Thinkpad T61 - How to disable rescue and recovery backup and recover the disk space

Question

I've got a thinkpad T61, and little did I realize it was backing up my computer onto the same hard drive. My 80G hard drive is essentially cut in half b/c it filled up the other half with "backups".

I don't care about the backups, I want the disk space back.

Anyone know how to do this?

When I run the 'Rescue and Recovery' preferences, I see no control over how much space it will use. The only other pane allows me to "customize" what files get backed up (or not), which doesn't help because the space is already used.

Answer 1

Found how to do this. The hard part was finding where to start. You need to find the Rescue and Recovery application, which for me was in the Start menu.

Start menu
    Run "ThinkVantage Productivity Center"
       Menu "ThinkVantage Technologies"
           > "Rescue and Recovery"

Disable Backups

Manage Settings
    Set schedule and preferences

In popup
    Uncheck the 'Schedule your backups` checkbox
    Press `OK` button

Recover Space

Advanced
    Delete Backups

In popup
   Select the backups you wish to delete.
   Press `Delete` button

Answer 2

I think Thinkpad's use a hidden partition for the Rescue and Recovery. You can use the FOSS software GParted (available as a Live CD) to remove that partition and merge the space back to your main partition.

Be careful when doing anything that impacts your partitions and back up your data first.