P71 Running Windows 7

[TPFanatic]

These are the drivers I installed for Win 7 on the P71. I had first installed this environment on a T430 with Optimus, then moved that drive into the P71. It booted and activated with no problem.

Intel AC Wifi wifi_21.40.5_proset64_win7.exe https://downloadmirror.intel.com/29421/ ... 4_win7.exe
Intel HD Graphics 630 KBL_2120164508_Win7_81.zip https://dlsvr04.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/ ... in7_81.zip
Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller nz0ys02w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/nz0ys02w.exe
Intel USB 3.1 Driver n1ey104w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1ey104w.exe
Intel PRO/1000 LAN Adapter Software nz1rw02w_64.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobi ... 02w_64.exe
Synaptics ThinkPad Ultranav Driver n1egw19w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1egw19w.exe
Intel Chipset Driver n1eha07w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1eha07w.exe
Intel 8260 Bluetooth Driver n1dwv10w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1dwv10w.exe
Thunderbolt Software n1etd07w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1etd07w.exe
Realtek MultiCard Driver For Windows 10 1803 Or Older n1ux105w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1ux105w.exe (Says Win 10, but worked on 7)
Lenovo Touch Fingerprint Software w7fpt4a0_64.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobi ... 4a0_64.exe
Synaptics Metallica MOC Touch Fingerprint Reader Driver n1mgf03w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1mgf03w.exe (Says Win 8.1, but worked for me on Win 7)

I remain with four "Other devices" without drivers:

PCI Device, I believe this uses the Realtek Audio Driver n1ca128w.exe https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1ca128w.exe, but my audio is fine with the Microsoft drivers. --edit: Wound up installing the driver. It seems to use the same Realtek driver as older ThinkPads, including eg. T430.
PCI Simple Communications Controller, this is Intel ME, I'm leaving this not installed.
Unknown device Hardware ID INT0E0C, this is because Intel SGX is enabled in BIOS, Lenovo says to disable SGX for this to go away, https://support.lenovo.com/ca/en/soluti ... r-thinkpad
Unknown Device Hardware ID MSFT0101, this is the TPM device, this is resolved by manually installing Win 7's built-in TPM 2.1 driver. https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-u ... tpm-device

P71 improves over the P70 by having NVME functionality in both 2280 slots and better GPUs. I believe it is possible but hacky to upgrade the P70 to the P71's GPUs. P70 and P71 also feature a unique keyboard with 2.1mm of travel and dedicated Volume keys over the Numpad. Unlike subsequent P-series, this is a full-width keyboard, and it is appreciated. P71 is also the final P-series with a built-in optical drive, in the 9mm form factor, which can be swapped for a BD reader as I have done or an additional 2.5" caddy. Also included is an Expresscard 34 slot, which by this point is legacy.

Incredible machine, with the T25's keyboard it'd be perfect, but as it is it is more than good enough.

[mikemex]

I still laugh at myself for truly believing once that a laptop is a worthy replacement for a desktop. I remember that, in the mid 2000s, I got rid of the Duron (early Athlon-like AMD economy line) PC I had at the time and replaced it with series of laptops, most notably a T41p. It was a nice laptop: 1400x1050 high resolution with 128MB ATI Discrete graphics. Quite powerful and featured for the time.

Then I realized it was not the same to use a laptop occasionally, than to have to sit on front of it all day. A few days later I was already using an external keyboard and mouse. I didn't buy an external monitor because they were really expensive back then, so I had to suffer the diminutive screen for a while. The last laptop in that brief experiment was a Dell Precision M90. A good machine (still going strong from what I know, I sold it to a friend) but I don't remember taking it out even once. And there I realized how silly is the concept of a "mobile workstation" that is neither a satisfactory laptop (due the bulkiness and weight) nor a satisfactory desktop.

A laptop is like the sidearm of a soldier: you carry it because how small and light it i, so you can always count on it when you need it. It might even save your life one day but no soldier in his right mind would pull his pistol to engage an enemy if a rifle is available. It lacks range and firepower, and it's much more difficult to hit anything with it.

[mikemex]

Sorry, I tend to get carried away... Back on topic:

1) What's the point of leaving AMT uninstalled? From what I know it does nothing, as the ME is always running in the background. And given the amount of things ME is involved, I suspect there might be small but tangible differences in power savings and the like.

2) Other than Windows, what software do you install on your machines as standard?

3) What a nice laptop! It seems like a decent replacement for my W530 if I ever retire it. I still consider the optical drive quite useful and the ExpressCard slot is probably 3.0, so another place to put an extra SSD in (see this).

[TPFanatic]

My previously linked driver for the SD card reader, for P50/P70, doesn't actually do anything for the P71. The reader itself must have changed between generations. I've replaced the link with the Win 10 1803 Or Older driver for the P71's card reader, because lo and behold, installing this driver under Windows 7 works.

For us Menu Key / Right Click Key lovers, Shift+F10 is Windows's own hotkey for opening the Menu.

Using Lenovo Keyboard Manager (accessed by Fn+F11 on P71 keyboard or under C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY\kbdmgr.exe) I assigned the User-Defined Key, Fn+F12 on the P71 keyboard, to the Power Manager On Screen Display Plan Selection (accessed by Fn+F3 on the 7 row or under C:\Program Files (x86)\ThinkPad\Utilities\PWMOSDV.exe). Alternatively this can easily be given a shortcut on the Windows taskbar and activated by Win+ combo.

[TKuser]

Thanks for sharing your Windows 7 solution! I hadn't realized there was a solution for chipset support for these newer machines.