What is the purpose of the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox application?

Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is a support application that is intended to help you get more out of your Think system. At its core are diagnostics and system information that have been used on Think systems for more than a dozen years. The new application combines these traditional tools with new messaging capabilities that allow Lenovo to send you support and other messages that are meant to prevent issues, resolve problems and improve your Think PC experience.

How does Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox work?

Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox periodically checks system health during idle time; the default is once a month, but can be set by the user under the Settings link in the upper right hand corner of the application. The application uses a Toolbar icon to notify you if a condition occurs for which your attention is required or recommended.

Additionally, if permitted by the user, Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox synchs once a day to Lenovo for support and other messages. Included are contextual messages of products and services that are intended to improve your experience. No offer messages present without your permission and no personal information is gathered.

Does Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox run in the background?

No. Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox only launches when you press the Blue Button on ThinkPads running Windows 7 systems, click on the Toolbar icon, or select the application from the start menu. Additionally, the application runs a periodic, scheduled health check to make sure that the PC is running properly, and synchs daily with Lenovo for support and other messages relevant to your PC.

Why does Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox place an icon on my Windows task bar?

The Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox icon is intended to alert you to conditions for which your attention is required or recommended. It also is used by Lenovo to alert you of support and other messages if you have permitted the synch with Lenovo.

Can I run the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox without permitting the daily synch with Lenovo?

Yes, all System Health, System Security and Diagnostics items will work without granting permission to synch with Lenovo – except, of course, items that require a connection.

How do I get rid of a red exclamation point or other alert, and turn the application green?

Each status tab beneath the System Health, System Security and Lenovo Support pillars of Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox includes an Ignore link that will ignore an issue and turn the system green. You can re-activate the alerts whenever you want.

Is Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox adware?

No. Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is first and foremost a support application. The diagnostics, system information and other tools have been a part of the Think support experience since 1997. New tools such as the Performance and Configuration History or the Drive Space Manager are examples of how the support elements of the application continue to improve. Other new features include support messaging and alerting, which is Lenovo’s way of communicating information to users that solves a specific issue or improve the overall Think experience. All messages – support or otherwise – can be easily dismissed by clicking on the Dismiss link.

Does Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox collect any personal information about me?

During normal use, LTT does not collect any personal information. You may choose to give us your personal information for example your name, address, email id, phone number to complete a warranty replacement or purchase a new hardware. The data collected will be limited to the information needed to complete the transaction or services offered.

Does Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox launch on startup?

No. Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is not a startup item. You can verify this by doing the following:

If you are running XP:

• Click on Start
• Click on Run
• Type “msconfig” without the quotes
• Click on the Startup tab
• You can verify that Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is not a start-up item.

If you are running Vista or Windows 7:

• Click on Windows icon in lower left hand corner
• Click on All Programs
• Click on Accessories
• Click on Run

• Type “msconfig” without the quotes
• Press Return
• Click on the Startup tab
• You can verify that Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is not a start-up item.

How do I get rid of the Toolbar icon on the Windows Task Bar?

If you are running XP, Vista or Windows:

• Right click on the Task Bar
• Select Toolbars
• Deselect Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox.
• The Toolbar icon disappears

How do I delete the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox application?

If you are running XP:

• Left click on Start
• Select Control Panel
• Select Add or Remove Programs
• Select Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox
• Click on Remove.

If you are running Vista or Windows 7:

• Click on the Windows icon in the lower left hand corner
• Select Control Panel
• Select Programs and Features
• Highlight Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox
• Select the Uninstall button at the top of the page

How does a Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox know what messages are relevant for my system?

Processing of all Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox messages is completed on your PC. Here is how it works. Lenovo develops a message that it believes will be relevant to certain users under certain sets of circumstances. Information about this message is placed in a manifest (a collection of many messages). When the PC synchs with Lenovo, it collects the manifests based on some large granule information (all T60s, for example). The PC sifts through the manifest and, if a message is found to be relevant to the current state of the system, the PC synchs to Lenovo to pull the message and display to the user.

