T40 - Which Windows OS for my needs?

[Metallo]

Hi all,

Currently, my ThinkPad runs perfectly fine on Linux with the configuration you see in my signature.

However, I have decided to give a different use to this machine, essentially I want to use it to run the diagnostic software for my car, so that I have a dedicated laptop for this purpose.
Unfortunately, the software only runs on the following Windows OS:

• WXP Pro
  W7 Pro
  W10 Pro

What would you think is 'lighter' for my T40 ?

I do not think I would be able to get W10 to install, therefore, the choice would be between WXP and W7.

Also, do you think upgrading the CPU would be beneficial for my purpose?
If yes, which one would you suggest considering that I want to keep the same fan?

Thank you!
Alex

[ncovert]

I'd go with XP. It could run 7 okay-ish if you upgrade the CPU to a 2GHz+ model* but there'd be no Aero, and finding drivers would be hard.

*If you do upgrade the CPU, I'd recommend a Pentium M 755 as a fair balance between price and performance (those chips go for ~$20 on eBay from US sellers, they'd probably be more expensive in Canada if I had to guess.) as the higher models are quite a bit more expensive for not a whole lot of gain in performance.

[thinkpadcollection]

Waiting time from china & H.K. is consistently 3 to 4 weeks for me for any purchases from there. Only once managed to get here in 3 months and that was for a high end 1gigabit intel PT PCI-E x1 for good price.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

[Neil]

I agree... if the diagnostic software is all you are going to use, and will not be online with the T40 at all, then XP will be best. No trouble finding drivers to make XP work perfectly fine for the stated purpose.

[MikalE]

I couldn't recommend anything beyond Vista for a single core processor. They are just too slow to deal with Win 7 or later.

[Metallo]

HI all,

Many thanks for your quick feedback.

Regarding the CPU, I guess you mean this:

Intel Pentium M 755 SL7EM 2GHz FSB 400MHz SOCKET 479 CPU

I searched Ebay and there are dozens, all from China/HK, ranging from 10.00$ to 20.00$ , I guess I have to pick at random

Is the PM 765 - Intel SL7V3 - 2.1 heating too much for my fan?

The diagnostics software does not need any internet connection, it's only working between the car and the PC.

Thank you
Alex

[thinkpadcollection]

All of these P-M 400fsb 2MB Dothan are 21 Watts.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

[ajkula66]

Is the PM 765 - Intel SL7V3 - 2.1 heating too much for my fan?

No need for PM765 with what you'll be using the system for. You're likely to be fine with what you have, but if you feel that you *must* upgrade a PM735 or PM745 will be sufficient.

All of these P-M 400fsb 2MB Dothan are 21 Watts.

PM765 still runs significantly hotter than its 725/735/745 cousins though. One should never take TDP as the only indication of how hot or cool a particular CPU runs.

[kfzhu1229]

Does Dothan even work in T40 and T41? T40 is supposed to come with Banias. As far as OS goes, Windows 10 100% does NOT work with any T4x except for T43/T43p with ATI Graphics. As for the choice between Windows XP and Windows 7, it depends on what RAM config you have. If you have 512mb or less, XP (no bloat) is 100% your friend. If you have 1GB or more, you can give Windows 7 a shot. You will definitely not get any Windows Aero for sure but since Windows 7 runs okay on a A30 with 1GB ram and PIII1.2, but it will be certainly usable at the worst. In this case you should try both and determine by yourself which one suits you more.

[kfzhu1229]

Also what CPU do you have right now? I have a Dothan Pentium M 735 lying around if you need.
I live in Toronto. It is still far from your place, but much closer than China

[ajkula66]

Does Dothan even work in T40 and T41? T40 is supposed to come with Banias.

Yes, 400MHz Dothans work just fine presuming a recent BIOS.

[kfzhu1229]

Does Dothan even work in T40 and T41? T40 is supposed to come with Banias.

Yes, 400MHz Dothans work just fine presuming a recent BIOS.

That's probably why I found a working Pentium M 735 on a dead T41p

[TPFanatic]

In my opinion,
Windows 7 should be usable after proper standalone installer Windows update fixes have been applied. Before then the 100% cpu using broken-WU will cripple the pentium M for sure unless you turn Windows Updates off and leave it off.

Win 7 does have a good amount of improvements / nice features over XP, but XP is probably lighter.

[Metallo]

Is the PM 765 - Intel SL7V3 - 2.1 heating too much for my fan?

No need for PM765 with what you'll be using the system for. You're likely to be fine with what you have, but if you feel that you *must* upgrade a PM735 or PM745 will be sufficient.

All of these P-M 400fsb 2MB Dothan are 21 Watts.

