Thinkpads Forum

Hello all!

Hope everyone's fine! My T60 (2007-43G) has become really slow for some reason. I don't have installed any ThinkVantage crap apart from Power Manager. It takes about 1,5 minute for the machine to start up. Shutdown the same. The stuff I have in my taskbar are Kaspersky IS, instant communicator and the rest is the usual Win stuff like Wlan icon and "Safe hardware removal". I do check Startup applications regularly and check them off if some unnecessary stuff starts up at boot. Also, in launching applications like PShop CS4, Winamp, its so slow. Takes forever.

I've been thinking of buying a T400 (6474-EC3) with a Core 2 Duo T8400 2.4 GHz (2 GB RAM) hoping that its two cores will improve performance. What I didn't realise is that my T60's T2400 1.8 GHz (2.5 GB RAM) also has two cores. Now I'm at crossroads what to do. Do you think it makes sense spending 400 British pounds on that? Will the improvement be visible?

Best regards and thanks for reading!
Przemek

electrizer wrote:................. It takes about 1,5 minute for the machine to start up. Shutdown the same. The stuff I have in my taskbar are Kaspersky IS, instant communicator and the rest is the usual Win stuff like Wlan icon and "Safe hardware removal". I do check Startup applications regularly and check them off if some unnecessary stuff starts up at boot. Also, in launching applications like PShop CS4, Winamp, its so slow. Takes forever.
Przemek

Hiya Prz*...
not sure what is happening with YOUR T60..I have a T60P & T61P (2007 and 2008 models)....both running like "CHAMPS" - never miss a beat AND they are 'always in use......
Both of them(T7600 ..have CS5 + MSO2010 + heaps of other stuff...... However they have been updated to Win7x64 and have 4GB of DDR2-CL4'sHyper-X memory and both have DUAL 500GB-7200rpm Hit.Hard drives (yes they run 2nd drive bays)......

I also have few other new T&Wseries machine and I cna tell you - these T6X series can hold their OWn agsint doing the normal work when say comapre to T410 or T510s. The only complain there is = Screen Quality! - which is understandable!

I would suggest you look !:
1) remove that 'resouce hungry; K'ap ... and use MSSE( in my view the best and its FREE!!) save your MONEY !!!
2) run some SYSTEM TOOLS (from windows) eg, DISK SCAN ; Degfrag.. etc
3) And if maybe invest in memory >go to 3GB - if you running Xp Pro x32 (no need to buy 4GB as the intel 945series in the T60x machine would EVER USE MORE THEN 3GB)

Also there NO NEED to run CS4 at startup - if you not using it all the time --- or any ADOBE APPS to be present in startups in MHO...

hope this helps
Cheers

edited_ updated links

I agree with Ausmike, you might want to try and clean up the computer before purchasing a newer one.

My T60 runs quite nicely. I have the T2400, so not the fastest CPU out there, but it works quite well for me. I also have a 40GB SSD in it, so boot times are short. From a cold start, I can be browsing the internet in about 40 seconds or so.

I would look around and see what you can clean up. Do a disk defrag, run CCleaner and remove unnecessary programs. The newer one will end up doing it as well, and you will be back in the same boat.

I certainly could never justify spending that kind of money if my T60 was slow, which by the way, it isn't

You need to do some proper troubleshooting on which processes are running slow and why, CPU constraint, memory etc. ?
Failing that and after any other cleaning up attempts why not try a clean install ? With a vanilla system then install one application at a time to monitor performance.

Ps. I agree with ausmike and switch to MSSE. I've used it since it was released and been most impressed. The latest version has additional functions but has not increased the overhead (which is minimal).

But seriously Thank you guys for the advice! I do like my T60 and it's the best laptop Ive ever had in terms of features, design etc, but this has been quite a nuisance. Much appreciated!!!

Also I dont suppose theres an option of upgrading the CPU?

1.5 minutes for startup is normal, even on the good side. Shutdown should be a bit quicker, though not the end of the world.

If you have the original 5400RPM hard drive that came with the machine, it can cause serious bottlenecks, esp. in launching heavy applications. Upgrading to a 7200RPM drive, or better yet, an SSD can dramatically speedup your machine, and is cheaper/simpler than buying a whole new system.

Can I use 800 MHz Ram (PC2-6400) with T60? Or just 667 MHz?

You can use DDR2-800 but it will run at DDR2-667 speeds.

Dang so ;many typos" in my first post ,,,,," WHere that spellin *azi*LOL

so aplogies in advance ... but am glad everyone gets the 'jist o thing' ,,,,, aussies = s'ell b right mate!
@elec*....

electrizer wrote:Can I use 800 MHz Ram (PC2-6400) with T60? Or just 667 MHz?

yes you can try lots of "fancy' things eg CPU,Memory,CUSTOM Bios Upgrades etc (it will work) HOWEVER....most of these would cost you LOTS $ and it might NOT IMPROVE your 'speed' issues "as much". Some Cpu's would create extra HEAT and NOISE (temp controller in T60;s is one of best !) and thus defeating the whole point of "speed'.....

