Thinkpads Forum

I am looking at an x220 with the i7-2640M processor. From Lenovo it appears that all x220 models allow for SD drives under the palm rest so that you can load large files on the HD. Am I correct that the preferred setup would be to have Windows and the apps on the SD to load faster?

If I purchase this one with only the HDD is it a big deal to install the SD and transfer the OS to the SD?

dlbeaty wrote:IAm I correct that the preferred setup would be to have Windows and the apps on the SD to load faster?

If you are talking about SSD (solid state drive), then yes.

If you are taking about SD (the SecureDigital card slot), then heck no.

Okay, what I meant to say was:

I am looking at an x220 with the i7-2640M processor. From Lenovo it appears that all x220 models allow for SDD drives under the palm rest so that you can load large files on the HDD. Am I correct that the preferred setup would be to have Windows and the apps on the SDD to load faster?

If I purchase this one with only the HDD is it a big deal to install the SDD and transfer the OS to the SSD?

The first question has been answered. How about the second? What would be involved in installing an SDD inside if one was not already included, and then transferring the OS from the installed HDD to it?

You need to remove the HD, then install the mSATA drive under the palmrest, and then instal Windows from scratch on that mSATA drive. Add often used programs.
Then wipe the HD externally, put it in the drivebay and use it for storage and backup.

RealBlackStuff wrote:You need to remove the HD, then install the mSATA drive under the palmrest, and then instal Windows from scratch on that mSATA drive. Add often used programs.
Then wipe the HD externally, put it in the drivebay and use it for storage and backup.

Thanks for the step-by-step. I was hoping to be able to use the recovery partition. If I need a disk, the x220 I am looking at does not have a COA. So I guess I should factor in the cost of a factory disk.

The recovery partition is only good for creating recovery disks (and that only once).
After that, delete the recovery partition and use that free space for SSD garbage collection in the background.
That partition contains old, outdated stuff anyway, with lots of bloatware, so get rid of it.

RealBlackStuff wrote:The recovery partition is only good for creating recovery disks (and that only once).
After that, delete the recovery partition and use that free space for SSD garbage collection in the background.
That partition contains old, outdated stuff anyway, with lots of bloatware, so get rid of it.

Thanks for the educational input. Things have changed since the x32 and x61 that I am using. They allow unlimited recovery. I have one more question. If the laptop has the recovery partition, and I make recovery disks, will the installation have to be activated, or will I need a COA sticker?

XP recovery disks I have previously made do not require activation. But with an authentic Win7 Pro, can I make an image of the basic OS and use that to reinstall windows if necessary, or to transfer to another drive?

The recovery partition is only good for creating recovery disks (and that only once).

Some misunderstanding here!
You can CREATE the recovery disks only once.
You can do unlimited recoveries, like before, BUT once you have made the disks, the recovery partition is a waste of space.

The above recovery disks will automatically activate Windows upon installation, no COA required.
When you install original (non-Lenovo) W7, it offers no recovery-disk-making option.
You'll need a Windows key (not necessarily a COA) to activate it during or after installation.
If you take an image of the installed W7, you can use that image again on the same (or other) hard disk(s) in the same machine.

Somewhere I read that Win7Pro has its own recovery program. Maybe I misunderstood. What I am concerned now about the x220 I am considering is that it has Win7 Ultimate. I have not seen that listed on Lenovo's site as an option for this one. He says he thinks the recovery partition is there.

If I get to see it today I should be able to find out if it has the recovery partition. Has anyone seen a factory installment of Win7 Ultimate on an x220 or similar Thinkpad?

Is there a way to get a legal copy of recovery disks for this pc? Maybe I am being silly, but I appreciate not having to go through the activation process every time I change a HD or reinstall Windows.

As long as there are Slic2.1 tables in the BIOS, any Lenovo recovery-set for Vista or W7 will automatically activate.
I suggest you do some reading up on this throughout the forum and/or elsewhere.

RealBlackStuff wrote:As long as there are Slic2.1 tables in the BIOS, any Lenovo recovery-set for Vista or W7 will automatically activate.
I suggest you do some reading up on this throughout the forum and/or elsewhere.

