T400 and Windows 10: My experience

[JAJO]

Don't know if it makes a difference or not, but before I started, this time, I went into bios and changed the graphics setting to integrated, and OS not to detect switchable graphics.

I did the same and finally I have Win 10 Pro on my T400 installed. I also used the the USB stick, not the Windows Update, to perform the upgrade. It took about 1h.

I turn on the Switchable graphic feature and OS detecting in BIOS and Win 10 works fine, besides Fingerprint.

[TPFanatic]

Since you mention your T400 is ATI powered and Switchable Graphics,

My experience with T500's ATI, Switchable Graphics, and Win10 is that there's not enough driver support from AMD and Windows for it to work properly.

By installing Windows 7 Power Manager (copy Setup.exe, rename copy to Setup1.exe, run) I get the Switchable Graphics function and I can switch between Intel and ATI graphics in Win10. However, a problem arises where you cannot modify the screen's brightness when set to ATI. Brightness works in Intel mode, so you have to switch to Intel, change brightness, then Switch back to ATI. It's an inconvenience and also means you have to close whatever games or whatnot if you want to change your brightness. Horrible.

A similar problem occurs in other operating systems if your BIOS is not the latest, but my BIOS is the latest and in a Win7 environment the problem is not there.

So, Win7 is the best OS for Thinkpads of this era, type. But one can live with it if their screen (like mine) is already dim at its brightest setting...


I also went to the registry for the mouse settings to reenable smooth type scrolling and using the middle trackpoint button as a middle button. Instructions here:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-8- ... true#M4352


edit: One last issue is the OS failing to switch between Headphone and Internal Speakers automatically. Boot up with speakers as the primary audio device, plug in Headphones, Headphones are primary device, take out Headphones, Headphones are still primary device and Internal Speakers don't work. Have to set it to Speakers manually to bring them back. Annoying!

[JAJO]

Recently, I also noticed some issues with switchable graphic, the same as TPFantic mentioned.

This is why, probably within 2 or 3 weeks, I will go back to Win 7 Pro.

At this moment I'm using Win 10 @T400 only to take a look into it, and test a little.

[Donal]

Seems I had the issue with the headphones and speakers not switching. I've been doing so much of this , that and the other, trying to figure things out and resolve issues, it's kinda hard to remember what I have done and to what. Seems like the resolution to the headphone / speaker switching was to uninstall the sound driver and restart, letting it reinstall the driver. Was so easy a fix , it was hard to believe. Of course, I don't think that was the first thing I tried.

[TPFanatic]

Just want to report that Win10 on my T500 is failing to boot, as soon as the wireless light blinks on at the OS's startup, it BSODs with some generic Kernel Security Check Failure. Before then, the screen just turned off as if to suspend, and didn't suspend, so I hard shut it off.

Got into safemode after three too many automatic reboots. Crazy. Win10 isn't very friendly to users who know what they're doing.

I've got an updated Wireless driver for the Intel wireless, I'll install that and try again.

edit: Pressing F8 seems to bring up an automated repair. After that fails it will let you get to safe mode.

Can't use .msi files in safe mode, so just uninstalled the wireless and rebooted, still breaking. Going to play with this more.

edit: From safe mode, disabled both wireless and for good measure the Radeon 3650. Seems to be booting normally successfully now.

Been trying to get an older version of Catalyst that actually supports switchable graphics installed, but "Uninstall Driver" seems to be a farce in 10.

edit: Installed slightly newer 5100 AGN driver. It had version from 10/04/11, now 10/27/11. Also uninstalled Radeon 3650 driver and checked delete software. Rebooted, no crash. Now I can get back to wrestling the ATI which was my original intention when it decided to BSOD me. What an adventure.

edit: This poor computer is so confused. I uninstalled the Radeon 3650, rebooted, and it's back, what the *. Power Manager was in Energy Saver, but board's GPU senor was there showing at 70C. Re-enabled the driver from the device manager and the GPU cooled off, Power Manager now says High Performance.

At least it's the older driver that's installed now, from 2012, version 8.792.5.2000. However brightness doesn't work. And it won't switch back to Energy Saver either, so, gonna reboot again and see what happens!


Final edit: Even with the older Lenovo Switchable Graphics driver for Radeon 3650, changing brightness is a feature lost in Windows 10 with the dedicated graphics enabled. I can switch between the graphics and each graphics works, there's no brightness control, and another fatal bug.

