Thinkpads Forum

First off: I'm sorry if any of my questions are already answered in the forum. I did a superficial search while working on the laptop and getting some of my real work doneon another.

So here is what happened:

I have an IBM ThinkPad 2007 C4U 1.5 GB ram (original IBM 500 plus 1GB installed later). This is really my main PC for personal use. It stated having blue screens a while ago. After it got really bad today I decided to figure out the root cause and be at piece with the fact that I have to do a full reinstall.

Next problem: clean Windows XP install failed. Ooops. From there I tested memory with mem-something+ test program which came back with 3 errors during 5 runs. Really not too bad, but maybe it is. I don't know. Maybe I just need a new hard drive. Right now I am re-installing with Product Recovery discs. If that works, I am going to re-test the memory with only one ram chip installed, one after a time. Maybe that'll narrow it down.

Questions:

Would experts here agree with the assumption that I am looking at either a memory or HD problem? Or could there be anything else? What else could I test?

If that turns out to be the case, I am willing to invest in new memory and new (larger) HD - within reason. What memory (say 2GB, one for each slot) and what HD (say, 250GB?) is compatible with my model? Where to buy? How much? I like a nd trust our local Microcenter retailer. Is that an option?

Sorry for being brief and rather helpless. I am under the gun to get some actual work done and it's midnight already. Thank you!

http://www.amazon.com/320GB-Hard-Drive- ... 524&sr=8-1

Is this really working with a T60? That would be a very reasonable price point...

and:

http://www.amazon.com/Thinkpad-Notebook ... 735&sr=1-4

Is it better to have two 1 GB sticks or one 2GB? Are two 2GB sticks ok in my machine?

thinktank wrote:Is it better to have two 1 GB sticks or one 2GB? Are two 2GB sticks ok in my machine?

One 2GB, as it leaves the other slot available for more memory later. Yes, two 2GB sticks are okay.

Note: Your problem sounds like bad memory, bad memory socket, Windows corruption ... something other than a bad disk.

If you replace the disk, then get a 7200RPM drive. The speed difference over a 5400RPM drive is palpable. The Hitachi 7K500 series are great in every respect.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145275
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=new

Microcenter is great and near you -- check if they have what you need.

You do have a RAM problem.
There shouldn't be any errors in either module.
The T60 in theory can take 4GB (2x2GB) RAM.
However, due to chipset limitations, only ~3.2GB will be usable.
So 1GB + 2GB is your best bet.

I disagree with the 1GB + 2GB solution, Thinkpads seem to run best with a matched pair of RAM either 2x1GB modules = 2GB or else 2x2GB = 4GB, even though when using 4GB the last GB goes unused, although this is not the cause of your blue screens.

However, I fully agree that you have a RAM problem - No Thinkpad can run stable with ANY RAM errors, so start with all new RAM (I recommend G.Skill brand from newegg, but any brand with a 5 egg rating will be fine)

Until you have known good RAM and a fresh XP install (not a restore) then you really can't properly assess other aspects of the system such as the hard drive (which is likely just fine) because viruses, trojans, worms, malware and most importantly, RAM errors and the like can give false errors in other system areas.

wild_bill wrote:I disagree with the 1GB + 2GB solution, Thinkpads seem to run best with a matched pair of RAM either 2x1GB modules = 2GB or else 2x2GB = 4GB

Are you sure the performance increase will be perceptible by using dual-channel? I've tried that in my desktops and never noticed a difference using dual-channel or different RAM sticks

it's not a night & day difference in performance, but RAM is cheap, and Intel agrees with me, so why worry about $20 worth of RAM when it all needs to be replaced anyway when tracking down a problem?

No need to have another variable to invite strange behavior, such as using unmatched RAM

Thank you everyone for your help. I am testing memory at the moment. Wasn't able yet to recreate the problem. I ordered 2GB of ram and hope that it is just that and not a connector of the ram slot. But even then I would just use the 2GB in one -hopefully functioning- slot and am still better of then with my 1.5 GB now.

As far as HD upgrade is concerned:

I found this one here:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-Travelsta ... rhf_shvl_1

Hitachi Travelstar 2.5 Inch 500 GB 7200R PM SATA II 16 MB Cache Internal Hard Drive

Will this work in my T60 (2007 - C4U)? One of the reviews on amazon stated that the speed of some interface needs to be altered:

This review is from: Hitachi Travelstar 2.5 Inch 500 GB 7200R PM SATA II 16 MB Cache Internal Hard Drive 0S00157 (Electronics)
I have installed two of these 7200 RPM 500GB drives now, one in a Lenovo Thinkpad T60p and one in a Dell D620. I used SiSoftware-Sandra (downloadable free) to check that the disk interface was SATA and the speed of the SATA disk controller. The Lenovo used a SATA Revision 1 (1.5Gb/s) interface, so I downloaded Hitachi's Feature Tool from [...] to change the SATA interface speed, as this drive comes with the default set to 3Gb/s. It's not difficult - you just need to burn the software to a CD, which you boot from, to change the disk settings.