IMHO I would try the 'system tools' first ,,, ALSO as Brain* suggested = install CCLEANER - I have that on all my laptops - even work ones! its a very decent program for free.

I bet you will find lots of "tips and tricks" from other users here - without pending any money!!!

BTW only reason I have had my T6x upgraded is cause we run Multiple OS (Win7 + Linux+OSX) all on SAME MACHINE,, juz cause we can on T60's and we didnt want 3 seperate laptops kicking around ,,,,, estate on Desks is like GOLD around here!!

PM me if you have any specific questions ....I WILL TRY and get back to you ASAP ( uness am sleepin on flights! )

Cheers

Will definetely try that software, thank you very much, that invaluable!

BTW, has anyone tried to overclock T60's T2400? Is it possible?

electrizer wrote:

BTW, has anyone tried to overclock T60's T2400? Is it possible?

No, it's not.

In all honesty, T2400 is the least likely bottleneck in that machine. If you need a faster CPU, T5500/5600 which are Core 2 Duo CPUs compatible with your machine can be had for a few quid nowadays.

A newer hard drive - or as previously mentioned SSD - would yield a far more noticeable performance gain.

Get a SSD. Immediate and noticeable improvement and you can always throw in your next laptop if you choose to upgrade.

madflava54 wrote:Get a SSD. Immediate and noticeable improvement and you can always throw in your next laptop if you choose to upgrade.

No can do. I need space, which means I need minimum 160 GB and I cant afford spending 250 pounds on an SSD hdd of this size. Already ordered a Seagate Momentus 7200 RPM.

ajkula66 wrote:T5500/5600 which are Core 2 Duo CPUs compatible with your machine can be had for a few quid nowadays

How is that possible? Dont I have to get a new mobo? What clocks do they have?

The first generation Core 2 Duos used the same sockets and boards as the original Core Duos.

The Core 2 Duos compatible with your T60 are:

T5500 - 1.66GHz/2MB cache
T5600 - 1.83GHz/2MB cache
T7200 - 2.00GHz/4MB cache
T7400 - 2.16GHz/4MB cache
T7600 - 2.33GHz/4MB cache

If your T60 used to be fast, but now is slow, it is most likely a software problem. Hardware fixes are only treating the symptom and not the cause. You might consider backing up your data and then doing a fresh installation of Windows and apps. That would probably speed your machine up a lot, and it wouldn't cost a cent.

Hmm, I guess that you really have to take it for granted that the system will clog and slow down over time. What is funny is that my desktop has more or less same specs, less ram but works much faster, even after some time and many applications installed. I tracked down a used T7600 and I think I'll go for it.

ThinkPadophile wrote:If your T60 used to be fast, but now is slow, it is most likely a software problem. Hardware fixes are only treating the symptom and not the cause. You might consider backing up your data and then doing a fresh installation of Windows and apps. That would probably speed your machine up a lot, and it wouldn't cost a cent.

Agree 100% with this, I was going to ask how long it had been since you wiped and reloaded windows or whichever OS you are using, I try to do mine about every year and a half, speeds up immensely every time. Not totally sure why but over time the OS does slow you down, happens slowly so you don't really notice till you wipe and reinstall. Make sure you note all the programs you have and run a backup of all data, it is time consuming but also free.

What do I need to be able to chenge the cpu once i buy it? Or am I better off giving it to a specialist? Is it very tricky?

it is not too hard, you just have to be patient and force anything, follow the hardware manual it will show all the steps involved.

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

Just wanted to thank anybody who contributed to this thread with helping me to save 400 GBP All this info is gold! Thank you!

But it still didn't stop you from spending unnecessary money for a CPU.
Putting in a T7600 is NOT going to solve your problems.
The faster HD is a good idea.
But like most people said, a fresh re-install is the best.

RealBlackStuff wrote:But it still didn't stop you from spending unnecessary money for a CPU.
Putting in a T7600 is NOT going to solve your problems.
The faster HD is a good idea.
But like most people said, a fresh re-install is the best.

Oh I havent bought the CPU yet That was just a hypotyhetical question! But as I said I cant afford a 160 GB hdd for 250 GBP :/

I was talking about a Hard Disk, not an SSD.
A Hitachi 7K500 (500GB/7200rpm) can be had for about £50.-
I'd prefer that over a similar Seagate any day.

Invest in some IBM/Lenovo recovery CDs if you don't have any already. If your system is slow it's undoubtedly due to a bloated registry and dowload remnants from over the years. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think the much maligned IBM "bloatware" (Thinkvantage, Configuration, etc) is a major problem, but you can always uninstall it. (You can also do a clean install from retail/OEM XP/Vista discs).

Something else to check - you may have a heat problem causing the slowdowns (the T60 series CPU fan arrangement wasn't the best and it can also get clogged with dust/fluff).

Also clear out excessive restore points.

Also defrag hdd -- I like Auslogics Disk Defrag -- free download and works nicely.