Yes, reading, reading reading......

I did purchase the x220 with Win7 Ultimate installed and legit. There is no disk or COA sticker, so I am asking for recommendations for covering myself in case of disaster. I could backup the basic install before adding my stuff, and make additional backups of my files as time goes on. Or I could get a Lenovo disk for restoring it to factory state, and then just backup my files. I have disks for all my important programs.

Many in the forum do not like the utilities that Lenovo includes, but I cannot say I like Windows versions all that much either. Any advise?

Did you check under the battery for the COA?
If that's a Lenovo Windows, you can probably create Recovery disks (once).
Otherwise a full image with e.g. Acronis TrueImage (done regularly) will work wonders.

Thanks for the tip of looking under the battery. It had been removed. I like Acronis. Thinkpad rescue and recovery program has made solid disks for me in the past also.

RealBlackStuff wrote:As long as there are Slic2.1 tables in the BIOS, any Lenovo recovery-set for Vista or W7 will automatically activate.
I suggest you do some reading up on this throughout the forum and/or elsewhere.

I found that this x220 does not have the Slic2.1 tables in the bios. Does that mean that only a Lenovo recovery set specifically for an x220 will work?

At first I had planned to add a sd drive to my x220 under the palm rest for the OS and keep the HD for files. When I got to Microcenter I decided to just replace the HD with a Samsung 512 SDD 840 Pro.

Did I make a mistake? Earlier I considered cost effectiveness, but since the cash was available this time I went for the Samsung that was on sale for $300US. Any comments before I change out the drives?

Dan

I'd do it. You can always add another SSD if you like later on.

BTW this may serve you if you want to make more than one set of recovery media in case one gets damaged.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=97992

I was in a similar dilemma when I got my X220, and also decided to just get a big 500GB SSD, rather than a small mSATA SSD and a large HDD in the main bay. I figured 500GB would be enough for me in this machine, and it also keeps it a bit lighter. Plus, the old platter drive I could reuse in my older T60 which badly needed a refresh.

I was on the fence with needing a new drive just this week. almost went for my first-ever SSD, but the price was just too good for a Seagate hybrid 1TB (internal: 8GB flash + 64MB memory) - ST1000LM014. the performance is not much above average, according to reviews, but I have no complaints so far.
maybe SSD next year.

also, as mentioned by others, there are plenty of easy/free methods to copy the OS to a new disk. just about any linux liveCD/DVD will have gparted/qtparted on it. gparted lets you copy-pasta entire partitions from one disk to another (and if you are pasting into free space, I seem to recall it automagically takes care of filesystem/format/partition-label/etc.) - install liveCD to usb stick, boot from usb stick, copy OS partition from old HD to new one. done.

dlbeaty wrote:I found that this x220 does not have the Slic2.1 tables in the bios. Does that mean that only a Lenovo recovery set specifically for an x220 will work?

are you positive? the fact it came with OEM win7 doesn't necessitate that it has slic2.1 bios, I agree. but it does imply it...

I only ask b/c I recently purchased an x200t, and, given the age, had assumed/resigned-myself I would have to find an updated bios for it, or create/inject my own if need be. but - upon checking, the ACPI tables already had SLIC at 2.1. ("00E0: 53 20 01 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00") - well, maybe a previous owner fixed it.
otherwise you still have a very good chance of finding a BIOS on MDL: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/ - basically it's either already there, or someone will mod it for you, or there is a tool you can use to inject it yourself. (I've had success with all 3 of those, ha.)

digitalriver (no relation to mydigitallife lol) is the official distributor of MS's win7 ISO files. you can download ANY language, ANY version for free; legal and legitimate. I recommend X17-59465.iso which is win7sp1 ultimate, english, latest refresh. or pick your favorite language...
http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology ... load-links

these are OEM versions that will activate with any SLIC2.1 machine, legitimately. you will have to add stuff like lenovo update manager for tools and drivers (although win7 will cover like 95% of the drivers these days. mostly you just want the power drivers and the power manager etc.)