Windows 10 on T60p with SSD

[Garth]

I have a T60p (2008) with 4 Gb memory and a Samsung SSD which runs Windows 7 really well. I've tried Windows 10 on a mechanical HD on the T60p but it's quite sluggish. It did prove that Windows 10 will run on the T60 and all the hardware seemed to work.

The sluggishness could be due to the old HD. Has anyone tried Windows 10 with an SSD on a T60p? Does this work about the same speed as Win 7?

[Hans Gruber]

I think you should probably upgrade to a T61 to take advantage of SATA II with the Middleton Bios. SATA I speeds are pretty bad for any SSD. I think doing a Frankenpad type setup would not be as cost effective as getting a T61.

[Garth]

I'm not intending to do a wholesale upgrade to my T60p, nor replace it with a later Thinkpad because mine does what I want as it is. I'm just interested in finding out whether any T60p Windows 7 user with an SSD already fitted has installed Windows 10 on the Thinkpad's SSD, and found it to be just as good an experience as using Win 7 on a SSD-equipped T60p.

I've also fitted a mechanical 500 Gb HD in the Ultrabay using an adapter, and bought a Lenovo-branded USB DVD writer for the rare occasions that I need to load/play DVD's or CD's. This works really well.

[Cigarguy]

T60/p with a SSD and a HDD in the Ultrabay is still pretty decent for an everyday machine for me. Love the Flexview screen and 4:3 size. Pick the OS of your choice and enjoy.

[Johan]

SATA I speeds are pretty bad for any SSD.

The OP is asking for advice about the performance/advantage of potentially implementing a SSD in his/her T60 (under Windows 10), and if reading the above comment in this perspective, one may get the (completely incorrect!) impression that the overall performance of a SSD in a T60/p (w/Win10) will be "pretty bad".

If it is indeed the intention of Mr. Hans Gruber to convey this impressoin, I must say that I strongly disagree; a T60p with a fairly fast CPU (say, from T2400 and upwards), 3 GB or RAM and either Win 7 or Win 10 and a SSD will perform very well for most basic tasks... such as writing, surfing the internet, e-mailing etc.

I would absolutely suggest Mr. Gruber to spend a little (more) time browsing this sub-forum, and to slowly read about the many actual user-experience reports with T60/p's under Windows 10 on a SSD, before posting further comments. I don't see any point in spreading incorrect information.

@ Garth: As you've probably already seen, from browsing this sub-forum, a T60p with 4 GB of RAM and a SSD will work just as well with Windows 10 as it did with Windows 7... and even better in some cases!

Johan

[Garth]

Thank you Johan. That answers my original query. As a matter of interest I'm using my T60p (with Win 7, SSD, Ultrabay HD, 4 Gb memory) in a photography class learning Photoshop Elements 10. Most of my other classmates have Thinkpad 410's with mechanical hd's. In practice my T60 works just as well as the later Thinkpads as the SSD compensates for the less powerful CPU.

[Garth]

A word to the wary. I've tried to upgrade to Windows 10 on my Windows 7 SSD in my T60p, but the upgrade won't proceed as I'm told that there is no driver for the ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 display adapter fitted in my Thinkpad. It doesn't give me the option of upgrading to Windows 10 with it's basic Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. The latter works in the T60p with Windows 10 at 1400 x 1050 (proved on Win 10 on my mechanical HD) so I don't really see the problem.

Any one got around this? I could probably do a clean install from a DVD, but you need to get the new product key from Microsoft if doing a Windows 10 clean install, and the only way I know to get the key is to do an upgrade on an existing Windows 7 installation otherwise you can't activate Windows 10.

[brchan]

There is a work around here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=116415

I tried W10 on my T61, and even with a T9500, 128GB 850 pro SSD, and 4GB RAM, it ran slower (though still good overall) and ran hotter than Windows 7.

Best bet is to stick to W7 for stability, reliability, and performance for T60 machines. That, or replace it with Linux, which beats it in many categories that I won't get into right now, but I am a little biased since I use it on all my machines. .

[Garth]

I tried one workaround, downloading a Vista graphics driver but couldn't get it to install. I've now gone for Plan B which is to clone my Windows 10 technical preview version to an SSD. This will run with the basic graphics driver which works OK although video files play very slowly. However it boot up incredibly quickly and most software works OK. It's an interesting exercise! Currently the T60 is installing the latest updates to Win 10 including a major upgrade. It's too soon to see if this will finally break the T60 Win 10 setup.

I will probably stick with Win 7 on an SSD as my normal operating system as this suits the T60 very well. All hardware works and it's very usable.