Improving an X61

[ArtShapiro]

My wife has been complaining about the slowness of her X61. I rarely use it, and I guess I can't argue with her. It runs Win7 x32 and has 2 gigs of memory and a magnetic 7200RPM hard drive.

After cleaning up with CCleaner, disabling a few unnecessary programs such as the Lenovo FnF6 microphone mute program, PC Doctor, and the like I'm still getting 51-53 second bootups (to the point where the fingerprint logon is requested) and about 29 seconds on a wakeup from hibernation. We are a bit spoiled by my nuclear desktop that boots up in a few seconds, but this still strikes me as poor.

I have a spare SSD sitting in the drawer, and I'm also thinking about upgrading to 4 gigs of memory and installing the x64 version of Win7 to be able to use that much memory. She really is anything but a power user, but I can appreciate that the slowness is aggravating.

Also, the fan is surprisingly noisy. X61 fans run a lot, of course, so the noise is quite obnoxious. For those of you old enough for this statement to make sense, it is very similar to the 120Hz hum from an old "All American 5" tube radio with failing capacitors. From the HMM, fan replacement on the X61 is remarkably unpleasant - one essentially takes apart the entire machine. Is there anything I can do short of this major surgery?

Any thoughts on improving the responsiveness of the X61 will be appreciated.

Art

[emeraldgirl08]

Back up whatever valuable data you all have on the drive in the X61 and do a clean install. If you have the means to do so save an image of your clean setup. That way if you needed to you do not have to go through the whole process of reinstalling Windows, updating, and setting up things the way you prefer. I find that a clean install often makes a significant difference.

Also the clean install might make a difference in the fan noise. Perhaps there is so much going on with the current install (background programs etc) that it is causing a detectable load on the system resulting in increased fan spin. I would suggest not to load so many programs on the next install.

[ajkula66]

I find that a clean install often makes a significant difference.

+ 1 and then some.

If you have a good SSD lying around, install it. Upgrade the RAM, install TPFC and see how the fan behaves. Removing the keyboard and cleaning it with compressed air might be a good start. Just make sure to stick in a toothpick or a small screwdriver between the blades so the fan doesn't spin too fast.

Good luck.

[ArtShapiro]

Thanks so far, everyone. There's really not that much running beyond various Lenovo processes - and those are the ones I choose to allow. But I guess a clean install can't hurt. The machine is backed up daily by my Windows Home Server, so I can safely play with it as much as I want, knowing a bare-metal restore is trivial.

Art

[axur-delmeria]

An SSD generally improves the boot time and overall responsiveness of any computer.
Having extra RAM helps too.

As for the fan, you can install TPFanControl http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html to monitor the temps and fan speed. You can also edit its settings file to increase/decrease fan speed upon reaching a certain temp, as well as turn it off completely.

Finally, since the X61 is at least 4 years old already, the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink may have dried up already. The fan may also need lubrication.

[WilsonF]

Install Windows 8 on an SSD with at least 4GB of RAM and you will be amazed at the speed. If the user hates the interface (as most of us do) you can get a $5 applet at stardock.com that will give you a Windows 7 start menu. I have an X61t with Win8 64-bit and an X60t with Win8 32-bit and feel like I have a couple of years of new life in these guys. Also, the BIOS whitelists one of the Lenovo Wireless n-capable cards. The X60t boots in under 55 seconds including the ThinkPad splash screen and POST routine.

These are machines that my kids used through college and have now left at home, so they have been treated respectfully but not necessarily gently.

[ArtShapiro]

Install Windows 8 on an SSD

No blasted way! It makes Vista look like God's Gift To Humanity. I could never inflict it on my wife.

The reason that I had a spare SSD was that I replaced it, on one of my T60p machines, with a bigger SSD so I could (stupidly, in retrospect) dual-boot 7 and 8. I now only use 8 when I want to marvel at how obnoxious something can be. All those moving and flashing tiles are enough to give one epilepsy, and I'm not thrilled with its desktop mode either. But I'll grant you that it's fast.

