Lenovo Thinkvantage Toolbox - anyone use it?

Does anyone use the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox? I have it installed and running in the background, but I don't feel like it's a whole lot of use. Runs a scan every now and then, but that seems to be it.

What do you think?

 

Im not using it, eats up useful resources and it takes longer to load it.
Not worth to keep it in background etc.

 

I have found Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox (PC-Doctor's latest version) very useful. I use it to automatically get Lenovo and Microsoft updates for my software and hardware (although I choose what and when to install myself). Have you looked through it's features and categories throughly? I don't notice any difference in performance, with or without it.

I run the system scans occasionally to make sure everything is up to snuff. It even includes stress tests and individual tests to help find a problem. It tells you how many days of warranty are still left, gives you your Thinkpad Serial Number and Bios version on it's masthead and the status of things like passwords and virus protection, on the fly.

You can also look at all your hard drive content and all your files in great detail, their source, etc.

Perhaps a very knowlegable Power User can do all of the offered functions quicker and easier on his own, but I find it an excellent, free resource Lenovo provides it's customers - which other makers don't. And I think for the average user it does important things he needs, but may not be able to do himself, as quickly anyway.

I've heard many dismiss all of the Thinkvantage Software as useless and unnecessary - but their System Restore and Backup has saved my bacon more than once. And it was nearly effortless - just tell the machine to fix it! My ex was a very gifted Computer Programmer, and she insisted on IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpads for the same reason her business used IBM - better support and documentation, and long term Support, even for older machines. I have found her understanding to be very true. It is the "Edge" that Lenovo has over everyone else, over and above the machine itself.

I think for the normal Thinkpad user (not necessarily the geeks) it offers and does a lot to improve the overall Thinkpad experience. But you don't have to use it if you can do what it does better yourself - and that is OK, too. TPF

 

Fair enough, it does have its uses. I think I'll remove it, however, as it annoys me more than benefits me in any way.

I keep the rest of the ThinkVantage software, but the toolbox is just "heavier" than it has to be.

 

You can still update. It just won't be automated. I don't use it myself, but I don't update. I find updating cause more issues than it cures and the toolbox annoying.

 

I'm an abnormal ThinkPad user who wanna be a geek.

 

This. I updated my bluetooth driver and it killed my Windows OS. I had to reformat its partition.

 

"but their System Restore and Backup has saved my bacon more than once. "

Windows 7 and Vista has a nice backup and restore already.

Renee

 

For what its worth, I no longer install it either. I use the native Win7 backup for routine work and I use Ghost clones for total backups (for redundancy).

 

As a bit of a Neaderthal (sp, anyone) I am still running XP Pro. Since Windows 7 is kind of a "fixed" Vista, I'll wait until a few more Service Paks before I jump in. My company, likewise, has declined to upgrade from XP so far. Microsoft makes each new generation bigger and more complicated - but I'm not too convinced about better. XP does all that I need.

So for me, the features are a helpful upgrade, for free. I am always torn between upgrading to stave off new Internet Virus/Trojan/Monsters and leaving what works, alone. I think these features are designed by Lenovo for that "average" computer user - and there are a lot more of them than there are geeks! TPF