Installed Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox, but cannot use its System Update because Norton Internet Security 2010(correctly, it seems) interrupts the download/installation process with the message:  "You are attempting to install a version of NIS that is older ... please uninstall the newer version first." Norton's tech rep, who went through this with me remotely, and with a couple of different attempted updates, says that the problem is that Toolbox System Update is trying to install NIS 200_8_ at the same time it installs EZEject/Power Management or whatever else I might choose to try and update, whereas I have NIS 20_10_, the latest (and obviously later) version. Per Norton, Lenovo needs to update ThinkVantage System Update to recognize NIS 2010 (and not try to install NIS 2008 over it). What made this all especially confusing, if true, is that ThinkVantage System Update does not indicate that in addition to whatever software updates you might choose, it will also (attempt!) to install NIS 200_8_. So per Norton, NIS 2010 was right to block the System Update process. My questions are as follows. Are you aware of this problem? Do you agree with Norton's explanation? If so, do you have a work around, and target date for resolution? If not, what is _your_ analysis, and what suggestions do you have? Many thanks for your help.

Installed the Toolbox today and when I start the program an error message appears and the program closes....big surprise. Any suggestions?

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wrote:

Installed the Toolbox today and when I start the program an error message appears and the program closes....big surprise. Any suggestions?

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Yes.

I considered, stopping there, but I will add that identifying the error message could help somebody help you. Actually posting your request on a different thread would be the better way, since your question has nothing to do with this FAQ.

Is Toolbox V6 available for an R40 2722-GDM? 

My crashed too when I ran it on a fresh T410.

Faulting application name: pcdr5cuiw32.exe, version: 6.0.5449.36, time stamp: 0x4b42e5ea

Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bdfe0

Exception code: 0xc000041d

Fault offset: 0x000000000000aa7d

Besides it crashes it hangs a lot.

I started out with the installed Vista Ultimate and quickly felt I needed to upgrade to Windows7 Pro64 right away. I notice that there are many Lenovo Laptops that actually came with Win7 and am wondering why Lenovo chose to send out such a highend Laptop with Vista? There was a fair amount of information on how to do this upgrade so I went ahead and did a Clean install of Win7 PRO64. The install actually went well and my system was up and running, I went to Lenovo to get the drivers I neeeded and wow, I found like over 200! This was a shock and very confusing going thru the seemly endless list and trying to actually understand which one I needed. I found the Thinkvantage Update Tool and if it weren't for it I would have been lost.

  I migrated from a  DELL Mobile Workstation to my W700 Mobile Workstation and must say here that Lenovo is far behind DELL on Customer Support. The Lenovo Support website is at best  confusing and for a new user a difficult experience.

  I have downloaded and installed the "Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox for Windows 7 (64-bit) and Vista (64-bit) - Desktops / Notebooks / WorkStationse"   6.0.5450.12 and installed it twice,each time with the same results. The installation  went well and the Thinkvantage Toolbox screen opens up and a small screen runs for a minute then goes away and the main Toolbox screen is there.  This is where everthings freezes/stops working,there is a waiting wheel that spins on the screen and never stops. I was guessing  that perhaps it needed to connect somewhere and let it go for awhile,after 30 minutes I had to do a "Forced Shutdown" of he program in order to close it. The program is unusable and  a dissappointment since this appears to be an important  piece of software. I checked my Security Software and does not appear there is any conflicts.

Where can i find the old system tool box? The one that instantly pops up on the left hand side of the screen.

I don't like the new one that seems to be bloated and the access isn't as fast or as easy.

please help, fusturated user.

thanks!

Hi Mark,
thanks for this great post. Could you please put it on the top of all the TVT threads(as there are alrady two items there), so that it wil be directly there when someone wants to read it?

Guys, this was more intend to be infomative. In case you have these isses, plase don't combine them in this thread. Please open a new one, so that the focus can be better.

Cheers