Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 - Manual (Page 43)

Chapter 3. Staging-area behavior and logic
As discussed in chapter 1, the ImageUltra Builder program can use two different staging areas for
deployment:
• The service partition
• The network-staging folder
In addition, some ThinkPad and ThinkCentre computers use a Hidden Protected Area (HPA) to store factory
images, utilities, and diagnostic programs for recovery purposes. Although the ImageUltra Builder program
does not deploy images to an HPA, there are some relationships during the deployment phase and after
installation of which you might need to be aware. Also, the ImageUltra Builder program does have the
ability to import modules from an HPA.
This chapter provides additional details about these staging areas and how the ImageUltra Builder program
interacts with them.
Staging areas details
The information in this section provides details about the two staging areas used by the ImageUltra Builder
program
The service partition
ImageUltra Builder 5.0 supports two types of Service Partitions:
• Back of the hard disk drive
• Front of the hard disk drive
The Service Partition at the back of the hard disk drive is a FAT32 partition with the volume label
SERVICEV001. This partition works with the Windows XP version of ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery.
The Service Partition at the front of the hard disk drive is an NTFS partition. The NTFS partition works with
the Windows Vista version of ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery with the volume label SERVICEV002 or
the Windows 7 version of ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery with the volume label SERVICEC003.
The service partition at the back of the hard disk drive (volume label SERVICEV001) is a hidden partition on
the hard disk that typically contains operating-system modules, application modules, device-driver modules
and a set of recovery tools. It also provides its own operating environment, which has no dependency on the
Windows operating system being functional or present on any active partition. Because the service partition
is protected from common read and write operations, as well as most viruses, it is a practical place to store
recovery, backup, and installation files and tools.
The service partition has three major purposes:
• As shipped from the factory on many older ThinkPad, NetVista, and ThinkCentre models, the service
partition provides a DOS-based recovery mechanism to restore the contents of the hard disk to its
factory-installed state without requiring a Windows CD or a set of ThinkCentre or ThinkPad Product
Recovery CDs. The factory-installed service partition also provides a vehicle for distributing modules
associated with the preinstalled software that the ImageUltra Builder program can import.
• As used by the factory-installed version of the ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery product, the service
partition contains its own operating environment (Windows PE) that runs independently of the Windows
operating system on the C partition, a set of tools to help diagnose problems, and a set of tools to help
you restore the contents of the hard disk to its factory-installed state or to one of several backed-up
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