Windows 10 on X201 - Successful install

[larango]

I am writing this post for those of you owning a ThinkPad x201 since I couldn't find a similar post anywhere, confirming a successful installation of Windows 10 on a X201.

X201 is not in the windows 10 Lenovo supported system list as per the day of this post. The list is here

Lenovo supported systems list for Windows 10 Upgrade
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht103535

Most of the posts I read are from a few months ago and some of them said that they reverse the installation back to Windows 7 after experimenting problems.


I upgraded a X201 (64bits version with fingerprint reader) that was running Windows 7 Professional.

I first installed it using a testing hard drive and windows 10 worked fine. Last night I installed it in my production hard drive and so far I haven't had any problems. It was an upgrade and not a clean installation.

Here are the steps I followed:

1.Uninstall some Lenovo Sofware in your Windows 7 installation

First, I uninstalled the following software according to a Lenovo suggestion that can be read here
Upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7 on Lenovo Desktops
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht103639

In case you use Window 8, the main Windows 10 Upgrade Guide from Lenovo is here for your convenience.
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht103822

So I not only uninstalled, before the upgrade to Windows 10, all Lenovo related software suggested by Lenovo and a few more, but I also uninstalled third-party software that I thought or check online that would give me problems after upgrading to Windows 10. All the third party software I removed, I was able to reinstall it after the upgrade.

this is a non-exhaustive list of what I removed:

-VPN Software
-Scanner Software
-Pc Doctor
-Lenovo warranty information
-Lenovo Welcome
-Message Center Plus
-Rescue and Recovery
-ThinkPad Power Manager
-Access Help
-ThinkPad Fingerprint Software and its patches (begin by removing the patches first. It takes a while to remove it, then the main sofware).
-Client Security - Password Manager
-Mobile Broadband (from Lenovo)
-ThinkPad Bluetooth with enchanced data rate software (By Broadcom).
-All related driver packages for the bluetooth driver (mostly by Bradcom).
-Create and Recovery Media (from Lenovo)
-Lenovo Power Management Driver
-Lenovo Battery Program
-Lenovo System Interface Driver
-Lenovo Patch utility (several of this patches)
-ThinkVantage Access Connections (when removing this you are obligated to restart in order to have it removed).
-ThinkVantage Communications utility

in addition I uninstalled some old software that I am not using any more.

removing all the above took me about 1.5 hours.

I didn't uninstall or remove the following.
-ThinkAdvantage Active Protection system (I still have to see if it works or not or if windows 10 has a similar feature or else)
-Lenovo System Update (this will be upgraded later after windows 10 starts running)
-Ultranav Lenovo software

2. Run the upgrade to Windows 10.

Before I upgraded I installed the latest bios. You can find it in the x201 Levono download software page. At the date of this post, the latest version was 1.40-1.15, that added an enchancement to embedded controller (and update) to modify battery charge algorithms to balance battery charging and lifespan.

The initial phase of the upgrade was downloading and automatically preparing the settings for the upgrade. I did it overnight and I woke up in the middle of the night to confirm that everything was running fine or making sure to press OK to confirm the upgrade after the downloading and preparing setting phase finished and the system was ready to perform the actual upgrade. The process in my case took about 3 to 4 hours.

3. First start after the upgrade to windows 10

The first start after upgrading in both the test and the production hard drive ended up in a freeze of the machine. In the test drive it showed a bluetooth driver error. In the production drive it showed a problem with the Wi-Fi settings. But I am not sure wifi was the real reason. I just hard rebooted the machine and after that the device has operated without issues. E.g:
I am writing this post using Edge Browser running Windows 10 in my X201


4. Installing Lenovo Software for Windows 10.

Although Lenovo doesn't support x201 to run Windows 10, it has released a lot of software for Windows 10 that supports all the thinkpad line, so you can install it.

But let's state before going any forward, that the most useful Fn keys worked like charm after the upgrade without installing any new Lenovo Software.

That is:
Fn2 for Locking the Device
F5 for wirelss, bluetooth and airplane mode;
F7 for Monitor Switch (same as Windows-P)
F8 for Ultranav Settings
Brightness controls (Fn Home and Fn End)
Screen light (Fn PgUp)

I haven't tested yet F9 and F12

Also volume keys and mute work fine.

and the best of all is that fingerprint login works perfectly. Wakes up and unlocks on fingerprint login option

5. The Windows 10 Lenovo Installation sofware after the upgrade.

I went to
http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product ... beta=false

and downloaded and installed the windows 10 Lenovo available software starting by the most recent one. I didn't install the bios update of the list, since I had already upgraded to the latest version before running the upgrade.

here the available list at the time of this post:
-Lenovo Quick Optimizer for Windows 10 (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkCentre, ThinkPad
-Lenovo Battery Gauge for Windows 10 (64-bit) - Notebooks (a must if you want to see the level of your battery and to control other settings when clicking the battery icon)
-ThinkPad Settings Dependency for Windows 10 (32-bit, 64-bit) - Laptop
-Lenovo Solution Center
-ThinkVantage System Update for Windows 10
-Lenovo System Interface Foundation for Windows 10
-Lenovo Hide Recovery Drive for Windows 10
-Lenovo Enhanced Performance USB Keyboard and Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (I don´t need it but I installed anyway)
-ThinkPad Monitor INF File for Windows 10

There was also a Wake on LAN software, but I didn´t install it in my case.

