Windows 7 on x40, any one?

[sjthinkpader]

I think somebody tried that, and it reverts back to Std Video Device driver at every reboot.

[bdwelle]

I just put a KingSpec 32Gb SSD from MemoryC in my Thinkpad X40 2371-8LU. I first tried cloning my XP hard drive, but that didn't work (probably because my 32Gb SSD is smaller than the 40Gb HDD). I installed Windows 7 by using these instructions to put the Win7 installation on a bootable USB drive, then I removed the HDD and put the SSD in the main HDD slot in the Thinkpad and booted off the USB stick and installed Windows 7 onto the SSD. Worked like a charm.

My "Windows Experience Index" shows:
Processor 2.2
RAM 3.9
Graphics 1.0 (I have Aero turned off and have not yet tried it)
Primary hard disk 5.9

Overall performance is great, and much faster than the old 1.8" 4200rpm HDD that I upgraded from.

[sjthinkpader]

Welcome to the forum,

I am typing on my X40 with Win7 and got the following:

My "Windows Experience Index" shows:
Processor 2.2
RAM 4.1
Graphics 1.0
Primary hard disk 5.6 (32GB CF card)

[el31415]

I have Win 7 Ultimate up and runing on a X40 ( 512Mb)
Faster than XP Pro.
Here's what I did to have it work

- Do a fresh Install of Windows 7

- Get Internet access (Plug ethernet cable and let windows update all the driver)

- Graphics driver are not installed properly to fix that there is many how to guide
and I almost tried them all , here's what worked best form me and painlessly

I used this drive
Intel(R) Graphics Controller 6.14.10.3722 (Windows)
--> http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=65f0 ... f6e8ebb871
-->

Put your Display in High Resolution (1024 x 768)
Right click on Desktop ...then choose resolution...

Go to Device Manager -> Display Adapter
you should see
> Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME ....
> Generic VGA.....

Right Click on >> Generic VGA ... > [ uninstall ]
DO NOT RESTART Your computer


Ricght Click on >> Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME .... > [ Update Driver ..]
then direct it to the Driver that you downloaded (Intel(R) Graphics Controller 6.14.10.3722 )

Let the computer install the driver
Than restart the computer ,

I had to restart my computer about 3 times
at the last restart it will show you this

----------------------------------
You can also use this guide -->

http://www.groundstate.net/855GMWin7.html

[el31415]

Any one was able to get the On screen display to work ?
When you press Volume or Brightness
the function works but doesn't show on the screen

[p78]

I have Win 7 Ultimate up and runing on a X40 ( 512Mb)

Thanks for the report !! ... I thought Win 7 needed 1GB ... so you can install Win 7 Ultimate RTM on a 512MB machine ?
Or maybe you used a Release Canditate ?

[el31415]

Windows 7 ultimate Retail

[257roberts]

el31415, which file do you point it to? Or do you point the "install driver" to the folder that contains the file/s that are needed? Thanks. I purchased a copy of W7 with my .edu address and anxious to get rid of the slow XP Tablet install that I have now.

[el31415]

I --> point the "install driver" to the folder that contains the file

Than let it restart 3x times

at the last Restart it will even detect you Monitor --> IBM ThinkPad .....

For Best result when driver installed and all reboot done
Set up the Display to 32 bit color or True Color

[Temetka]

So using that driver enables Aero?

[vladis]

what about battery life compared to xp pro ?

[Miata]

@el31415
Installing the video-driver on an X40 this way works OK, thx for the tip.
Indeed you need to restart several times to complete the installation succesfully.

[el31415]

So using that driver enables Aero?

No X40 and the Intel's integrated 855GME cannot handle the Aero
( I didn't try to use Aero anyway)

what about battery life compared to xp pro ?

I have a lot of used X40 that I bought from Ebay that I'm refreshing with Win7
Battery live seems better than XP ( about 5 to 7% better) and more accurate

[Temetka]

So then what is the point of going through all that nonsense for the VGA driver then?

When I loaded up Windows 7 RC1 it automatically detected my video card for me with no problems.

Just an FYI I loaded Ubuntu 9.10 on here and with Compiz Fusion this thing does graphics that would make Aero blush. I've got my wobbly windows, my deskwall, my glass borders, my little window previews when I hover over an open program on the taskbar and so on.

If compiz can do it than so can Windows. My understanding is that Microsoft will not allow Intel to write a WDDM driver because they hadn't finalized the spec when Intel released the chipset. I know my hardware can handle the graphics, Linux proves it. I love Microsoft but crap like this makes me want to slap them with a week old trout sometimes. (A trout is a type of fish for you international people).

[sjthinkpader]

It's not that they are incapable. It's just that they want to sell new hardware along with new OS. So there are no incentive to make old hardware work. Linux is another story.

[vladis]

ok and what about other think vantage programs ?
exactly: battery maxi mister, active protective system and fingerprint software, or think vantage connections ?

