Windows 7 (Experience & Drivers)

(Would be nice if this were stickied - at least for a while)

Those of you who've upgraded, how smooth a transition have you made in terms of Thinkpad compatibility? I'm not interested in Sims 2 not working; strictly the experiences related to your laptop, be they programs, drivers, etc.

Please start your post by writing your model in bold, and go to the next line, so people will have the least amount of hassle perusing the comments.

Thanks.

PS: Prospective Windows 7 users who are considering taking advantage of the free Windows 7 RC1 (which will function until March, not June or July as some mention, as you won't be able to use your OS for more than two hours at a time from March) should check out the beta version of Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, which will test how your computer meets the requirements of Windows 7, and which programs might run into issues in the transition to the new OS.

UPDATE:
http://www.lenovo.com/windows7beta

 

T61p T9300 4GB

I installed RC 7100 32-bit yesterday on my T61p T9300 4GB and my initial reaction is that it felt a bit sluggish/choppy when browsing and scrolling, minimizing/maximizing windows, etc.

The only thing I installed were the windows update drivers and fixes. I'll play around with it a bit more. Should I be installing Intel Chipset / Matrix Storage drivers too?

Also, I came across this page in the morning and I'll try it later tonight:

http://www.imjosh.com/2009/02/21/slow-your-scroll-fix-sluggish-scrolling-in-windows-7

 

T400, S10

I have the RC on a T400 (dual booted with XP). So far no problems at all. Everything recognized, smooth speedy operation. Excellent.

On the S10 I installed the Beta earlier. Again no problems at all and it worked beautifully.

 

Sticky - For time being.

ThinkPad x200 Tablet - Build 7100 64-bit

Install went smoothly, and general operation is solid and stable.

The x4500MHD driver seems a bit buggy (would crash frequently). However, I recently updated to a new version via windows update and it hasn't been a problem as yet.

Switching to slate mode often gives me an error about disabling the beam forming feature (related to array microphone on x200T only). Similarly, I seem unable to hold secondary portrait rotation.

The fingerprint reader is properly detected, and a driver was installed by Windows Update. However, the application crashes when I try and register fingerprints for log on purposes.

I also haven't installed much of the ThinkVantage software as yet. Therefore, I do not have features such as the Blue button for action center, or the on screen display when changing brightness/volume.

Aside from those minor issues, performance is very solid and my opinion of Windows 7 remains high.

 

X61, Win7 RC1

Just do the windows update, all drivers are there, works like a charm!

Just added the active protection system for vista, power manager & trackpoint driver.

On screen menu doesn't work (volume and stuff)

 

T500, Win7 RC1 32bit

Install was smooth and almost hassle free. I installed Vista 32bit drivers for the powermanager, hotkey, ultranav, and amt 4.0. Installed the beta windows 7 drivers from ati but couldn't get the switchable graphics to work. I tried the Lenovo drivers for Vista and that didn't work as well.

At the moment, I'm using the discrete graphics exclusively and losing out on battery power. I hope we figure a solution soon!

 

X61s, Win7 RC x64

Install was quick and painless from USB key.
Had to install the audio driver even though Win7 said it installed one and it was working fine. No audio until I installed the Vista64 version of the driver.
FN key combos don't work for F3 (power), F5 (wireless), or F8 (trackpoint).
Got errors about winstat always failing until I ran the update, I believe that is due to bad driver for the GM965 initially. There was an updated version on WU and since that installed, no issues and WEI score could be calculated.

 

Windows 7 installs fine on my R60. I didn't have any problems getting anything to work except one. AlphaXP gets rid of all those little annoying popup tooltips when you mouse mouse over things. It works fine in compatibility mode in 32 bit Vista, but won't work in 64 bit Vista or Windows 7. I suspect it's because neither allows 16 bit installers, but I'm no expert on the matter. I need to work before I make the transition.

 

Same here. My biggest complaint so far is the video driver.

 

I had the same problem with the fingerprint reader. But I did get it to work!

Uninstall the driver and then restart your computer. Use Windows Update to reinstall the driver (I had to do this twice) and that's when it worked for me.

I have some other problems such as no bluetooth, certain keys not working, etc.; but I'm going to wait for the Lenovo Drivers site to come back (it's down now) before I whine about it.

PS I have the x200 (not tablet) but I'd think that my solution might work for you as well.

 

X200s 2GB RAM and have done clean installs of W7 RC1 x64 and x86.
Both worked fine, but have not bothered to set up Bluetooth on either install (I don't really use it so I can't tell you if it works or not)

Everything worked "out of the box" except enabling the fingerprint reader. On both installs I had to download the new W7 compatible software from Authentec after uninstalling the one included with windows. I also installed the beta W7 version of Active Protection from Lenovo.

There is no on screen display but the hotkeys for volume, thinklight, and brightness work and that's really all I care about.

