Thinkpads Forum

I discovered my Power Manager program version is woefully out of date. In reading about installation of Power Manager I ran across some horror stories about PM's upgrade causing a host of difficulties, including my model...the T60p.

Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

Thanks

No one has ever had an issue upgrading Power Manager?!

I always keep my two T60p machines updated, including Power Manager. Other than the irritating warnings about the moral turpitude of not using a genuine Lenovo battery with the recent releases, I've not knowingly had any issues with Power Manager.

Of course, that anecdotal experience and $4.35 will get you a mocha frappe at Starbucks.

Art

ArtShapiro wrote:I always keep my two T60p machines updated, including Power Manager. Other than the irritating warnings about the moral turpitude of not using a genuine Lenovo battery with the recent releases, I've not knowingly had any issues with Power Manager.

Of course, that anecdotal experience and $4.35 will get you a mocha frappe at Starbucks.

Art

That's the thing... I'm afraid of that mocha frappe.

By the way, thanks for responding.

I had read some horror stories of people upgrading either their power manager driver, or power manager itself, where various keys and functions stopped working... hence my post. My power manager is (if I recall correctly), 1.4, which is generations behind the current version.

In another post, I asked about a backup solution called Clickfree... which may not appeal to power users, end users of Acronis. Once I have everything backed up. I will update power manager.

The reason I was drawn to Clickfree is its utter simplicity... an integrated drive and software solution that even a child can operate. I would like one thing in my life that is as simple as that, given that complexity is everywhere else.

In the past I used to clone my drives, but apparently there is some peculiarity in the T60P that prevents one from cloning to an external drive. So now I am considering image backup. The trouble is, if you read reviews of present versions of Acronis on Amazon, for example, you will see some horror stories. I have also read a few horror stories about Clickfree. Imagine the irony of backup systems that potentially can wreck your system!

So the Catch-22 is that before I undergo the risk of updating Power Manager, I must undergo the risk of computer backup... which should not be a risk at all.

Maybe I need that mocha frappe.

I wasn't familiar with ClickFree until I read your message a few days ago. I then looked at it in some detail as a potential backup solution for a computer-illerate friend for whom the native Windows 7 backup flat out isn't working (a daily error code failure). It looks very intriguing and I might grab one if I can find a USB3 model at a good price. The little desktop machine I built for this person has USB 3.0, so it would be neat to actually use that newfangled interface.

I personally have a Windows Home Server machine that backs up all my other machines daily and transparently. It gives me a fair amount of confidence that I'm not going to ever lose data if one of the machines crashes.

I read these forums quite regularly and don't recall any discussions about Power Manger malfeasance on T60p machines. Obviously there must be some or you wouldn't have posted. But if it were a frequent issue, the T6x forum would probably be filled with talk on that issue.

I have my own set of problems with Thinkpad softwares, with the On Screen Display being a disaster for me, but Power Manager has been a fine performer on T60p and T61 machines.

Art

ArtShapiro wrote:I wasn't familiar with ClickFree until I read your message a few days ago. I then looked at it in some detail as a potential backup solution for a computer-illerate friend for whom the native Windows 7 backup flat out isn't working (a daily error code failure). It looks very intriguing and I might grab one if I can find a USB3 model at a good price. The little desktop machine I built for this person has USB 3.0, so it would be neat to actually use that newfangled interface...

Art

It's not that I'm incapable of using Acronis. As I mentioned, I used to clone my old A21p religiously. It's just that simplicity in backup appeals to me. There is a "reviewer" on Amazon who claims Clickfree fried his Toshiba. On the other hand, if you read reviews on the new Acronis you might be concerned as well.

Amazon (through J&R) has a USB 3.0 2 TB Clickfree for a hair over $150.00. The one I'm talking about is the C6 not the C2N. The C6 can image the whole system. It archives the OS separately from files, so you have a choice of restoring everything or just files...even specific files. And it backups the image incrementally!

I'm intrigued.

ArtShapiro wrote:I wasn't familiar with ClickFree until I read your message a few days ago. I then looked at it in some detail as a potential backup solution for a computer-illerate friend for whom the native Windows 7 backup flat out isn't working (a daily error code failure). It looks very intriguing and I might grab one if I can find a USB3 model at a good price. The little desktop machine I built for this person has USB 3.0, so it would be neat to actually use that newfangled interface...

Art

Please let me know your experience with Clickfree if you try it. It has some useful features.

Also, do you uninstall Power Manager before upgrading? I know there are people who only upgrade the driver, but in my case I have an ancient Power Manager, and undoubtedly an ancient driver as well.

If you do a general web search on Power Manager upgrade problems you will find some results, some of which lead back to this forum.

Thanks, Art

taichi wrote: Also, do you uninstall Power Manager before upgrading? I know there are people who only upgrade the driver, but in my case I have an ancient Power Manager, and undoubtedly an ancient driver as well.

I never have done so; I simply run System Update every once in a while and hide things that I don't want, such as Access Connections. Nothing has ever gone awry.

If I do anything with ClickFree, it won't be in the immediate future; I first want to see if I can get some sort of reliable backup working with the computer and the existing external drive. The ClickFree is a potential gift later (as were the computer and the external drive) which will be justified by the much smaller case when compared to the existing big 3.5" external drive.

Art

I simply went to Lenovo's site and downloaded the most recent version of PM, which is specified as appropriate for the T60P.

I suppose running that simply installs over the old PM, and that the Update does the same?

taichi wrote:I suppose running that simply installs over the old PM, and that the Update does the same?

That's my understanding; if anyone has a more comprehensive grasp of System Update then perhaps they can chime in.

Art

I haven't had any experience of the Clickfree C6, but had a 500 Gb Clickfree C3 wireless model a couple of months ago.

The idea is that you plug it into one of your usb ports and it will automatically do a full back up of your files. After that first back-up, all you need do is plug it into a power socket on your wall and it will automatically back up wirelessly, according to the schedule you have set. Just set it and forget it. You don't have to remember to back up, the Clickfree remembers.

The problem I had, and research later showed that I wasn't alone, was that it just wouldn't connect wirelessly. The support people (in Canada - toll free) were very helpful, but we just couldn't get it to work wirelessly. Without the wireless feature I felt it was expensive, so returned it and got a full refund, hassle free. Had the wireless feature worked on mine, it would have been a bargain.

A great shame, because it is a brilliant idea and I envy those C3 owners whose units do work wirelessly.

Walter

Maybe they will figure out why the wireless feature doesn't work. Have you ever followed up with them, even though you retuened your unit?

The thing about the C6 is that it not only does incremental image backups, but it copies the whole OS and files, but stores them separately so that you can do a whole computer restore, or can choose only to restore files. It may allow you to restore selected files. That's why I'm intrigued. Its utter simplicity also appeals to me. It would be nice for something to be simple.

I don't mind paying for it, and trying it. It's just that there are reviews of this and every other backup software/device wreaking havoc with someone's computer. All in the name of peace of mind!

So, no one has experienced any problem with upgrading Power Manager? I'll be going from version 1.4 (!!!) to version 3+ on my T60p, using an installer downloaded from Lenovo.

Thanks