T61 Vista Clean Install Guide

I've created a guide as promised to clean installing Vista on any T61 here:

http://jstigall.googlepages.com/t61clean.html

Please give me any comments or questions you might have, and let me know if I need to change or fix anything, I've only tested this on Vista Enterprise 64-bit.

This is reminding me of my Microsoft MVP days. Fun

-Justin

 

This is awesome man. I plan on doing something very similar to this when I get my own.

 

Thanks so much. This is very helpful!

A quick question: did the OEM version of Vista Ultimate come with both 32- and 64- bit?

 

Thank you Justin Stigall for the step by step guide with download links. Awesome work! Bookmarked for future use.

 

Great write-up man. I just have one question. Can you do this process with the recovery disks lenovo gives you or do you have to buy another copy of Vista?

 

I really don't know as I haven't tried the recovery disks option, I would bet that the recovery disks would put the laptop back to the day you got it. I'm just lucky enough to have access to a cheap copy of vista via a university.

 

That was just pure Awesome!

 

Hmm...my hp has the same hardware I bet all of your intel links would work for me too (minus the thinkpad utilities of course)...

 

Since Lenovo doesn't include Vista disks, what's the best way to get ahold of a copy of Vista if your school doesn't give you one for cheap? The partition that's included has all of the extra crap installed, so you really can't use that. I imagine you could just torrent it but that could take ages. Any ideas?

 

I've heard if you delete the hidden partition then it'll do a clean install of Vista with restore disks. I haven't had the chance to try it myself though.

Using something like fdisk (can be found on a windows98 disk using dos commands) or something off bootdisk.com should format the entire drive including the hidden partition.

 

Just curious this CD you say you need to get into the windows boot up do you make that yourself, or does it come with the laptop?

 

Pretty nice guide! I like how clean it looks!

To answer a couple questions, yes, if you use either the recovery discs or restore from the service partition it will restore it to how it was when it left the factory. Also, if your T61 came with a Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD (I think every new PC with Vista does these days), then you can use that to do a fresh install from as it's basically just a Vista install disc with a different label on the top. Your CD-key is on that sticker on the bottom of the laptop.

As a small tip, you don' have to install the chipset or video drivers right away if you don't want to, just grab the wireless driver or connect by ethernet, download a copy of System Update 3, make sure Bluetooth/Wi-Fi are enabled by the hardware switch/Fn key combo and System Update should find all the nessecities. The only thing it didn't offer to download for me on my T60 was the UltraNav driver, it did get the utility however.

 

The system update program didn't offer to download any drivers for me, so maybe they haven't updated it for the T61 just yet.

Also my T61 did not come with any media except a OneNote 2007 CD.

 

So you relied on the copy of Vista that you were able to get from your school?

 

Yeah, which is unfortunately not an option for most people.

 

Wow, Thanks...

That is comprehensive yet Pointed.
Thank You

 

Might be able to ask for an Anytime Upgrade DVD from Lenovo for free, I thought I remembered hearing somewhere that OEM's are required to distribute it with new PC's...

Afterall, the disc is part marketing tool anyway, but it's actually useful as well.

 

ok..so i've been having problems with the clean install thing..so I followed ur guide... but once i get to the wireless step..i still cannot get my wireless to work, I even tried both wireless drivers, but neither work for me (my model is t61-766416u btw, so it should be the "Thinkpad Wireless Driver abgn
(Vista x86 and x86_64)" but it does not work.. any help?

 

Thank you. Great write up and will be very helpful. btw, is this 64bit ULTIMATE? Does your UNiv provide both 32 and 64bit DVDs?

 

Could you give us a few more details about what exactly isn't working? Did the drivers just not install? Or did they install but it's not connecting to your network?

Chances are that if they just don't install, it might be the hardware wireless switch. Make sure that it's on (it's located on the front of the T6x series) and that the little wireless antenna light next to the Bluetooth light is lit.

Just a few basic troubleshooting tips based on limited info.

 

awesome!

 

Thanks for the reply, so the wireless driver will install.then i restart my computer, but wireless still doesnt' work (i look in device manager, the card doesn't show up), Since i clean installed vista..the wireless light next to bluetooth light hasnt' worked either.... the hardware switch has been on for sure too

 

If the light isn't on that means that you haven't enabled the radio. If you have the hotkey utilities installed, you can hit FN-F5 and enable the Wifi card.

 

ok..so the fn-f5 thing doesn't work..how can i enable it?. installing the hotkey utilities?

if this is the case..maybe add this to the clean install guide..

 

I did, if you follow the section on installing the thinkpad utilities, and then the bluetooth section it is essentially the same thing.

 

oh ok..cool cool.thanks i will try that

 

finallllyyy... my t61 is awesome now... everything works fine after following ur install guide..wirelesss works now!!! i was jus installing it wrong (just ran driver instal from zip file, didnt unzip the whole file before installing..lol)..

THANKYOU!

 

Have a small problem after following this guide. The System Update doesn't pick up any Fingerprint reader drivers! I know it's not really necessary but it's still nice to have. I can't find a download for it on their website either. The link you have for the fingerprint reader goes to the BlueTooth driver.

Overall a pretty good, simple guide on doing a clean install. Also for the nVidia Quadro NVS 140M drivers, you can now download them from Lenovo's website at: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67890 (32bit)
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67939 (64bit) No more messing with video drivers!

FOUND THEM! Fingerprint Reader 5.6 http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-66948

 

does the driver order matter? I installed most of the drivers but in different orders...don't know if i should reinstall vista...thanks

 

You're right, and thanks for letting me know that they have the quadro driver now I'll update the guide sometime tomorrow.

