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    Running XP

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by lmbgm, Mar 30, 2011.

  1. lmbgm

    lmbgm Notebook Guru

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    I'm currently using XP Pro and have never used Vista or Windows 7.

    I am about to order a T420 and am wondering if anyone here is running XP on these laptops, especially the newer ones. (with the webcam, NVIDIA, smartcard reader, ultimate-N, bluetooth). I also plan to add a msata drive.

    I don't want to spark a debate between the two OS's, I'm really just looking to find out if there are any specific features of the LAPTOP that won't work with XP due to drivers or something.

    Or if someone has tried both noticed any large difference in performance or battery life specific to xp vs win7 running on lenovos
     
  2. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    Your best bet is "Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC" on Windows 7. You can specify this feature when CTO your T420.

    [​IMG]

    That's on Lenovo Canada order page. For US:

    [​IMG]
     
  3. orca3000

    orca3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    There is a XP mode virtual machine option in Windows 7.
     
  4. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I believe Windows 7 power management is superior to XP, my Vostro 1500 had maybe a 20-30 minutes extra battery life from XP Professional to Windows 7 Beta at the time.

    Only Windows 7 Professional and higher will offer XP Mode.
     
  5. sprtnbsblplya

    sprtnbsblplya Notebook Deity

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    When I was installing my Virtual PC under Win 7 Pro x64, I got a popup that hardware virtualization was not detected.
    Went into the UEFI on boot and there were no options to enable it.
    Not sure if this will affect XP mode.
     
  6. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    There is BIOS option for the T410, T410s and T510, AFAIK. Virtualization is "off" by default.
     
  7. lmbgm

    lmbgm Notebook Guru

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    I've run virtualbox before like with linux, and I've noticed a bit of a performance hit, also its hard to get it to take advantage of all the hardware because I'm going through another layer.

    I'll have to look into this XP mode and see how it compares
     
  8. sprtnbsblplya

    sprtnbsblplya Notebook Deity

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    Nvm, it is under the security options instead of general settings on the T420.
    Different location than my old Dell for that setting.
     
  9. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    For most thinkpads opposite seem to be true, when i moved my OS from XP or Vista to Windows 7, then i lose about 20 to 30 minutes of battery time on a 6 cells on my T400 and X200. I would only get comparable battery run down time if i switch the Windows 7 to the classical mode.

    But since your Dell uses the window's own power management system, then that battery gain maybe possible. But for people using Lenovo Thinkvantage Power Manager opposite is true.
     
  10. WyrmHF

    WyrmHF Notebook Consultant

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    Have you had any experience with a Linux OS? How does it affect battery life with Thinkvantage Power Manager?
     
  11. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    Don't really use Linux, so can't really say.
     
  12. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    When I used Ubuntu (installed via Wubi) on my T500 for a little while, I got about 1 hour less battery life than in Windows Vista. It is possible to optimize power savings in Linux, and I've heard people get roughly the same amount of battery lifetime, but that's definitely not true out of the box.

    I saw no reason to run XP on my T500, but I have heard that you generally get about 1 hour less battery life, as compared to Windows Vista. That's with the 9-cell, on the T500, so exact figures would differ on other TPs.
     
  13. WyrmHF

    WyrmHF Notebook Consultant

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    Looks like you guys are right. If I install Ubuntu on a ThinkPad I'll have to profile power usage with PowerTop utility:

    Saving power with Linux on Intel hardware

    Then, the biggest power hogs can be tuned to optimize battery life and hopefully get close to what Windows gets.
     
  14. LoneWolf15

    LoneWolf15 The Chairman

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    I have not been incredibly impressed with XP Mode on Windows 7. It works for some things, but since it is basically running on Windows 7 in terminal services mode, not every application is compatible.

    It's also not near as fast as running Windows XP with VMWare Workstation, which does a pretty good job, provided you aren't looking for a lot of hardware-accelerated graphics. I use VMWare when I need to run XP, and skip XP Mode altogether these days.
     
  15. ThinkRob

    ThinkRob Notebook Deity

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    Counterpoint: when I had an X200s my battery runtimes were equal to those reported by Windows users as was my idle power usage.

    Yes, I did a bit of tweaking, but it consisted of adding about 8 lines to a single file, all of which were guided by powertop and ThinkWiki. Took a grand total of five minutes. :D