Lenovo T400 / T500 :: SSD Slow Boot Windows 7 On T520
Jun 3, 2011
I have replaced my old sata disk with a ssd disk . Intel 520 240 gb. on my T520. I have a Windows 7 and a minor Linux partition. Dual boot. I have moved the old image with Arconis True HD.
However, there is a HUGE difference in boot times between Windows and Linux.
Windows is 1 min and 35 sec with windows logo until login screen appears. Then additional 20 seconds.
Linux is 7-10 seconds from Lenovo sign in bios until I'm ready to go. Off course I did not expect Windows to boot as fast as Linux, but things has worsened after the change.
When Windows is up and running the SSD disk is preforming in the same speedy way as under Linux. It is just the boot situation which is terrible. AHCI is enabled .
My SD card reader became non-functional after a recent upgrade of my T520 to Windows 8.1. Hardware troubleshooting said the Base System Device driver was not installed. I installed the Lenovo System Update software and searched for updates, but the driver was not updated. There is still a yellow warning symbol beside the Base System Device in the device manager. Discovered on the Lenovo driver download website that the card reader in my model is the Ricoh Media Card Reader but there is no driver compatible with Windows 8.1. Would the Windows 8 driver work or is there another solution to get my reader running again?
I've been running on a T520 4239-CTO for a little over a year now without issue. I've been getting lots of random bsod and services crashing in the last few days; even Windows 7 cannot validate itself anymore.
I ran all the hardware checks in the provided Lenovo utilities and it all seems to pass. I didn't trust this so I manually checked the smart values on the hard disk and noticed around 2400+ reallocated sectors so I decided to replace the hard disk.
It should be noted that there are no viruses/malware on this machine. After receiving the new hard disk I did a factory restore using the dvd backups I made when I received the machine. Upon booting the new factory install on the new disk I'm still getting the same random bsod and issues with Windows 7 not being able to validate.
I notice that everytime I boot now on the newly restored os that the "Microsoft Software Protection Platform" service has issues and cannot start. I started doing some updates using the Thinkvantage tools and they're crashing too.
This machine is currently on pass 4 of memtest without any errors so far.
I've replaced the hard drive and from the looks of things so far the ram seems fine. Where do I go from here?
My ThinkPad T520, connected to the Internet through the Intel 6300 WiFi card. The indicators fro the RJ45 Ethernet port are always steadily illuminated. I suspect they shouldn't be.
T520 4239-CTO T61/p 6459-CTO (Gone but not forgotten) A31/p XP Pro 1 gig memory A30/p XP Pro 1 gig memory TP600 Win 2K 288 mb memory 701C Win 98 Don't ask
I got a T520 with 8G memory, beer accidently spilled on it, it wouldn't start again. So I got a new T430u with 4G memory. I was wondering if I could take the 8 G memory from t520, to be installed on t430u, is it gonna compatible on t430u?
My T520 (4242) never crashed until I upgraded the RAM.
Initial config : Single stick of 4GB RAM. - FRU # 55Y3717 - Samsung part # M471B5273CH0-CH9
Tried to upgrade with 2GB from following manufacturers: - Corsair CMSO2GX3M1A1333C9 - A-data (don't remember the part #, but matching specs)
Result : Approximately once a day, I get BSOD. The system also crashes often while going in and out of sleep.
The A-data RAM works fine on a different laptop (T500), but I experience crashes when I put it in T520. This makes me wonder if my slot has an issue e.g. dust collected over time that causes a random read error. Or maybe I need to find the exact same part from Samsung to upgrade the RAM.
What else can I try? If it crashes randomly once a day, and works fine otherwise, can I conclude anything about RAM compatibility? memtest86 doesn't show any error.
Sound has busted on T520 for a few weeks now. I can hear sound when I plug in my earphones, but windows recognizes this as a speaker, conexant 20672. I checked the "find and fix audio playback problems" in windows 7 to no avail. I believe I may have to have my speakers repaired. I am still under base warranty until sometime next year.
