New T60 Owner Looking For Upgrade Help!

[confubitated]

Hello gentleman, I have joined the ThinkPad master race, as of yesterday. I purchased a T60 off of eBay for $77, and decided to order a few parts to upgrade as well. But first, here is a little info on the specific model.

ThinkPad T60: 20074AU
Screen: 14" 1400x1050 (listing was for 1024x768...pleasant surprise!)
Processor: 1.8GHZ Core Duo

Well, my initial plan was to install a SSD and max out the RAM to 3GB. I currently have an OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB in my desktop. I ordered a 60GB Vertex 3 to put in my desktop as a replacement, and then move the Vertex Plus to my ThinkPad. I also ordered a 2GB stick of Mushkin RAM, as the laptop currently has 1.5GB installed.

The laptop appears to have the recovery partition restored. Here is my conundrum...do I clone the HDD and run with XP on the SSD? This of course introduces the issue of no TRIM support. The Vertex Plus does support garbage collection, so that is a plus. Not to mention, I have never cloned a drive before, so the process is new to me. The idea of keeping the recovery partition is intriguing to me though, and I love the ThinkVantage utilities.

My other option is doing a clean install of Windows 7. I have a few questions about this...so I will do it in bullet format as I really would love to have them answered:

-Will I be able to install all of the ThinkVantage software if I do a clean install of Windows 7?
-Will I run into any driver issues? If not...where do I download all of the required drivers. Lenovo's page seems to have a mess of drivers without any clear direction.


These are my primary concerns. I really do not feel like dealing with alignment issues with XP, or the lack of TRIM support. On the other hand, I am afraid tracking down the correct drivers may be a pain with a fresh install of Windows 7. I also like the idea of having the recovery partition, although I realistically cannot imagine ever really needing it. The COA sticker is not on the bottom of my laptop, so that is a concern.

Another factor to consider is that I plan to dual boot Linux Mint. I researched if there was a ThinkVantage equivalent for Linux, and it appears that Linovo did a release a toolbox. Is this similar and just as good? I was just so pleased to see an OEM image with actually useful tools.

TL;DR

1. What would you do? Fresh Windows 7 on SSD or clone Windows XP and current drive?
2. Will Windows 7 introduce annoying drivers issues (recent nightmare on netbook)?
3. Will I be able to retain all of the ThinkVantage software on a clean Windows 7 install, and if so how do I go about getting a package?
4. Considerations for dual booting Linux Mint?

[Tim82]

1. What would you do? Fresh Windows 7 on SSD or clone Windows XP and current drive?
2. Will Windows 7 introduce annoying drivers issues (recent Overused word on netbook)?
3. Will I be able to retain all of the ThinkVantage software on a clean Windows 7 install, and if so how do I go about getting a package?
4. Considerations for dual booting Linux Mint?

1. Definitely the fresh Windows 7 install on the SSD.
2. I have a similar T60 and I run Win 7 Professional 32bit on it - never experienced any OS-related problems.
3. Yes, search for System Update on the Lenovo support site and run it, it'll fetch automatically the Thinkvantage stuff for you.
4. Last time I used Linux Mint I did it on a T43p, as far I can tell, there'll be no problems with it on a T60. It's worth a shot.

[confubitated]

1. Definitely the fresh Windows 7 install on the SSD.
2. I have a similar T60 and I run Win 7 Professional 32bit on it - never experienced any OS-related problems.
3. Yes, search for System Update on the Lenovo support site and run it, it'll fetch automatically the Thinkvantage stuff for you.
4. Last time I used Linux Mint I did it on a T43p, as far I can tell, there'll be no problems with it on a T60. It's worth a shot.

Thank you sir, that was just what I needed. I have installed it now, and I am up and running. Just going through updates now. I believe I made the correct decision.