x220 bundled sw - what to uninstall?
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:25 am
Have been running 220 (ordinary i7-based setup) for few weeks - looks good overall - have some questions on what to keep from bundled software.
FYI Im coming from years of T61p use (and many X's before this T) on XP so W7 and newer versions of some bundled packages are new to me.
- For wifi access, does it make sense to use OS manager or bundled Lenovo Access Connections? Can I choose either-or at all under w7? 3yrs ago on T61 AC was so unreliable that after a while I just removed it. Is there anything to be won by by using AC in w7 or can I clean my system from it again? (Im private/personal user, not in enterprise-corporate environment and so far have not touched AC).
- Same with power management - w7's own or bundled sw ("lenovo battery"?)? If the former - can the latter be uninstalled? Do you feel as I do that they tripping over each-others feet when it comes to tracking of when the screen can be turned off, etc? If you keep them both - where you set the timeout parameters?
- What about intel gfx extra(s), are these needed to be running always? And I see more odd services/executables running - a separate driver for usb3? a keylock manager? Toolbox? ....All in all the question is - which parts can be cleaned off, removed, uninstalled or just stopped; and which are good to keep installed or even auto-starting? I guess people with different use patters/environments do its differently, Im mainly looking for my private-use setup advice.
Other notes so far:
- Out of box, the audio did not work - during calls my sound was cut at few secs into call. Unchecking all "autodetect voip calls", "filter out keyboard sounds", etc settings and installing updated drivers fixed this, but I did not find out what exactly was the cause. Driver update, FWIW, was Conexant Audio Software for Windows 7 dated 13.April Y11. Have seen similar reports on the net with suggestions to dl new drivers for fix.
- Wwan (f5521gw) has been great with my local seemingly non-supported operator/sim, out of box. except for twice it does not show wwan option under network connections (w7 version of) and the Fn-F5 menu shows wwan as powered off while power-on button does not bring it back. On 1st such case it got fixed after reboot, right now running on it 2d time, seems nothing that I do has impact on it and I probably have to reboot.
- Webcam is poorish. Not poor-poor, but way worse when compared to top line logitech cams Ive used before. Red-ish image tones and all... I guess thats the tradoff for the small embedded lens chip, really hope there would be better aftermarket camera components becoming available, for that would be so big UX improvement it would beat IPS screens or wifi chip updates hands down.
- Sometimes wifi (n-6205) seems to do sort of soft-poweroff on its own, a la wwan, except that I can bring it back via Fn-F5. Im not sure but think the scenario is where I dont have working connection or have attempted to connect unsuccessfully, then close the lid or lock the keyboard and when looking at wifi connectivity again I see its turned off and I need to go to Fn-F5 to power it on. Anyone else seen this, could this be something that ACM causes, or might it related to power-management turning the un-used wifi off?
- Have not tried GPS yet.
- Have found potential source for IPS screens in China. Not super sure yet if that would be right screen, but can do a test purchase to find out. If anyone whos based in europe wants to co-operate in buying them in bulk - leave me a PM.
Toivo
FYI Im coming from years of T61p use (and many X's before this T) on XP so W7 and newer versions of some bundled packages are new to me.
- For wifi access, does it make sense to use OS manager or bundled Lenovo Access Connections? Can I choose either-or at all under w7? 3yrs ago on T61 AC was so unreliable that after a while I just removed it. Is there anything to be won by by using AC in w7 or can I clean my system from it again? (Im private/personal user, not in enterprise-corporate environment and so far have not touched AC).
- Same with power management - w7's own or bundled sw ("lenovo battery"?)? If the former - can the latter be uninstalled? Do you feel as I do that they tripping over each-others feet when it comes to tracking of when the screen can be turned off, etc? If you keep them both - where you set the timeout parameters?
- What about intel gfx extra(s), are these needed to be running always? And I see more odd services/executables running - a separate driver for usb3? a keylock manager? Toolbox? ....All in all the question is - which parts can be cleaned off, removed, uninstalled or just stopped; and which are good to keep installed or even auto-starting? I guess people with different use patters/environments do its differently, Im mainly looking for my private-use setup advice.
Other notes so far:
- Out of box, the audio did not work - during calls my sound was cut at few secs into call. Unchecking all "autodetect voip calls", "filter out keyboard sounds", etc settings and installing updated drivers fixed this, but I did not find out what exactly was the cause. Driver update, FWIW, was Conexant Audio Software for Windows 7 dated 13.April Y11. Have seen similar reports on the net with suggestions to dl new drivers for fix.
- Wwan (f5521gw) has been great with my local seemingly non-supported operator/sim, out of box. except for twice it does not show wwan option under network connections (w7 version of) and the Fn-F5 menu shows wwan as powered off while power-on button does not bring it back. On 1st such case it got fixed after reboot, right now running on it 2d time, seems nothing that I do has impact on it and I probably have to reboot.
- Webcam is poorish. Not poor-poor, but way worse when compared to top line logitech cams Ive used before. Red-ish image tones and all... I guess thats the tradoff for the small embedded lens chip, really hope there would be better aftermarket camera components becoming available, for that would be so big UX improvement it would beat IPS screens or wifi chip updates hands down.
- Sometimes wifi (n-6205) seems to do sort of soft-poweroff on its own, a la wwan, except that I can bring it back via Fn-F5. Im not sure but think the scenario is where I dont have working connection or have attempted to connect unsuccessfully, then close the lid or lock the keyboard and when looking at wifi connectivity again I see its turned off and I need to go to Fn-F5 to power it on. Anyone else seen this, could this be something that ACM causes, or might it related to power-management turning the un-used wifi off?
- Have not tried GPS yet.
- Have found potential source for IPS screens in China. Not super sure yet if that would be right screen, but can do a test purchase to find out. If anyone whos based in europe wants to co-operate in buying them in bulk - leave me a PM.
Toivo