On Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, ThinkPad T/W/X systems use fingerprint software. T440 and later models use Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro. This software was needed because those versions of Windows did not natively support fingerprint readers.
Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft has added full support for fingerprint readers into the operating system. You only need a driver. The fingerprint software is no longer needed, and should be uninstalled prior to upgrading to Windows 10. The purpose of this guide is to help you upgrade your Win7/Win8/Win8.1 system to Windows 10, so that you can successfully continue using your fingerprint reader.
Before upgrading to Windows 10, you need to make sure you know your Windows password. Whether you have fingerprints enrolled or not, the Windows 10 upgrade process will ask you for your Windows password, so you must know it.
Below are the steps I took to successfully upgrade a T450 system running Windows 7. My system has 2 fingers enrolled, and I also have preboot authentication where I use my fingerprint to enter the BIOS Power-On password.
Any questions or comments, please leave them here. I hope this was helpful. Thanks for reading!
NOTE ABOUT T430 AND EARLIER:
These systems (with Authentec fingerprint readers) use ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software which is still needed on Windows 10. It can be downloaded here: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds036923
Do you still have power-on by fingerprint support after the upgrade to Windows 10 and using Windows Hello? Since I enrolled in Windows Hello after the Windows 10 upgrade, I cannot power on my T520 with my fingerprint, although I can logon with it. (I was able to power on my machine after the upgrade before enrolling in Hello.)
Unfortunately, T430 and older (like your T520) will not support power-on by fingerprint in Windows 10 when using Windows Hello. The supplier of that fingerprint sensor, Authentec, no longer exists. So it was not possible to make the driver changes needed for Windows Hello support in Windows 10. You might be able to keep using ThinkVantage Fingerprint software in Windows 10 if it's more important to you to keep the power-on feature. I haven't personally tried it. If you can't get it working, let me know and I will see if I can write a similar guide just for these older systems with the Authentec fingerprint reader.
Thanks for you prompt response! I tried to disable Windows Hello (by removing the PIN and fingerprints), but it appears that once it senses that there are fingerprints registered with the TP Fingerprint Software (v 6.0), it re-enrolls them in Windows Hello and it doesn't allow me to power-on the machine with the fingerprint. Do you have any suggestions on how to have it work the same way it did in Windows 8.1 (one swipe for both power-on and sign-in)? A guide for the Authentec fingerprint reader and Windows 10 would be awesome.
Incidentally, I also tried a system restore -- that didn't work either, :-(.
What's the relationship between a driver of any particular version and the PID number? Looking around, I can find the 308 driver for both pid=0017 (mine) and at least one other, pid=0011.
Are the drivers interchangeable, or pid-specific?
For the laptop systems with Synaptics fingerprint, it is the same driver for all the different PIDs.
For Windows 10 on a system with Authentec Fingerprint (like ThinkPad T430), I got everything working (including power-on) by installing ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software version 6.0: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds036923
Then, only use ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software to enroll fingerprints. Do not use Windows Hello to enroll fingerprints. Remove any existing fingerprints that might be enrolled in Windows Hello.
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For ThinkPads T430 and older, ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software 6.0 is all you need. It includes the driver that works on Win10. No need for anything else.
It worked for me on my Thinkpad x240, thank you.
I just installed Windows 10 (fresh install) and didn't need to install Lenovo Fingerprint Manager. It was enough with the driver 4.5.308.0 that Windows was able to find through Device manager