Windows 7 Beta Know Issues (sticky?)

Windows 7 on ThinkPads
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iamdmc
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Windows 7 Beta Know Issues (sticky?)

#1 Post by iamdmc » Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:22 am

Downloaded 7 beta 1 (x86 Build 7000) on December 28th. It's been running on a X61s with 4GB of RAM and 250GB 7200RPM HDD.

Works very well so far with some exceptions. I can say this for sure: much better than Windows Vista. I'll be installing the x64 version this week.

Issues:
-Thinkvantage software seems to work OK not great (note: I don't use Access Connections, etc.) Thinkvantage productivity center does not work.
-Thinkvantage Active Protection WORKS (see Sticky in Windows 7 forum for link to download; Vista version does not work in Win7)
-The keyboard hotkeys are all nonfunctional (ie. Fn + F# - which I used to use extensively)
-Wifi and Bluetooth are either both on or both off (by hardware switch only).
-Lenovo System Update recognizes the OS as Windows Vista SP1 so it will give you downloads that do not apply to Win7.
-Microsoft known issue: Windows Media Player 12 beta corrupts MP3s irreversibly, so don't use it (unless you've made a backup of whatever file you want to play). A fix has been issued, but I'm going to play it safe for now.
-Daemon Tools does not work - the driver will not load. Use "Virtual CloneDrive" instead (google it for download location)
-Volume control works, but the mute button does not register muting with Windows 7 (although it does actually mute the sound)
-IE 8 beta 2 crashes immediately at program startup
-When plugging the laptop in while running it is very common to get a "Display Driver has Stopped Working" - after which the driver reloads itself and everything seems normal. However... (see next point)
-Every once in a while (random, or when plugging in) windows explorer stops working and will load the window but none of its contents. At this point you must cold boot the machine, since "Restart" and "Shut down" will not work

EDIT: Installed Windows 7 Beta x64 and a lot of the problems disappeared. IE8 is fine, Volume control works fully, Explorer hasn't frozen yet, restart and shutdown work fine, ThinkVantage actually works fully, but the other issues still remain.

Since a lot of people are likely to have issues in Windows 7, maybe this could be a sticky?
Lenovo ThinkPad X220
i5-2410M | 8GB RAM | 240GB Crucial M500 | IPS 720P | BT 3.0 | Intel 1000 | Windows 8.1
yes, the 9mm SSD fits in the X220

Past ThinkPads: X300, T400, X61s, T41, X31, A21m, T23 (x2)

bigwormie
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Re: Windows 7 Beta Know Issues (sticky?)

#2 Post by bigwormie » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:59 pm

I too am running windows 7 beta 32 bit with virtually no issues on my x61t 4 gb travelstar 7k200. This is coming from Vista x64 and feel that windows 7 was an upgrade for me (at least after 3 days of run time).

To fix the issue with turning on/off bluetooth and wireless separately, you have to open thinkvantage and enable it in the "tablet shortcut menu". Then "fn+f5" will work . It was the only box that was not checked for me (weird).

Active protection is working great.

My machine seems even more responsive than vista x64 and boot/sleep times are greatly improved. I have had only 2 or 3 crashes in IE8 and both times had over 15 browser windows open and both times those sessions re-opened by themselves. Every once and a while I have an issue where my screen brightness will not adjust even though the onscreen display says it is, so have to reboot. Hasn't been that big of a deal.

build 7000 seems like an "almost" complete os. Better than when vista 32 bit first went gold.

All office 2007 applications seem to be working great including "print to onenote" (only available on 32 bit). Business contact manager for outlook is also running great. The onenote issue is one of the main reasons that I went from vista x64 to windows 7 x86. I had to run all office updates to make office run smoothly.

Inking is working better under windows 7 than it did under x64. No lag and very accurate. This is without me running any calibration.

I did have to disable "pen flicks" as it was causing some weird "jitter" activity in the taskbar. I never used the feature before anyway.

Acrobat standard 8 is working better for me than it was in vista x64 except for 1 crash where I had to restart the program (no reboot).

My brother mfc 9840 software package is not working at all under windows 7 but all I used it for was scanning which I now just do under acrobat 8 which seems to be more feature rich anyway so net win for me. Networking printing and scanning to mfc 9840 is working great.

I was very haphazard in how I installed drivers. I let windows update install:
1. Bluetooth broadcom bus controller driver 12/19/08
2. CTX network modem
3. Intel chipset 1.1 driver 1/20/09
4. Lenovo display 8/17/08
5. Trackpoint 9/22/08
6. Lenovo tablet keyboard and buttons 10/14/08
7. 82566m gigabit network driver

Then I went to lenovo support and downloaded:
1. Tablet shortcut menu
2. Hotkey driver
3. System interface driver
4. Tablet button driver
5. Multitouch driver

I then installed all office udpates. Windows update then tried to offer me a couple of wacky updates which I did NOT accept. I would suggest anyone installing windows 7 to not allow windows update to install anything by itself. Also, as mentioned in other threads, make sure you install the security update that it offers you to fix the mp3 issue. Otherwise you will destroy your mp3's.

As of right now I am using this as my primary os on my secondary (although daily use) machine.
x61t 1.6 4g Ram Travelstar 7k200 Windows 7 31.9 + .1 bit
T40 2.0 dotham 2g ram 2915a/b/g

GomJabbar
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Re: Windows 7 Beta Know Issues (sticky?)

#3 Post by GomJabbar » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:56 pm

My personal opinion is that some of the issues you have experienced are directly related to the hardware you happen to have. Another ThinkPad owner with different hardware will not have these same issues. So I am not sure a sticky is warranted in this case.

FYI, there are the Windows 7 forums where common issues can be identified.
http://windows7forums.com/

I am not trying to discourage you here, but too many Stickies are not really enjoyed by everyone.

If another mod or admin feels differently, then perhaps this or similar information will get stickied.
DKB

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