PM765 still runs significantly hotter than its 725/735/745 cousins though. One should never take TDP as the only indication of how hot or cool a particular CPU runs.

Hi,

Thank for the tip.

Are you saying that the Intel Pentium M 755 SL7EM 2GHz FSB 400MHz SOCKET 479 CPU would run too hot, like for instance the 765?
The reason why I want to upgrade is because today, this is the use I have of that pc, tomorrow it may change and go back to a nice Linux distro, so if I can 'stretch' its performance it is always better.
Also, do I need any BIOS update once I have replaced the CPU?

Alex

[ajkula66]

Are you saying that the Intel Pentium M 755 SL7EM 2GHz FSB 400MHz SOCKET 479 CPU would run too hot, like for instance the 765?
The reason why I want to upgrade is because today, this is the use I have of that pc, tomorrow it may change and go back to a nice Linux distro, so if I can 'stretch' its performance it is always better.
Also, do I need any BIOS update once I have replaced the CPU?

You should update the BIOS before swapping the CPU.

PM 755 is the absolute highest I'd go with the short fan of T40, and would probably stick with PM745 as the final solution.

All of these CPUs are severely outdated by today's standards, so getting the fastest one(s) rarely makes much sense, since it's their very architecture that is the bottleneck, and not their clock speed

[kfzhu1229]

If you have something like Pentium M 715 then go ahead to upgrade to 735, 745, or 755 otherwise the upgrade for your use is not necessary

[jwjensen356]

For my T40 I successfully went from XP to W7. I was able to find all drivers I needed except for the WiFi. I solved that problem with a USB mini gadget that I got from Amazon for about $15.

[kfzhu1229]

For my T40 I successfully went from XP to W7. I was able to find all drivers I needed except for the WiFi. I solved that problem with a USB mini gadget that I got from Amazon for about $15.

Are you asking for Intel 2200bg driver?
That driver is available and works even in Windows 10 in T43
If not, get yourself a 2200bg card. They are plenty cheap and works way better than Wi-Fi USB sticks

[Metallo]

If you have something like Pentium M 715 then go ahead to upgrade to 735, 745, or 755 otherwise the upgrade for your use is not necessary

I do not think I have a Pentium M 715, the system hardware does only report to be: Pentium M 1.5 GHz It is an IBM ThinkPad T40 2373-8CG.

Alex

[ajkula66]

I do not think I have a Pentium M 715, the system hardware does only report to be: Pentium M 1.5 GHz It is an IBM ThinkPad T40 2373-8CG.

Correct, the original CPU is Banias one, PM 715 would be a Dothan of the same clock speed.

[kfzhu1229]

Yes sorry if I mislead you but Pentium M 715 only comes by factory in T42/R51. If you have the Pentium M 1.5Ghz then my Pentium M 735 and 745 are your friends

[luca9903]

Hi all,

Currently, my ThinkPad runs perfectly fine on Linux with the configuration you see in my signature.

However, I have decided to give a different use to this machine, essentially I want to use it to run the diagnostic software for my car, so that I have a dedicated laptop for this purpose.
Unfortunately, the software only runs on the following Windows OS:

• WXP Pro
  W7 Pro
  W10 Pro

What would you think is 'lighter' for my T40 ?

I do not think I would be able to get W10 to install, therefore, the choice would be between WXP and W7.

Also, do you think upgrading the CPU would be beneficial for my purpose?
If yes, which one would you suggest considering that I want to keep the same fan?

Thank you!
Alex

Hi, maybe my thought is useless but I can share with you my T40 experience, I upgraded it with a PM 725 dothan 1.6 GHz and 2Gb ram, I installed Vista because 7 is to heavy. I disabled Index, windows search and update... it runs well, I sometime use it. With 9 cell battery last around 4 hour. 10 is incompatible and 8 too. The best way is to install XP if vista is not supported.

[kfzhu1229]

Hi, maybe my thought is useless but I can share with you my T40 experience, I upgraded it with a PM 725 dothan 1.6 GHz and 2Gb ram, I installed Vista because 7 is to heavy. I disabled Index, windows search and update... it runs well, I sometime use it. With 9 cell battery last around 4 hour. 10 is incompatible and 8 too. The best way is to install XP if vista is not supported.