I love how pretty much everything I need is built in, so I don't need third party software all over the place. This actually feels like a big upgrade from XP Pro, like when I replaced Win98 with XP. I particularly enjoy:
The new taskbar, Everything related to networking (wireless manager, homegroups, remote desktop), the snapiness of it (especially the built in fingerprint login vs the old lenovo software).

Note that Daemon tools does not work with Windows 7 yet. I installed x64 first but had to downgrade because a program I use a lot for work uses Visual Foxpro ODBC drivers and those are not compatible with 64 bit OSes.

XP Mode works very nicely but really slows down this little low voltage machine (1.86 ghz LV).

 

I actually cannot get bluetooth to work, the computer doesn't seem to even recognize that I have bluetooth. Do you want to try it and tell me how it goes? =]

Oh, and the Broadband card does not seem to have working drivers? Can anybody get GPS working?

Edit: Installing the hotkey drivers did the trick for bluetooth, it also brings back the green volume display when you change the volume with the hard keys.

 

x61 4GB ram

I have Windows 7 build 7057, after installing it everything worked out of the box except:
-on screen display,
-FN+F5
-FN+F3

at some point the FN=F3 or FN+F5 worked but then stopped working. i installed online display after finding a thread here.
I installed Active Protection System, Power management System and TrackPoint.

For the fingerprint reader i installed a different software, Protector Suite. It does the job.

Now everything works fine. Windows loads really fast, also goes to sleep really quick and wakes up ready for work (no loading time for anything). Application also load fast.

I did only 2 updates regarding some ThinkPad updates, but that's it and i don't think i will update it again ever. It works too good to mess it up.

Just love this Windows7.

 

T500 2055-3AG 64-bit

Aside from one thing, everything seems to work great; it's nice to be able to have internet from the get-go this time around. There're some error flags, but most of them don't seem to affect me directly.

I do, however, have one annoying problem: My GFX/GPU drivers won't work properly; I can't enable Anti-Aliasing in any of my games (all on Steam), and the ATI CCC prompts me with this, when I open it:



For some reason, Intel seems to have taken over my pane in my advanced display settings (Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display\Screen Resolution). Maybe I should attempt a driver uninstall and subsequent ATI driver reinstall, as Windows' driver may have caused this conflict.

Guess I'm not alone.

 

The latest version should—though I recently switched to Virtual CloneDrive, http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html, and it works just fine with 7.

 

T400 7x64

intel video driver has some minor problems: e.g. window closing animation is slow.
some thinkpad drivers didn't work for me. I tried hotkey, ultrnav, ultranav utility, none of them worked for me.

 

T500 2055-3AG 64-bit (pt. 2)

Okaaay; trying to reinstall the drivers didn't work out as planned, as Windows BSOD'd during the ATI installation, forcing me to do a System Restore. After I uninstalled the drivers the first time, Windows detected two separate graphics cards (internal and discreet); otherwise it won't, meaning that only the Intel is detected now. Don't thing forcing a graphics card via BIOS should be necessary.

Power Manager doesn't seem to work either, freezing up more and more frequently; particularly when I try to figure out if it's controlling which one of the graphics cards is being used.

Hum.

EDIT: Uninstalling using ATI's own uninstall tool goes nowhere; it just keep uninstalling and uninstalling without the Overall Progress changing. You have to uninstall it by other means.

 

My 7 experience has been amazing i love this o/s it's a streamline vision of the future. Im running it on my laptop now as my primary operating system ive had ZERO problems

 

I got a SSD today and installed in my R61. Fresh install from a flash drive took about 10min and everything works fine so far..

But damn, the system is just super snappy.

 

I've been using Daemon Tools Lite on multiple 7 machines with success.

 

hi all, how's the batt life with windows 7? (especially on x200).
i read in somewhere, it's say it use more power on vista....is it true?

 

X61 7675
been using since it's been avaliable to the public. Absolutely love it, no issue with my machine.
For those who having issue with On Screen Display (ODS),
1. update ur BOIS ( I Believe everyone should've done it already) -_-!!
2. Get "System Interface" installed first b4 trying to install any other drivers
3. Get Hot Key driver installed
4. If u want ODS works for adjusting brightness u need to install Lenovo graphic driver, but i'm having issue with that, ( black screen when i play WoW), So I downloaded the lastest driver directly from intel, no black screen issue anymore but ODS doesn't working for brightness but all other hot key works perfectly fine

Hope it helps

 

Same things happens for me, t61p 4:3... aero was choppy and very slow...

 

You LEGEND! Finally got OSD working. Although the brightness overlay isn't working, it doesn't matter too much. As long as the volume buttons now work, I'm really happy.

 

Just installed the Build 7100 today on my T60 1952 build. It feels like everything's working fine so far. Installed Firefox & Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition as well, & so far no problems.

Anyway, do anyone with a T60 know what drivers I should be installing. Windows 7's Driver Manager said that it only cannot recognize my Fingerprint Reader.