Some of the installations require a restart. It takes about an hour or so to complete this step.

6. Some other upgrades.

Some new installed Lenovo Software ask you to upgrade to new versions or download new components. For example, the running Lenovo Quick Optimazer makes you download a new piece of sofware from Lenovo or an upgrade. I don't recall if it was the Lenovo System Interface Foundation or else.

I also used the Windows Update Option to make sure everything was updated.

Windows 10 then automatically updated other pieces of installed software automatically after you login in the windows store with an account.

Then I installed my scanner and VPN again and now I am reviewing if all my software works fine (if not I will reinstall it) or if there is new Lenovo Software designated for the thinkpad line (Windows 10).

Don't forget to make sure that the antivirus runs the windows 10 version.

This is about all. I am know learning about windows 10 and all its settings.

Happy upgrade!

[brchan]

Glad pretty much everything works well! Models from the core-i generation tend to have fewer issues with W10 and W8 it seems.

[larango]

I am glad it works fine. I am liking Windows 10 a lot.

My x201 processor is Intel Core i7 (M620) @ 2.67 Ghz with 8 GB in RAM. System Type: (64 bits)

and the installed Windows 10 version is Windows 10 Pro version 1511.

[WVZR1]

I am glad it works fine. I am liking Windows 10 a lot.

My x201 processor is Intel Core i7 (M620) @ 2.67 Ghz with 8 GB in RAM. System Type: (64 bits)

and the installed Windows 10 version is Windows 10 Pro version 1511.

That's an "outstanding" summary of what's going on with and "how to/what to do". I've an X201 that I'm wanting to sell likely after buying an X230 - I may give your procedure a go before selling.

I may study the "how to" and maybe apply it to the X230 that I've got also.

I have 1511 on a T440 that I'm becoming more familiar with and liking it way more than the first go. The 1511 seems to have remedied nearly every issue I was having.

Again - thanks for posting.

[luckyluc]

Well I can't agree with your post.
Recently I bought X201 with windows 10 installed (upgraded from windows7). From the beginning there was something bothering me - spinning cursor once per while when machine was doing nothing or just after I wanted to start app. No response at all (the cursor was moving but was no response for click) except spinning round cursor icon (the one when computer is busy)but then (after 0.5-1.5min later) everything what I did during this time , just showed up at once.
I thought it's because HDD so I bought SSD but no change and then installed windows 10 from the scratch (without upgrading from windows 7) but unfortunately there was the same scenario. Two days ago I came back to windows 7 and everything works properly, no hangouts, no "freezes" , works like a charm.
I have no idea what was the problem but I would like to know if anybody experienced the same?

[shawross]

Welcome to the Forum.

You must be unLucky because my clean install of Windows 10 went very smoothly on my X201. I only installed the minimum Lenovo Software on to a spinning drive.

Actually most of my other laptops and desktops I have moved back to Windows 7 because I think it is a better OS. I would be happy with Windows 7 on the X201 but that is your call.

[alex.orlando]

To OP, interested to know if you have faced any blue screen errors after all of your updates? thanks

[Scolirk]

I know this is an old thread, but I just picked up an x201T as a replacement for the X60T I had before. I did a fresh installation on the SSD I used from the previous tablet, so I didn't have any of the pre-installed Lenovo software to deal with. Most of the computer seems to work, but I am having some troubles, especially since the Lenovo support site has removed all the previous links from this tread considering this model is super out of support now.

The main issues are the fingerprint scanner and the touch screen. Under Device Manager there is no biometric scanner, although I have checked and it is enabled in Bios. I did try the ThinkVantage fingerprint software and it too gave me a hardware error. It's certainly possible that the hardware itself is broken.

I also read online that this tablet is supposed to support finger touch, through software, but I can't find anything to enable it. I'd have thought that Windows10 would have native support, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In device manager the Qualcomm adapter is the only device without the correct driver, but using Windows to search for it seems to fail.

Ideally I'd like to get the fingerprint scanner to work, as it would be more convenient than using a pin each time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated in order to get the most out of the x201T with Win10. Thanks!

[shawross]

You will find the drivers below.

https://download.lenovo.com/eol/index.html

[golemus]

Did anybody manage to get VGA output to work on Win10? I just updated and it is not working. (I have i5-540M variant)

In device manager i see "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter", not "Intel HD Graphics" as I saw on Windows 7.

I tried to install original driver meant for windows 7 (both in compability mode and without) but it will install only Intel Turbo Boost Technology but not the display driver.