If the screen turns off or times out in High Performance, it doesn't come back.

So, ATI Switchable Graphics is a big hassle in Windows 10. Oh well. 7 is better anyway. If you have an Intel only model, Win10 will be fine enough, but if you already have ATI working in 7 it's not nice to lose that feature, and best stay with an OS that can fully utilize your old computer in an age where it needs all the resources it can get. If you want, you can just disable screen timeout and only do it manually in Intel mode.

[jmcafee]

Hello everyone,

UPDATE: I am back after starting this thread (the OP) almost a year ago. A recent installation of Win10 was fast, error free, and smooth, in stark contrast to my experience a year ago. I do not anticipate returning to Win7 because the system functions so well.

Although there are some extra hoops to go through, now is the time to try out the upgrade while there are a few weeks left. The T400 switchable graphics, OSD/Fn key, and fingerprint reader were just several of the show stoppers from a year ago. The fingerprint reader, OSD, and radio F5 all work very well now. The fingerprint reader, using Lenovo drivers, works perfect for single power on and Windows login. Note that even when the desktop picture of the seascape is presented prior to the login, you can swipe your finger for login without dismissing the picture to move to the login page (you may have to deliberately go to the login page and use the reader just once for this bypass to work in the future as it will default to the reader from that point forward). Any graphics switching must occur in the BIOS, not the OS, not a big loss.

Here are my suggestions:

• * Clean install Win10 build 1511. I urge you DO NOT "in place upgrade" your existing Win 7 installation.
  * In the BIOS set the Display to Integrated Graphics, OS Switchable Disabled.
  * Install the OS via USB stick.
  * My opinion: you are nuts to use a Microsoft account for your computer login. Create a local account. Please. To prevent you ever getting snookered by MS slyly changing it back to an MS account, edit the GPO: Local Comp Policy>Windows Settings>Security Settings>Local Policies>Security Options>Accounts: Block Microsoft accounts. Shame on Microsoft.
  * Install the Hotkey Features Integration. Use the pre-Win8 build 8jvu23ww.exe, not the later builds. You must install using the Windows 7 compatibility mode (file Properties>Compatibility Tab>Windows 7) This will give you the OSD and Function key operations. No need to install the MS Visual C 2010 Redistributable, unlike with Win7.
  * Install the Lenovo Fingerprint Software lfs33250w764.exe.
  * Install the Battery Gauge version for Windows 10 bg10ww45.exe. Installation bug: it installed only to the active account, but failed to install into the Administrator account. Separately installed there.
  * I also installed Access Connections using the latest Win7 driver gic765ww.exe. It is a little buggy as sometimes the radio would not switch off when connected to the LAN.
  * The webcam works with native drivers, and still produces the same wretched quality, but you have to change the camera type to USB Video Device (one way is Device Manager>Integrated Camera>Update Driver..>Browse Computer>Let Me Pick). I tried a manual install of the Lenovo Win7 drivers, but I still had to manually change the camera type to USB as per above.
  * Install the Intel AMT Win7 drivers, if you so choose. Takes care of the PCI Simple Controller bang in the Device Manager.
  * All other important drivers seem to be integral with Win10, and with all of the above installed your Device Manager will be happy.

Unless MS breaks the Lenovo/Win7 driver integration with future OS updates, it is reasonable to use Win10 for the long term. I'll give it a shot, but I have a Win7 image ready to replace Win10 should disaster strike.

[WVZR1]

I just did a W10 PRO install on my T400 only because I thought it might be nice to have the "digital entitlement/activation" for the future. I just used the "UPGRADE PATH" because this was originally a VISTA build and I don't recall where the W7 ULTIMATE actually came from but it was LENOVO, I had an error that I hadn't ever experienced but found references to it that went way back to the early W10 offerings. The error code was "80240020" (W10 can't be installed) and it was quite a read. I started deleting things from the appropriate FOLDER before completing the read which was directed to yet another newer/later thread with a different approach suggested. Well I'd already done most so I just hit the W10 ICON again (after deleting ALL) and I had W10 installed in maybe 50 minutes. The POWER MANAGER was deleted as well as a couple other items but I'll poke around and see what's going on. From start to the failure was maybe 6 hours (I had left the house) when it was at 72% so I don't know just how long it was.

