Windows 7 (Experience & Drivers)

I tried to install Windows 7 on my my T500 but the T500 is not recognizing the ISO DVD upon booting.

Do I need to do something special to make this happen?

 

you need to burn the iso file to a dvd with ISO burning software
http://download.cnet.com/PowerISO/3000-2646_4-10439118.html?tag=mncol

 

Great update! Thanks!

 

I'm running Windows 7 x64 on my T61p (specs in sig) and everything is running perfectly, I have no complaints

 

Can you tell us a little more about what you did? Did you just clean install Win7 or did you have to install drivers from Lenovo?

I have virtually the same machine & was planning to install Win7 64 bit this weekend (as soon as my SSD arrives) - would be great to know what to look out for before I start!
thanks.

 

ive recently been getting BSODs, ever since i installed an update to my integrated graphics/chipset. windows tells me that the driver has stopped responding and then i get a bsod...

 

So roll back the driver…

 

How will going to Windows 7 RC 64Bit affect the restore Blue ThinkVantage button and how will this affect warranty?

 

After a series of challenges I finally got it loaded on my T500. So far it's working great. It's definitely snappier than Vista but other than the speed I haven't found any awesome improvement over Vista yet.

 

Really? I haven't used it myself but from videos I've seen, the snap to side window feature looks great!

 

the thinkvantage button wont work and the warranty will remain intanct.

 

Adding to what Max PL mentioned lenovo isnt going provide any support for Windows 7 RC. So, if you suspect hardware issues with the laptop put the system back to Vista/XP using the restore DVD's and then contact for support.

 

Lenovo has released some proper drivers for the Windows 7 Beta and RC.

These officially have NO support, but I have tested them and they seem to work well (far better than using the Vista versions on 7).

LINK TO DOWNLOAD

These drivers are essential for the finer points of the Lenovo driver experience. Namely: on-screen display, ability to turn Bluetooth on/off with Fn+F5, WWAN support, Access Connections, and using the Fingerprint reader to log in.

I'm not sure if there is a "correct" order, but this order worked for me.

1. System Interface Driver
2. Power management Driver
3. Hotkey Features
4. Power Manager
5. HSPA WWAN
6. FingerPrint reader (make sure you uninstall any early driver version first)

I have made this thread a sticky for the time being. Please post your questions/concerns about these drivers in this thread. This will achieve the goal of a simplified site and a common place to get help.

 

I've thrown a few of these in. the fingerprint reader software is saying it cannot contact the device though. Any tips? I had never attempted to install the finger print read in any way so maybe I'm missing a driver for the hardware itself?

 

Thanks for the Replies guys.

Question is I didnt receive recovery disks for my system. I all I have is the Thinkvantage button and a partition with some recovery software and even perhaps the ghosting image.

Did many of you receive disks?

 

You have to burn them yourself. Check out Start->Thinkvantage folder-> look for the 'create recovery media' link.

 

I didn't know this existed. It looks very useful especially when taking content from one source (document, presenation, etc.) and working it into another document. I have always wanted a simple way to show things side by side.

Another thing I want is the ability to lock the gadget display are so that when I make something full screen it doesn't cover the gadgets.

 

if your thinkpad has a UPEK device then the driver won't work.   it's only compatible with authentec devices found in the latest generation of systems (X200/s/T, X301, R400/500, T400/500, W500/700, etc.).

 

Should of mentioned, I'm on an X200

 

hey jonlumpkin did that brightness issue get resolved for you?

still a problem for me...

 

So those six are only essentials that needs to be installed? I'm looking at my X200 programs list and there are bunch of registry updates and Lenovo programs (not including bloatwares).

 

I'm pretty sure the lack of full brightness range is tied to the Intel graphics driver. Until we get a proper driver on this from Lenovo, I doubt it will be resolved.

I would NOT recommend installing Vista registry tweaks onto Windows 7. You can try some of the other items, but I generally have had some trouble running Vista ThinkVantage software (e.g. Presentation director) on 7 properly.

Those six, and the drivers picked up by Windows update, should be enough to give you a pretty well running and optimized Windows 7 environment.

 

I have Win7 Beta RC1 x64 on the laptop right now. Its pretty slick. The only thing that didnt work from Thinkvantage is the fingerprint software. Seems that eventhough I installed the manufacturers driver for the biometric reader it didnt work. the manufacturer had their own software which works great anyway.

So far its been fantastic. I have even been able to run Endpoint x64 on it as well. Installed laptopvideo2go nVidia 185.85 driver and ran a game with it. Works good.

MS got it right this time....and its only the Beta.

 

I have a quick question. I have T61p running Win7 x64. I was wondering what would happen if I installed the newer Bios 2.26-1.08?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67988

Model of my T61p is 6460-DVU.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the notice Jon. I finally got an X200 a few days ago and I love Win7 so I have been planning on installing the RC. I likely would have missed the beta drivers on my own.

