Thinkpad - Windows 7 Without Bloatware

I just bought the T510. I got Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. What I am trying to do is install Windows 7 without all the bloat. Now, I also have T500 and did a downgrade to XP Pro (myself) and it was a huge pain in the . I am hoping that some members can guide me so I can do this more easily. Yes, I already saw a couple of threads on this but they did not address my questions.

So, based on my experience with custom T500 XP downgrade, here is what I am trying to avoid:

1. After I did a clean install, it took me a while before I could figure out what drivers I had to have. I had to download the drivers online ONE-BY-ONE, unpack them, install them. This was an extremely time consuming experience. So, my hope is to install windows 7, then maybe install thinkvantage and let it download and install all the drivers I need from the internet, in one step. Can anyone tell me if this is possible? Whether due to unsupported downgrade or just the way Lenovo works, my XP never had this automatic driver upgrade capability. Every time I wanted to update the drivers, I had to go through the painful process I described.
2. How can I do a clean windows 7 install if I don't have a clean W7 disk? How did you guys solve this issue? I mean I could download windows 7 from p2p and then use my key, but somehow this doesn't sound that great. If I have paid for a Windows 7 license, I should have access to the pure software. I could not find a link on Microsoft website that would allow me to download Windows 7. So any help here would be really appreciated.
3. Is that true that if I delete the recovery partition, the Recovery DVDs that I have burnt will not work anymore? I read this in one of the threads and it didn't make sense to me. If that is indeed the case, then can I resolve this issue by created a separate 10GB partition in the future, if I want to use the recovery DVDs?

 

1) yup - I did that myself. did a clean windows 7 install, installed the thinkvantage toolbox, and it pulled the latest drivers without a hitch
2) There's a thread on the forums that provides the links to the iso's on digital river - this is MS's content distribution platform. I got the win 7 iso's from this place. You can use the orev ABR to back up and restore the factory installed license key, or you can use the one on the sticker at the back.
3) Once you have burnt the recovery discs, you don't need the recovery partition. The recovery discs are bootable and will get your laptop back to factory settings.

edit: here's the link : http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

the link to the iso is on the first post

 

Wow. You nailed it!! The only thing I am not sure about is if there is a difference between X15-65733.iso and X15-65805.iso. I am assuming that Pro vs Ultimate etc versions are determined by the key only.

By the way, after your installation, does EVERYTHING work perfectly? I mean like all the functions keys, projector functionality, battery settings, hibernate, etc? My T500 downgrade to XP Pro was not smooth. The smallest extra software installation could sometimes screw it up. In fact, right now it is not hibernating again. All these issues were partially responsible for my decision to buy T510 now. Ironically, I like Windows 7 and don't think I will go back to XP.

 

nope - there's no difference between the two files. I actually downloaded both the files and compared them. Either will install the professional edition. You are correct in your assumption. Any ISO has the bits for all versions of windows - the version that gets installed depends on your key.

everything works - no unrecognized devices on the device manager, all hot keys work, it hibernates and sleeps without any problems.

This is what I did:
1) Completed the win 7 clean install
2) Installed MSE (Microsoft security essentials)
3) Installed the thinkvantage toolbox
4) Ran it and let it do it's thing. All drivers and software were automatically installed.

BTW - you have the option of disabling updates you don't require. You also have the option of "Only download" so that you can install later on.

I got all updates except for the BIOS - will do it a little later on.

 

I actually already did the BIOS and it works fine.

This is excellent. I am pretty excited and decided to go all the way and do the install tonight, as soon as the W7 download is complete. And thanks for the ABR tool. They should really mention it in that guide as well. I am assuming that the beta version will work on W7.

By the way, approximately how much space does your W7 take after clean install? I am trying to decide how to break down the partition of my 500GB HD. For XP pro, about 50GB was enough with all of my programs, but am not sure if 50GB would be enough for W7 too. Right now, W7 takes up 25GB. I'm thinking that 50GB partition should work in this case too.

One thing I have noticed is that the multi-touch on the touchpad sucks. When I am using two fingers to scroll something, it either has a long lag or does not scroll at all. I don't know if this will improve after clean install. I used to use Macbook Pro and am pretty spoiled since the two finger scrolling on that thing worked perfectly.