The failure showed up in the UPDATES SCREEN and I nearly said "he!! with it" and just stay with W7 but I believe I'm happy with what's maybe going to go on. The Intel/Integrated graphics I can tolerate. I've got some rather unusual audio going on when the DESKTOP is first presented but I've no idea what it is. Later I'll look into it.

**On the second reboot the START UP AUDIO was fine.

[sandman]

jmcafee, thank you for coming back to revisit this thread. I installed Windows 10 on my T400 on 7/29, hoping that MS would have most of the kinks worked out by then. Instead, it has been the worst experience I have had with a Microsoft product..... EVER, and I will likely return to Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, as I did after installing Windows 8. I never bothered with 8.1 after that experience. I have 2 tested images of 7, so return will be a breeze if I decide to go that way. In fairness, I would like to see if I can get 10 fully functional before I do.

Following your suggestions, I am still having problems, some minor, some aggravating, and a couple of show stoppers.

Your tip on the OSD driver was very helpful. I had tried a few versions going backwards, with no success, but gave up before going all the way back to your suggested version. You must be a very tenacious fellow. However, I still do not have access to the brightness function, and as far as I have seen from other reports, no one else has had any luck with it. I use that feature a lot. The Win 10 feature needs an extra step, and once you have access to the function, it is pitiful by comparison. Did you actually get that feature to work?

The loss of the Switchable Graphics function on the fly is a big loss for me, since I used it a lot. Having to shut down, restart, go into the BIOS to make the change is not my idea of a smooth transition. That loss, it would seem is permanent. I have not tried the third party drivers, which have had some success, but also some instability and blue screen problems.

The biggest show stopper for me is WiFi. I found literally an abundance of hits on Google searches, for all manner of laptops, and desktops, and dozens of potential fixes, but like others that finally returned to Windows 7 and 8.1, none of them has resolved the issue. About every third or fouth time I boot this T400 up, I have no internet access. If I fiddle around enough, and reboot several times, then after wasting an hour or so (time that I don't have to spare), I will get a connection. If you are problem free in this area, and are getting better than 2.4 N, would you please post your Property settings. From day one, I never had a single issue with Windows 7 in this regard.

I had planned to, and did reject all manner of MS "Spyware", but since some of it is hardcoded, there is no way to block it all. In fact, the ONLY reason that still has me somewhat interested in seeing this through is Cortana. There too, MS wants access to your data, so if I can get some of the other problems sorted out, I will activate it, and see what can be limited in those terms. In another month I will be switching out my Windows smart phone for an iPhone 7, so I will have access to Siri, which by all accounts is superior at this point, and since my phone is ALWAYS at my side, for the most part, if I role back to 7, I will actually be gaining productivity with a fully functioning laptop that was running just about as smoothly as one could hope for, and doesn't have an interface with icons that look like they were created by a first year graphic arts student that was heavily into Windows 3.1 as a retro influence. God I miss Aero. Someone should have informed MS that computers with more than adequate resources to run Aero, have been around for quite some years now, and hey, at least leave the option open.

[TPFanatic]

Aero's essentially been replaced with basic transparency. Effects like Snap still exist, but they're just called Snap without the Aero prefix. It's easy to rename old features to make them seem fresh and modern and new.

Definitely stick with 7. Vista and even XP are the most supported OSes for machines of this age and neither Lenovo or Microsoft will do anything about driver support. They'll happily force you to Windows 10 so it counts for their milestone but they don't care if it works.

7 will work for years to come, then some version of Linux.

[kiterunner]

this thread maybe almost a year old since the last reply, but here i am.

i just want to share how W10 running in my T400.

Last month, installing W10 via USB stick, clean install, everything was fine but the bluetooth and the fingerprint, both doesnt work at all no matter what driver i try to install.
i know i can use dell's fingerprint driver for T400 and W10, try that, but not even work.

OS itself is smooth since i have SSD and 8GB of ram installed, 1st time W10 installation :

- Bluetooth not work
- Fingerprint not work
- Hotkey not work
- On screen display only work from W10 native
- both intel and ATI graphics work switch manually from the BIOS - and yes, the OS auto detect graphic set to OFF.

+ smooth
+ cooler than W7, idle at 39-41C
+ good battery life, i still have 9 cell genuine lenovo battery and hold 6-7 hours online usage in a single charge
+ all browser works smooth

Well, for few days im using W10 1709, everything is fine and ok, but woke up in the morning, got updates to 1803 and it ruin everything..


after the horrible update, i decide to install W7 for at least a week. and see if i can stay there for good, but nope, turns out, W7 is too slow for me, so i decide to make another USB installation W10 from version 1803 update, and do another painfull clean install.

