x61s - Windows 7 x86 or x64?

[sashikawa]

Guys,

Please advice what is better to install on my x61s (L7500, 3G RAM), Windows 7 x86 or x64? I'm affraid that x64 will be slower.

[Shredder11]

I went with 32-bit Win 7 Pro on my X61s which has 3GB and an SSD drive, mainly due to the lower performing CPU version and also after the experience of Win 7 64-bit on my sister's 2006 model Acer Aspire 5612WLMi, which has the same chipset and a Core2 Duo T7200 and 3GB RAM. Anyway Win 7 Pro 32-bit runs quite well, although a tiny bit sluggish at times but no big deal for most things.

[ajkula66]

With 3GB RAM I'd stick with the 32-bit version, no questions asked.

[wujstefan]

Actually I don't really see the point installing 64-bit systems on those units. All you can get is 1.8GHz CPU which is pretty slow anyway and a max of 4Gig Ram. x64 will eat 1 Gig more at start anyway

Not to mention you have acces to some nice software like NHC using 32-bit system.

[axur-delmeria]

a max of 4Gig Ram.

Actually, it's 8 GB max, but whether it's cost-effective or not is another matter entirely.

x64 will eat 1 Gig more at start anyway

A basic install with a light antivirus can get slightly below 1GB, but yeah, a 32-bit install is still more frugal with RAM .

Not to mention you have acces to some nice software like NHC using 32-bit system.

IBM_ECW can do CPU undervolting, fan control, and read Thinkpad-specific sensors, even in 64-bit. it's UI is rather spartan though.

I'm affraid that x64 will be slower.

X64 might be slower because you'll run out of free RAM faster, but it mainly depends on your usage scenario TBH-- browsing with lots of tabs will eat up your RAM.

Despite sounding like a contrarian, I actually agree with ajkula66 and the others : If you don't plan on adding RAM to your machine, then 32-bit is a better choice.

[jaspen-meyer]

Please advice what is better to install on my x61s (L7500, 3G RAM), Windows 7 x86 or x64? I'm afraid that x64 will be slower.

Faster or slower depends entirely on the programs you'll be using and the tasks the computer must complete.
A quick benchmark on my x61 for a cpu intensive task I run: 64-bit version ran 43% faster than 32-bit version.
For other tasks, 64-bit will be slower.

[sashikawa]

The after installing W7 are- updates don't insall. I can Insstall only 100 from 400 updates. For X86 and X64 the same situation. Various error appears. What's going on?

[axur-delmeria]

sashikawa,

These might help:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3020369
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 42#p785831

[WarMachine]

The after installing W7 are- updates don't insall. I can Insstall only 100 from 400 updates. For X86 and X64 the same situation. Various error appears. What's going on?

Hi Sashikawa,

The problem of the slow updates is very annoying, but it's absolutely normal, sadly.
I wrote on my blog on this subject. It's in french, but I think you can understand even if you don't speak this language. You can use Google Translate or even better, ask me if you want :

http://wilou62.blogspot.fr/2016/08/si-v ... aller.html

W.

[sashikawa]

The after installing W7 are- updates don't insall. I can Insstall only 100 from 400 updates. For X86 and X64 the same situation. Various error appears. What's going on?

Hi Sashikawa,

The problem of the slow updates is very annoying, but it's absolutely normal, sadly.
I wrote on my blog on this subject. It's in french, but I think you can understand even if you don't speak this language. You can use Google Translate or even better, ask me if you want :

http://wilou62.blogspot.fr/2016/08/si-v ... aller.html

W.

Hi WarMachine,

Thanks a lot for info. The probles is not in only slow updates. Main problem was that among 300 updates I can iautomatically installed only 100. Other 200 updates was rejected.

Problem solved by installing W10 x86

[ajkula66]

Problem created by installing W10 x86

Fixed it for you...

Apologies, old friend, I just couldn't resist

[sashikawa]

Problem created by installing W10 x86

Fixed it for you...

Apologies, old friend, I just couldn't resist

Thanks, George

[6sicSIX]

I know I'm late, but I had the same issue with Windows 7 on about five different occasions over the last year (all genuine, clean installs)
I ended up using a windows update standalone installer to update windows update client (lol): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810
If the standalone installer hangs on searching for updates etc and does not update windows update - kill the wuauclt.exe process and the install will start.
--
For me - once I let windows update run it borks the whole update system. Therefore:
1. Clean install
2. Disable windows update
3. Activate
4. Reboot
5. Run https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810 (may have to kill wuauclt.exe if the installer gets stuck)
6. Reboot
7. Enable windows update and check for updates
8. Come back in a couple of hours and click install.

Hope this helps someone

[Shredder11]

You could of course use this...... http://download.wsusoffline.net/ and the latest download is http://download.wsusoffline.net/wsusoffline1081.zip . As well as Windows it also updates Microsoft Office if you happen to use that. I just unpack the zip to the Program Files folder and inside the install folder, I make desktop shortcuts of the UpdateGenerator.exe and UpdateInstaller.exe (in the client folder). A good feature is you can tell it to store all the downloaded update files, and you can use these to update other computers. A good tutorial is shown here http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.c ... ne-update/

Older versions can also still be downloaded if you need to update XP or Vista.

[6sicSIX]

Tried that previously, but it was much more hassle than running a single standalone update and killing a process.

When I tried what you mentioned it downloaded the updates but never finished installing.. Although that may have been after an already failed windows update session (bork)

I could have been doing something wrong as I was on my third clean install and was fed up by that point

[Shredder11]

I've only ever had one tiny fauly in the many years I have been using WSUS Offline, and that only required deleting a folder inside the client folder and then running the update generator again.

[6sicSIX]

Just tried in a vm and the same issue happens.
The downloads finish, then when I start the install svchost hangs at 100% cpu usage single thread, and high ram usage.
Screenshot: http://pasteboard.co/ixB8cZVLY.png

These are exactly the same symptoms that you get if you try to check for updates...

Looks like this method uses the windows update system, so it is also affected by this issue.

Anyone reading this who is having the same issue should use the steps I posted above.