Okay if you all are like me anytime you buy a pre-built computer the first thing you want to do is remove all the crap that the manufacturer put on there. Now there are a couple of ways to do this, you can go into Programs and Features and just uninstall everything you don't want or you can wipe is clean and start over.
Though Lenovo installs Intel Smart Response Tech on the notebook it doesn't actually use it, instead they have their own backward way of accomplishing the same thing. Lenovo splits up or partitions up your actual Hard Disk into 4 sections the main section is for your storage, then the Recovery partition, then 2 system partitions. Not sure what the 4th one is used for but the 3rd is approx the same size as the SSD, in my case mine came with a 32GB SSD and the partition was 30GB. They then use a form of raid to merge the Partition with the SSD and Thus give you what they call EE Boot Optimizer which as best I can tell is their backward form of Intel's SRT. So what I wanted to do was to upgrade my SSD to a larger Capacity and simply install Windows on the SSD and then format the 1TB HD for storage and less used programs. Problem, in the Windows install I couldn't see the SSD ? This is because of the way that Lenovo merges the SSD with the HD through a form of Raid using a MBR (master boot record) format it hides the drive.
First thing you need to do is download all the drivers that you'll need after Windows is installed, there is a specific order you need to install the drivers which is noted below. You can download the Drivers from Lenovo's support site: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/. Just save them to a USB/Thumb/Jump Drive or and external hard drive for use after the OS is installed, I put them on a Thumb drive in a folder labled Lenono Y580 Drivers and labeled them 1 through 17 so that I couldn't mess up on the order of installation. example: 1 - Wireless LAN Driver, see the driver install order below!
Second thing you need to go into the Bios and make sure of 2 things, first make sure your Sata is set to AHCI, if your notebook came with an SSD it should already be set correctly but you should still check to make sure. Second in the Boot menu top of the list make sure it is set to UEFI, again if it came with the SSD this should already be selected.
This first step is only for those that have an mSata SSD and wish to install Windows onto that SSD and uses Diskpart a DOS based disk utility and can harm your system if your not very careful! You can read more about it and see a list of commands and what they do HERE
Side Note: Windows and all of the Drivers will fit onto the 32GB SSD but only leaving you about 3GB of space when complete! If you are going to install a new larger SSD like I did you can skip this section, just install the SSD and skip to the Windows install section!
1 - When you get to the drive selection page during the Windows install hit Shift + F10 which will bring up the DOS prompt, Type diskpart and hit enter.
2 - Now type list disk, which will list all the disks currently on the system. Look for the one that corresponds to the size of your SSD, it will have a number before it you need to know that number for the next step. Numbers start with 0 and increase.
3 - Now type Select disk=X, Now in place of the X put the number that corresponds to your SSD from the list above and hit enter. It will tell you that the disk is now selected.
Example if the list says your SSD is Drive 0 you'd type select disk=0
4 - Now type clean, this will completely wipe the drive and should allow Widows installer to see it again. It shouldn't take long and it will tell you it's complete. Now would also be a good time to repeat the same for your main drive to remove the partitions with the MBR's on them.
CAUTION: For those of you that have used Diskpart before you should never use the clean all command on an SSD unless you have no other option cause writing every sector on the SSD to 0 will reduce the lifespan of the SSD!
5 - Now type exit which will exit you from the Diskpart utility, then close the window for the DOS Prompt.
6 - Hit the Refresh button to the bottom left of the window where the drives usually show up, now you should see your SSD.
Now it's time to install Windows:
Just install Windows in the normal way making sure to select the SSD for the installation drive.
This is a good time to visit Sean Webster's thread on how to Optimize Windows for SSD's:
Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs and HDDs
Driver Installation Guide: Install in the following oreder:
The Drivers below are for Windows 7, Lenovo does have Win 8 Drivers if you want them!
1 - Intel Wireless LAN Driver 0pwl06ww.exe 229 MB - I couldn't get this one to work so I downloaded it from Intel's site: Intel N2200 BGN Driver again select your OS and then select a download.
2 - Intel Chipset Driver 0pah07ww.exe 2.48 MB
3 - Intel Rapid storage Technology 0pst04ww.exe 11.3 MB - useful for keeping and eye on your HD's health and more.
4 - Intel Management Engine Interface 0pme05ww.exe 45.5 MB
5 - Intel Onboard Graphics Driver 0pvh07ww.exe 208 MB - I had issues with this so I downloaded it from Intel's site : Intel HD4000 Driver Select your OS and then select a download.
6 - Nvidia Display Driver 0pvl13ww.exe 443 MB - I personally downloaded this from NVidia's site to make sure it was the most up to date Driver!