 

From what I've been told, and witnessed (and this may be wrong, but it sounds right) - you had to have had your Bluetooth on when you installed Win7, otherwise it won't recognize that the device exists. I haven't found a way to power-on the bluetooth device yet in Win7, so the drivers will install. Maybe an Ubuntu LiveCD or a properly configured PE Vista?

 

I went to a Vista x64 driver before the OSD for thinklight/brightness worked. Using W7 driver from WU, it always showed only volume.

 

I had the same bluetooth problem. I got the FN+F5 to work (only for a minute, it doesnt work anymore), and I turned on bluetooth. Then the driver automatically installed.
The trick is getting the FN+F5 to work.
I think that if you make sure it is on while you still have vista or xp installed, that might work too.

 

T500 2055-3AG 64-bit (pt. 3)

Managed to install the switchable drivers, and I'm getting the same great FPS in games I used to. Some users reported a boost in their HDD Windows Experience Index on T500s from score from 5.9 to 7.8 after installing the Intel Storage Matrix, but no change here. Power Manager also seems to work somewhat, but like Intel graphics drivers, I haven't really bothered to dig into it too much.

I can't use the numpad characters on my T500 keyboard. I've installed the hotkey software to try and fix this, but still can't use any of the numpad's characters. This also means that I can't use any Unicode characters.

Any clue what's preventing me from using them? I've been using Fn, Alt, Alt Gr, Ctrl and Shift in all manners of combinations, but nothing so far.

 

Would windows 7 work on the Y530?

 

If you're sitting at the laptop now, run this to check.

 

Are you saying that the switchable graphics are working now in Win7? You can switch on the fly, not have to go through bios?

If this is true, I'm excited. I used build 7000 for a while but got annoyed by the lack of switchable graphics, I hope I can go to 7100 now

 

x200 x64 7100

Overall it's great, enough to switch to 7 full time. Outstanding issues are audio output on Ultrabase does not work, hasn't in the 2 builds I've tried. Have to unplug and re-connect DisplayPort when docking to get it to detect. 1080p fairly choppy with CoreAVC Pro, was fine in Vista.

Besides that it's fantastic.

 

Unfortunately, that's not what I'm saying. I haven't tried switching between the two too much, but I don't see any noticeable difference when changing the battery profile. Both cards are still listed on my Device Manager, when I'm on a power saving profile, which didn't use to happen on Vista, when the Intel card was used. But what do I know.

 

Are you having problems with not be able to adjust brightness settings properly after waking the computer from sleep?

 

I began experiencing this JUST now. The computer automatically sleeps on startup. I can change the brightness during boot, but when I'm logged in, the problem occurs.

What gives?

 

On Lenovo N500 with Intel 4500HD graphic chip I am experiencing this problem:


This happens on all programs and sometimes on desktop's icons...
What's the problem? compatibility issues with intel's chip?
I use the latest RC 7100 build...

 

I figured that since Power Manager was acting so badly, I might as well uninstall it to see if it caused the issue - and lo! It was the culprit.

Problem solved.

 

I never installed Power Manager, and yet I still have this problem.

New Intel chipset drivers were just pushed through Windows Update, so hopefully we can expect some other drivers soon enough.

 

Had the OSD and driver stopped responding problem but fixed by reverting to the graphics driver from Lenovo site. Now I am having some issues where the computer does not respond resuming from standby. I can swipe my fingerprint and then it will just get stuck on the 'welcome' loading screen - hdd activity light is off, requiring a restart.

 

windows 7 on dell studio 16& 17 BOTH with rgb led screen, graphics rocks.

 

Have you tried reinstalling drivers? That's a good place to start. Just download Vista drivers and install them over the default ones.

 

I have tried but the vista drivers are older than the Microsoft ones...I will try them though now...

 

running RC 7100 x64 on T400
I have noticed that notebook fans are louder -> the temps are higher.
Does anyone else have also noticed this?

 

Originally, a bit, but not really anymore now. You might want to check out the Windows 7 RC T400 Battery Life Restored thread at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4852908#post4852908.

 

I get most to work with Vista drivers as well. I got my 120GB SSD back from repairing and with Vista 7 it loads in 45 secs from I press onbutton till I can open a webpage. Its a while since I tried it with XP but Im pretty sure it wasn't any faster with that. And it looks great!

 

I think that cool OS for 2009 !

 

Is this the site for latest drivers that I need if I do clean install? So basically everything from that site (except for the programs I don't need such as Access Connections). Does these drivers work for Windows 7 RC too?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70476.html

 

Windows 7 Beta drivers should be available here:

http://www.lenovo.com/windows7beta

The links are already there to about 12 drivers (the most essential ones) but the files cannot be downloaded yet. They will probably become available later today.

 

I run 7 (build 7127) on HP DV3000 series all driver is working fine.