Does this make any sense? Any chance I can just stick it in? Also: will this have something like the fall-detector? Any other alternatives in that price range that are easy to install and don't cause any conflicts with IBM/Lenovo drivers/functionality?

Excellent choice.
But ~$10.- cheaper (after MIR) at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145361

I haven't heard about anyone loading 1.5GB speed software/firmware on a 3.0GB SATA HD.
You just buy any 2.5" SATA HD, and stick it in. YMMV.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Excellent choice.
But ~$10.- cheaper (after MIR) at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145361

I haven't heard about anyone loading 1.5GB speed software/firmware on a 3.0GB SATA HD.
You just buy any 2.5" SATA HD, and stick it in. YMMV.

Interesting. Newegg showed the drive as out of stock yesterday if I'm not mistaken. Oh well.

Does this drive have any rapid-movement/fall detection/protection like the stock IBM model?

if you don't really need a full 500GB, then actually, this drive is the most reliable 7200rpm drive sold at newegg, by far!

Scorpio Black HDs are notorious for vibrations, check the forum.

thinktank wrote:Does this drive have any rapid-movement/fall detection/protection like the stock IBM model?

That is part of the motherboard, and will work with any hard drive that you put in the system. That is an advantage over the other companies (I know toshiba has this) where it is built into the hard drive, so when you replace it, you lose that safety feature.

Scorpio Black HDs are notorious for vibrations, check the forum.

how about I just check the one sitting here running right in front of me?

Nope! no vibration, and even if there were a little bit of vibration, data reliability is paramount for me. I have never had a hard drive failure and shudder to think how that would wreck all kinds of things in my world! - some little rubber grommets do wonders for vibration!

and if vibration is related to disk failure, engineering-wise, then why is this drive getting a tiny fraction of the failure reports of the Hitachi and other drive brands & models & sizes?

Yes, we all should have everything backed up at all times, but no one really is 100% backed up at all times, so give me a little vibration, real or imagined, to have peace of mind and not go through one of those data loss catastrophes I have heard about!

Hello again,

So today my new 2GB ram arrived. I'm still testing things. First, I moved back the latest backup of my C drive. Then installed the new memory plus the 1GB old. Didn't take long before the next blue screen appeared. Memory test, however, showed no problems. So it could just be the old Win XP install afterall. So I'll now do another fresh install once the HD arrives and keep testing.

If there is another failure I may move the 2GB by itself from one slot to another to see if it is the connection there.

Does this make sense?

Worst case scenario: what if really one of the ram slots has an issue? Can that be repaired? Any other ways of checking that? If I have to replace the mobo where could I get one for the 2007-C4U? How much are those? How difficult are they to install?

Thanks again.

Never, never, never give up. - Winston Churchill

anything is possible, but T60 RAM slots have a stellar reputation for quality

much more likely that the RAM itself has corroded gold fingers or is corrupt or you have an overheating problem or an AHCI problem or driver issue.

Did you run memtest86 on each of the suspect RAM sticks individually? IOW, leave one stick in at a time and run memtest (or memtest86+) for several passes and see if you get any errors. If you get an error, switch slots and see if you still get errors. That way you could isolate if it's the stick or the slot.

Myself, I never had any problems running unmatched RAM sticks in my 4 year old T60. I had 1GB + 0.5GB for ~3 years and presently 1GB + 2GB, never a blue screen, never a reinstall or restore of XP either.

I just buy matched RAM as a course of habit, and I tend to stick with G.Skill as they have the best reliability on newegg.com

RAM is one area where the problems are so devastating and time consuming to figure out and frustrating that on that and hard drives I spare no expense or lack of research.

Do you know how someone can break into talk radio? - If idiots like limbaugh or hannity or beck can become a millionaire, I should be able to become a BILLIONAIRE

AFAIK, I've never had a problem with any RAM. I've had quite a bit, machines dating back to 1993. I've tested a lot of RAM with memtest86 and memtest86+, never had an error. I have had blue screens, plenty of them, but AFAIK they were not due to RAM problems. I had a laptop (Acer) die on me a few weeks ago. It started smelling of burning electronics and turning off. I was able to get the data off it by the skin of my teeth. AFAIK, the HD, 2 sticks of G.Skill 2GB RAM, peripherals are OK, but it's not for certain. The machine was blue screening occasionally, almost frequently for some months, and I assumed it was a software issue not a hardware issue. I may have been dead wrong. It was 2 months out of warranty when it went belly up.

Run memtest86+. Let it go through a half-dozen or so passes. That should remove any doubt as to whether the RAM is good or not.