R61i windows 7 no Ethernet driver

[onespeedbiker]

My next endeavor is to load 64bit Window 7 on my R61i. There are windows 7 drivers for everything but the Ethernet (Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet). There is a Vista Driver and I found a Windows 7 driver on the Lenvono site for a Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet Driver for Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit) - IdeaPad S9, S10. Obviously I can try both drivers and see if one or the other works, but I'm hoping there is someone watching that did this and knows the best driver to use.

[axur-delmeria]

The Vista driver should work. I'm not familiar with the Ideapad S9 and S10, but if the Ethernet hardware is the same, the Win 7 driver should work without issues.

[onespeedbiker]

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping for..

[onespeedbiker]

Well it turns out all the worrying was for naught, as the Ethernet and wifi work with Windows 7 drivers. After the install there was 4 or 5 Base system device drivers needed along with on unknown device. I started off replacing three already loaded drivers; they were the audio, video, and chipset, along the ultraNAV2 64bit driver. Additionally there was a Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery driver I had to track down, along with Ricoh flashcard reader driver; there is a Vista driver available among the R61i drivers, but Lenovo also has a Windows 7 64 bit version, which worked great. I also tracked down a Windows 7 Power Management driver, and a MS Visual C++2005 Redistributable (x64) SP1 driver that is needed for the Rescue and Recovery software (BTW it has to be this exact driver, any subsequent (newer) MS Visual C++ driver will not work.

[axur-delmeria]

and a MS Visual C++2005 Redistributable (x64) SP1 driver that is needed for the Rescue and Recovery software (BTW it has to be this exact driver, any subsequent (newer) MS Visual C++ driver will not work.

That's expected, really. And it's not a driver but a set of software libraries, usually as DLL files. It simply means that the Rescue and Recovery software was built using MS Visual Studio 2005. Subsequent versions of Visual Studio will have new features and optimizations but at the cost of breaking compatibility with older versions.

I do find it annoying that some program installers don't check for the presence/absence of the required libraries, and just spit out a cryptic error message and exit.

[onespeedbiker]

So, after successfully loading Windows 7 on my R61i hdd, I decided to upgrade to a ssd. I first tried to clone the drive using Acronis (free software for the Crucial ssd I bought) and again it was a no go. I actually never even got to use the software as again I could not get the R61i to boot from the the hdd through a USB port (the new ssd was installed). No big deal, I simply loaded Windows 7 from the Win7 install disk and then loaded the R61i drivers. Everything work well, until I tried to install R&R, which resulted in a 25015 Code 6 error.When I looked it up it apparently has to do with writing code to the boot manager, and can be caused by a drive that is not partitioned correctly for the utility or some remnant from a prior OS install. I reinstalled Window 7, but this time used diskpart to clean, partition and format the ssd. The result was another successful install and R&R installed as well. And I am happy to report a noticeable increase in booting and program loading speed across the board. Next, perhaps a T8300 (bought one on ebay for $4).

[axur-delmeria]

So, after successfully loading Windows 7 on my R61i hdd, I decided to upgrade to a ssd. I first tried to clone the drive using Acronis (free software for the Crucial ssd I bought) and again it was a no go. I actually never even got to use the software as again I could not get the R61i to boot from the the hdd through a USB port (the new ssd was installed).

You moved the HDD with a working Windows install into a USB enclosure and expect it to boot successfully? AFAIK Windows does not like booting from removable media (which an HDD in a USB enclosure falls under).

[onespeedbiker]

Yes, that would seem to be the case.