Restoring Lenovo T420 - ( Upgrades + Windows 11 + eGPU )

[@aamiraban0917]

Pin this !

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Here is the Pin :D

[@aamiraban0917]

Thanks bro

[@love4ever026]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Berkin402]

:D

[@FS--ew3se]

@@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew in this laptop you should install a modded bios because of if you have 16 gb ram and a eGPU it will make the cpu run at 100%. The bios doesn't really support these combos

[@YasinVanDoorsen]

Watching this video in my moms old laptop acer i fixed makes me proud that i fixed a laptop by watching most of your videos even though i knew nothing about cleaning and fixing laptops

[@slowly_r7849]

Ok bro we get it you don’t need to comment it every time

[@YasinVanDoorsen]

@@slowly_r7849 Last time i commented it was not on the laptop. So its my first time using the one i fixed

[@Fjasdflasdf]

congrats!

[@Aily_z]

damn that saved up money to not buying a new one nice :D

[@krishna3195]

@@slowly_r7849 😂😂😂

[@shocknaw]

Your accent just makes these videos even more calming

[@be8w]

Thinkpads have the best keyboards ever made!

[@Hie_Ruu]

Agreed

[@as8kay]

I'm getting one for 80$ with i5 and 320gb HDD but without battery I want it for coding, accounting, and other day to day stuff should I buy it ?

[@_BananaBoy]

Yes I would recommend buying it because the keyboards of the old style and the new are great and the repairability is amazing and it just lasts forever. I have had my t480 since it came out in 2018 and it’s never gave me problems I couldn’t fix

[@xLunaxa-tr5kr]

I have a T420 and the keyboard is great. Way better than most modern laptops these days. I'm gonna upgrade mine and I might think about making it a daily-ish driver.

[@dinochao1936]

Legit

[@teflon_don93]

I am purchasing a T420 today for 85 bucks. Excellent condition. I am glad i stumbled across this videe. I had completely forgotten about the existence and capabilites of an external PC slot as featured in the video. This looks to work very well! I will be grabbing the core i7 upgrade for the existing Core i5-2520M in the machine.

[@lQuadXl]

Try to buy a 35watt cpu upgrade with PGA (NOT BGA) and has integrated graphics. That 45watt CPU will run, but it's too hot for the standard heatsink and fans to cool it efficiently, too much heat may slowly kill it!

[@suspeh]

@@lQuadXl thanks you for the advice, i was looking for this, you saved me, and the poor t420

[@jupiterapollo4985]

This man gave that old ass laptop way too much love 😭. Salute to you brother 👍

[@nickpain6827]

This was a huge help for me rejuvenating a Thinkpad for my wife - I've learned a ton of stuff from your videos. Thanks for taking the time to make and share them!

[@matkz22]

Having watched you for years. I am always impressed by your ability to restore old pc’s - not only to a working state but to a modern standard. Especially laptop that do not have a lot of documentation - generally if something electronic breaks for me, and it’s not worth professional repair. I will always give it a try myself, and if unsuccessful I learned about the structure of the product. Unfortunately getting spare parts (such as laptop processors) to my country is a big hassle. So I just scour bankruptcy auctions for unknown deals and parts.

[@facundodaglio8071]

I liked the change of music, I also liked how that setup turned out because you can get home and just connect your notebook and continue working or playing from home... but now with more power. greetings from Argentina.

[@lactobacillusprime]

Lenovo laptops are iconic systems. I had a Pentium 166MMX machine running Windows98 back in the day. Its amazing how even after IBM was bought out a lot of the design aesthetics remained similar over the various generations. The rubberised coating of the older ones seem to really waste away these days. Have you found any solid way of mending any such stickiness? Good thing this modern system does have the non rubberised textured hard plastic shells.

[@DJTydalOfficial]

Actually in 1998, IBM owned the ThinkPad brand. Lenovo acquired the brand in 2004.

[@prodbydanai]

@@DJTydalOfficial actually 2005.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

99% Isopropyl Alcohol can remove that coating, so does WD-40 - it doesn't take much to remove it with the right kind of solvent. It is time consuming though.

[@johns3655]

Yeah, just soak a microfiber with wd40 or rubbing alcohol, and the coating will wear off for a clean look and feel

[@sangeetamishra5071]

Your lap name pleeez

[@stephenhall3515]

I have been a subscriber for ages and have a T420 modded up to a point but learned an immense amount from your video. In particular, your approach is so meticulous and calm and when something has not worked you say why. The build quality and I/Os of older computers are so much better than most modern ones and the sooner the minimalist, slim phase ends the better. I mend computers for neighbors in my old age and far too many are heat damaged because air cannot circulate. They do not feel hot to the touch but are baking components inside -- a bit like baking a cake in an oven but the oven front is not warm to the touch.

[@2012cem]

This is what I call a profesional re furbish job. Well done. I still have my T440p, Not that I use it so much now, but I could of bring it to you for same re furbishing work you did on that T420, fantastic.