I've got a ThinkPad T520 and I just bought a Netgear N600 Dual-band Cable Modem Router but my laptop isn't seeing the 5GHz wireless network? Is it even capable of doing so?
as i have learned there is no mechanical reason not to use classic keyboard-layout of the 7row model in a t530. but what are the effects of the bios no being able to support the 7r keyboard? which buttons will not work properly?
i want to use the DVD tray to add a 2nd hard drive using one of the many 2nd HD Hard Drive Caddy Trays i see online, but i want to use a solid state drive in it. Can this be done? From what i ascertain via product literature, it appears that any caddy tray i see online says "accepts 2.5' 12.7MM SATA HDD only" or some such." While there are many SSD's that are 2.5 inch, I've only seen ones that are either 7mm or "7mm (with 9.5mm adapter)." Is there a product (either a T520-compatible 9.5mm caddy tray or a 12.77mm SSD) that can make this work?
I this will happen almost everytime if the machine has been in use for some time. Inserting an SD card (4GB Canon format) a BSOD is virtually guaranteed. After a new boot up it works fine but catastrophic if not since all info is lost and nothing is closed.
I looked at the dump file and the FASTFAT.SYS is the cause of the crash. This is a very old driver used in Windows 7 and there are numerous issues with it in many forums dating back even to XP. There are no crashes introduced by any other device or USB key/drive connected. Only the SD card.
I thought it may have be due to the USB controller being turned off for power conservation but even after removing the ability by toggling not to turn off to save power to the USB devices it still crashed the very next time I used it which was days later. The system was plugged in as well as it usually is.
I can do the same thing on my old notebook with its internal multicast reader running Window 7 32 bit and it does not have a problem. The Thinkpad does with Win 7 64bit. I am always conscious of a BSOD occurring if I dare plug in my camera card. This renders the port useless since I cannot afford regular crashes and a card reader externally may have to be used.
T520 Model 4239 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz Intel Sandy Bridge & Nvidia NVS 4200M graphics Intel N 6300 Wi-Fi adapter Windows 7 Home Prem - 64bit w/8GB DDR3
I'm having trouble figuring out why on my T520, after upgrading from 8GB/1333Mhz to 16GB/1600Mhz Crucial RAM, Speccy/CPU-Z still says they're running at around ~660Mhz x 2 = ~1330?
My specs are as follows:
For my T520 (4239-CTO) I have...
Processor: Intel Core i7-2860QM 2.5Ghz RAM: Crucial 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR3-1600 GPU: Intel HD 3000 / NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 4200M OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 (w/latest updates)
After Googling for a while and from looking around here I've read nothing that says I shouldn't be able to run at 1600Mhz especially considering my processor supports that speed officially. Another post on this topic (not for the T520 specifically) mentioned that i7's contain the memory controller within itself. So... am I being thwarted by software settings in the BIOS or within my operating system?
I always liked to use the arrow keys on the bottom right of the keyboard for scrolling down pages as I read long documents. For some reason this is not working in Firefox on my T520. What setting I can change to enable this?
I've been trying to set-up a second hand T520 bought without the original hard drive. I've installed a Samsung mSATA SSD. I tried to use a set of recovery discs produced on my T510 which seemed to install but got BSOD whenever Win 7 tried to boot. I then downloaded the Win 7 ISO and booted from the DVD to try and initialise a repair which would not initialise. I next tried installing Win 7 Pro from the Win7 ISO disc which succeeded but ran into problems with unrecognised network components and drivers.
I've gone through this whole cycle again and got to the set-up screen for Win 7 then got distracted; my thinkpad then appeared to have gone into hibernation before I could finish set-up. Unfortunately, when I try to power up I get a few flashing lights for a few seconds; no POST bleep and the power dies. I've tried pulling and reinstalling the RAM and SSD but to no avail.
I have a T520 thinkpad with a docking station. I can get my headphones to work fine out of the laptop, but I would like to leave my headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the dock itself. The computer doesn't seem to recognize this jack is even there. My only sound options are the laptop speakers and the audio jack on the right side of the laptop.
How to enable the audio jack on the back of the dock?
