ThinkVantage Software Guide

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LENOVO THINKVANTAGE SOFTWARE GUIDE


So what is ThinkVantage?
ThinkVantage is a software library preinstalled on a Lenovo ThinkPad computers. Formerly known as Access IBM, ThinkVantage is intended to maximize the business user's experience through the use of easy-to-access utilities that take advantage of the ThinkPad's hardware features.

How do I know which ones I want?
Well, being the objective guide that I am, I can't literally tell you which ones you should download and which ones you shouldn't. That would be really naughty. Hopefully, after reading the below, you'll get an idea of which utilities you want. Otherwise, ask the friendly people in the NBR forums for suggestions.

For more information about ThinkVantage, visit its official webpage.

List of ThinkVantage Software (Click the titles to link to their webpages.)


Productivity Center
This is the mothership; the amalgamation of all the ThinkVantage software on your computer on one menu activated by the light blue ThinkVantage button on the top left of your keyboard. This menu gives you quick access of all ThinkVantage utilities plus allows you to place shortucts to computer maintenance tasks, such as hard disk defragmentation and backups.

Access Connections
Replacing the Windows Wireless Connections utility, Access Connections gives you the ability to manage all wireless connections, including LAN, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and WWAN. You can set different connection profiles and security settings.

Active Protection System
This utility contains settings for the shock protection feature for the hard drive. This must be installed in order for the feature to work.

Base Software Administrator
If you don't like the bloatware that came with the Lenovo preload, you can use Base Software Administrator to customize the preload installation to only install what you want, whether it be Windows, drivers, or other software.

Client Security Solution
To take the most advantage of the fingerprint reader, CSS manages passwords for different websites you visit and can configure them to open password-protected pages with the swipe of your finger. Moreover, CSS activates the Trusted Platform Module hardware chip in your laptop to improve security.

Fingerprint Software
Necessary for the functioning of the fingerprint reader, this utility lets you enroll your different fingerprints and gives the feature of logging into Windows with a fingerprint swipe.

ImageUltra Builder
Much like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image, ImageUltra Builder lets you create an exact copy of your hard drive for cloning purposes. Unlike the other utilities, this software does not come preinstalled on the computer.

Rescue and Recovery
This program is designed to back up your hard drive. You can set R&R to backup your hard drive on a schedule, and restore from those backups at any time. R&R also lets you create the recovery discs for the factory install (one-time only) and said discs can be booted from if your system is unable to on its own. The installation of R&R also enables the hidden recovery partition on your computer, which also can restore your laptop to original factory settings.

Secure Data Disposal
Did you know that deleting something from the Recycle Bin doesn't mean the data is gone forever? Windows only removes those files from your view permanently, but those 1's and 0's still exist on your drive, albeit waiting to be written over. Secure Data Disposal rewrites over your deleted files multiple times to ensure those 1's and 0's are gone for good.

System Migration Assistant
Got all those settings you love and pictures of your family on your old desktop? This utility makes it easy to transfer all those personal settings to your brand new ThinkPad.

System Update
Lenovo's drivers page is a hornet's nest. System Update finds those drivers and even most of the utilities listed above for you and you can choose which ones you want to install. Note that System Update does not always find all the software and drivers you may need.

[merlinwang]

Great Job.

[panteedropper]

had it not been for this post, I would have never known about image ultra and secure data disposal.

[geckoliz]

are the passwords saved by CSS saved in the TPM chip or somewhere on the hard disk ?

[hypertrophy]

The ImageUltra Builder software intrigues me. Has anyone here used it before? Does the recovery process take place within the OS or is there a way to boot the software?

Edit: After doing a little more research about the ImageUltra Builder, i have learned that the software is only a 60-day trial version.

[rsinmadrid]

ThinkPad newbie here. In general, I am quite happy with my new T61, but I am not sure what to make of all the ThinkVantage stuff that came pre-installed on the machine. A lot of it seems to duplicate XP functionality. Task Manager shows 70 processes running and 410 MB of memory in use right after booting, which is more than double what I used to see on my old Win2K machine. Many of these processes are Lenovo utilities.

I was wondering which of these utilities other people have found to add value and also if any of them have created problems. Is it safe to remove all of them? Which ones do you use?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

[chrisroman]

I was a bit shocked by the bloat too, I use access connections and system update regularly. I'm thinking about removing the rest.

[Arki]

A clean install would clean everything up and then you decide what you want to install on your system, plus you don't have to worry about uninstallation registry entries and wasted space from a previous program. Many people including me highly recommend you do that. It will really do your computer a world of good.

[gridtalker]

Yep Great job Thanks

[rsinmadrid]

Originally Posted by Arkit3kt

A clean install would clean everything up and then you decide what you want to install on your system, plus you don't have to worry about uninstallation registry entries and wasted space from a previous program. Many people including me highly recommend you do that. It will really do your computer a world of good.

Yes, that would be the best way of getting rid of all that stuff. I looked at your clean install guide and it appears to be very complete, if just a bit daunting--I rather prefer the kind of install where you click on a button.

In any event, my original question remains: which of the Lenovo utilities are worthwhile and which are not? Without having done much research yet, I think I would want to keep the hard disk protection utility, as I don't know of an XP equivalent. System update seems like a convenient thing to have as well.

On the other hand, the other day I briefly lost wireless net access and I wasn't sure whether to use the Lenovo stuff or the XP stuff to sort it out--turned out to be the router's fault. I am also unclear whether the Lenovo system restore utility does the same thing as the XP system restore...my T61 came with a hidden partition on the C: drive that I think Lenovo uses for restore purposes, but I don't really know.

Regards,
Richard