... so with correct graphic drivers will win 7 run even faster than XP ?

I want to install it on my x41 with only 4200 rpm hard drive.

[sjthinkpader]

Battery Maximizer is too old. Win7 has a pretty good power manager once the ACPI driver is installed. Other utilities eventually will catch up to Win7.

[vladis]

OK and should I choose XP drivers compatibility, when I will install all drivers from lenovo site ?

thanks

[sjthinkpader]

I had success in installing the video driver after installing the intel chipset inf files, WinXP version, on X41. But so far I had no success in doing the same thing for X40.

Win7 has better facilities in covering functions covered by the three major utilities for WinXP: Access Connection, Presentation Director, Power Manager. So I had not install these as I had done for WinXP routinely.

So in essence, you need very little external drivers and utilities other than FP scanner, ACPI driver etc.

[vladis]

Today I finally decided to install windows 7 but I don´t deliberated that it takes 7-8Gb of free space
On my small 20 GB hdd it is just too much. Is there any method to minimize it ?

[spoiltbrat]

I'd like to thank el31415 for the instructions. I tried it, however it didn't work well for me. I restarted about 20 times, each time the X40 would start up telling me it was installing the drivers. Sometimes it would say it was successful, other times, failure. Then when I restarted it would go through the same process all over again...
I finally decided to delete the Intel driver folder that I had downloaded, and then it worked! I've got two Intel GME lines listed in the device manager. Is that usual?

Anyway, after all that, I can't say I notice any difference compared to the default Windows driver. The trouble just wasn't worth it. Actually, I think I prefer the original Windows driver, but I don't know how to get it back! Admittedly I run a very lean desktop, using classic theme and all the fancy stuff disabled.

The other thing that doesn't work is audio. Does anyone know how to fix it?

[el31415]

I connected my laptop to the internet so windows 7 installed most of the driver, audio, wifi....
The audio driver where installed by windows 7
on my x40 I had to only install
the Graphic Card driver,
and for the on screen display --> Lenovo System Interface Driver + Hotkey utility

as for the default craphic I have to admit the the default where giving me a better result but windows mediaplayer was not working with these
so I had to update or downgrade using the intel one

[spoiltbrat]

I installed W7 without being connected to the internet. I had no idea that it would make any difference. Now after manually installing wifi, Windows says it can't find any drivers on the internet. I wish I knew about this before.

[sjthinkpader]

Just keep the internet connected then reboot a few times.

[spoiltbrat]

Just keep the internet connected then reboot a few times.

Thanks for your suggestion, however I am now connected to the internet via wifi and have rebooted many times. When I try to get Windows to update the driver, it very quickly returns a message saying it can't find any.

EDIT: I just realised I had Windows Update disabled, after enabling it installed the audio driver. Doh!

[vladis]

I had success in installing the video driver after installing the intel chipset inf files, WinXP version, on X41.

What intel chipset inf files did you installed ? I tried from ibm.com in XP compatibility but with no success, because win 7 still shows that it is not compatible with my OS.

I used this drive
Intel(R) Graphics Controller 6.14.10.3722 (Windows)
--> http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=65f0 ... f6e8ebb871
-->

Please can you make a re upload ? This doesnt work for me.

Thx.

[Murat]

hi to all. I read this forum many times)). It is very good. I decide register. I want buy X40 and read many threads about this notebook. This thread too. About videodriver. I found this http://vinf.net/2009/01/12/windows-7-an ... -solution/
It also have driver download link. 855gm_vista_driver.zip)
I think this driver will be better than Xp driver. And also i think this driver be included in Windows 7 RC (like 7100 build).
Hope it will help us. Sorry for my English.

[msyoder]

I've been running Win 7 on two x40 thinkpads for about two weeks. One's my desk computer and the other is for watching internet video on my TV. I found the win 7 experience to be far superior to XP. It realy takes care of itself, installs easily, finds all it's drivers. File sharing's a breeze.

I'm eager to try the video driver solution described here in. As some have pointed out, the default one works fine for use as a laptop or always docked with an external monitor. The reason I want it is so that I can undock live (need pnp) and/or switch between laptop and external monitor for presentations, or use them as dual monitors.

I'll share my success or failure.

P.S. Install the Hotkeys feature from Lenovo to get the on-screen display.

-msyoder

[msyoder]

No luck with el31415's solution for me. I reached the point post reboot that listed the drivers as installed and ready to use. But they never stick. I guess I'm stuck w/ no live docking control for now.

I agree that Windows 7 doesn't need the thinkvantage apps with the exception of HotKeys on screen display.

-msyoder

[msyoder]

No luck w/ this diver either:
http://justendeal.com/driver/855gm_vista_driver.zip

It did look more promising for a while, but no dice. I give up for now.

Gota love the fact that as badly as I've abused my video driver windows 7 just keeps putting me back in working order. Love that!

-msyoder