Windows 7 install on z61t - questions.

[zhenya]

I'm about to install Windows 7 x64 on a z61t from a retail upgrade disk. I'd like to also install the Thinkvantage tools like access connections, power management, etc. When I tried this last with Vista, I had some trouble getting everything to work. I was finally able to secure an official restore cd from lenovo that worked quite nicely, but I'm sure such a thing won't be available for an older machine like this for 7. Any tips on how I go about doing this? TIA!

[Marin85]

You can download and install most (if not all) of those Lenovo tools directly from the Windows 7 section of the Lenovo website. They should work on your Z61t without any problems despite it being an older model. Those I use are working on my Z61p!

[zhenya]

Hi Marin,

I know that I can download all of the various programs and drivers, my question is more if there is any documentation listing what order to install things. When I installed Vista from a retail DVD, most things took, but I recall that I had a number of small issues - I think that the OSD never worked properly, and that the Power Management software never worked fully. These are the kind of things I'd like to avoid.

[Harryc]

http://download.lenovo.com/lenovo/conte ... de_en.html
http://download.lenovo.com/lenovo/conte ... de_en.html
http://download.lenovo.com/lenovo/conte ... re_en.html

[Marin85]

Hi Marin,

I know that I can download all of the various programs and drivers, my question is more if there is any documentation listing what order to install things. When I installed Vista from a retail DVD, most things took, but I recall that I had a number of small issues - I think that the OSD never worked properly, and that the Power Management software never worked fully. These are the kind of things I'd like to avoid.

Ah, ok, I see now what you mean. Here is the installation sequence that worked for me:

1. Intel chipset driver from Lenovo Vista drivers section (not sure if it is really needed with Windows 7, I didn´t find any mentioning of it in Lenovo Windows 7 drivers section);

2. Intel Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM ) driver again from the Vista section (again not sure if it is needed under Windows 7)

3. Power Management driver

4. Lenovo System Interface Driver

5. Active Disk Protection

6. UltraNav driver

7.Hotkey driver

(8. UltraNav utility: optional, I don´t need it)

9. Power Manager

(10. Access Connections)

11. Fingerprint

(etc.)

Everything is working properly on my machine right now, no stability issues whatsoever either.

Hope this helps,

Marin

[zhenya]

Ok, great tips Marin. OSD and Power manager seem to be working. I'm now left with my integrated camera looking for a driver, and one unknown device. The camera driver is supposed to be included in the OS. Any ideas? Again this is 7 x64.

[Marin85]

For the unknown device you most likely need to install Texas Instruments (TI) Integrated Flash Media Driver for Vista x64. As of now, there is only the Vista version, but it seems to be working just fine in Windows 7 as well. This should solve the missing driver problem. As for the camera, I´m truly clueless. It is indeed supposed to be included with the OS. Apparently, this has changed since Windows 7.

[zhenya]

The card reader also wasn't detected, but I had already installed that Vista driver. I still have an unknown device, however. Not sure what to make of the camera. That's going to be a big bummer if it's not working.

[zhenya]

For some reason now the unknown device has disappeared. Through Google I was able to find this camera driver http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-67270 which appears to be working. On to the next step!

[zhenya]

Looks like I spoke a bit too soon. My power manager is basically working, but while I can use the 'Basic' mode slider to change power profiles, if I switch to advanced mode, there are no profiles listed on the left and while it will let me go through the process of creating a custom profile, it won't actually save it.

Thoughts?

[Marin85]

This looks familiar 'bug' from the earlier Vista versions. Upon the first launch, no profiles are displayed. You can try following: open the Power Manager -> Advanced view -> Options (the 4. tab) -> Check 'show me the choose power plan menu'. Now, what happens when you press Fn + F3? Did you try to reboot in between?

[zhenya]

This option was already checked. When I press FN+F3 I get 'You are not authorized to display the panel for selecting a power plan.'

[Marin85]

Did you install the program under admin privileges? Did you try then running Power Manager as admin? Did you install it for all users or just yourself? (sorry for the brief style )

[zhenya]

It occurred to me that I may not have installed it as Admin, so I have gone back and done that earlier today, but with no luck. I can't remember if I installed it for all users or just me, but probably whatever the default was.