A couple days ago, I took the set-aside Windows 7 SSD from that T60 and threw it in the X61. I figured at the worst it would blue-screen due to the differing hardware. To my pleasure, it came right up. System Update installed a few new drivers, and Windows Update installed a boatload of updates as the drive had been pulled in August. It's running very well, with obviously much faster boot-ups. I'll give it to my wife tonight and have her enter her fingerprint data, as the original T60p didn't happen to have her user account. I should have exported the fingerprint data from the magnetic drive before I pulled it, but it isn't worth reinserting it just for that.

I appreciate your suggestion; it's just that Windows 8 ain't for me!

Art

[ajkula66]

No blasted way! It makes Vista look like God's Gift To Humanity.

[WilsonF]

As a business owner, my response to Windows 8 is "Red Hat." After all, why should I pay to train a lot of very productive employees, and pay MS an arm and a leg on top of that, to help the company be more like Google? However, with the little $5 add-on I mentioned, it's OK.

Wait until you see Office 2013 with its tiles, which I haven't found a way to escape from but I'm sure someone will since VBA still works.

Baby-boomers who aren't geeks don't love change, and I would have suffered grievous consequences if I had inflicted the Windows 8 UI on another family member close to my own age. However, the speed of the new OS with a familiar GUI has done really extended the life of the machines. If you have access to a copy of Windows 8, try it with the GUI "fix."

[boilerplate]

I have an X61t with Win8 64-bit and an X60t with Win8 32-bit and feel like I have a couple of years of new life in these guys

True that man, these guys still have more to offer than many of the junk $200-400 laptops/netbooks on the market.

Windows 8 does provide some wicked performance and memory improvements over Windows 7 (comparable to the improvements from Vista to 7). I've been using it on my desktop and x61 for the last few months and have grown to love it, sorta

The Metro interface needs some serious work. It's a good start as far as MS's attempt to update their GUI for desktops and tablets, but for casual users like your wife, it's currently nothing but a headache. I'm still on the fence after getting the feel and learning the new keyboard shortcuts. MS will definitely lose some ground in the PC market unless they quickly roll out needed UI changes for desktop/touchpad laptop users

Like everyone mentioned, best bets are a clean install of 7 or 8, RAM, and an SDD (both my PC and x61 hit the desktop in under ten seconds with Win8!).
You could always install 8 and the 3rd party software which disables Metro and re-enables the Start menu. It's one more thing that could goof up when you're not around; but for the performance gains, it might be worth it

[precip9]

Any thoughts on improving the responsiveness of the X61 will be appreciated.

Art

Investigate with this tool:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 63902.aspx

Be sure to disable "Apple Push."

Also, check the SATA mode in BIOS
a. "SATA" is an IDE emulation mode, which does not exploit the full potential of a modern hard disk.
b. "AHCI" is the modern, preferred mode.
Unfortunately, with Windows XP, it is not trivial to switch modes after installation. But a reinstall is justified.

The claims about Windows 8 performance are correct. Classic Shell et. al hide most of the gruesome Metro. The OS has obvious bugs, but the net is positive.

[ArtShapiro]

Investigate with this tool:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... 63902.aspx

Be sure to disable "Apple Push."

Also, check the SATA mode in BIOS

Excellent post - thank you!

I hadn't thrown autoruns onto that machine yet, having concentrated on MSCONFIG and on SERVICES.MSC. Good idea.

And I hadn't done anything in the BIOS, so I have absolutely no idea where the SATA mode happens to be set. (I'm at the salt mine right now, and the machine is at home.) I'll check that ASAP, as I understand that can make a perceptible difference. Hope I don't have to reinstall Win7, just because of the nuisance involved.

She rarely uses anything beyond the browser and MS Word, so I'm waffling about purchasing additional memory. I will not inflict Win8 on her - she swings a pretty mean rolling pin.