 

thanks for the tutorial. I will use then when I order my T61 near the 4th of July. I have a copy of vista ultimate 64 bit edition that I am going to put on so should i just order the notebook with the cheapeast os...which is vista basic i believe?

 

Does anyone know if there is any sort of way to replace the hidden partition image with a new one. Say I am angry that lenovo doesn't offer the x64 version of vista (or even tell you what version you're being stuck with) with their systems and I want to get a copy of the retail version do a clean install, and then somehow replace the factory operating system on the hidden partition, so if things went sour I could use the thinkvantage button and set the settings back to the new image with x64 bit Vista ( the retail version I would buy)??? Or is there some way that Lenovo could send me a disk similar to a recovery disk that would have x64 bit version and would create its own partition hidden partition? Or am I crazy for buying a the core2duo t7300 64 bit processor and wanting to actually use the 64 bit processing??

Another question with the clean install you guys are doing, what operations of the "ThinkVantage" system operate? Are you still able to do diagnostics and other things?


Thanks alot!!

 

i don't plan on ever using the recovery partition as i want to do a clean install with my own copy of vista.
i can delete the recovery partition right?
that's it's only purpose?

 

So how many processes do you end up having after following the entire guide? My T61 currently has 90+ processes running at startup, but isn't the ThinkVantage the stuff that hogs up most of the processes?

 

i clean installed vista x64 and after installing some programs and most of the thinkvantage stuff i have around 70
i wonder if that's higher than on an x86, cause i have lots of 32bit and 64bit stuff running

 

I ordered my T61 with Vista Ultimate (presumably 32-bit). Can I do a clean instal with a 64-bit Vista OEM disk? Will the same key for my 32-bit Ultimate work for the 64-bit?

Thanks

 

I just did a clean install of windows vista home premium on my new R61. Everything seems to be working except for the scroll function on my touchpad and trackpointer. Has anyone run into the same problem? Any ideas?

 

I did a clean installation of Vista Business on my new T61. But I am having trouble with System Update 3.0. It doesn't matter which update I choose, it will download okay, no error or anything, then at then it will just say "x Packages did not install". Anyone know what the problem is. I was afraid it was caused by some software conflict, so I reinstalled windows again with nothing on it, ans still same problem.

 

is this still the best clean install guide for the T61?

 

did you turn it on in the touchpad software?
Seperate R61 question, how was the reformat using this guide? Were all the drivers the same?

 

I followed your guide, and everything is working great. The only issue I seem to be having is that I can't adjust the display brightness using fn - end/home. The HUD shows the setting changing, but the actual brightness doesn't change. This holds true for when the setting changes on battery/AC power, the HUD shows it changing, but the brightness doesn't change at all. Note that I installed the forceware drivers by editing the inf, I don't know if that's what causes the problem? There are no missing device drivers in device manager.

Oh, I installed vista enterprise 32.

 

If I order my T61 with Vista Ultimate, can I then download a copy of the 64 bit Vista DVD and use the OEM key on the bottom of the notebook?

 

No offense but my feeling is we have 2 kinds of people here:
1) The ones who commend you on your great guide to then say that they WILL use it as soon as they are doing a clean install. Hence, the ones who can't really evaluate how great your guide really is.
2) The ones who commend you on your great guide by saying that everything works great BUT now A and B doesn't work anymore. Hence, the ones who have a different understanding of working great.

Here's are questions:
I'm not that computer savy, do you still think it's possible for me to do a clean install without totally messing up? You guide looks without a doubt great (for all I know). And even if I am wrong I appreciate all the effort you put into it. However, how do I know what applications to delete and what to leave on and how big is big enough for Linux, etc. etc.

 

Installation guide is awesome and it was a great help for me,, my T61 looks much better now , I have following two problems

1) I can't find the finger print reader software on lenovo site (link for the fingerprint reader in the installation guide is taking to the bluetooth drivers page) and I also checked it in the T61 Driver matrix and softwares.

2) My scroll for the touchpad is not working.

Can anyone please help me on this?

 

From what I understand the R61 and T61 have virtually the same stuff inside, which is why I ended up going with the R61. When I did the clean install I formated it to be used with linux too, but I haven't installed linux yet.

The clean-install went smoothly, and I used some of the advice in your arcticle. I got all of the drivers from the lenovo website because my wireless card worked fine. As far as I know everything is working correctly except the scroll function on the touchpad and the trackpointer.

As a site note, I would definitely recommend the R61 to anyone willing to trade .1 inch thickness for $80. The memory is also very easy to change out, so don't hesitate to buy it with 512MB and upgrade immediately. You'll save a lot of money.

 

If you weren't stupid and backed up your c:/swtools/drivers directory before you wiped the drive, you should easily find your touchpad and fingerprint drivers in there.

 

Thank you Jhonny,, I installed the drivers now they are working fine. Under the device manager I can see "Base System Device" with missing drivers. Can you please let me know what it is and what drivers do I need install ?

 

I have no clue what that is. You should just try out all the different driver setups that you have saved. If they're already installed, just move on to the next one. Before you know it, you'll have everything set up.

 

Did you guys already get the touchpad working?

I can't even get the Fn+F5 working, but wireless is on :S

Will have a further check on Lenovo's driver page now.

You hear from me soon.

EDIT1:
Got touchpad scrolling working. I was so stupid to click 'next, continue, finish', but that did only extract the driver :+

EDIT2: Got the hotkeys also working . And with that, also the Bluetooth.

EDIT3:
Link to the fingerprintreader driver:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TVAN-EAPFPR

 

And voila. The system is running smooth. No more BSOD's!