I have scanned for viruses and spyware. The computer is clean of everything. Both of these issues I have had as soon as I bought the laptop.

I have had one problem with my laptop the entire 3 years i have had it. My roommate has the exact same laptop and his does the exact same thing too. The screen will go completely black like it is shut off when windows media player opens up randomly. it happens maybe 1/50 times. Its not caused by opening any certain type of file or anything that I know of, it just does it randomly and the only way to get rid of it is to hold the power button for 5 secs and restart it. I have all the latest updates, drivers and everything. I have even restored it to how it came from the factory about 3 weeks ago and it still happens. Any clue on how to fix it?

The second problem is something that happens about the first month or so after I restore it to factory settings again and it was like it when i first got it also. The wireless will randomly cut off. It will still say it is connected in the tray, but when I hit Fn+F5 to goto the wireless radio page, the wireless is powered off and wont let me power it back on. If I try to shutdown normally it gives me a bunch of errors on how the wireless tray and wireless this, etc had a problem closing and gives me the option to end now. So most of the time I just hold the power button for 5 secs to skip all that and restart. I Have unchecked the box to let the system power off radios to save power so what else could be causing the wireless radio to power itself off? I never really fixed it in the past, it just kinda went away, but this time it doesn't seem to be going away.

2/15/2009 3:08:16 AM

did you buy this brand new?

2/15/2009 10:38:58 AM

yeah, from the bookstore, but they are useless when it comes to fixing them. All they know how to do is format the hard drive and start from scratch. my roommate had a bad power button, we told them what was wrong, all we wanted them to do was send it to IBM and get that fixed. What do they do? format the hard drive and give it back to him as is and never sent it off. I mean Im not a genius when it comes to computers, but im savvy enough to fix most problems(hardware or software), these two have just got me stumped.

2/15/2009 12:49:08 PM

I had the second problem you listed and I removed the thinkpad connection manager software and just used the windows wireless network manager to handle connections. I havent had that problem since.

2/15/2009 12:51:52 PM

call lenovo.

2/15/2009 1:12:16 PM

I've had the second problem for a long time. I tried wahoowa's suggestion after our IT clowns couldn't fix the problem, but still didn't work. I essentially don't use wireless on the laptop

2/15/2009 1:29:05 PM

i enjoy the fact that my t60p is problem free

first off, is the BIOS current?

2/15/2009 2:21:59 PM

I have already removed the thinkpad connection software and i do use windows wireless but I still have this problem. Yes the bios is the current one that I know of. When i do the update manager it doesnt tell me that there is a new one available. plus I have tried a manual update and I do have the latest one.

[Edited on February 15, 2009 at 5:02 PM. Reason : ]

2/15/2009 4:54:57 PM

1. Find Vista DVD
2. Back-up files
3. Format Hard Drive
4. Install Vista
5. Install stable drivers, This is mostly a joke since finding stable lenovo drivers is harder than finding a needle in a haystack
6. Don't install any lenovo software, except for the fingerprint reader
7. Laptop is fixed, use the windows properties to set standby mode

The only problems that Lenovo laptops have is their drivers and software. They are rock solidly built, but a crippled by more software and driver issues than any other manufacturer I have ever seen. I decided to install Omega Drivers over their display drivers, because of how little stability they have. They will fix one problem in a new driver and software release and create 2-3 more. Most of their "utilities" are just software that pretties up the changes that you are making in the windows control panel.

Here is a guide. Skip steps 3 and 4.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=50187

[Edited on February 16, 2009 at 10:36 AM. Reason : Added guide]

2/16/2009 10:33:18 AM

^ +1 to that. I eventually completely reformatted with Vista Business and removed all lenovo programs including the hidden partition. I havent had a single problem since.

2/16/2009 11:33:16 AM

my t60 screen goes black when running from battery on occasion.

2/16/2009 8:59:06 PM

mine does too

i think mine is a T61 though. Maybe a T61p.

2/16/2009 9:21:26 PM

Quote :

"my t60 screen goes black when running from battery on occasion."

Anyone want to start a class action lawsuit? Cause this has clearly been a problem for over 3 years that Lenovo is aware of.

2/16/2009 10:12:21 PM

thinkpad's have gone to shit since lenovo took over ibm's computer biz

2/17/2009 12:50:14 AM

ha, if my t60p is docked and i do anything that removes it from external power (unplug power cord, undock), then the laptop just freezes and has to be power cycled.

piece of shit.

2/17/2009 6:56:53 AM

i feel comforted by the fact that i am not alone. now i realize that doesn't stop my screen from going black

2/17/2009 8:33:16 AM

Quote :

"ha, if my t60p is docked and i do anything that removes it from external power (unplug power cord, undock), then the laptop just freezes and has to be power cycled. piece of shit."

Once again, Lenovo knows about this and somehow can not or will not fix it.

2/17/2009 9:41:23 AM

Quote :

"ha, if my t60p is docked and i do anything that removes it from external power (unplug power cord, undock), then the laptop just freezes and has to be power cycled. piece of shit."

my laptop bluescreened when i did that. had to rebuild everything, well not really since i ghost it, but still, that's really stupid.

plus the little window pops up saying that i should press the undock button, when there isn't one.

2/17/2009 10:11:28 AM

I gotta say I'd agree with the "software" comments, and I give my dad trouble about this all the time (exa - why, for the love of god, does Access Connections not have a "change outgoing mail server" feature? why do I need ThinkVantage Update rather than Windows Update, and at what point do they overlap? why are you diluting resources by expanding lower end product lines like the 3000 series? how do Power Manager and normal windows battery/AC options interact?)

That said, my t60p is a year old, is a beast, and runs flawlessly.

You know there's a hard switch on the front that will disable the wireless, yes? Any chance you've accidentally switched it on and off?

2/17/2009 10:21:16 AM

Quote :

"thinkpad's have gone to shit since lenovo took over ibm's computer biz"

This was something I noticed when I worked at the bookstore (left ~1 year ago). The previous generation wasn't bad, then the new generation had random crappy problems unlike the previous generation.

The people at the bookstore will never properly diagnose your hardware (you don't have to take it to them, they're just free tech support), and if you want to send it off without going through them, you can do it yourself by going through Lenovo's support system and creating a service ticket. They'll send you a box and get it back to you when they're done, if they find anything. Lenovo's support is even less useful than the Bookstore's sometimes. You'll find that they'll be unable to replicate problem #1 and they'll send it back to you and you'll have wasted 1-2 weeks.

I'm going to also go with ^ on the wireless switch and also go with the suggestion to not use access connections to get online. These 2 things caused a number of the wireless problems our Bookstore customers had.

2/17/2009 10:39:14 AM

I've owned and used a T42p, T60, and currently a T61p. I've never seen those issues on my particular machines. But, I usually keep all my drivers/bios updated through System Update and keep all of Lenovo's software on my computer (doesn't mean I necessarily use it, it's just there).

I found that sometimes removing the software will usually cause more issues than you bargain for because it will remove the "proper" driver when you remove a particular software package. A good marketing move (to try and push their products), but poor PR move (cause technical people like us can sometimes be annoyed by it).

[Edited on February 17, 2009 at 11:14 AM. Reason : floats your boat]

2/17/2009 11:13:22 AM

i have NEVER owned a laptop that i didn't IMMEDIATELY reformat

there's not a system manufacturer in the world whose craptastic software i would keep on my machine, as opposed to just wiping it clean and starting from scratch

2/17/2009 11:30:28 AM