Question regarding laptop ram & lenovo software

Hi,

I recently bought a second hand t60 for a low price but which needs to be upgraded (512 mb ram and 40gb hd).

I have 2 questions:

A friend told me that when buying ram it is a better idea to buy 2 identical sticks (make, size, etc.), apparently this will increase the speed of the memory for some reason. Is this true? This is his justification for buying 2x1GB where as I was thinking of getting 1x1gb and 1x2gb.

Second, I want to re-install XP as I am getting a new HD anyway, and the version that is currently installed is in a language which I would prefer not to use. I was told that it is very hard to find the lenovo software (which you see when pressing the blue 'ThinkVantage' button) if I re-install XP. Is this true?

Thanks

 

There is a small benefit from running RAM with matched sticks. This is called dual channel mode and will give a very minor (less than 5%) improvement in RAM speed. However, this difference is trivial compared to the advantage of having 3GB vs. 2GB of RAM. When buying separate modules, you should still try and match speeds (e.g. DDR2 667MHz) and latency, because the faster stick will just throttle down to the slow speed if they aren't the same.

The Lenovo software is not that difficult to find. You should find installers for most of the software/drivers in the SWTOOLS and SWSHARE folder on the hard drive. However, these will generally be older versions. The newest versions of all the software is available for download from Lenovo at this location. Select Thinkpad, T60, type (on bottom), and operating system.

You definitely want power manager and all the drivers. I would also highly recommend Access Connections, Presentation director, and the Thinkvantage button. You can skip Rescue and Recovery (it is a gigantic download) if you have another backup policy in place.

 

To install XP in your preferred language you'll need an XP disc in that language.