Rescue And Recovery Version For Windows 10?

I'm in the process of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on a Lenovo ThinkCentre 5042A7U. After a lengthy download, file extraction and prepping, Windows Update tells me I need to uninstall Lenovo Rescue and Recovery v4.3 for Windows 7 because it's not compatible with Windows 10. What should I replace it with? At:

http://qpdownload.com/ibm-rescue-and-recovery/

there's a link to supposedly download Rescue and Recovery v3.1 for Windows 7/8/8.1/10, but at this point I'm suspicious of every single link on the internet. Does anybody know if there really is such a version of Rescue and Recovery for Windows 10, and if so, where I should download it from? Or maybe there's another such program I should use.

Any advice and/or recommendations?

 

That model isn't listed by Lenovo as supported for Win 10 so you will have to live without R&R in Win 10. That's no big deal, my Thinkpad isn't supported either but I had long ago dumped R&R overboard along with much else they preload. You do need a backup and recovery system though so best to learn how to image your system to a second drive. Ask if you need help with that.

HERE is the supported list.

 

Windows 10 has a variety of back up and recovery options within the OS itself. Use them!
System Repair Disk - enabling you to boot to repair problems
System Image - that you can save to an external flash drive
Recovery Drive Media - create a bootable recovery drive, in which you can include the system itself, that can be used ether to solve boot problems, or do a full reinstall of Windows.
You can use File History to back up data either to a separate internal drive, or to an external flash drive.

 

I just want to confirm what I think must be a "yes" answer: If I back up using Win7's back up and recovery options, and then upgrade to Win10, will I be able to restore from Win10's back up and recovery options?

 

Yes, Win 10 uses the same Win 7 backup system. If it's Win 7 itself you might want to restore, as opposed to files, then you have 30 days to do so, after which your Win 7 licence expires. Win 10 has a built-in system for restoring your previous OS within the 30 day period but it wouldn't hurt to have your own restorable backup too.

 

So if I back up my Win7 system using Win7's backup and recovery, and then upgrade to Win10, and then back up my Win10 system using Win10's backup and recovery, then I'll have 30 days to restore my Win7 system, and indefinitely to restore my Win10 system, right?

 

Incidentally, IObit Uninstaller creates a restore point before uninstalling an application. Is this something that could pertain to a system restore?

 

As long as you stay on Windows 10, you can use the Windows 10 restore any time. If you decide to go back to Windows 7 before the 30 day deadline that finalizes your Windows 7 key transfer to Windows 10, you still have until July 29 2016 to once again change your mind and revert back to Windows 10 for free. After that point the Windows 10 image restore would not be valid. The Windows 7 image would still be good, however. July 29 is the deadline for making the changeover for free. You can use your images to bounce back and forth.

I have one question about whether the 30 days is cumulative. If I change from Windows 7 to 10, for example, for 5 days to learn about W10 and then revert to W7, while making plans for a final changeover later, AND if I then later (before July 29 2016) do revert again to W10, do I have then 30 days or 25 days (30-5) remaining before the key automatically/permanently becomes a Windows 10 key? I am just assuming 25 days is the case. I would be restoring from an image, which then would mean (I guess) that the timer would just pick up where it left off within the image restore. I suppose MS is keeping track of this over the internet somehow.

 

Yes, a restore point is a System Restore restore point...

 

Thanks, AtlBo.

 

If you use a third party backup/restore app like AOMEI Backupper, those "time limits" shouldn't apply. Back up (image) the entire drive, try Win 10 and if you don't like it, restore your Win 7 from the image you created.

 

You're welcome

 

OK, thanks mdonah. I'll have to think about whether imaging the whole drive is the best route for me, but it certainly may be.

 

I have a few questions:

1. If I backup using Lenova R&R under Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10, can the Windows 7 image so obtained be used by any other software that does run under Windows 10 to reinstate that image?

2. If I to use IObit Uninstaller to set a restore point (same thing as creating a disk image, no?) under Windows 7, can I use the same program running under Windows 10 to restore that image? In other words, will the same version of IObit Uninstaller run under Windows 10? And will the Windows 7 image be usable by any other program that runs under Windows 10 to restore the Windows 7 image?

3. In general, can an image / restore point be created by software A and restored by software B?

I guess what these questions boil down to is this: A disk image is independent of the software used to create it and the OS that thatbackup / restore software runs under, isn't it?

 

Are you saying that a Windows 7 image and a Windows 10 image could simultaneously reside on two different partitions of a drive, or on two different drives, and that some kind of .bat file or whatever could be launched at bootup that would allow the user to select which version of Windows that they wanted to run?

 

No

A restore point is NOT the same thing as an image and cannot be used to revert a computer to a previous state.

No

No, a disk image can only be restored by the program that created it. Restore points can only be restored by Windows or a Windows installation or repair disk.

Yes, but only if both were purchased separately. If Win 10 was obtained through the free upgrade you can only run one or the other and within the time constraint already explained.

 

The 30 day time limit applies regardless of the method used to restore 7.

 

Restoring an image uses the entire disk. You can restore to Windows 7 if you have an image of a Windows 7 partition and then restore to Windows 10 if you have a Windows 10 partition image. Either way, when you restore a system image, everything on the drive is overwritten and no longer exists. What is on the disk is the OS installation recorded (when you made the image your are restoring) in the image you have restored. Of course, you can immediately bounce back to the other image if you change your mind. However, the 30 day rule and the time limit of July 29 apply as previously mentioned.

Earthling is correct. If you have upgraded to get Windows 10, you cannot run Windows 7 and Windows 10 side by side, because they use the same product/activation key. You would eventually get an activation error from MS about one of the two OS installations.

You have 30 days to decide which you want, once you perform the upgrade. Win 10 has no support time limit on updates, while support for Windows 7 will end in 2020. As for the final opportunity to change to W 10 for free, that would be July 29 of this year. After that, it is commonly believed that there will be a charge for making the changeover, but MS may have even said. I haven't seen anything, yet.

If you have an upgraded version of Windows 10 on a PC when the clock ticks over to July 30 of this year, there will be NO going back, even if you have an image of Windows 7. Also, if you have Windows 7 at that time, there will be no free upgrade. Otherwise and prior to July 29, if you use the Windows 10 upgrade for more than 30 days after performing the upgrade, the key is automatically finalized as a Windows 10 key. There is no going back at that point, either. Windows 7 images still may be useful for restoring files, but, when it comes to restoring and using Windows 7, that would be a problem. You would soon get a notice to provide/purchase an activation key...