If you've got the correct driver (which is an ATI package for both internal and dedicated) then the Power Manager taskbar icon will have an option for switchable graphics in its menu. You need the power manager driver, power manager application and graphics driver installed. The BIOS needs to be set...

It's now been pulled due to issues.

Well, the good news is that I ordered the LCD frame from eBay and it was delivered from China to UK in less than a week. I've now replaced the broken frame and my W500 is as good as new and running Windows 8 Pro RTM like a champ. So good that I'm hardly using my week old T430s which is still running...

It's here!

Just installed it on my W500 running W8 Pro RTM - works, but no updates found

That cracking noise might just be the plastic parts of the bezel not fitting together exactly.

But thanks for the Ebay tip. Seems this is exactly what I'm looking for!

Here's a a picture. The magnesium LCD frame is completely snapped around the hinge and the screw that attaches the front bezel has been pulled right through the plastic. You can see a part of the LCD frame still attached to the hinge. The rest of the laptop is fine, just opening and closing the lid ...

I've had my W500 for nearly 4 years (purchased Nov 2008). Twice in this time the LCD frame has fractured near the left hinge because the hinge is so tight that opening and closing the lid fatigues the magnesium frame. In Feb 2010, when this first happened, I ordered and replaced the LCD frame from I...

I recently added the webcam to my W500 when I had to replace a broken magnesium lid so I also was looking to find which software was included to use the camera. I discovered 2 things: Roxio Creator Business Edition has a section to record from the camera and the latest hotkey driver includes functio...

Can anyone post Crystal DiskMark scores for their Kingspec, Transcend or other PATA SSDs in the T43? I'm starting to get really tempted, especially by the Runcore Pro IVs as their 4k random read and write scores seem to be really good (http://www.runcorestore.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800000C2-12...

I've been looking at SSDs for my T43 too. One of the options that I've read about on these forums is booting off a SATA SSD in the ultrabay using a SATA caddy (either 3rd party or a modified T60 caddy). The caddy has a SATA/PATA bridge and the results are good. I'm kind of put off by this solution b...

Interesting. I thought that thread only referred to bypassing the wifi 1802/4 error, not the 2010.

:From what I've read here, you need to make sure your T43 has the latest BIOS and Embedded Controller before the SSD will work (http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-58597.html). You'll still get the 2010 error, but you can ESC through it or change a BIOS setting to automatically skip it. ...

Thanks, I will be sure to check that out. I was just wanting advice on this specific laptop. I work on them a lot but prefer the thinkpads as the hardware manuals make it easier and because they are just a much sturdier laptop and can actually handle being taken apart without being destroyed. Also,...

Right click on the Lenovo Power Manager battery gauge and there should be a menu option for switchable graphics. If there isn't or it doesn't work, make sure it is enabled in the BIOS and that you have all the latest Windows 7 drivers for System Interface, Hotkeys, Power Management Driver, Power Man...

Just some old school 3-in-1. It's quite hard to apply accurately because of all the metal around, but the new fan was so much better I didn't really bother too much trying to fix the old one.

I was in the same boat and replaced my noisy fan (grinding bearings) with a 26R9074 from IBM UK parts for £22.83 + VAT + shipping just a couple of weeks ago. I can't say anything about its longevity, but it's much quieter than the old broken fan although you can still hear it when it is pushing. If ...

Yes, see sig.

ShadowProtect is a disk image based solution like Acronis TI. A full image backup is suprisingly quick, but subsequent backups can be incremental/differential, where only changed disk sectors are copied, and these are amazingly quick. You can actually schedule continous incremental backups as freque...

I like ShadowProtect from Storage Craft. You can download a full 30 trial.

The Crucial site recommends DDR2-667/PC2-5300, but sjthinkpadder is correct because the T43 takes DDR2-533/PC2-4200 as standard. The point to note is that the memory is designed to be compatible with slower machines so DDR2-800/PC2-6400 should work in your T43.

You can activate power play in Windows 7 using the Notebook Hardware Control program.

I think that's the correct driver (it's also listed in the official W500 drivers list). The driver version shows up as 8.641.1.0. I have PM 3.05 too and switchable graphics is fine. Make sure you have the latest system interface and hotkey drivers too.

I think you've got everything you need as that's basically all I installed on my T43. With Ultranav you get some extra driver options (Fn-F8) and a different method of scrolling with the trackpoint. On the X301 I find tapping with the Ultranav to be very poor so I just use the stock driver on it. No...

Thanks for the swiftest of replies! I didn't have any screw covers on my T43 in the first place so I guess they're surplus now.

I've just fitted a new fan to my T43 then noticed these 5 thin adhesive plastic pads on a paper sheet in the box. Does anyone have any idea what they're for?

I finally got this working. My mistake was that I installed Power Manager version 3.01a from the main T/W500 driver matrix instead of version 2.43 from the Windows 7 beta list. Happy now

I have a W500 and I clean installed Windows 7 RTM yesterday along with the Lenovo system interface driver, hot key driver, power managment driver, power manager and switchable graphics driver from the Windows 7 Beta driver list. Everything works (hotkeys, on-screen display etc.) except switchable gr...

Here are the scores from my (new today) W500 which replaces my trusty T43: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9400 @ 2.53GHz 5.4 Memory (RAM) 2.00 GB 5.7 Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 5.9 Gaming graphics 1252 MB Total available graphics memory 5.3 Primary hard disk 145GB Free (175GB Total)...

I upgraded my T43 from XP Pro to Vista Business in February and suffered a myriad of problems for months: slow boot and logon, hanging applications, slow outlook, failure to create new tcp/ip connections, etc, etc. It was miserable. Last week, I bit the bullet and did a clean Vista install (using up...