After 20 minutes of W10 installation : GOOD RESULT

+ OS smooth
+ everything fast
+ Bluetooth working like a charm
+ Fingerprint also working ( im using dell's fingerprint but got from another source now )
+ OSD working
+ Hotkey working
+ even the EasyEject also working properly.

[agklimit]

Yes, T400 works just fine with W10 for me, as well. No issues at all. That particular T400 is my music player (attached to the Hi-Fi using the digital coax output on the docking station, and into a DAC), so it's really important that it is silent. And it is virtually silent - and runs at about 40 C most times. (That is the model with integrated graphics, which might help explain why it's so easy to keep cool.) It's a dual boot with Linux Mint 17.3, which also runs totally fine (and cool.)

[Dragunov]

I am now running Windows 10 as my primary OS with Linux in a dual boot setup. I still like linux and have used it for years, but man Windows 10 is very, very nice.

The OP was commenting regarding a T400 and most others have. You mention "very nice" but is that in regards to W10 on a T400 or just a general observation of W10 perhaps on a different machine. I think that it's important maybe to comment regarding the T400 with the 'switchable graphics' which seems to create considerable issues.

If the 'very nice' is actually a T400 what did you perhaps do to make it a 'pleasant experience'?

I gave my Pastor a T400 with Windows 10, three years ago, to replace an HP Envy that died. He's using it EVERY day STILL, with no problems. He hasn't even bothered with the Envy, since He's gotten the ThinkPad.

His config?

1tb 7200rpm HDD with an AOMEI recovery partition.
WinXHome with updates shut off.
8gb/RAM
GMA 4500 Graphics.
Core2Duo T9400 (2.53ghz).
I completely went through this computer, re-gel, fan clean, everything before I donated it to him. He REALLY likes his machine.

What I did to make his WinX experience good?

Shut OFF updates.
Removed Cortana and Edge,
Shut OFF Telemetry with Anti-Beacon.
Installed AVAST! AV.

[skx]

Wow... not sure if you rendered the man a service. in 2019 running an outdated operating system, is just plain stupid. I hope he is disconnected from the Internet. Turning off updates is not good, but irresponsible... It's better not to have a [censored] virusscanner but to have your OS and applications up to date.

[RealBlackStuff]

Before you shout insults at someone, better put your reading glasses on first!

outdated operating system

WinXHome is still the same as Win10Home.
Outdated in 2019? Hardly. One may not like it, but...

[skx]

Before you shout insults at someone, better put your reading glasses on first!

outdated operating system

WinXHome is still the same as Win10Home.
Outdated in 2019? Hardly. One may not like it, but...

If you disable updates, the system is not up to date? Or did I miss something? And where did I insult?

[lenovo_or_bust]

It's 2020 and I have 2 T400s running Windows 10 for some years now. No overheating, boots super quick, updates are fast, everything just works. For office work and browsing, the one I upgraded with SSD and 8GB RAM is remarkably fast in use.

My only motivation for upgrading is the graphics card does not match up to my new high res monitor. So I am monitoring the ex-corporate machine seller sites for an eventual Lenovo replacement.

[CaHeKe]

Hello

I have installed Win10 21H2 on T400S.

touchpad - http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... gx79ww.exe
hotkeys - https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downlo ... mpaign=BAU

fingerprint - https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdat ... 780464.cab
it works with drivers from DigitalPersona, Auten Tec or Upek. I have used last one from DigitalPersona ver 1.7.0.415, because other drivers are more elder.
More drivers are there https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com get search for "touchchip fingerprint coprocessor"

But installing fingerprint driver is just the beginning...
Win 10 using Windows Hello for fingerprint setup, you no need Lenovo fingerprint utility at all https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/soluti ... d-thinkpad
But when you trying to scan your finger it says - "sorry something gone wrong..."
I have tried to find dell driver and enroll.exe utility (and i found worked one from previous microsoft link from Upek). But utility says "Biometry not allowed by operating system policies". And then i found that built-in administrator account is not supported by Microsoft WBF (Windows Biometric Framework) technology and in newer builds of MS Windows 7 (higher than 7000). https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Fo ... proinstall

I have created new user and bingo, Windows Hello is worked now.

All other devices worked from the box or after installing Optional Updates in windows 10 update center