T43 - few things to get advised about

[alexzabr]

Well, I already work with my new T43 quite intensively, so far very satisfied. There are few things I would like to get clarified:
1. I cleaned up a software ai don't need to free up some space on HDD. There are WinDVD which I'd like to uninstall, but the weird thing is that it doesn't appear in installed software list under Add/Remove Programs, neither it has uninstall option itself. How it can be ?

2. Once powering up the computer it switches on, starts loading OS (XP) and once getting to XP background pictures (XP desktop) it stalls for about 3-4 minutes doing nothing (HDD doesn't appear to be addressed), apparently waiting for something (mouse cursor appears and moves with no problems), no icons loaded on the desktop.
Then, after these 3-4 minutes of delay, it wakes up and finishes loading (icons). What does that mean ?

3. Shall I run Software Update off IBM site to update drivers ? I've heard people reproting issues with new drivers updates (such as with wireless for instance). Perhaps it would be better to avoid upadting unless I encounter a real issues with my current versions ?

Thanks, Alex

[christopher_wolf]

Well, you can take off WinDVD the old fashioned way and then use CCleaner to clean up the less that the quick and dirty removal made in the registry.

It might also be a good idea to put your system in a diagnostic startup mode, go to "Run..." and type in "msconfig"

You should be able to tweak the startup *.inis as well as kill off startup processes that take up time during logon.

My guess is that it is the wireless drivers and/or AC trying to find wireless connection to log onto before Windows lets the process complete.

[Bacchu]

in some way I am having the same problem, just I have delay in booting windows, once booted, it works pretty much fine. it takes 10-15 minutes to boot, while booting, the hard-disk is constantly read, I dont undertstand whats wrong .

is everyone having this problem ?

[alexzabr]

Thanks Christopher, I started up in Diagnostic mode now and this time it was as quick as it can be expected. So I guess there are certain drivers or services that hang up during normal startup that cause the delay.
How to determine which of these are the reason ?

[christopher_wolf]

Thanks Christopher, I started up in Diagnostic mode now and this time it was as quick as it can be expected. So I guess there are certain drivers or services that hang up during normal startup that cause the delay.
How to determine which of these are the reason ?

Get a copy of Bootvis (you have to search for it) or Process Explorer from Sysinternals. Bootvis will reboot your system, log what drivers and/or services are loading and for how long on startup, then optimize your boot time if you want.

Otherwise, you will have to make a few educated guesses as to what is holding things up during the logon phase. My bet would go with the wireless connectivity system searching for a network first off. Try disabling that as well as the Windows Zero Configurator during startup and see what happens. If the problem goes away, then the best course of action would be to update your drivers to the latest known, stable version and slowly test both Access Connections and the default Windows Wireless manager.

HTH

[GomJabbar]

(1) Look in Add or Remove Programs for InterVideo WinDVD.

(2) I believe the laptop trying to achieve a wireless connection is the culprit. See my post in this thread. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=26025

(3) You don't have to update unless you want to. Personally, I am an updater - with a couple of exceptions. I think it is better to only update a few things at a time. Set a system restore point before each update. If you run into problems later, It will be easier to fix that way. Some users who have used the shotgun approach have run into problems.

I would recommend doing the wireless driver update by itself, as this is the update that is often most troublesome. Same thing with Access Connections.