Windows Server 2008 64-bit on the ThinkPad T61p…


After reading Keith Combs’ excellent Blahg post on the same subject at http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2008/02/01/installing-windows-server-2008-ee-on-a-lenovo-thinkpad-t61p.aspx I thought I’d try and update (things move quickly in 64-bit software support) and continue where he left off… Making WS2008 64-bit on a T61 your production machine…

I’ve gone for two approaches, the first is simply using imagex to backup and restore (into Hyper-V child/virtual) a T61 Vista laptop, and in parallel adding the other nice ThinkPad devices and system software to the Windows 64-bit (Vista or WS2008 ) ThinkPad build that made the ThinkPad the market leader in the first place – beyond awesome build quality – awesome system software to help productivity, management, and ultimately improve the RoI and reduce support costs (even if you are supporting yourself ;-))

I’d be tempted to start with the ThinkVantage System Update, at the time of writing this was v3.13.  System Update allows you to pick and install all of this lot plus more from a single, simple GUI – just beware the local repository can get quite large especially if you start installing monsters like the Rescue and Recovery programs (600+MB!).  The local repositor is by default in C:Program FilesLenovoSystem Updatesession – you can clear down all folders bar ‘schedulerupdater’ & ‘system’ and next time you run the update the folders will be recreated but without the actual downloaded binaries, etc.

Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility
Lenovo System Interface Driver
ThinkPad Power Management Driver
Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver for Windows Vista 64bit

Ricoh 4-in-1 Media Card Reader Driver for Windows Vista/XP

ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software Windows 64-bit
ThinkVantage Client Security Solution for Vista 64-bit ?

SoundMAX audio driver
UltraNav
NVIDIA Video
Wireless LAN
Maintenance Mananer
Productivity Centre

ThinkPad Mobility Center Customization

Adobe Flash Player for
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP and Vista (32 and 64 bit)

query on:
Windows Vista Update Modules KB932063 (Fix for Several problems occur on a Windows Vista-based computer when you work in a wireless network environment)
Windows Vista Update Modules KB929191 (Vista disk enumeration optimizations are disabled on IBM and Lenovo computers)

Whilst not all links mention 64-bit in the title (I’ve kept the titles true to the ThinkVantage System Update as of April 20th 2008) this does not mean they are not 64-bit such as the Ricoh 4-in-1 Card, if you read the detail you will see mentioned “Summarized Windows Vista x86/x64 drivers”

I’ll be adding more to this post and fleshing out the links during the week of 28th April as I  should have plenty of time and, hopefully, the resources to hand get this right as attending the Windows Essential Business Server (formerly “Centro”) partner airlift to Microsoft in Redmond 🙂

http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/

http://blogs.msdn.com/vijaysk/archive/2008/02/11/using-windows-server-2008-as-a-super-desktop-os.aspx

 http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=415745&sid=9e3ca7f83f86984fec5e4560f78f979b

Hyper-V & Hybernate, Standby, etc.. http://www.ditii.com/2008/09/24/hyper-v-enable-sleep-hibernate/
you can have Hyper-V installed but not started by the following registry setting:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServiceshvboot]“Start”=dword:00000003

When you start your Hyper-V laptop you will have full access to the power management fucntionality 🙂
If you need to demo a VM, I can start Hyper-V with the command:

net start hvboot
(Power management is then disabled again until the next reboot)