Otherwise the display seems to work. Any tips on how I would get the VGA output (and funktion - F7 keyboard combination, which changes display output) to work?

I have disabled windows 10 updates because this is a real-time music performing computer and I cannot risk that windows updates will ruin the low latency performance that was so hard to achieve. So all I need is a working display driver (and perhaps function buttons driver).

Thank you.

[dr_st]

You have to hack the Intel Win7 graphics driver (by changing the OS version string in the INF file) to let it install on Win10. That's what I did once for T410 (same generation as X201). I don't remember the exact details, but it should be like 1-2 changes in the INF.

[golemus]

You have to hack the Intel Win7 graphics driver (by changing the OS version string in the INF file) to let it install on Win10. That's what I did once for T410 (same generation as X201). I don't remember the exact details, but it should be like 1-2 changes in the INF.

It seems that it is now working. Thank you! =)

[golemus]

You have to hack the Intel Win7 graphics driver (by changing the OS version string in the INF file) to let it install on Win10. That's what I did once for T410 (same generation as X201). I don't remember the exact details, but it should be like 1-2 changes in the INF.

Took your tip, googled more detailed instructions and it seems that it is now working. Thank you! =)

[golemus]

Here is the instructions I used:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... _get_them/

[dr_st]

Thank you for sharing! Hopefully I'll be able to find this thread next time someone asks this question.

[welshblob]

Hi,
Just thought I'd add this fix for getting the integrated x201 webcam to work following a Win10 upgrade. This was a Win7 to Win10 upgrade and I left it there i.e. no bare metal install from Win10 iso as there were lots of apps / config that I didn't have time to reinstall / fix.

Issue : The integrated webcam was detected and a driver installed and the permissions on the apps that can access the camera were set correctly. Unfortunately the inbuilt Win10 Camera app would report "We can't find your camera 0xA00F4244" and Skype would just state no cameras detected. The odd thing was that an old Cyberlink Youcam app would work fine with the webcam so at least I knew the hardware was working ok.

I managed to track down the fix on the HP support site which is where I've taken these instructions from and it suggests its a common problem.

https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c03430151

Section : "Video does not display in your webcam software (such as Skype, Messenger, etc.)"
Subsection : Step 3: Update or change the webcam driver - starting at point 7

They have screenshots if it helps and I've changed the below to make it a bit more accurate for my experience of the x201.

1. In Windows, search for and open Device Manager.
2. Double-click Imaging Devices to expand the list of webcam drivers. You should see "Integrated Camera"* as the detected device. If this is not present then you'll need to install the driver. I'm not going to cover this here as this wasn't my issue.
3. Right-click the name of the webcam in the Images Devices category, "Integrated Camera"*, and select Update Driver Software.
4. Click Browse the computer to select a specific USB Video Device driver.
5. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
6. Within the compatible hardware list I then had the option of the "Integrated Camera" and "USB .... I can't quite remember the name but it might have been USB Video Device or USB Microsoft Camera"
7. Select the "USB .... " one
8. Click Next to install the webcam driver.
9. Allow the installation of the USB Video Device, and then click Close.
10. After the device has been updated to USB Video Device in Device Manager, restart your computer and open your software.

* I'm doing this from memory so it maybe called something slightly different.

The camera then worked in Win10 Camera app and also Skype. Interestingly I noticed how blurry the picture was which I then tracked down to the original film still being attached over the camera itself. Unfortunately removing this made it even more blurry! A quick clean with some isopropyl alcohol fixed this and its now nice and sharp.

Hope that helps someone.

Cheers
Rob

[BillMorrow]

hello welsh guy and welcome to the forum..
thanks for additional help for those headscratchers working through this issue..

[welshblob]

No problem Bill, wanted to contribute back given this is the no.1 google hit for installing win10 on the x201 and helped me when doing the upgrade. Surprising how good the x201 still is with Win10 and and SSD installed.

Also I'm sure other forum members know, but I didn't, where the legacy lenovo drivers are for discontinued models; https://download.lenovo.com/eol/index.h ... redirsrc=4

I didn't need it with my issue above but it at least confirmed Win10 was running the same driver version for the camera as was supplied for Win7.

Also I'm not sure if its me but IBM used to have a very good Model-Type lookup for their machines and drivers which seems to have gone by the wayside at Lenovo, shame.

[RealBlackStuff]

Drivers: Drivers link at top of this page
Model-lookup: MTM link at top of this page

[welshblob]

Drivers: Drivers link at top of this page
Model-lookup: MTM link at top of this page

Thanks for the pointer

[achat_2]

I am using Windows 10 on an X201 since few weeks.
I am not able to have the VGA output to work via the Ultrabase, both the laptop's and the docking's VGA do not work when connected to the ultrabase.

Nevertheless the VGA works perfectly if the laptop is undocked.

Same for an X201s with Win 7.
Is there any driver I should install for both OSs?

thanks in advance,
AC