X121e - Fresh Windows 7 Installation Tips

[MrSanityCheck]

I lost over a day to installing a fresh copy of Windows 7 on the X121e. The main issue was a wireless driver failure. Therefore, I want to help you all avoid the problems I faced. 

There is one simple, fundamental tip to making this work:
** Set the "UEFI/Legacy Boot" & "Priority" to "Both" and "Legacy First" on the "Startup" Tab of the the BIOS. (See Screenshot in 1st Link below)

After doing this everything installed without issue, particularly the Wireless. My BIOS was set to "UEFI First" by default and it was this that was preventing me from getting it to work. Indeed, after the installs, I was able to set it back to this setting and everything continued to work!

I just wish Lenovo had updated their documents to include the X121e at the same time as releasing the product as I have spent far too much time googling to find a solution.

Reference Links:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides-and-manuals/detail.page?DocID=UM006576
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/577665-lenovo-publishes-legacy-bios-clean-install-documen...
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X120e-ABGN-Driver-issue-in-Windows-7-Pro-x64/t...

Hope this saves time and frustration for you all! 

[rwer]

I've lost a half of the day for it and discovered, that drivers software provided in http://support.lenovo.com was not fully listed. The correct drivers for me was Broadcom BCM43XX Wireless Lan Driver 5.100.196.81 for Windows 7/Vista/Xp. I've used this link for download: http://www.downloadatoz.com/howto/download-broadcom-bcm43xx-wireless-lan-driver-5-100-196-81-for-win...

[dmckenzies Support Specialist]

Hi MrSanityCheck,

Thanks for sharing this process AND the documentation you provided.

This will help a lot of people.

Thank you for being a part of the community.