x61s vs. T43p - Speed Issue

[DWSpiro]

I finally bit the bullet and bought an x61s at a very good price. This is probably my sixth Thinkpad so I'm very familiar with what I'm dealing with - pros and cons. This one is an upgrade from my fabulous T43p which I absolutely LOVED, but the x61s is infinitely smaller and more convenient for travel. I should add that I'm running the x61s with Win XP Pro.

The T43P has a Pentium M processor, 2.26GHz, 279 MHz, and 2GB RAM. The X61s has an L7500 processor 1.6 GHz, 781 MHZ. It came with came with 1GB of Ram (actually two 512mb). I got a 2GB chip (second one ain't here yet). Replaced one of the 512mb chips so now I've basically got 2.5GB in there.

Here's my question - the x61s seems MUCH slower than my T43p. Response to opening programs, IE browser windows, etc. can be like 30 seconds. I assumed it was a RAM issue. Once I upgrade it from 1GB to 2.5GB, it was faster - but still say 20 secs to open something vs maybe 5 with the T43p.

When I replace the 512mb with the additional 2GB RAM (knowing that WinXP will only recognize 3GB of the ram), will that fix this problem? Or are there other things bogging me down? Or is it simply a trade-off for the size? Seems that this should be lots faster than it is - certainly as fast as my T43P. After all, it has a faster processor and more RAM. So I'm kinda at a loss.

Other than the speed in opening things, I'm happy with my choice...I'd just like to optimize it as best I can....

David
DWSpiro@AOL.com

[EOMtp]

Even if you had a 7200RPM drive on the T43 and a 4200RPM drive on the X61s, still one could not account for the slow speed of the x61s that you describe ... and I suspect that you have taken into account disk drive speed differences, if any.

If you ported your T43 Windows XP to the X61s, then that is your problem. Otherwise, your Windows XP installation on the X61s is "sick" somehow -- some rogue background task, any one of a dozen things ... but they all distill to one thing: you may need to do a clean install of XP. Rest assured that once configured properly, you will not have any sense that the X61s runs slower than your T43.

[DWSpiro]

Nope, I didn't port anything in. I took the drive as configured and logged on my software from scratch, ported over the data that needed to be there, etc. But working with the systecm exactly as it came Factory configed (with the exception of Norton which I did a clean whipe of)


Yeah, I didn't mention disk access speed because, in this case, they are equal and not the issue. We're talking about opening and closing programs and simple response time.

So if it was a clean install of XP and all, then what should I be looking for? What options do I have? I suppose I can look through the Task Manager and see what's open - even in background - and compare it to what's open on the T43p. But it seems quite a mystery....and a frustrating one at that

David

[EOMtp]

I don't think you will find a magic bullet to fix the issue. I know of no "fast" way around these things. When you encounter a situation such as yours, the least frustrating thing in the end is to do a clean install of XP and see if the problem persists.

That task is easier than it sounds if you have not done so before. It is particularly easy if you partition your hard drive and you use backup/recovery software to save the current configuration onto one of the other partitions. You can "flip" operating system partition images in and out of Drive C: as you "build up" the configuration, and find the issue.

Drive Image 2002 (discontinued), Ghost 9 (or higher), Acronis True Image -- any of these will work great. For this task, nothing beats the simplicity and convenience of Drive Image.

[edinburghphoto]

Hi

I had a similar problem with my X31. It's probably completey unrelated but may be worth eliminating as a possible cause.

On my x, I noticed the UDMA setting for the primary ide channel had slipped back to P10 when viewed in Windows XP system manager. For some mysterious reason, the UDMA mode had slipped back from the usual mode 5 to P10.

To solve the problem, I had to delete and reinstall the ide controller driver.

[DWSpiro]

This has been such a strange problem. Normally I'm a big believer in starting at the Factory config and working from there, but this problem existed at the factory level. So are you saying dump the factory, wipe the drive clean, and install XP Pro from real XP Pro disks? Or do a factory restore and try again?

[EOMtp]

Try the factory image, but if the issue persists, then do a clean Win XP install. (I am assuming that you have a way of "introducing" a Win XP installation CD to the X61s.)

You don't sound like a novice to me. If I am correct, then "dump" the factory install (after you back it up on a separate partition) and do a clean install of Win XP. There is nothing "magic" about the factory install. Just make sure you have the wired Ethernet driver downloaded onto one of your partitions (or a USB flash drive) so that you avoid the Catch-22 of needing network drivers to obtain network drivers.

All the drivers are on the Lenovo site, and it's trivial to download them systematically and install them.

Note: Change the SATA mode in the BIOS to "Compatibility" so that the Win XP install "sees" the hard drive.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of using partition imaging software to backup onto another partition (and restore, if needed) different images of Drive C: as you proceed. I am certain your hard drive is large enough to hold many compressed images of Drive C:.

There is no downside whatsoever in re-installing whatever you wish to test if with 3 clicks you can re-instate the prior image.