7 - Intel USB 3.0 Driver 0pus05ww.exe 5.39 MB
8 - Realtek Audio Driver 0pau08ww.exe 151 MB - I couldn't get it to work so I downloaded it from Realtek's site : Realtek Drivers Accept terms and hit the next button then find the driver that corresponds to your OS and select a download server.
9 - Atheros LAN Driver 0pla03ww.exe 5.31 MB
10 - Jmirco Card Reader Driver 0pcr02ww.exe 1.39 MB
11 - Broadcom Bluetooth Driver 0pbl08ww.exe 297MB - if you use the Wireles LAN driver from Intel's site above it also installs the Bluetooth driver!
12 - TouchPad Driver (Cypress, Synaptics) 0pto14ww.exe 142MB
13 - Camera Driver (Bison, Chicony, AzureWave) 0pca05ww.exe 34.5MB
14 - Lenovo Energy Management cagt24ww.exe 21.2MB - In addition to Energy Management this is what makes the mute button light up and the on screen icons pop up for things like Numlock, Capslock Etc.
15 - OneKey Recovery 7.0 caot11ww.exe 278MB - Even without the Recovery partition from within Windows this can still be a useful tool to help you create a recovery disc and more. You can skip it if you won't use it like I did.
Optional:
16 - Windows Hotfixes Hotfix qfxg01ww.exe 980KB Hotfix qfxf01ww.exe 859KB
17 - Intel Disable ZPODD Register v2.0 IN1PCH43WW5.exe (turns off your DVD Drive when not in use to save power) - You can download it here : Disable ZPODD I know is says Y570 but it should work on the Y580. I chose to skip this cause I want all the battery savings I can get.
Install the drivers you just downloaded ONE BY ONE in the numbering order in which they are listed above! They are numbered that way for a reason! Please do not change that order if you want everything to work perfectly!
PLEASE RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AFTER EVERY DRIVER INSTALLATION, I know this may take longer, but if you want a perfect system, restart after every driver/utility installation, even though it doesn't prompt you to restart, don't take any shortcuts! RESTART ON YOUR OWN!
Final notes: As noted above, Intel.com has updated WiFi drivers and HD4000 on Die Drivers. Nvidia.com has updated 660M drivers. I had trouble with the 660M driver so I used the Nvidia.com driver. I had trouble with the WiFi driver as well so I used the Intel.com driver. Finally I had trouble with the Realtek audio driver, so I used the Realtek.com driver. This Guide should work for most of Lenovo's products just download the appropriate drivers for your model
Back Story so you know what led me to put this together:
Well recently I bought a Lenovo Y580 and it of course came with the $15 Win 8 upgrade so I figured what the heck I'll give it a shot, Huge Huge mistake. The Update failed I got what looked like a blue screen with of all things an Apple looking frowning smiley like this:( but the Screen flashed so quick I couldn't read what it said. Don't know what exactly happened but after that it wouldn't boot anymore. Well it came with a cool feature called One Key Recovery, a little button next to the power button that allows you to recover your system via the recovery partition on the hard drive with the push of a button. I pressed it and you probably guessed it nothing happened, whatever the Win 8 failed install had done it had corrupted ( or something ) all the partitions. So I ordered the Recovery discs from Lenovo to the Tune Of $60, they are totally USELESS and were a total waste of money and of course the are non returnable and non refundable so the research started
I'll tell you what for all the info that is on the Web trying to find info on this notebook was like pulling teeth, I don't know how many forums I read through and only picked up little bits of info on each but was finally able to put this Guide together in the hopes of helping someone else out there that is trying to do what I did.
I finally Swapped the Samsung 32GB mSata SSD out for a 128GB Crucial M4 mSata SSD, which is what I installed Windows 7 and all of my most used programs and games onto. I formated the 1TB hard disk for storage and less used programs and games, prices surprised me though! A year ago I bought my first SSD also a Crucial M4 also 128GB but a regular SSD for over $200 and this one was $109! SSD Purchased from Newegg.com LINK
I want to thank those on the Lenovo Forums for all the posts that helped me gather the Info I needed, I also want to thank Aonarch from Notebook Review Forums for the very Detailed Driver Install Guide that gave me the final piece of the puzzle that I needed to get my new Notebook not just back up and running, but running better than it ever could have if the Recovery Discs had actually worked and I'd been able to put it back to the factory original state.
