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    Rebuilding T420 from scratch (Win 7 x64 Pro), what is minimal set of drivers

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by mswlogo, Aug 19, 2011.

  1. mswlogo

    mswlogo Notebook Consultant

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    I'm curious if anyone has gone through this and tried to go for a minimal set of drivers/bloatware

    My past thinkpad (last being T60) I think I reduced it to

    Power Management
    Hot Keys
    Chipset
    Audio
    Think Vantage Updater

    I think everything else I used stock Windows 7 drivers.

    Are there any other critical drivers to install to make sure hardware is used optimally.
     
    mswlogo, Aug 19, 2011
    #1
  2. iphetamine

    iphetamine Notebook Evangelist

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    Instead of using Thinkvantage System Update, use this site to choose and download the drivers that you want with any extra stuff.

    I myself have the necessary drivers installed, ofcourse, pluse Power Management and Hotkey Integration software only.
     
    iphetamine, Aug 19, 2011
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  3. mswlogo

    mswlogo Notebook Consultant

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    I've used both methods. The think vantage has worked pretty good and is pretty quick to use.

    But either way I'd like to know what folks think is manditory.
     
    mswlogo, Aug 19, 2011
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  4. Bioniker

    Bioniker Notebook Enthusiast

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    What I recommend, apart from installing only necessary drivers, is to only enable necessary hardware in your computer's bios. For instance, I don't need the ethernet port and have disabled it before installing Win7 - that driver increases your boot time, if nothing else.

    Apart from that, your list seems pretty exhaustive. For comparison, here is what I added during the Win7 installation routine:

    - chipset
    - Intel RST
    - VGA
    - Display
    - Ultranav
    - Hotkey
    - WLan
    - Webcam
    - PowerManager driver

    This way it was not necessary to do any additional driver installation when the system installation had finished. The only thing required for this is to have unpacked drivers, as .exe won't do and only .inf does the job.
     
    Bioniker, Aug 20, 2011
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  5. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    well you would need every drivers to make your laptop's hardware function correctly, these are the bare minimum.

    With Windows 7, i use:

    -Power manager,
    -Hot key
    -and fingerprint manager if have it
     
    lead_org, Aug 20, 2011
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  6. Colonel O'Neill

    Colonel O'Neill Notebook Deity

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    Most minimal set? Windows 7 should run without any additional ones.

    But more reasonably, go for:
    Power Management driver
    Power Manager (you can set a charging threshold then uninstall this)
    Hotkeys

    You should get the latest of anything Intel/NVidia though.
     
    Colonel O'Neill, Aug 20, 2011
    #6