[Marin85]

And you are sure you are running Power Manager as admin or under admin account? Also, try with UAC temporarily disabled (it could be some bug related to that).

[zhenya]

My account is an admin account. I guess I'm not sure that power manager is running as admin, but i've edited the properties of the .exe and I'll see if that makes a difference. UAC is already turned off.

[MiamiC70]

Vista drivers for camera and SD card reader worked, Thanks for the tip.
I am not sure how I feel about using Vista driver on Windows 7 64bit

[Marin85]

I am not sure how I feel about using Vista driver on Windows 7 64bit

It shouldn´t be a problem either. Try and tell us

[zhenya]

Just recently realized that the Vista drivers for the SD card slot don't support SDHC. From this thread I was able to download and install this driver and SDHC is now working.

[tedrogers]

Here is the installation sequence that worked for me:

1. Intel chipset driver from Lenovo Vista drivers section (not sure if it is really needed with Windows 7, I didn´t find any mentioning of it in Lenovo Windows 7 drivers section);

2. Intel Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM ) driver again from the Vista section (again not sure if it is needed under Windows 7)

3. Power Management driver

4. Lenovo System Interface Driver

5. Active Disk Protection

6. UltraNav driver

7.Hotkey driver

(8. UltraNav utility: optional, I don´t need it)

9. Power Manager

(10. Access Connections)

11. Fingerprint

Hi,

My T500 had Vista Business on it, which I removed in favour of XP SP2.

Since then I've upgraded to Win 7, and two things I can't get to function are the fingerprint reader and the brightness OSD.

I solved the fingerprint reader issue by using the Win 7 native capability, which frankly looks better and works faster, but the brightness OSD remains unoperational. The buttons do work and brightness changes, just no OSD. Volume etc is all fine.

Will installing the software in this order mentioned in your post really work? And why should be order be so crucial?

Thanks.

[Marin85]

It is not necessary to reinstall everything in order to make OSD work. If I were you, I would do following:
1. Uninstall the OSD/hotkey driver, Power Management Driver and System Interface Driver (and reboot in between if prompted);
2. Install Power Management Driver;
3. Install System Interface Driver;
4. Install OSD/hotkey driver.

The reason why one should keep certain installation order is that there are dependencies like for instance in the case of OSD/hotkey. My experience has been that with most versions of these utilities not keeping such an order leads to issues like yours, so I always try to keep it just to stay on the safe side.

[tedrogers]

It is not necessary to reinstall everything in order to make OSD work. If I were you, I would do following:
1. Uninstall the OSD/hotkey driver, Power Management Driver and System Interface Driver (and reboot in between if prompted);
2. Install Power Management Driver;
3. Install System Interface Driver;
4. Install OSD/hotkey driver.

The reason why one should keep certain installation order is that there are dependencies like for instance in the case of OSD/hotkey. My experience has been that with most versions of these utilities not keeping such an order leads to issues like yours, so I always try to keep it just to stay on the safe side.

Thanks for your assistance.

Unfortunately that did not work, despite following the instructions to the letter. I'm still in the same situation.

I know what you mean about dependencies, this will be why System Update selects related packages when you choose one.

Do you have any other suggestions?

[zhenya]

Unfortunately my experience has not been good with getting things like this working again after the fact. I've either learned to live with it, or started from scratch.

[tedrogers]

Unfortunately my experience has not been good with getting things like this working again after the fact. I've either learned to live with it, or started from scratch.

How frustrating! Thanks for your input.

This is going to annoy me I can tell.

[Marin85]

Are you using System Update?

[zhenya]

On the subject of System Update - I installed it when I first installed Windows 7, but it never shows me any updates. The only thing it shows is the Active Protection System driver, which I don't install as I use a SSD. Nothing else in Critical, Recommended, Optional, or Extras.

Thoughts?

[Harryc]

Did you install System Update 4.0 ?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... PDATE.html

[zhenya]

Yes, definitely. Just reinstalled it again to make sure, but I believe I've done that before too.