My X220t Clean Install Method [ Edited ]

[Audois]

I wrote an article describing how I made a clean install of Windows 7 on my X220t, in PDF format.

English, Français

For those how have already downloaded this article, here is the step by step tutorial I added afterwards:

English, Français

Audois

"My X220t Clean Install Method" last edited: 29 January 2012

[Juliancho]

Thank you very much Audois. What an excellent work.

[Audois]

Thanks Juliancho!

Is downloading Windows 7 illegal? It seems finally that yes:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/f/download-windows-7.htm

If someone wishes to proceed to a clean install, should he become a pirate?

If someone from Lenovo read this thread, could he explain why they don't include a Windows installation DVD into the package? Is there any way to get this DVD from Lenovo?

Thanks!

EDIT: could Lenovo provide a download link to the WIndows iso file? This would be the best solution, but I don't know if it is legal...

[kvirtanen]

Microsoft "doesn't support third party downloads or guarantee their integrity". This means everybody takes their sole responsibility of their actions. That said, the following resource claims to have links to the official downloadable ISO files straight from Amazon and Rigital River (Microsoft affiliate):

http://www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2009/11/download-retail-windows-7-iso-from-official-website/

These ISOs aren't 'cracked' nor do they provide activation numbers. You'll need to dig your activation number from underneath the battery.

[Audois]

Thanks a lot, kvirtanen!

What about French-speaking people?

I'm going to edit my pdf in order to add this link.

[Mornsgrans]

The french (and other languages) Windows 7 you'll find linked here.

The links to the ISOs lead to digitalrivercontent, an official MS-partner.

[Audois]

The links are at the bottom of the page, thanks Mornsgrans!

If someone wants to translate my article in his own language, I can give him a link to the english .doc file.

[Audois]

I added a new section:

Unneeded drivers

There are two drivers that you can deactivate from the Devices Manager, by right-clicking them and selecting Deactivate. Don’t uninstall them!

• Sound, video and game controllers > Intel(R) sound for screens. But beware, in the case only you have installed Conexant  Audio Software!
• Mice and other pointing devices > HID mouse. Only if don’t use an external mouse.

[Audois]

There is one thing I must clarify, concerning the two sections "What you need to install" and "What you don’t need to install". At the end of the first section I added "Optional: make a backup of your present installation...". This sentence was misplaced; I moved it at the end of the second section.

I say in this sentence that I will explain at the end of the article why it could be very useful to have a backup of the complete Windows + Lenovo drivers installation, i.e. once you have completed your install and before installing any other program.

Suppose you are a gamer. You want to exploit plainly the power of your X220t in order to get the highest possible fps. To achieve this result, you must install the minimum of drivers and programs non-dedicated to games. In other words, your games must be given all the resources of the processor.

Let’s assume you use Acronis True Image Home (ATIH) for your backups.

• When you’re done with the Windows and Lenovo drivers/programs installation, install ATIH and create an image named X220t_CleanInstall.
• Install your games and create a new image named X220t_Games.
• Click the X220t_CleanInstall image Restore button, and then install all your programs other than games. Finally, create an image named X220t_Office.

When you feel like playing one of your favorite games, just launch ATIH and restore the X220t_Games image, so that you can benefit from the maximum of power. When you have to return to work, simply restore the X220t_Office image.

From the X220t_CleanInstall image you can create as many configurations as you want.

It is preferable to partition your hard disk in order to separate the system from the data. In this way, when you change the configuration (system) your data remain available and unchanged.

Important: don’t backup your system/data on the internal HDD. Buy an external one. 320 GB are quite enough, because the image created by ATIH is compressed and equal to about 50% of the uncompressed data size.

Your X220t is unfortunately not equipped with a USB3 port, much faster than USB2. However, you can buy a USB3 compatible external HDD and connect it to a USB3 ExpressCard.

[Mornsgrans]

Well done.

is there a significant difference in power consumption while running on battery before and after disabling the devices (audio etc.) in the device manager?