Edited by WeirdHarold - 11/16/12 at 2:57pm
Though Lenovo installs Intel Smart Response Tech on the notebook it doesn't actually use it, instead they have their own backward way of accomplishing the same thing. Lenovo splits up or partitions up your actual Hard Disk into 4 sections the main section is for your storage, then the Recovery partition, then 2 system partitions. Not sure what the 4th one is used for but the 3rd is approx the same size as the SSD, in my case mine came with a 32GB SSD and the partition was 30GB. They then use a form of raid to merge the Partition with the SSD and Thus give you what they call EE Boot Optimizer which as best I can tell is their backward form of Intel's SRT. So what I wanted to do was to upgrade my SSD to a larger Capacity and simply install Windows on the SSD and then format the 1TB HD for storage and less used programs. Problem, in the Windows install I couldn't see the SSD ? This is because of the way that Lenovo merges the SSD with the HD through a form of Raid using a MBR (master boot record) format it hides the drive.
First thing you need to do is download all the drivers that you'll need after Windows is installed, there is a specific order you need to install the drivers which is noted below. You can download the Drivers from Lenovo's support site: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/. Just save them to a USB/Thumb/Jump Drive or and external hard drive for use after the OS is installed, I put them on a Thumb drive in a folder labled Lenono Y580 Drivers and labeled them 1 through 17 so that I couldn't mess up on the order of installation. example: 1 - Wireless LAN Driver, see the driver install order below!
Second thing you need to go into the Bios and make sure of 2 things, first make sure your Sata is set to AHCI, if your notebook came with an SSD it should already be set correctly but you should still check to make sure. Second in the Boot menu top of the list make sure it is set to UEFI, again if it came with the SSD this should already be selected.
This first step is only for those that have an mSata SSD and wish to install Windows onto that SSD and uses Diskpart a DOS based disk utility and can harm your system if your not very careful! You can read more about it and see a list of commands and what they do HERE
Side Note: Windows and all of the Drivers will fit onto the 32GB SSD but only leaving you about 3GB of space when complete! If you are going to install a new larger SSD like I did you can skip this section, just install the SSD and skip to the Windows install section!
1 - When you get to the drive selection page during the Windows install hit Shift + F10 which will bring up the DOS prompt, Type diskpart and hit enter.
2 - Now type list disk, which will list all the disks currently on the system. Look for the one that corresponds to the size of your SSD, it will have a number before it you need to know that number for the next step. Numbers start with 0 and increase.
3 - Now type Select disk=X, Now in place of the X put the number that corresponds to your SSD from the list above and hit enter. It will tell you that the disk is now selected.
Example if the list says your SSD is Drive 0 you'd type select disk=0
4 - Now type clean, this will completely wipe the drive and should allow Widows installer to see it again. It shouldn't take long and it will tell you it's complete. Now would also be a good time to repeat the same for your main drive to remove the partitions with the MBR's on them.
CAUTION: For those of you that have used Diskpart before you should never use the clean all command on an SSD unless you have no other option cause writing every sector on the SSD to 0 will reduce the lifespan of the SSD!
5 - Now type exit which will exit you from the Diskpart utility, then close the window for the DOS Prompt.
6 - Hit the Refresh button to the bottom left of the window where the drives usually show up, now you should see your SSD.
Now it's time to install Windows:
Just install Windows in the normal way making sure to select the SSD for the installation drive.
This is a good time to visit Sean Webster's thread on how to Optimize Windows for SSD's:
Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs and HDDs
Driver Installation Guide: Install in the following oreder:
The Drivers below are for Windows 7, Lenovo does have Win 8 Drivers if you want them!
1 - Intel Wireless LAN Driver 0pwl06ww.exe 229 MB - I couldn't get this one to work so I downloaded it from Intel's site: Intel N2200 BGN Driver again select your OS and then select a download.
2 - Intel Chipset Driver 0pah07ww.exe 2.48 MB
3 - Intel Rapid storage Technology 0pst04ww.exe 11.3 MB - useful for keeping and eye on your HD's health and more.
4 - Intel Management Engine Interface 0pme05ww.exe 45.5 MB
5 - Intel Onboard Graphics Driver 0pvh07ww.exe 208 MB - I had issues with this so I downloaded it from Intel's site : Intel HD4000 Driver Select your OS and then select a download.
6 - Nvidia Display Driver 0pvl13ww.exe 443 MB - I personally downloaded this from NVidia's site to make sure it was the most up to date Driver!
7 - Intel USB 3.0 Driver 0pus05ww.exe 5.39 MB
8 - Realtek Audio Driver 0pau08ww.exe 151 MB - I couldn't get it to work so I downloaded it from Realtek's site : Realtek Drivers Accept terms and hit the next button then find the driver that corresponds to your OS and select a download server.
9 - Atheros LAN Driver 0pla03ww.exe 5.31 MB
10 - Jmirco Card Reader Driver 0pcr02ww.exe 1.39 MB
11 - Broadcom Bluetooth Driver 0pbl08ww.exe 297MB - if you use the Wireles LAN driver from Intel's site above it also installs the Bluetooth driver!
