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Solving recovery problems
If you are unable to access the Rescue and Recovery workspace or the Windows environment, do one
of the following:
• Use a rescue medium to start the Rescue and Recovery workspace. See “Creating and using a rescue
medium” on page 62
.
• Use recovery media if all other methods of recovery have failed and you need to restore the hard disk
drive to the factory default settings. See “Performing backup and recovery operations” on page 60.
Note: If you are unable to access the Rescue and Recovery workspace or the Windows environment from
a rescue medium or recovery media, you might not have the rescue device (an internal hard disk drive, a
disc, a USB hard disk drive, or other external devices) set as the rst boot device in the startup device
sequence. You must rst make sure that your rescue device is set as the rst boot device in the startup
device sequence in the Setup Utility program. See “Startup menu” on page 111 for detailed information
about temporarily or permanently changing the startup device sequence. For more information about the
Setup Utility program, see “Using the ThinkPad Setup program” on page 101.
It is important to create a rescue medium and a set of recovery media as early as possible and store them
in a safe place for future use.
Recovery overview for the Windows 8 operating system
This section provides information about the recovery solutions for the Windows 8 operating system.
A Windows recovery image is preinstalled in the recovery partition on your computer. The Windows recovery
image enables you to refresh your computer, or reset your computer to the factory default settings.
You can create recovery media as backups or replacement for the Windows recovery image. With the
recovery media, you can troubleshoot and x the problems on your computer even if you cannot start the
Windows 8 operating system. It is recommended that you create recovery media as early as possible. For
more information, see “Creating and using recovery media” on page 65.
Refreshing your computer
If your computer does not perform well and the problem might be caused by a recently installed program,
you can refresh your computer without losing your personal les or changing your settings.
Attention: If you refresh your computer, the programs that came with your computer and the programs that
you installed from Windows Store will be reinstalled, but all other programs will be removed.
To refresh your computer, do the following:
1. Move your cursor to the top-right or bottom-right corner of the screen to display the charms. Click
Settings ➙ Change PC settings ➙ General.
2. In the Refresh your PC without affecting your les section, click Get started.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to refresh your computer.
Resetting your computer to the factory default settings
If you want to recycle your computer or just start over, you can reset your computer to the factory default
settings. Resetting the computer will reinstall the operating system, reinstall all the programs that came with
your computer, and reset all the settings to the factory default settings.
Attention: If you reset the computer to the factory default settings, all your personal les and settings will be
deleted. To avoid data loss, make a backup copy of all the data that you want to keep.
64 User Guide