[DWSpiro]

Thanks. I think my biggest trepidation to doing a clean WinXP install is just the driver issue - I'm always worried I will miss something vital. Also, even though I have friends who routinely hate the factory pre-installs and like to do their own, my experience has been that the factory defaults tend to run smoother - especially with Thinkpads.

Lastly, I'm not even sure if I HAVE an XP Pro disk here - all of my Thinkpads came with it pre-loaded and, as we know, you don't get a disk with them

David

[hart22]

I haven't tried this myself, but I was under the impression that with the factory partition you had the option of doing both the normal "factory reset" re-install that resets everything to state they shipped in, which wouldn't help you, but also a "custom" re-install where you can choose which components you want to re-install from the partition. This option should be available through Rescue and Recovery, could someone correct me if I'm wrong? If you don't have XP discs this might work if you pick the right things to install and exclude the rest...

[DWSpiro]

BTW, I was just told that my second 2GB Ram chip is sitting in my mailroom and on its way up. So I'll plug that in and see if it increases the speed. Any ideas? Bets?

[EOMtp]

BTW, I was just told that my second 2GB Ram chip is sitting in my mailroom and on its way up. So I'll plug that in and see if it increases the speed. Any ideas? Bets?

I know your spirit is indomitable, but at 2.5GB already, you are not suffering from insufficient RAM!

[hart22]

Maybe forum members would be able to help if you described your problem in more detail. Is the hard drive always accessing? Fan status? Have you gotten all the latest updates and drivers from both Microsoft and ThinkVantage System Update? What are your hardware specs, such as networking, etc? I see problems with performance and these issues discussed frequently here.

Otherwise I second EOMtp's comment - maybe some driver conflict or rogue task.

Or maybe your X61s is channeling the spirit of Steve Jobs

[DWSpiro]

Hi Hart,

Well, as I said, the problem is most apparent when opening a new application - such as software or even opening a new browser window. There is a lag of about 15-20 seconds. When you're in a program (or browser), there's really not a problem in terms of speed. I can tell you other specifics if you tell me what to look for Even being pretty well versed in computer stuff, this is a new one for me and I'm not even sure what to look for.

David

[hart22]

Did you have the problem as soon as you received the laptop and first booted it up? Or did it start appearing after installing some programs or files?

Because if you Google "windows xp program open slow" or variants thereof solutions usually point to a virus or malware of some sort. Also, assuming you haven't done this already, you could run disk cleanup and a registry scanner such as CCleaner, that apparently works sometimes.

What antivirus do you have loaded?

[DWSpiro]

It was slow from first boot - but at that time I thought it was a RAM issue since there was only 1 GB. I run AVG but I could run the other things and see if it picks something up...

[gunston]

X61s is a lovely machine, do a Clean XP installation, you wont have issue with all the necessary drivers, because you can simply get the latest released driver version from the official Lenovo download and support pages

[DWSpiro]

I'm just not sure what a clean install will do. I mean, obviously it will correct any problems that might have crept into this install. But this one was a clean install including the factory defaults - my hope was that someone else had problems with the factory defaults and found that disabling something or changing a setting made a difference.

It's just strange because I've always stuck with the pre-installed factory version that IBM sends and have always been satisfied (save for some tweaking - including completely ripping out Norton). So this throws me for a loop.....

BTW, putting in the second 2GB RAM didn't really change anything. Seems slightly faster (although, as everyone knows, WinXP Pro only recognizes 3GB instead of the full 4GB). But still not what it should be in my book.

Again, I keep comparing it to my T43P which is like turbo speed compared to this....

David

[DWSpiro]

As I stated before, the biggest problem was using Internet Explorer - opening new windows, tabs, response within windows, etc. was SLUGGISH (to say the least). I did do a clean install, etc. etc. Same problem. Figured I'd have to live with it.

I did notice that Firefox and Netscape did not have this issue.

I was at a friend's house and he did some investigating. He opened IE and went to Tools , Manage Add-Ons and found that Lenovo had thrown a ton of extra things in there that were bogging it down. Such as an Acrobat Help Bar, their own browser help bar, Diagnose Connection Problems, Research, Thinkvantage Password Management (which I had disabled elsewhere, but was operating here), two Live Microsoft bars and a Windows Messanger. Once I disabled all of these, BOOM, it was lightening fast.

So if anyone is having problem, don't immediately go and restore to factory defaults. Just tweak things a bit....

David

[Harryc]

As I stated before, the biggest problem was using Internet Explorer - opening new windows, tabs,

Well, no ... you said "the problem is most apparent when opening a new application - such as software.." If you had mentioned it was specific to IE earlier in this thread someone may have had an opportunity to point you to look at addons. You did mention IE, but you never said "the biggest problem was using Internet Explorer". People often "embellish" their wording, but the truth is usually in their words.

[DWSpiro]

Hi Harry,

I guess as time went on, IE's lag was the biggest culprit and certainly the most evident. But, yes, there was a lag in all applications. I did do a re-install from the recovery disks and things sped up for that problem - but what that did was make the IE lag even more apparent.... I didn't post again thinking that was probably something I'd have to live with. Glad to see I don't

[gunston]

use firefox if ie is sluggish