12 - TouchPad Driver (Cypress, Synaptics) 0pto14ww.exe 142MB
13 - Camera Driver (Bison, Chicony, AzureWave) 0pca05ww.exe 34.5MB
14 - Lenovo Energy Management cagt24ww.exe 21.2MB - In addition to Energy Management this is what makes the mute button light up and the on screen icons pop up for things like Numlock, Capslock Etc.
15 - OneKey Recovery 7.0 caot11ww.exe 278MB - Even without the Recovery partition from within Windows this can still be a useful tool to help you create a recovery disc and more. You can skip it if you won't use it like I did.
Optional:
16 - Windows Hotfixes Hotfix qfxg01ww.exe 980KB Hotfix qfxf01ww.exe 859KB
17 - Intel Disable ZPODD Register v2.0 IN1PCH43WW5.exe (turns off your DVD Drive when not in use to save power) - You can download it here : Disable ZPODD I know is says Y570 but it should work on the Y580. I chose to skip this cause I want all the battery savings I can get.
Install the drivers you just downloaded ONE BY ONE in the numbering order in which they are listed above! They are numbered that way for a reason! Please do not change that order if you want everything to work perfectly!
PLEASE RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AFTER EVERY DRIVER INSTALLATION, I know this may take longer, but if you want a perfect system, restart after every driver/utility installation, even though it doesn't prompt you to restart, don't take any shortcuts! RESTART ON YOUR OWN!
Final notes: As noted above, Intel.com has updated WiFi drivers and HD4000 on Die Drivers. Nvidia.com has updated 660M drivers. I had trouble with the 660M driver so I used the Nvidia.com driver. I had trouble with the WiFi driver as well so I used the Intel.com driver. Finally I had trouble with the Realtek audio driver, so I used the Realtek.com driver. This Guide should work for most of Lenovo's products just download the appropriate drivers for your model
Back Story so you know what led me to put this together:
Well recently I bought a Lenovo Y580 and it of course came with the $15 Win 8 upgrade so I figured what the heck I'll give it a shot, Huge Huge mistake. The Update failed I got what looked like a blue screen with of all things an Apple looking frowning smiley like this:( but the Screen flashed so quick I couldn't read what it said. Don't know what exactly happened but after that it wouldn't boot anymore. Well it came with a cool feature called One Key Recovery, a little button next to the power button that allows you to recover your system via the recovery partition on the hard drive with the push of a button. I pressed it and you probably guessed it nothing happened, whatever the Win 8 failed install had done it had corrupted ( or something ) all the partitions. So I ordered the Recovery discs from Lenovo to the Tune Of $60, they are totally USELESS and were a total waste of money and of course the are non returnable and non refundable so the research started
I'll tell you what for all the info that is on the Web trying to find info on this notebook was like pulling teeth, I don't know how many forums I read through and only picked up little bits of info on each but was finally able to put this Guide together in the hopes of helping someone else out there that is trying to do what I did.I finally Swapped the Samsung 32GB mSata SSD out for a 128GB Crucial M4 mSata SSD, which is what I installed Windows 7 and all of my most used programs and games onto. I formated the 1TB hard disk for storage and less used programs and games, prices surprised me though! A year ago I bought my first SSD also a Crucial M4 also 128GB but a regular SSD for over $200 and this one was $109! SSD Purchased from Newegg.com LINK
I want to thank those on the Lenovo Forums for all the posts that helped me gather the Info I needed, I also want to thank Aonarch from Notebook Review Forums for the very Detailed Driver Install Guide that gave me the final piece of the puzzle that I needed to get my new Notebook not just back up and running, but running better than it ever could have if the Recovery Discs had actually worked and I'd been able to put it back to the factory original state.
Edited by WeirdHarold - 11/16/12 at 2:57pm
Absurd Obsidian
(22 items) |
Liquid SaberDevil
(13 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom II X6 1100T | SABERTOOTH 990FX | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 | Corsair |
| RAM | RAM | RAM | Hard Drive |
| Corsair | Corsair | Corsair | Crucial M4 128GB |
| Optical Drive | Cooling | OS | Power |
| LG DVD Supermulti | XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 | Windows 7 Professional 64bit | Ultra X3 1000W ULT140311 |
| Case | |||
| Little Devil PC-V8 | |||
| View all | |||
|
Absurd Obsidian
(22 items) |
Liquid SaberDevil
(13 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom II X6 1100T | SABERTOOTH 990FX | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 | Corsair |
| RAM | RAM | RAM | Hard Drive |
| Corsair | Corsair | Corsair | Crucial M4 128GB |
| Optical Drive | Cooling | OS | Power |
| LG DVD Supermulti | XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 | Windows 7 Professional 64bit | Ultra X3 1000W ULT140311 |
| Case | |||
| Little Devil PC-V8 | |||
| View all | |||
