X220 SSD Installation

Hi, really need an advice before installing SSD to X220, I know this is might be a repeated question but I have been searching overall for a guide to install correctly a SSD. Right now my X220 configuration is:

Code:

Processor: Intel Core i7-2620M Processor (2.7GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) USB 3.0 Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Operating system language: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 English Display type: 12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna Total memory: 2 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) Keyboard: Keyboard US English Fingerprint Reader: Fingerprint Reader Camera: 720p HD Camera Hard drive: 250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm Micro Hard Drive: No Micro Solid State Drive Battery: ThinkPad Battery 29++ (9 cell) Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter Bluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0 Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 Integrated mobile broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC8355 - Gobi 3000 Selectable SIM: SIM Card: USA

I will be using the M4 SSD 256GB from Crucial. Will be modified from 9.5mm to 7mm

My question are:

1. Wwhich one will be better for a SSD? A recovery from the Rescue and Recovery disc or a clean install with a fresh license of Windows 7.
2. If it is better with a fresh license is it advisable to use Windows 7 Ultimate?
3. Which one should be use BIOS or UEFI mode on clean installation and/or with Recovery Disc?
4. Do I need to install Intel RST?
5. What is AHCI related to X220 and SSD?

I also found this website on SSD installation, is it still valid?

HTML:

http://ssdtechnologyforum.com/threads/781-Windows-7-SSD-Installation-Procedure

Hope someone can post a better walkthrough

Thank you

 

1. if you're comfortable doing a clean install and downloading all the drivers, then i would suggest going that route because you'll get more hard drive space after everything is installed. just make sure you download the important drivers like chipset and the intel raid controller drivers.

2. if you have a win7 key, why not? personally i'd stick with win7 pro or enterprsie because the support date on those are longer. 2020 vs 2015 (i think this is correct).

3. doesn't matter. uefi is newer and may improve boot up time for a second or so.

4. yes you will need this to have a fully supported sata channel.

5. ahci applies to newer hdd technology such as ssd. make sure your BIOS is in ahci mode and not compatibility mode.

just glanced at the guide and here's the deal. win7 will work with ssd out of the box as long as you have the right sata drivers (intel rst). you won't need to configure/tweak any win7 settings to get the most out of your ssd.

 

here are the things i would definitely install so you get the most out of your x220 without installing too much and cluttering up the ssd.

x220 drivers
Lenovo Support - Drivers and software - ThinkPad X220, X220 Tablet, X220i, X220i Tablet

intel chipset
audio
ultranav driver
ultranav utility
intel pro/1000 LAN
intel wireless
power manager
power management driver
integrated camera (if you got the camera option)
monitor
usb 3.0
hotkey utility (very important if you want to use your volume buttons)
rapidboot (to get the lenovo EE 2.0 enhancements)
intel video drivers

personally i don't use any of the thinkvantage software besides power manager, but that's up to you if you want to isntall them or not.

 

+1 Rep for this advice, I appreciate this greatly!

 

Thanks guys, hope this will work out as soon as I get all my parts

 

Are you saying that if you use windows 7 home, then you get less support?

 

^Hes talking about the Microsoft Support expiration date for Windows 7

Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This will undoubtedly change as time moves on. (IE: Extended)

 

I will be using m4 250gb ssd, do we need to uninstall the ahci driver and do the reg thingy? How many of you did this? And what the heck is AHCI ....

 

Do I need to apply the LPM registry fix even though I have updated the M4's firmware (0002) and bios (1.17)?

 

I've just had my BSOD I dont know if it is related to the LPM reg. But it's just died on me when I want to start the fingerprint software. I install it under UEFI mode and had tried the temporary fix from

HTML:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/Fingerprint-reader-is-not-compatible-with-UEFI-Lenovo-Tech/td-p/423135

Appreciate if someone could analyze this minidump. Thanks

PHP:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    BlueScreen
  OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID:    1033

Additional information about the problem:
  BCCode:    124
  BCP1:    0000000000000000
  BCP2:    FFFFFA8007848028
  BCP3:    00000000BE200000
  BCP4:    0000000000041136
  OS Version:    6_1_7601
  Service Pack:    1_0
  Product:    256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
  C:\Windows\Minidump\070211-7566-01.dmp
  C:\Users\bram\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-13540-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

 

ahci is the mode of the sata connection for the drive. i dunno what it is, but it needs to be in AHCI mode, and not anything else. when i did it, it was already in AHCI mode.

 

Hit_man, I would say there is about a 99% chance your BSOD was caused by your SSD. Do the reg fix. My M4 would blue screen and I would get hang ups, then I did the reg fix and it has been running like a dream.

 

Well, I think its because of the fingerprint software. I install under UEFI mode and patch the firmware to 0002. The only time it was BSOD when I did something with the fingerprint software. Now I have repeat the steps to function the fingerprint software now working flawlessly. I will wait a few week before I patch the LPM.

@turned2black, do you experience BSOD/Freeze ups right after installation or after a few days of usage?

Here is my Crystaldiskmark results, is it acceptable?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 382.320 MB/s
Sequential Write : 248.478 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 323.817 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 230.265 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 19.516 MB/s [ 4764.6 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 51.335 MB/s [ 12532.8 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 164.734 MB/s [ 40218.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 207.244 MB/s [ 50596.6 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 41.3% (98.4/238.3 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2011/07/02 19:21:07
OS : Windows 7 Ultimate Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

Your reads look a little (just a little) low, but that's probably because your system hasn't spent much time idling, so it hasn't had time to garbage collect (clean itself).

 

I'm not sure this problem was solved or not but this link may be (very) interesting:
Re: Problem with boot on SSD crucial M4 256Go on A... - Page 2 - Crucial Community

 

I never have any freeze up again after I applied the latest firmware, LPM and put the bios in AHCI mode. Recently only have problem with fingerprint, it was also solved by applying the latest driver from upek.