thinkpad x61 freezing too often with vista business

[monkey_boy]

my recently bought a thinkpad x61 with windows vista business as the O.S., i have been experiencing a lot of crash on the laptop (ie. the computer freezes, mouse not moving, etc..) at least once a day, the only solution to unfreeze this problem is by doing a hard boot <<holding the power button and restarting it>> my question : is this a typical problem with windows vista or with just the business edition because i've noticed that my friend's laptop with home preminum does not crash/freeze at all? or could this have been due to my configuration of the laptop being with only 1 GB of ram instead of the 2 GB required, although my system does have the turbo memory option?

[Tim_Lenovo]

Hello and welcome!

Be sure to check the Turbo Memory sticky at the top of this forum and always update to the latest drivers using System Update. Vista should be automatically updating itself, but just in case manually run Windows Update as well.

[monkey_boy]

my computer is currently up to date with all the hardware (turbo memory, thinkvantage, etc..) drivers installed as well as the updates for vista. i contacted the IT and he instructed me to run a HDD diganostic through the bios to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the hard drive, the diagnostic showed that the hard drive is working properly. just as a question, is it highly recommended to get 2GB of RAM for vista to work properly if not performed at its peak?

[RealBlackStuff]

You can never have too much RAM.

1GB is acceptable for Vista, but only just.

2GB would be much better.

If all else fails, downgrade to XP Pro. Should be freely available (or came already with your laptop).

Make a set of Rescue/Restore Vista disks first, using R&R, before you downgrade.

[Tim_Lenovo]

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RealBlackStuff wrote:
If all else fails, downgrade to XP Pro. Should be freely available (or came already with your laptop).

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Actually, in the U.S. you do have to purchase the recovery discs which run somewhere around $45 I believe. Link

[monkey_boy]

so freezing up is a common problem with vista business, thats why lenovo if offering a downgrade to window xp? i've read some article regarding some components such as the WiFi not working properly when downgraded to XP?

[andyP Community SuperMod]

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monkey_boy wrote:

so freezing up is a common problem with vista business, thats why lenovo if offering a downgrade to window xp? i've read some article regarding some components such as the WiFi not working properly when downgraded to XP?

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I believe that the biggest reason for downgrading is due to the amount of extra resouces Vista uses without offering any really reciprocating benefits.

re- wifi etc. not working after a downgrade, that is absolute rubbish. Whoever wrote that article probably doesn't .............. and doesn't own an X61.

[monkey_boy]

the downgrade to windows xp does cost $45 dollars in the US... however i did not approach this solution yet...after the installation of the new driver for the intel turbo memory as well as the intel graphics card, the problem with freezing-up is becoming less of a hassle to deal with.. to my understanding i believe that the freezing might be due to the fact that with 1GB RAM and running a few applications at the same time on the power hunger Vista, it might contribute to the CPU processing at 100% at all time which really would lead to the hard drive constantly running and often being locked...often time if the CPU is processing under 60% it will function fine...i'm not a professional IT so i'm not assuming that this is correct, however it is my own observation from what i've noticed on my laptop...thanks to all who replied to my thread...

[andyP Community SuperMod]

I would strongly suggest a RAM upgrade. 1GB is IMHO absolute minimum for Vista.

[jiyise33]

Thanks for the post.

I just bought x61 with 4g intel turbo memory, 2g ram, updated everything i could for vista business, still freezing every hour. thanks for the suggestion about updating the driver for turbo memory. i will try today.

j