Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I have a TP 240X with the P3 500 MHz cpu that is currently running XP Pro. The general performance of the laptop is rather sluggish with a lot of hard drive access that slows down opening/closing applications.

I would downgrade to Win98 but I need to connect to my wireless network with WPA protection which isn't supported under the older OS.

Here are the steps I've taken so far:

-installed maximum amount of memory
-hard drive is fairly new but I believe the 240X only supports up to DMA-2
-clean install of XP Pro
-verified no spyware, etc. slowing down the laptop

The main problem is the drive seems to be constantly accessed and normal commands seems to take an unusually long time to complete.

Do you absolutely need to use windows XP? I have personally found that windows 2000 runs great on older laptops, especially PIII ones.

You can slim down your Windows CD with nlite (but if you do not really need XP I would also recommend to use Windows 2000):
http://www.nliteos.com/
This program first copies your Windows CD to your HDD. Then it enables you to integrate service pack 3 and add-ons (e. g. .NET Framework + SPs, lates DirectX), remove plenty of unnecessary Windows components (e.g the internet explorer core + Windows Media player 9, which will give you very high security, but you have to use Firefox or Opera + VLC Media Player after that), preconfigure services (disable everything you do not need), do some Tweaks (e. g. disable Autorun of CDs) and so on. When you are done, it generates an ISO-file for burning a CD. Install this customized lightwight XP and you should notice a massive performance improvement.

I did not find a good guide on English but perhaps you can translate this site with google: http://www.german-nlite.de/guide=german ... _und_zweck

Note: If you remove "Internet Explorer Core" (which I STONGLY recommend), you will also not be able to view .chm and .hlp files, but there are viewer programs out there. You will also not be able to use Windows update and to activate your Windows (because Internet Explorer is needed for this), so you need to copy a file from your present Windows Installation to use your present Windows activation: http://netsecurity.about.com/od/windows ... xp0829.htm

I have the same set up in my 240X. Ram maxed out to 192MB, Win XP SP-2 etc. I found that changing the hard drive to a 7200rpm made a heck of a difference, even a 5400rpm couldn't hurt if you are still working with the original 4200rpm. There is some vibration, and a little heat through the palm rest with the 7200rpm drive but nothing to worry about.
Apart from changing the HD there is little you can do, but I find the overall speed is more than acceptable with the 7200rpm drive.
Tim S

tim S wrote:I have the same set up in my 240X. Ram maxed out to 192MB...Apart from changing the HD there is little you can do

People have successfully increased the RAM to 256MB by disabling the onboard RAM and putting a low-density 256MB PC100 stick into the slot.

I owned a 240X with 500MHz PIII, 192MB RAM and a 30GB 4200rpm HDD and agree that it was just a tad too slow for WinXP Pro.

I've just bought a 192MB PC100 SODIMM module for the TP240X, and it does seem zippier - but I am running W2K SP4.

Only question is, in right clicking the "My Computer" to see the properties, it reports maxed memory of 192. I thought the unofficial max memory of a TP240X was 256 (64 on-board + the 192 module)?

I forgot to check the BIOS to see what it states as the memory amt., so what W2K states is expected as it doesn't state the unofficial amt.?

emoticonartist wrote:I've just bought a 192MB PC100 SODIMM module for the TP240X

How sure are you that it's a 192MB stick, rather than 128MB or 256MB? 192MB sticks are extremely rare and I've heard that they are very pricey. How many chips does it have? Have you Googled up the part number printed on the module?

Definitely check what the BIOS says.

pianowizard:

Yeah, the bios states maxed out at 192 (well it says 196), but when looking up the module on Google its states a 192MB PC100 100Mhz 144pin Sodimm, mostly used in Dell laptops.

Here's the details that I can see:

CELESTICA
84882C-5519E
192MB

And on the black chips itself it states: KM416S8030T-GL, which there are 4 on one side, then 8 on the other.

Funny thing is that once in a blue moon on eBay, people always have this brand CELESTICA 192Mb's for sale, so I thought, hey - let's not pass this opportunity up! Perhaps I got the wrong one?

emoticonartist wrote:there are 4 on one side, then 8 on the other.

Hmmm, it does sound like it's 192MB, and I vaguely recall people getting 256MB on their 240X's by putting in a 192MB stick. Do you have the latest BIOS? If you don't, it would be worth updating it.

EDIT: This post mentions the use of 192MB modules in the 240X.

Yeah, I did update the BIOS a ways back upon getting my hands on the machine. All the previous posts state 192MB modules from Japan though.

I don't know if the country of origin is what constitutes the max memory being able to go up to 256MB on the TP240x. Plus, I have no idea when I'm going back to Japan (hopefully soon though)!

catback wrote:I have a TP 240X with the P3 500 MHz cpu that is currently running XP Pro. The general performance of the laptop is rather sluggish with a lot of hard drive access that slows down opening/closing applications.

I should have a 240x arriving in the next couple of days spec exactly like this except without a HDD. I have a couple of 40Gb/5400s on hand so that's probably what will go in it.

I'm also in the process of deciding what OS to put on it (and oddly enough, I'm in the DFW areas as well), so this thread is interesting.

I don't really have much experience with WiFi on W2K. Any gotchas that I should look out for? Or any advice on 240s period. I've had many many ThinkPads over the years, but never a 240.

"I would downgrade to Win98 but I need to connect to my wireless network with WPA protection which isn't supported under the older OS."

I don't understand what you mean by this. Maybe WPA isn't native in the OS. I wouldn't know; I've never tried to use Win98's wifi support. All my wifi cards have come with drivers which provided all the necessary support.

If your pc-card supports WPA and Win98, its driver's utility should let you configure WPA. I have a Motorola WN825G pcmcia card, and Motorola's utility supports WPA just fine on my 600E with Win98SE.

Many 600s were born with Win98SE, and if you can live with the software limitations (that is, not much software is being written for it any more), it's still a viable OS for the machine. There are many user-supported extensions which make Win98 more useful, such as a generic storage-class driver to support thumb drives and similar devices. There's even an unofficial Win98 "service pack" -- I haven't tried it with my 600E yet, but expect to soon.

Hi,

Anybody know where to find the specs of the mistery 192MB memory from Japan. I failed to find anything.

Many thanks

Here's a site for the rare Japanese 192MB module:

http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~vertexm/products/VN10S-192M.html

The comments on the bottom pretty much state how happy the customers were in that they were able to increase the memory from the max 192 to 256 in their 240X's and 240Z's (plus making W2K speedier). Thing is not cheap though - one site stated he paid around $160.00ish USD for one module.

The brand shown is from Vertex, which is not around anymore.

emoticonartist wrote:Thing is not cheap though - one site stated he paid around $160.00ish USD for one module.

Wow, I would rather buy this S30, which is a newer and faster version of the 240Z, with 256MB RAM and a 10.4" 1024x768 (XGA) LCD.

@: pianowizard

Haha! Nice plug for the S30! I would so want the S30 (albeit in the piano-finish). Plus being payday this Friday in NYC makes it even more tempting!

Arrrgghhhh!