 

Okay - then I guess it's time I got the long pending BIOS update.

I had the iso ready and waiting - getting my laptop was a huge ordeal - I had to wait for almost two months.

You have to use the beta version of ABR for Windows 7 - ensure that you have two files (the product key and the activation certificate) saved on the flash drive after the tool has run.

50 GB is more than sufficient for W7 - not too sure but a clean install takes approx 11-13 GB without any additional programs - I don't worry about partitions anyways - just use a single partition for everything.

Haven't really tried multi touch with the trackpad - scrolling is lot more fun when using the trackpoint and the middle button. Besides, I use an external mouse (a logitech MX-518) which is way too comfortable!

BTW - I was almost going to get an MBP myself

All the best with the upgrade - make sure you have all your files and settings backed up before the install . Let us know how it went!

 

Yeah, the ultimate laptop would have IBM's sturdiness, Windows' compatibilities, and Mac's hardware/ease of use. It might take a long while before Lenovo gets there since the hardware is not improved in big leaps. In some cases, they go backward. Like they removed graphics switching in T510 and the speakers are worse than in T500...

Now I'm curious - is there a way to backup W7 settings? (I have never used anything other than XP until now).

The reason I separate partitions is because of reinstalls. After a while, windows becomes unstable, especially with the amount of programs I have. With a separate, small partition just for the OS I am able to backup the entire partition and overwrite it using Acronis. This is essentially a clean windows installation in under 20 minutes since I don't have to touch my personal files in the separate partition. I have yet to find a better method than this re-imaging technique.

And my download is complete, so I will commence the process.

 

The installation went smoothly. However, the installation still asked me to enter my Windows serial. I thought that since I already had the activation by ABR, I wouldn't need this before hand. So since I had to enter it manually, what is the advantage of ABR? The online activation is easy anyway, so I am not sure what's the advantage.

Also, after I installed ThinkVantage, it called my system Windows Vista! I ignored Vista module downloads, but I am not sure why it says Vista 64 when I have Windows 7 64. Did anyone else encounter this problem?

 

Go to "computer properties" and check if your windows installation is activated or not...! the ABR provides the serial number and installs the OEM activation. Also, you can complete the install without entering the serial number.

anyways, just run ABR once more - it should sort things out.

I didn't encounter the vista issue that you are describing. Are you sure you installed the Windows 7 x64 version of thinkvantage suite?

edit: you might want to follow this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/518700-windows-7-clean-install-disc-4.html

 

The ideal computer most certainly wouldn't have Mac hardware, especially not from the MBP13 (X201 is available with the same CPU I have on m17x - I'd say that's pretty decent). Possibly the speakers. Switchable gfx may be missing, but luckily its also missing it's temperatures. I find Windows easy to use enough. Mac OS X is ok for me, but sometimes it feels its built for mentally challenged folks. And if you observe a typical Mac user, you will understand why that may be so.

Other than that, I think most Windows native drivers work well. I skipped installing Intel AMT, and few other non-essential things and it works just fine.

 

That's the thing, when you enter the serial key from your laptop without backing up the certificate and then try to verify the activation it will prompt you to call up Microsoft instead, not via online. Some people can luck out on this and activate without calling while others will need to.

ABR backups and restore the serial information and activation certificate so there is no need to call Microsoft to verify the activation. Useful if you do this multiple times.

 

Yeah, my windows is activated since I did run ABR. That makes sense since I have called MS in the past to re-enable my product key. I guess I won't worry about an automated serial key disk right now - I will just stick to my partition imaging.

The issue was with ThinkVantage. I let it download the Update software and it had downloaded an old version (3.0). I don't know why. I fixed it by updating the software, but I have noticed that it takes a good 10-20 seconds for ThinkVantage to load now. I don't think this is normal since before the clean install it was pretty fast. Maybe the older software installation screwed it up? I don't think I will reinstall windows again though since it took me several hours to complete the whole process. Maybe during Christmas I'll do another clean install and this time be sure to use System Update 4.0.