For minimalist install, which drivers are worth installing?

[phil81uk]

Hi. I though I'd open a dedicated thread for this as it seems I'm no the only one who is trying to install Vista while only installing the Lenovo drivers and software which is necessary. Basically I'm aiming for a minimalist install.

I installed the Lenovo Chipset drivers and graphics driver as I figured those are important for preformance (any comments on this?).

My question is which other drivers should be installed to maintain good performance?

I've also installed the Active Protection System (for obvious reasons) and might install the hotkey utility so that I get the Green on screen volume control display.

What other drivers do people consider important or necessary?

[phil81uk]

Oh, I also installed the touchpad/pointer drivers to get the scrolling to work.

[warder]

I guess this comes down to a basic question... what do you want to work?

It's fine for example to not install anything extra than what is on the DVD - Vista actually has drivers for most Thinkpad hardware already built in, but then there are extra features that require additional software loading if you want to use them:

I've loaded these as I consider them key functionality for me:

ACPI - for better power management
TPM - for use with BitLocker and Fingerprint software (when released)
Active Protection System - for safety

There other other bits you may need install if you want them:

Touchpad - to make scrolling work, although touchpad otherwise works natively
System Interface Driver - to allow other Thinkpad tools to work such as HotKey
HotKey - to make volume overlays work, although the volume keys work perfectly anyway.


Lenovo lists extra drivers to download, although Vista appears to have them supported perfectly well already:
- Modem
- Card reader
- Wireless
- Graphics
- EasyEject

Lenovo also has other things you might install if you really want:
- Message Center


They also have a couple of registry tweaks:

S3 Power Management - this I installed as it permits the PC to go into a lower sleep mode when you 'sleep' your PC. This tweak basically tells Vista that the hardware is ok to go into that mode and will function ok, including wake ups. So basically you'll just save more battery power when sleeping your notebook.

USB Idle IRP timing - I've not installed this and will investigate more when they release the fingerprint software.



It will be interesting to see how Microsoft update their drivers with Vista. Day 1 is always different from Day 365 in the Windows Update world - I wish Lenovo would just post drivers to Microsoft to distribute through Windows Update, as then everyones life is simpler, but I suspect that while say the Microsoft Graphics driver is good today, that in a few months, that getting it from Lenovo, Intel or ATI will give you better performance.

For instance, today it would probably be pointless installing the Lenovo wireless driver (version 7.1.0.90) as the Microsoft one is newer (7.2.0.125), but will this be the case in 6 months?


Oh yes, a hint for people running Vista - although Vista automatically downloads security updates automatically, things like drivers don't even appear in the list in Windows Update unless you manually Check For Updates. Only then do Important Updates get listed like drivers.