I recently updated a whole bunch of things on my T520, and afterwards experienced a significant slowdown in everything -- startup time as well as just general work. There's often a long lag when opening programs or documents, right clicking, etc. Part of this seems to be due to higher CPU usage. While idling (i.e. just sitting on my desktop) and looking at Task Manager, CPU usage seems higher than normal on some things -- SynTPEnh.exe will consume 3-8% of CPU, one instance of svchost.exe will take up to 10%, etc. My total idling CPU usage is generally 15-25% now. (I have a quad-core i7.) Also, my battery life dropped precipitously; it used to be upwards of 5 hours on a full charge when just doing general web browsing and word processing, but now it's less than 2 hours.
Going around in Process Explorer and Task Manager, I've found a few things that seemed somewhat unusual: A lot of my processes have many page faults -- slightly under 15 minutes after starting up my computer, SynTPEnh.exe has about 250,000, SimpleTap.exe has over 50,000, the instance of svchost.exe with the Base Filtering Engine, Diagnostic Policy Services, and Windows Firewall has about 250,000, and Process Explorer itself has about 250,000. There were also some items that seemed like they might be taking up more memory (Private Bytes, in Process Explorer) than they should -- dwm.exe is using about 150 MB, and SimpleTap.exe is using about 115 MB. Also, my CPU percentage of Interrupts jumps around, most of the time staying between 2-5%.
How to reduce screen brightness below standard level in ThinkPad T520 ?
I think it is possible somehow, but I don't know how. I reduced brightness to zero using Fn key + End key, but it's not enough, I want to make screen darker, because my eyes get tired.
My Thinkpad T520, Windows 7 Pro takes over a minute to load any webpage after waking from sleep. The wifi icon shows that the network has connected to the internet after about 10 seconds from wake up. But if I attempt to use a browser to load any webpage, I must wait nearly a minute before the page will load. After that, pages load quickly.
This problem occurs in multiple browsers (FF, IE, Chrome). I am using Intel Centrino Advanced N-6205 wireless adapter. I've updated the wireless driver and BIOS. I've cleaned out my registry using CCleaner, and I've defragmented.
One bit of advice I've read that I've tried from these forums does NOT work: Uncheck from Device Manager under the Power Management tab for my wireless adapater the option to Allow the Computer to Turn Off This Device to Save Power. Unchecking that option (which would seem to keep the driver on) makes the problem worse because the wifi will not reconnect at all.
I have been sent 4 sets of Windows 7 Recovery Media from Lenovo over the past week and a half. These DVDs are unusable as they will not boot because they were created as non-bootable DVDs. When looking at the DVDs, they all just have 1 file on them - 0A44006.dvd. I was sent a set of the 32bit version and it has multiple files on it with Bootmgr and 6 directories and will boot just fine. The 64bit DVDs obviously were created and replicated without any of these files to make it a bootable DVD.
I have a T430 that is a couple of months old. I've had this problem from the very beginning. Decents specs (have a Dell laptop with same specs and it never has this issue).
Processor: Intel Core i5-3320M CPU @ 2.60 GHz RAM: 4GB
Basically, after every time the laptop is in sleep mode for more than 30 minutes, once I open up the laptop and log in, there is a period of 3-4 minutes where it is EXTREMELY slow. The computer lags ridiculously...
I have multiple T430's at my company that are slow to shutdown. It takes approximately 10 minutes to shutdown. It is also consistant, as soon as you login and shut down it will take that long. These are all installed using an image. Running windows 7 64 bit. Looked in event log, but no indication of abnormal errors. Using Kaspersky, Office 2010, Mozy. Checked some registery settings on microsofts website but that didn't fix the issue either. Not sure if this is a lenovo problem, or a windows problem or a conflict with other software.
We just bought 15 T430S model N1RLPGE/2356LPG. We install all our notebooks with a running DHCP/PXE environment. A formerly ordered notebook, same type, but an older BIOS (Version 2.02) accurately got itself an IP address during PXE boot and startet the installation. The new T430S (all delivered with BIOS version 2.55) don't even get an IP. I already tried updating the BIOS to the newest version 2.56, but this didn't solve the issue. I checked everything at least twice.
MAC address for IP reservation: correct. Swich (Cisco) portfast is enabled: correct. An older notebook with BIOS 2.02, installing smooth and sound.