Assuming you are comparing Vista SP2 to 7 SP1 otherwise it does not make sense. On my A30 with 1.2ghz PIII-M and 1GB RAM Vista SP2 and 7 SP1 made no difference without activating the Windows Update. Windows Vista has more transition effects while Windows 7 looks a bit better and Windows 7 comes with much better software support. (which does not matter too much to my A30 as the SSE2 bottleneck is actually before OS bottleneck) Some Windows 8 previews work but they look pretty weird to be honest. Personally I max out every ThinkPad of mine and load Windows 7 for the ones that has Pentium III - M or newer (T23/A30) and load Windows 10 for the supported models (T43/R52 with ATI Graphics and X60 which I don't have one). The experience is not too bad but it is certainly not lightening speed. The loading speed is completely acceptable but not blazing fast.
As for 9-cell unfortunately this is not the case for T43. T43, especially T43p (The IPS panel draws more power which is the case for my T43 as well), lasts only 3 hours maximum on a brand new 9-cell battery without performance compromises. I have one piece of aftermarket ultrabay slim battery that only works on T42 (The FRU is for T40-T42 so I cannot blame them) and prior because all my T43s draws more voltage that it shuts down randomly and sometimes also refuses to charge on my IPS-panel T43.

[luca9903]

Hi, maybe my thought is useless but I can share with you my T40 experience, I upgraded it with a PM 725 dothan 1.6 GHz and 2Gb ram, I installed Vista because 7 is to heavy. I disabled Index, windows search and update... it runs well, I sometime use it. With 9 cell battery last around 4 hour. 10 is incompatible and 8 too. The best way is to install XP if vista is not supported.

Assuming you are comparing Vista SP2 to 7 SP1 otherwise it does not make sense. On my A30 with 1.2ghz PIII-M and 1GB RAM Vista SP2 and 7 SP1 made no difference without activating the Windows Update. Windows Vista has more transition effects while Windows 7 looks a bit better and Windows 7 comes with much better software support. (which does not matter too much to my A30 as the SSE2 bottleneck is actually before OS bottleneck) Some Windows 8 previews work but they look pretty weird to be honest. Personally I max out every ThinkPad of mine and load Windows 7 for the ones that has Pentium III - M or newer (T23/A30) and load Windows 10 for the supported models (T43/R52 with ATI Graphics and X60 which I don't have one). The experience is not too bad but it is certainly not lightening speed. The loading speed is completely acceptable but not blazing fast.
As for 9-cell unfortunately this is not the case for T43. T43, especially T43p (The IPS panel draws more power which is the case for my T43 as well), lasts only 3 hours maximum on a brand new 9-cell battery without performance compromises. I have one piece of aftermarket ultrabay slim battery that only works on T42 (The FRU is for T40-T42 so I cannot blame them) and prior because all my T43s draws more voltage that it shuts down randomly and sometimes also refuses to charge on my IPS-panel T43.

I'm not comparing Vista to 7... I only told that for my experience 7 is heavier. I am sure that with Win Update CPU works at 100% most of the time. I know on T40 I could Install 8 preview... but is useless. On my T43 I installed 7 and I can Say it works really well, but on T40 while using mozilla/chrome it is slow. I Optimized Vista and Seven too, and in the End on T40 i prefer Vista. I would never compare Vista to 7... 7 is the best OS i Think. Win 10 sometimes gives me issues. Obvious that with a 15 inches IPS the battery will last less than 2 hours... It is so on my T43 with 15'' IPS. I'm not an expert I can't say why vista is faster than 7 on my T40. If you know hou to optimize 7 I would Like to know How.

Thanks. Bewst regards.

[Cigarguy]

To the OP, it's your need so get the best OS that suits your own personal tastes. No one knows you better than you so why even ask? When I came across the same question for my T42, I loaded XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1. In the end I went with Linux Mint XFCE. Why? Because I liked it best. Along the way I learned a few things which is always a bonus.

[luca9903]

To the OP, it's your need so get the best OS that suits your own personal tastes. No one knows you better than you so why even ask? When I came across the same question for my T42, I loaded XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1. In the end I went with Linux Mint XFCE. Why? Because I liked it best. Along the way I learned a few things which is always a bonus.

I Asked How because he told he uses win 7 on a A30 Pentium III. I tried linux and I have to learn how to use it, no enough time to. So I Installed Vista...

[Cigarguy]

Good for you. Enjoy it.

[Metallo]

Hi all,

As soon as I am ready to test, I will post my experience on this thread.
Due to some constraints with the car diagnostic software, for me will be either W7 Pro or XP Pro

*To the Italian friend, thanks for sharing your experience, much appreciated.

Alex

[kfzhu1229]

And i have this 1.7ghz Pentium M 735 lying around doing nothing in case you need it
It should be fine without it as the usable line cutoff is at T23 (T23 1ghz with 512mb or greater RAM works fine while T22 is unbearably slow and you get bluescreen if you sleep or hibernate the computer)

[jaspen-meyer]

My T41 has a Pentium M 755. Dothan is a performance boost, but, if I had to do it again, I would have gotten the slightly cooler M 745.