in the windows environment it no longer opens productivity center it opens the toolbox if the toolbox is installed 

[ChristianDiscer]

Thinkpad W520 (4270-CTO) received around July 2011

I thought the thinkvantage button would give me choices like BIOS, Recovery, etc. but it simply goes to a recovery mode.  Thankfully I exited the process without it continuing.  So two questions:

• Could anyone simply start the machine and run a recovery wiping out my system?
• What's the proper way to access BIOS?

Thanks.

[sneakymoose]

I too am interested in any solution that restores the factory function of the ThinkVantage button during system startup, which offered a menu of options rather than trying to run the Rescue & Recovery tool.

I even uninstalled Rescue & Recovery, yet the ThinkVantage button (and F11) try to launch it anyway and instead it just causes Windows to launch.

I am using a new X220 (4286 CTO).

[jeli2657]

My new x220 is also doing this. While not detrimental, it is annoying. I would be interested in a solution.

[sneakymoose]

I've figured out a solution, although it's probably not ideal for most people.

I tried restoring the system using the DVDs that I burned using Lenovo's factory restore feature. The ThinkVantage button was still broken (it still tried to run the Rescue thing, unsuccessfully).

I then erased the disk partitions and reinstalled Windows from scratch (from my own, non-Lenovo media with my own, non-Lenovo product key). This solved the problem. During the Lenovo splash screen (at power on), the ThinkVantage button brings up a Startup selection menu where you can choose to enter Setup, see Diagnostics, and see a Boot menu.

It still works even after reinstalling all of the Lenovo and third party drivers and software, except of course I did not reinstall Rescue and Recovery.

[jeli2657]

Before anyone ties that I just want to share that the first thing I did when I got my new Lenovo was wipe the hard drive and install Windows from scratch. I still have this issue, so it was not a cure for me.

[sneakymoose]

jeli2657,

When you installed Windows from scratch, did you delete the existing partition tables on the drive(s)?

In my situation, I installed an mSATA SSD and changed the "BIOS" to UEFI only mode. Windows 7 requires GUID Partition Table (GPT) to be used for the OS startup drive. So I initialized the SSD as such and also went ahead and did the same to the Lenovo supplied 320GB magnetic drive.

I later read this other thread that you started, in which andyP states that Rescue and Recovery is detected by checking for some modification that Lenovo makes to the partition table.

So it's quite possible that it was my recreation of the partition table that finally restored the factory function of the ThinkVantage button.

By the way, if anyone should want to try installing Windows in UEFI mode... I couldn't figure out how to get the X220 to boot in UEFI mode from a bootable thumb drive on which I put the Windows 7 media. It would work with the traditional BIOS, but not UEFI. I ended up plugging in a USB DVD burner and booting off of that.