Art

[precip9]

With Windows 7, it is much easier to switch from IDE "compatibility" to AHCI. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

They have a downloadable "fixit", which I have used. It works. And don't forget to burn the Middleton BIOS to have the SATA interface running at 3Gbit/s:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443

The Middleton BIOS also has a modification that specifically speeds up boot.

I have several X61s models, with 1.6gHz L7400 processors. This memory works very well in them:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200794951372?ss ... 1438.l2649

This disk works very well: 1T Western Digital Scorpio Blue, http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-S ... orpio+Blue (beware the 5200 RPM variant, it physically doesn't fit)

One has a 256GB SSD. Here, a caution. With Windows 7, the hibernate write is so extensive, one is motivated not to use hibernate, out of concern for the lifespan of the disk. The W8 hibernate write is much shorter (and presumably smaller.) In restore from hibernation, it comes closest to the "instant on" experience.

Under general use, the subjective experience of all the machines is more toward "power user" than "sluggish",

[flyingfishfinger]

Here's a question that may go along with this thread, in keeping with the improving of an X61.

I've been debating whether one should purchase that one or the Crucial brand from Newegg for something like $40 more. Any insights on the pros and cons, especially in regards to this overclocking mod:
http://translate.google.com.au/translat ... nkl-Tablet but it requires reflashing the memory, and I'm not sure how tell what memories support such modification.

R

[ajkula66]

Overclocking a laptop that is small in size and lacks proper cooling to begin with like X61 is a horrible idea in my not-so-modest opinion.

You'll have a dead planar sooner than later.

If you need that much more computing power get a newer machine.

[precip9]

You didn't supply a link to the Crucial chips, so I can't compare. At the time I bought RAM, the eBay chips were the only ones found with optimal timing for the chip set. The memory interface runs at 667 mHz. 800 mHz was/is available, but the RAS timing is slower. If such 800 mHz memory were installed in an X61, it would run a little slower than the eBay chips.

I purchased and installed a total of five identical sets. I used an antistatic mat and wrist strap. One set caused immediate and massive OS corruption. The company replaced them, and the replacements work. If the choice existed of correct factory timing in a good name brand, such as Micron or Kingston, I might have gone in that direction. It is really impossible for the end user to evaluate memory quality. All measurements of computer reliability are statistical. If one stick has an error rate of 1 in 10^20 reads, another might be one in 10^19. So I'm not going to tell you which is best. So far, five machines, no funny business.

This relates to overclocking also. You have a machine which passes FIVE MIL spec tests, which is why the Thinkpad is classed as a semi-rugged laptop. Overclocking goes in the opposite direction. It is popularly believed that Intel chip speeds are deliberately hampered. This is not so. In conditions that stress the CPU, chips are graded according to that 1 in 10^X criteria. Overclocking was popularized by gamers, who have entirely different definitions of utility than the rest of us. Overclocking sacrifices the promise that your X61 will "be there for you", for the equivalent of a joyride.

The X61 is special in one way: in comparison to the external dimensions of the laptop, the physical size of the screen is larger than any other. The resolution is merely par, but the way the screen couples to the average eye in a usable fashion is, for the form factor, spectacular.

I would suggest to anyone who feels impatient with the speed of his X61 to perform the other upgrades first. The result is quite impressive in execution of typical office tasks, and even content creation other than video. If this does not satisfy, those newer laptops in the T series with socketed CPUs are ideal subjects for CPU transplantation. I'm typing this on a W500 with a swapped T9900 CPU, a modification that preserves all the reliability of the machine.

[ajkula66]

If this does not satisfy, those newer laptops in the X series with socketed CPUs are ideal subjects for CPU transplantation.

What X series models are you referring to? AFAIK, all of them have soldered CPUs even today...

[precip9]

What X series models are you referring to? AFAIK, all of them have soldered CPUs even today...

I did not know that, so I've edited the post. I've swapped on T400's and W500's.