Thinkpads Forum

I recently purchased a mac out of frustration with vista, and my Lenovo T61 (Vista home premium) has taken revenge on me for this.

Often when I go to connect to the internet, nothing works, and I click on the diagnose/repair tab in the networking area - it says something like "wireless radio is powered off"... "click here to turn on wireless lan radio". Well, that's fine and all, and it certainly solves the problem, but maybe the computer ought to realize that I would shut something off when I want it shut off... and to leave it running when I want it running.

It also tends to do it most often when I am waking the computer out of sleep mode/etc... but it will also do it at random when the machine is running normally.

Anyone have experience with this? The external wifi on/off switch is always set to "on" so this is more of a software/OS issue than sheer stupidity...

Don't allow your machine to turn off the card for power saving purposes:

My Computer > Right Click Properties > Device Manager > Network Adapters > Right click Properties on the network > Power Management > uncheck "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

changing this setting does not fix the problem. When I reboot the computer still wants me to turn the wireless radio back on - and that's if I click the "diagnose problem" button in the networking window where it says "windows cannot find any networks". (Yeah no kidding because it shuts off the radio)

Check the following thread:

Disappearing Wireless Adapter.

Secondly, if you have Access Connections installed then uninstall it.

Thirdly update your network drivers and BIOS to the latest versions:

Drivers and software - ThinkPad T61, T61p

I have access connections installed, and it doesn't sound quite like the disappearing lan card - thanks for the advice. I think I will uninstall it.

So your post causes me to inquire... my t61 came loaded with a lot of lenovo-branded software, does this stuff cause problems? My computer has been running rather lousy despite my tweaking to optimize performance. I already disabled most of the "Think-whatever" software on startup - Will it harm things if I uninstall it? And since my computer came with no actual windows discs, can I reinstall the lenovo junk if I want to?

thanks again

You can create a set of Product Recovery Disks of your own:

Creating recovery discs using ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery.

This media will contain everything to restore your machine to out of the box factory state.

Secondly, lenovo has integrated a new (could be 8-10 months old now) feature in Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery called "Custom Factory Restore" that lets you choose your choice of programs from the "Lenovo Base Software Selector".

To Perform "Custom Factory Restore", follow the given steps:

a. Turn off your machine.
b. Power it up and carefully observe the display. Look for the logo screen. At any time, while the logo screen is onscreen, press Thinkvantage Blue Button or F11.
c. Once Rescue and Recovery Predesktop area fully initiates, you'll see many option on the top and left side of your screen.
d. Under "Rescue and Restore" press "Restore your system".

At some point you'll be presented with custom restore option.

The rest of the process is self explanatory.

If any interest you can read “Junk” in the Preload article from lenovoblogs.

Moreover the answer to as to why Product Recovery Disks are no longer included/shipped with machines can also be found from lenovo blogs.

thanks a ton for the detailed reply - I read through the blogs, and it really is a relief to know that Lenovo seems to care about this "crapware" subject.

I'd love to remove all the lenovo-branded software if you think it will make a performance difference without messing up anything vital - I would do this, after making a set of restore discs. In fact I'd probably make a normal set and a custom set for the heck of it.
Are there any lenovo programs that the removal of would constitute a serious no-no?

Thanks again