 

Check out the Windows 7 drivers and see if it helps.

 

Are these available through the resurrected System Update?

EDIT: Never mind; OS is recognized as Vista, so no matter.

Is there any place I can change the detected language and OS, by the way; particularly since the detected language is wrong.

EDIT2: Getting a "file not found" when clicking some of the driver links.

 

so the bios update tool will not affect my Win7 RC install?

 

Nothing will happen—you’ll just have a newer BIOS. Use the bootable ISO media as mentioned and go to town.

 

hey,

first i just upgraded the oem vista on my T61 to the w7 RC, then did a clean install. The upgrade worked seamlessly, loved it, however, i am experiencing problems since the clean instal: the system stalls from time to time.

Thing is, every driver is loaded, no error message anywhere, even OSD and acces connections work, as well as the fingerprint (the windows/upek program, i couldn't get the thinkpad program to work, but this is just fine), so i just cannot comprehend what's wrong. But movie playback stalls, browsers stall, and it takes ages for the OS to gather itself again. And no error message. Any ideas what i might be doing wrong?

 

are switchable graphics for the t400/500 working with these drivers?

 

Thanks Blink
Burned the ISO and it worked like a charm. Though the long beep at the end to signal it was done scared the bajeezus out of me.

 

Just to check you did all the drivers from the Lenovo Beta page correct? I did all the drivers and my T61p runs great so far. I also had the newest BIOS just installed. My older BIOS had no issues with 7.

 

Aye, all of them. Put heads together with a pro, he went on and updated all the drivers of the intell chipset, GMA et all - those where included in the win7 package, and weren't faulty, however, all of them have been outdated since, by newer editions and so it is worth a try. Haven't tested thoroughly yet, though i have to say no new stalls since, so it might have worked. Strange though, if there is a driver problem, shouldn't "device manager" say so...?

The thinkpad in question btw is a T61 model 7659 A18 - only mod is 2gigs of ram added to the original 0,5gig. "Only" Intell GMA 3100 as video driver, still, win 7 looks marvelous on screen, and fast too. So all in all worth the fight for the drivers :-D

 

I've read through this thread, but couldn't find an answer to my question - does switchable graphics on the t400/t500 work with the windows 7 beta drivers recently released by lenovo?

 

they didnt release a graphics driver so no.

 

Well, whats the point of these Lenovo drivers if Win 7 picks them all automatically? Everything works smooth enough for me except the brightness OSD..

 

Windows 7 doesn’t come with the Hotkey drivers, Lenovo-specific Power Manager and other software—it contains more one-size-fits-all stuff where as Lenovo’s is hardware specific and, ideally, optimized for Lenovo. Sometimes the built-in Windows software works well enough, other times it requires these items to work correctly or to their full capacity.

 

Just wanted to update everyone - one of the Win7 drivers enabled the Bluetooth to be turned on from fn-f5. Now I'm 100% operational

 

yes the fn-F5 key works to bring up the bluetooth wifi on/off utility. I was blown away. even the Thinkpad Light which shines over the keyboard turns on with a display stating if its working or not.

 

gah! thx for the info. no way to use windows 7 if you have switchable graphics, then. boooooo

 

no its not
i was on win7 and i found out that switchable graphics didnt work
so now im back to vista

 

Windows 7 has so many improvements all over the place that I can easily overlook the switchable graphics in order to have 7’s goodness. I don’t think I can ever go back to Vista.

 

what do you do when you need to use an application that requires the better graphics? re-install vista? crappy that windows 7 isn't going to support switchable graphics.

 

I go into the BIOS and manually make the switch. Once Lenovo releases the switchable graphic drivers for Windows 7, Windows 7 will have switchable graphics. Relax, the final version of Windows 7 has not been released yet.

 

I can not find the fingerprint driver on the link from the first page...

I have a T500 can anyone help me?

 

I think it's an error to assume Win7 / Lenovo won't support switchable graphics in final release.

We're dealing with a prerelease beta operating system and prerelease beta drivers. It's unreasonable to expect everything to work just fine; I'm impressed that as much works well as it does. I'm confident Lenovo will release a driver supporting this feature prior to Win7 going final.

For the time being, if you must have switchable graphics, then either switch via BIOS (I haven't tested this) or go back to a non-beta operating system.

 

Nice to have the beta drivers now that RC1 has been out for a month

 

Yeah definitely - goes to show that companies aren't going to sit around and wait. They know the Windows 7 buzz is pretty big and they need to be ahead of the curve to make their customers happy.

Good times for us.

 

I merged the two stickies in the interest of vertical space.

Hopefully it doesn't cause too much confusion.