I have several T61 series Thinkpads, should I put on Vista Business 64bit on them or Win 7?

[MisterB]

I am investigating why SSD drives do not do well on Vista besides not having native trim support. Vista has disk defragmenting automatically turned on. The user has to go into the disk defragmenting utility and remove the check mark. I am researching the indexing feature Vista uses as well which should be disabled because a standard OS is not a server and could cause wear on an SSD.

Hearing stories of SSD's wearing down over time on Vista could be related to the auto disk defragmenting which is turned on in Vista. SSD's are not meant to be defragmenting because they are solid state with no moving platters or parts.

I'd forgotten about indexing and auto defragmenting. Vista will constantly be writing to the disk if it is left in an untweaked state. I've disabled both of those in Vista as well as "Superfetch". A lot of the performance issues it has are due to the constant disk writes.

[Hans Gruber]

For the search engines and those who want to tweak their Vista OS. Click on the Windows logo circle (lower left) type "services" or services.msc in the start search box, either works. For SuperFetch, scroll down the list and you will find SuperFetch. Highlight it with a left click on SuperFetch and then right click on SuperFetch. Click stop on service. Then right click properties, in the general tab you have the option (startup type) default is set to automatic. Change tab to disabled.

Indexing is under (Windows Search) further down the list in the Services list. Same process for turning it off. For disk defragmenting. Start tab, all programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Uncheck run on schedule, click select volume as well.

I am still trying to figure out why when I restart Disk Defragmenter automatically rechecks itself.

I personally do not think trim is what is causing SSD's to deteriorate over time on Vista. I think it's the auto disk defragmenting. SSD's were not designed to be defragmented because they are solid state drives. I suspect all the auto defragmenting daily is what causes SSD's to slow down over time. Even if they added trim support to Vista the SSD's would deteriorate because disk defragmenter on Vista is automatically a daily task.

I am using a spinner drive but noticed disk defragmenter reestablished itself in the default daily defragment setting when my thinkpad was restarted.

To remove indexing on your HDD. Right click on your C drive primary drive) and uncheck the (Index This Drive For Faster Performance) in the general tab.


My next step will be testing out a SSD drive in Vista Business 64-bit

Thanks for the tip on SuperFetch MisterB.

[Hans Gruber]

Here is a slight problem I am having with Vista Business 64 bit. My 14" T61 with integrated graphics that I affectionately call mighty mouse reads 300mbps on the wifi over my 5ghz band. My T500 with Vista Ultimate reads 54mbps on the same band. Problem is the speed test results show 94mbps down and 12mbps up which is the same as mighty mouse using the same band, same T61 minus discrete graphics with the same OS. Certainly not 54mbps connection.

Anybody else have this problem? Vista is really starting to grow on me. It really does look a lot like windows 7. I am still doing testing on Vista. Very soon I will add a SSD drive and hopefully create a disk image that I can clone using my USB docking station.

[friedrich-eugen]

Why don't You try Windows 10?

If You use Windows 7 or 8 drivers (in case of ATI- or Nvidia-graphics) in compatibility-mode, You should succeed installing the machine fully functionally... !?!!

Í do use a Frankenpad (i.e. a T61P-board in a T60P-casing & -Display (uxga/led) with Windows 10 (actually writing this post on it) It does work flawlessly, as far as I happen to experience so far (since July), after finding the right Nvida-driver and the right way to install it.

happy trails

[Hans Gruber]

I did have Win 10 on one of my T61 models for a few weeks. I have Win 7 on another T61 and put Linux on another. I am just testing out Vista Business 64bit because that is the native OS for most of these T61 models.

[IMAKYA]

I ran Vista 64 on my T61. That was the original configuration and my machine was shipped with a HDD. Upon switching to W7 64 with no other hardware change the increase in speed was noticeable. Vista was a disaster IMO.

[MisterB]

I'm currently just running Vista on a T60 with Intel Graphics. I run it daily with few problems. Windows 7 didn't work nearly as well on this machine but it runs very well on my other T60s that have ATI graphics. I run Vista in classic mode with no Aero with a classic start menu so no need for a strong GPU.

I've come to actually like Vista but it took some time. It does need a lot of tweaking to get acceptable performance.

[Hans Gruber]

I got an .iso of Vista Business 64-bit a couple of months ago with SP2. It runs really well. I just picked up another T61 today. 7664-R7U T8300(2.4GHz), 3GB RAM, no HD, 14.1in 1440x900 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 9c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

I think I am up to 7 or 8 T61 models. I have a drawer with several 4965AGN wifi cards that I can swap out the 4965AG cards with. I have another 2GB stick of DDR2 memory for an even 4GB of ram for this machine. I will put an 80GB drive in this T61 and Vista Business 64 Bit OS.

I have a T61 15.6" with 2.5ghz CPU and Nvidia graphics and a 120GB SSD with Windows 7 on it.
A T61 with integrated graphics and 2.4ghz GPU 14.1" 1280x800

And this one of course. The rest I will end up selling.

[ajkula66]

I have a T61 15.6" with 2.5ghz CPU and Nvidia graphics and a 120GB SSD with Windows 7 on it.

That must be an unique custom example, since all of the other T61s that I've seen were 15.4"...

[Hans Gruber]

I have a T61 15.6" with 2.5ghz CPU and Nvidia graphics and a 120GB SSD with Windows 7 on it.

That must be an unique custom example, since all of the other T61s that I've seen were 15.4"...

Typo George, I do a bit of guessing on the dimensions when my memory fails me.

[MikalE]

How is that XP 64 bit install progressing? I'd like to play around with that myself if Vista drivers are working.