When I start the BIOS version 2.56 notebook with a Knoppix DVD, I get the assigned IP address. But not during PXE setup. I also checked the available BIOS and PXE options of the notebook/ethernet card. No options that solved this issue.
I've cloned my HDD to a new SSD, but it will not boot. It goes into a Lenovo Think Bios splash screen / Black screen loop. I booted off a repair disk and performed a repair, but it is still doing the bios loop thing. This has happened with both an OCZ and a Kingston SSD.
I've tried to make an usb bootable stick(ntfs format) with windows 8 using cmd line commands and other applications but the usb isn't displayed as a boot device on the boot menu when i press F12.
I have tried to make a fresh Windows 7 installation, but after installing updates via Lenovo System Update the system gets corrupt.I replaced the hard drive on an T400 and loaded a image that I had on to the drive. After a installing a few updates and program I noticed strange system beaver. So I did a system file check and it came back that files was corrupt and cold not be repaired.So I did a new fresh Windows install. But it to became corrupt after just running Windows Update and Lenovo System Update.So I ran some hard drive and memory diagnostic without find and problems.
Then I did a new Windows 7 install again. After I installed all recommended updates from Windows Update I did a system file check, all OK. The I installed Lenovo System Update and all its recommended updates and did a new system file check, Windows system files corrupt. What Lenovo update is destroying the system?
I seem to have a failed brand new SSD. Before I RMA it.
-I've just used Samsung data migration to copy my C drive to a Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD as usual. -I went into device driver, and set the SSD to cache writes, so the SSD was working then. -I removed the 320GB SSD, installed the SSD and rebooted. -After the BIOS flash screen, the system halts with a funny symbol on the screen and a flashing cursor. -It responds to Ctrl Alt Del. but doesn't get as far as testing the DVD drive. -After replacing the SSD with the HDD and rebooting, all is fine again ... -The BIOS shows AHCI mode, and the SSD and contents (in a USB3 drive caddy) are visible and readable.
I can't use Samsung SSD magician because it won't see the SSD over USB (clever!), so can't work out how to upgrade firmware. This is an i5, 8GB, 320GB machine with 1600x900 screen, with XP Pro 64-bit.
What gives?? Others here have posted with working 840 Pros in a T420, so I think it's compatible. Could this be a SATA2/SATA3 thing or AHCI? I can't see any SATA2/3 control in the BIOS - does it just auto-negotiate?
I have a T400 2765-P3U model, and it won't boot up. When you turn it on, you see the Thinkvantage logo and it stays there. Trying to access the BIOS is non-responsive. I connected the hard drive to see if it was a hard drive issue, but it's not. The hard drive is response when connected via USB. I can't get past the Thinkvantage logo, no response when attempting to access the BIOS. It's still under warranty, so I'll probably send it in for repair but thought I'd give it a try fixing it before hand.
I have a T440s lenovo laptop whose motherboard was replaced a few months ago.
Today I wanted to make a clean installation (windows 8) using the recover USB key I created before the motherboard replacement (note that I already used it and it was working before changing the board).
It goes through the different steps, deleting files and creating the partitions, but when it is done the computer is not able to boot on the hardrive. I have the following messages :
Intel (R) Boot agent Ge v1.5.43 copyring (C) 1997-2013 , Intel corporation ............. initializing and establishing link...
PXE-E61 - Media test failure, check cable PXE-M0F - Exiting intel boot agent (so looks like it is trying to boot on the pci lan)
Then it comes back to the boot menu where I have a choice between : ATA HDD0 PCI LAN
If I select the first one nothing happens, and the the PCI LAN gives the above error message.
I tried to reset the bios parameters to default but it did not work. So I am wondering if it has something to do with some change in the motherboard ID, bios version....
I also launched the lenovo quick storage device test to check the hard drive and all was ok. I had to change a bios option to UEFI (the new motherboard was set by default to Legacy, messing up all the recovery process)
I got a nice T530 with built in 6205 Wireless LAN. As I tried to replace with N-6300 there comes the Hardware boot failure with error 1802 (incompatible PCI device). I just wonder as the N-6300 is in the compatibility list and the third antenna was also already built in. Is there any workaround to get this running?