Thinkpads Forum

I flipped the laptop around and saw that there is no "easy-access" hatch as there is in my X60s.

Do i have to take the laptop to "professionals" to take it apart or should i be just fine with a little basic words of wisdom by those of you who have done that... I guess I just need to unscrew a few screws, but which? And also, by unscrewing, is there anything else that could "fall out".

It's a late 2006 T60 with 15,4" screen 1680x1050 res model. Has 1 GB ram and runs Vista Business (and is painfully SLOW!). Hopefully RAM should solve this problem.

I'd be more than happy to get some help... thanks

You can install some more RAM yourself. Lenovo has even provided documentation on doing so that was packed with your computer (if you looked at it). But, they also provide a more complete manual called the "Hardware Maintenance Manual" for the T60/p. This manual shows how to open the case to install RAM (and a bunch of other things, too, of course):

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62733

The RAM is directly under the trackpad. To get at it, you have to remove the palmrest. To do that, you simply remove a few screws (the correct ones as indicated in the Hardware manual!) You then sort of "squeeze" the palmrest so that you bend it slightly in the middle and release it from the lower case. It then comes off rather easily. Don't disconnect the cord to the trackpad or the fingerprint reader (if you have one) as it's not necessary to do so. You'll see the RAM slots in the center of the case under where the trackpad would go. Just insert another 1GB DIMM (or remove the two 512MB DIMMs and insert two 1GB DIMMs). A total of 2GB of RAM is a perfect for Vista. I think buying anymore than that right now is a silly waste of money.

The process is fairly easy...not as easy as what you've known in the past, but not too difficult. The trick is to make sure that you release the palmrest properly and when you reset it to make you've got the palmrest properly aligned so that the small tabs which hold in it place are correctly positioned.

I have 2GB of RAM in my T60 and it runs Vista very well. Vista gets faster as you continue to use it over a few days or a week. It "learns" what you want to do with the machine and then loads software into memory (hence, more RAM is better) to make things faster. You can also use a ReadyBoost flash drive for a modest, but noticable, increase in speed (search this site for other postings by me which address this issue).

I hope this helps. Questions? Write to me....

Here is the movie to show you how:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... rintLenovo

wallybear many thanks for your in-depth answer.

EDIT: And to you carbon-unit, this movie is very helpful.

I was thinking of adding one additional 1 or 2 GB DIMM module (one 1GB currently installed).

Hopefully, this will make a noticable difference in speed.

Cheers