Important information for students studying abroad

International warranty coverage

Any student who is studying outside of the United States and who experiences a problem with their laptop may contact Lenovo's U.S. service center directly at 1-800-426-7378. (To contact Lenovo's service center in Canada, call 1-800-565-3344; for all other countries, please refer to Lenovo's service website for service provider information. Wherever you call, make sure to have the make/model and serial number of your laptop ready; this information appears on the bottom of the unit.

Lenovo will provide you with information and/or instructions on how you can best get your computer repaired. For example, they may direct you to take your laptop to the nearest Lenovo repair center, or may provide you with a pre-paid shipping box in which you can send your laptop back to Lenovo with an explanation of the problem.

ThinkPad Protection

All students should note that Lenovo’s ThinkPad Protection against accidental damage is not covered outside of the United States.

Extended warranties

Before your warranty expires, you can choose to purchase a warranty extension directly from Lenovo for either a one- or two-year period. Simply call 1-866-968-4465 and press the selection for "Sales"; this will connect you to a Lenovo representative who will assist you with your selection of coverage. Additional details are available on the Lenovo Care webpage. Please note that the extended warranty does not include extended ThinkPad Protection against accidental damage.

Students can verify when their warranty expires by going to the Lenovo support website and entering their laptop's model number and serial number or using the automatic lookup feature.

If you purchased an extended warranty, please visit Rensselaer Computer Repair (RCR) -- located in the basement of the VCC -- well in advance of your trip to verify that Lenovo that has correctly recorded your extended warranty.

Return shipping charges for returned laptops

Due to many foreign countries' prohibitably high shipping costs and value-added tax (VAT), shipping laptops to and from foreign countries is not feasible.

Rensselaer and Lenovo service contacts

Students who are studying abroad may use this list of Rensselaer and Lenovo contacts for help and information:

• VCC Help Desk -- Phone: 1 (518) 276-7777 | E-mail
• Rensselaer Computer Repair (hardware repair) -- 1 (518) 276-8178 | E-mail
• RPI laptop repair information (on- and off-campus)
• RPI Mobile Computing Program -- Phone: 1 (518) 276-3838 | E-mail
• Rensselaer Campus Computer Store: Phone: 1 (518) 276-8152 | E-mail
• Lenovo (United States) -- 1-800-426-7378

Plug adapters

We recommend that all students studying abroad use an international AC plug adapter. One such adapter is currently available from the Rensselaer Campus Computer Store for $20.00:

• The Targus World Power Travel Adapter -- This adapter creates a universal solution that allows you to connect to any standard wall outlet worldwide. Simply attach any of the three interchangeable adapters to your device's AC power cord. Adapters included are for use in North America, Europe, UK, Australia and Asia Pacific. A storage tube is also included for ease of portability. They also feature red safety shutters for protection against accidental contact with electrical current and are made of high impact durable polycarbonate plastic. Travel light around the world with one set of universal power adapters for all of your powering needs.

Software

If you would like to purchase the Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007 software to use on your laptop while you're studying abroad, we recommend that you stop by the Campus Computer Store well in advance of your trip to obtain a copy. If you're participating in the Mobile Computing Program (MCP), you will be billed a media charge; otherwise, you will be charged the educational price. (Refer to the Windows 7 section of our website for pricing information.)

If you are a Mobile Computing participant but are unable to obtain Windows 7 and/or Office 2007 before you leave, you may request to have a copy of the software shipped to you while you are studying abroad. Shipping charges are determined by the destination and will be added to your Rensselaer student account. Please contact the Campus Computer Store for more information.

Please note that if you have a copy of the Vista software for your laptop, you can get the Windows 7 media. However, students are entitled to only one copy of the Windows 7 and Office 2007 media within a twelve-month time period. (For example, if you purchase a copy on June 15, may cannot purchase another copy until June 16 of the following year.)

Hard drive diagnostics

Students can use the following instructions to run the hard drive diagnostic program on their laptop:

1. Power on the laptop.
2. Press the F1 key as soon as the system starts to boot. A message “Entering BIOS Setup Utility” will appear.
3. Select the HDD Diagnostic program.
4. Select the main hard disk drive.

The program will test the hard drive. Any error codes should be reported to whichever repair center the student contacts.

Windows 7 backup and recovery

Students can follow the procedure given below to run a Windows 7 backup and recovery on their laptop. Please note that this process assumes that you have an external hard drive.

1. Create a repair disc:
   • Power on the laptop and select Maintenance from the Start menu.
   • Select Backup and Restore.
   • On the upper left side of the panel, select Create a system repair disc. Follow the instructions which appear on the screen, and save this disc. You will need it to recover your system.
2. Connect the external hard drive to the laptop.
3. Select Create a system image. (You should create additional system images in the future if you wish.)

Installing the system image back onto your laptop

1. Connect your external hard drive to your laptop.
2. Start your laptop. When the initial boot sequence begins, press the F12 key; this will provide a boot menu. With the Repair CD in the drive, select the DVD as the boot option.
3. When the "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD" message appears, press any key on your keyboard. IMPORTANT!! This message is only on the screen for a few seconds, so watch closely for it!
4. Select the US keyboard option.
5. Select Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier. This should bring up the image that is on your external hard drive. The default is to use the latest available system image.
6. Select Next. (If you suspect that your system is corrupted with a virus, the best option is to select Format and repartition disks, then select Next.)
7. A final message stating that the system will be restored will appear on the screen. Select Finish. The final warning tells you that all the data on your hard drive will be replaced with the data on your back up image. If you are sure you want to continue, select Yes.

Vista system backup and recovery

Students who may need to run a Vista backup and recovery cannot create the required repair disc, but can bring in a blank CD to get one free of charge from the VCC Help Desk. Students must pick this up in person; it is available only to students who are traveling abroad. Please note that the instructions given below assume that you have an external hard drive.

Backups

1. Connect the external hard drive to the laptop.
2. To create a backup, open the Start menu and select the Maintenance option under All Programs.
3. Select the Backup and Restore Center option.
4. Select Back Up Computer, and save your backup on your external hard drive.

System recovery

1. Attach the external hard drive to the laptop.
2. Power on your laptop. When the system begins to boot and displays the large ThinkPad logo, press the F12 key. Insert the Vista DVD into the drive and boot from it.
3. When the "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD" message appears, press any key on your keyboard. IMPORTANT! This message is only on the screen for a few seconds, so watch closely for it!
4. When the Install Window displays the keyboard option, select the US default option.
5. Select the Repair your Computer option in the next window that appears. The repair software will look for a backup location and will find your external hard drive.
6. Select the Windows Complete PC Restore option.
7. The latest backup will be an option. Click on Next. (If you suspect viruses on your system, select the Format and repartition disks option and then click on Next.)
8. Click on the Finish option. You will need to confirm this option.

When the recovery is complete, your system should reboot on its own.