Ideal x61 clean install of windows XP** not Vista?

Hey everyone! I just got my lenovo x61 and I decided to do a clean install of windows XP Pro on it. But I did it sort of sloppily and after trying to configure the laptop to get the fastest performance and boot time via msconfig and disabling unused ports in BIOS, etc..something happened and the tiem from pressing the power button to no activity on the desktop is abou a minute and a half. I've been reading up on things online and now I realized that there is a particular set of the "best" drivers to install and a particular order to install them.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could please post a step by step instructions for the install for windows XP in particular (I found a few for vista) and for the x61 in particular. It would be amazing if you could include actual links to drivers that are not found directly on the lenovo site and also a list of drivers/software that is important to have on the x61 because I'm not 100% sure which of the drivers/software is actually bloatware that only kill smy performance.

Also, I noticed today that my estimated battery life is only a bit over 2 hrs and I was under the impression that installing XP pro will give me better battery life than windows vista business. What do you guys think about that? Should I install XP or vista business the second time I do a clean format? I figure I'll put vista on there when a service pack comes out for it.


My config is 2ghz core 2 duo, 2gb crucial memory, 7200rpm 100gb HD. Thanks so much! This is a life saver hehe

 

Tell us what settings changes you made exactly, or else there's not much we can do to help.

Check the ThinkVantage Software Guide in the ThinkPad Sticky of my signature.

Instructions are the same as for Vista. Go check out the ThinkPad Clean Install guide of my sig, but for Option B ignore steps 1-2 and 8-12. It tell you where to find most of the drivers and software, which you can pick and choose from after getting information about the software from the ThinkVantage Software Guide.

 

thanks! I will follow all this and see if I can do an efficient install. So would you say I was wrong to install the drivers in no particular order, etc? Is a 1.5min boot time normal for this machine? What about the Vista business VS. XP Pro question--which would you suggest to install? And is there a benchmark program you would suggest that I can run after my clean install so I can post it here to make sure everything is OK with my machine? Thanks!!

 

PS-repped ya

 

I can't really tell about the order of drivers install, usually on my desktop I would go for chipset first, video card driver, and then the rest in no particular order. For the T61, I just use System Update 3. 1.5min boot time is kind of long and boot up can be made faster, but I use Vista though (even though Vista is supposed to be slower....). For benchmarks, try SysMark.

Check your reps. Quid pro pro. I always pay people back.

 

Wait, I thought that systme update automatically insalls everything that came with it? Are you sayign that instead of locating al lthe software/drivers I need, I can just downlad systme update and choose what I want installed through that all in one step?

 

PS--thanks for the payback

 

Yes it installs *almost* everything. Fingerprint reader and webcam drivers need to be downloaded separately though. This is all in the guide.

 

By the way, after I make my "ideal install" with XP including all the other programs i will need such as Office 2007, antivirus, etc, etc, I'd like to make a backup/recovery dvd that I can use essentially on any x61 with the same specs as mine. Basically so I can boot from it and load everything as it was when I made the dvd recovery disc to my laptop if I format the hard drive and decide to start fresh and clean a year or so from now (kind of like the recovery discs that would ship with laptops back in the day). I know this can be done but I am unsure of how to do it. I know that people would do it for custom built desktops often but I'm wondering if I can use one of lenovos recovery programs to do this easily instead of the more tedious (from what I understand) ways on desktops.

Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150273

 

The place to burn recovery disks is in Lenovo Rescue & Recovery of your ThinkVantage menu.

Many of your answers are answered in the Clean Install Guide in my sig. The guide covers all versions of Windows 32 or 64 bit.

 

Hey are the recovery programs from Lenovo as good as Ghost?

Also, is a 2.5 hr battery life normal for my thinkpad with xp? I was under the impression it would be 2 times that ?? I'm very dissapointed with it .

 

PS--that battery life is with wireless on and just surfing the web and such.

 

hey what about the ghost software? Is that worse to use for total hard drive backups? I read in some threads that that's what people use. What's the advantage of using lenovo's? Thanks!

 

Anyone? will that lenovo software do the same as ghost would? In that case, i won't buy ghost lol