How to speed up your Lenovo X41T

[k0lo]

quote:I have some questions about the beggining of this produre:

1) My c:\ root drive does not have the folders "DOCS" and "VALUEADD". Can I use these folders off of the XP Disk?

2) On the WinXP disk, there are two folders $OEM$ and DOCSNETFX that you don't mention. I assume I don't need the OEM folder, b/c it is full of dell-related stuff, but what about the DOCSNETFX folder? Do I need it?

3) The WINXP disk had the files WIN51IC (WIN51IC.SP2) instead of WIN51IP -- same difference, right?

4) The file wpa.dbl was not on the WinXP disk. Do I need to find this somewhere else?

1. The content of these folders is optional (documentation files and a few Microsoft utilities. You don't need them to install Windows.
2. That folder sounds like it contains documentation also. You can skip it if you'd like, or copy it also (it won't hurt anything).
3. Not sure here. The three files are text and contain only the word "Windows".
4. I'm not sure what this file does either. It's binary, 2.2 kB in size. Perhaps you can try without it. I've read other articles about doing clean installs and this file isn't mentioned in them.

[Jimmer]

Mark,

First of all, many thanks for the detailed posting. All I can say is WOW! I just completed the fresh install and I am amazed at the improvement in performance. With all my software installed and settings back in place I am booting in 75 seconds. Previously before scrubbing the drive I was easily in the 5+ minute range. A huge problem if I had to reboot during a lecture if my machine crashed.

However, your point about the overall performance gains are very accurate. The standard operations just feel much better. No more stuttering cursor and no more lag on the explorer drop down lists. The machine just feels much faster.

I never purchased the recovery CD's and I am much happier now with a fresh install set created with your instructions. I chose to kill the service partition as I would much prefer to reinstall the OS from scratch then go back to the bloated state.

Thanks again. Clearly you spent considerable time researching how to do this and a great deal of time writing the instructions. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! :-)

[k0lo]

Jimmer:

Thanks for your words of encouragment. I'm glad that you're as happy with the results as I am. Frankly, the machine seems almost as fast as my desktop PC now and is a pleasure to work on.

However, speed aside, the major factor that drove me to do this was reliability. I use my tablet with a wireless link to a video projector to teach six University classes per week. Boy there's nothing more maddening than having your machine lock up on you when you're standing up in front of a group of people doing a presentation, then having to wait several minutes while you reboot it. This used to happen to me on a weekly basis but no more! I've gone 3 weeks now without a single anomoly. So not only is the machine faster now, it's also much more reliable. (100% perfect so far)!

Did you install any of the IBM apps that I chose not to? I think that it would be interesting to quantify the performance hit caused by each of them. At our school, most of my co-workers with X41T tablets end up uninstalling IBM Access Connections first because of its drain on performance and its propensity to keep dropping wireless connections. They're all much happier with the native Windows Wireless.

[Jimmer]

Mark,

I couldn't agree more. I started lecturing using an Acer C110 and then moved to a Toshiba M200....had been a long time user of IBM thinkpads but since they didn't have a tablet, went with other vendors. I had my order in for the X41 months before delivery and have been relatively pleased overall (although I have been impacted by the streaking issue....my local sales rep is in touch almost daily to update on the progress of any fix). I buy IBM's for the reliability....and when it comes to reliability, there is a clear connection between the factors that usually impact speed usually cuasing reliability issues. This is why I was so interested in trying out your fix. Too early to tell for me yet, but I am sure looking forward to finding out! I had to reboot on average once a week (one out of five lectures a week) during a lecture which was incredibly frustrating.

I only installed one app from the list you discussed in step 17 of Part III of your posts. I use the X41 dock with an optical drive and as such installed the eject utility which I find quite useful. I did not install the Active Protection System or the Thinkpad Configuration app you listed in part 16. I don't mind working in Bios to play with Bios settings and I am not convinced that the active protection system actually provides any benefit in the short term. I may install the Power Manager as I liked the detailed power settings that could be managed. As for active connectrions, not a chance. I like simple and all the networks I connect to on a regular basis are DHCP.

Thanks again for your guidance. I look forward to any further suggestions you provide.

[Jimmer]

Mark,

One app I can't seem to locate is the one connected to the toolbox button in tablet mode (between escape and the change screen orientation button). Right now it is bringing up the MS tablet and pen settings window. I actually like the IBM version that originally came with the unit with quick access to disable radios, volume, brightness, etc... I am guessing this is just an App file that is installed and then linked to the button in the settings. Any chance you know where to get that app?

[k0lo]

Jimmer:

I had this problem too but forgot to write up the solution. The program needed is the IBM ThinkPad Tablet Shortcut Menu, IBMTBCTL.exe. You've probably already installed it, but if not, go back to the Software Installer and make sure that you have. For some reason the software installer doesn't set up the link to the program location properly. Here's how to fix it:

1. Bring up the "Change Tablet and Pen Settings" window and click on the "Tablet Buttons" tab.
2. In the "Button settings for:" drop-down list choose "All orientations".
3. In the list of Tablet Buttons and Actions click on the "Tablet Shortcut Menu" item and then click the "Change..." button.
4. In the "Action" drop-down list choose "Launch an application".
5. In the "Program Location" box type the path (or browse to the program), which is located at:

C:\Program Files\ThinkPad\Tablet Shortcut\IBMTBCTL.exe

[Jimmer]

Thanks. It was installed and is now linked.

Any chance youhave installed the Client Security Software that IBM distributes for using the fingerprint reader to generate a password list? I use the fingerprint reader for the logon and BIOS / hard drive but would really like tobe able to use it for web passwords as well. Problem is that the install requirements indiacte you need 800MB of hard drive which scares the living daylights out of me in terms of what type of overhead that app might come with......just not sure if it is worth it.

Jim

[k0lo]

Jim:

Yes, I have it installed. But since I only use it for power-on password authentication, I removed the registry key "cssauth" that causes it to run in the background in Windows. Fingerprint authentication for power-on is done in the BIOS, so all I need the Windows app for is to register/update fingerprints and change settings.

If you're going to use the app to store web passwords then you'll need to leave cssauth running, and it will affect performance. With the IBM image it added 40 sec to the boot time, but others have reported that they couldn't duplicate my result.

Can you try it and then measure the performance impact and post your results?

[bit_bucket]

K0lo,

Thanks for this write up. I too was fed up with the speed of this thing, I created the disk last night and installed, and even with a bunch of IBM progies loaded like the Presentation Director, this thing absolutely flies!

I had 2 issues in doing this, 1 resolved by me and the other I have yet to resolve.

1) I used an older non SP2 XP cd for the initial files, so I had to go through and slipstream SP 2 update and then create the disk. I found this out because the first disk I tried was asking for the Windows SP 2 Disk. Worked like a charm after that.

2) One device i cannot seem to find the drivers for is Intel LPC. Any ideas as to where the drivers are for that? Is that listed as an unknown device on yours?

Again thanks for such a great write-up.

PS., If you don't have Nero, you can download a trial of NERO 7 from their site, and it is fully functional. Some of the menu options are different when burning the OS CD, but you can find your way around just fine.

[k0lo]

quote:2) One device i cannot seem to find the drivers for is Intel LPC. Any ideas as to where the drivers are for that? Is that listed as an unknown device on yours?

Bit:

No, I don't have any unknown devices. Here's a picture of Device Manager:
Image Insert:

42.6Â*KB

Maybe try reinstalling the Intel INF definitions (step 13 in the writeup)?

**Edit** Second thought -- did you install the driver for the IBM security chip (Atmel TPM)? If you didn't, that's probably why you get the unknown device.