[@EllantEladar37]

Watching your videos is so awesome not just for education but for ASMR to sleep

[@mayureshnaik1882]

Thanks for your suggestions for my Lenovo ThinkPad T520 now my laptop is much faster and good for my work thanks Andrew You're the best 🤗

[@swarajaggarwal]

Omg that was my first ever laptop! Such a nostalgic video. To think I went from a second hand ThinkPad to the setup I have today is a humble trip I wasn't expecting today.

[@nerd2544]

using a T410 as my daily driver for the past 5 years so this was fun to see 👍

[@as8kay]

I'm getting one t420 for 80$ with i5 and 320gb HDD but without battery I want it for coding, accounting, and other day to day stuff should I buy it ?

[@nerd2544]

@@as8kay i mean 1. it's big and hefty (2.5 kg, like 1 inch think). i certainly would not want to lug that everywhere every day. 2. for accounting (spreadsheet, word editing), if you are using software like office it should be fine. for coding ,if it's light personal stuff or just practicing linux it should be fine too, if you are doing basic day to day web browsing or youtube its also fine. but if you are using online office software like google docs, it will lag like shit, if you code big projects it will lag like shit; bro it's a 2011 dual core i5, even a $200 cheap android phone today has a more powerful CPU in terms of raw performance ability. 3. I stopped using the T410 just a few months after my original comment to switch to a 2020 T14 thinkpad for college. the T410 was alright for my middle school and highschool use of just google docs, light roblox and web surfing but no way I could take it to or use it in college. so i'm using my T410 now just as a spare linux machine for testing and learning linux.

[@muchadoaboutnothing6196]

I’ve owned dozens of laptops both, from MacBook Pros to countless Win laptops from different manufacturers, and my favorite will always be the old T series Thinkpad’s I’ve owned, best keyboards bar none and basically indestructible.

[@s3lfly]

this guy makes the most satisfying vids ever

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Thank youu bro :D

[@Cassy-k3h]

I salvaged a T420 early in 2023, and I prefer it over even my Dell XPS 15 since Lenovo makes the most bulletproof laptops. It's running a stock i5-2nd and a 500 GB HDD running a triple boot of compatibility- hacked Windows 11, Ubuntu 24.04, and ParrotOS HTB. I just popped it open and noticed that it has a CPU socket- going to get a i7-2nd soon Thank you for this video, it helped a lot

[@saracsmart8677]

Thanks for the Video this small laptop is still usable in 2022

[@arielmybroo5812]

I am addicted to this content, I love it💪💪👽⚡

[@soupwizard]

0:44 I spy in the background a vintage Revell Apollo Saturn V plastic model kit - in it's original late 1960's / early 1970's box!

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

It's 1969 model 1:96 scale, 53 years old, still with original box and in parts, most of them are in bags just one is opened, other are never opened or touched. I need to build that :D

[@dongueddimi6294]

You can't stop making wonderful videos ❤️

[@TheSpotify95]

That's a pretty nice restoration you've done there. Like how you managed to get Windows 11 running on it. Yes, I agree that driver support can be a bit flaky at times and some pieces of hardware will undoubtedly get left behind (e.g. the GTX 690 might be stuck at Windows 10 forever if no one makes a Windows 11 driver for it - which Nvidia won't, as it's out of support). Only thing I'd have done differently is changed 240GB SSD for a 500GB or 512GB one; they can be had for £40 or less if purchased used (at least in the UK).

[@HoLDoN4Sec]

why used? a brand new 512gb Kingston SSD costs just roughly 45-50$ online... a Samsung 512gb 870 evo SSD costs about 60-70$ online too. and a cheapo Chinese 512gb SSD could cost as little as 30$ (though i wouldn't recommend anyone to even bother touching one of those)

[@k.p.5263]

watching this video on my lovely T430 which i use every day as my main laptop. Lenovo ThinkPads have the best laptop keyboards, last long and are easy to upgrade

[@alexf1515]

Tell me please. How is your fan in T430 and hinges. The first one is buzzing like an airplane, the second ones are shattered... It seems that there are really weak points of this wonderful device)

[@savvystudio5930]

Yooo he finally did a thinkpad! I've been anticipating this for a while now

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Yep :D it's hard to find some in bad shape, mostly these machines last forever without problems :D

[@luisf.velasquezq]

That's great... it's a beautiful laptop... grettings from Bogtá, Colombia +@Cat and Andrew

[@ararva]

My love Laptop. I`m watch this video on my T420 now

[@firisrozley5768]

Thinkpad T420 & T430 are still being loved by Thinkpad community due to huge upgradability. You can install up to 3 storage drives for these ones (1st primary HDD, 2nd DVD drive that can be swapped with another HDD, 3rd mSATA storage to replace 3G modem). Go for T420 model if you still prefer the classic 7 row keyboard & not into tinkering the BIOS. Otherwise, T430 model would be a better choice.

[@alexf1515]

I have a T430 model and the system does not see the mSata SSD installed in the WWAN slot instead of the 3G adapter. Do not know what could be the reason, maybe I need to turn something on / off somewhere in the BIOS or other settings?

[@NormanF62]

The last upgradeable laptop Lenovo made was the T480. Once a modern laptop dies you replace it and there’s no point to working on it because all the components are soldered to the motherboard and its not designed to be taken apart. Business mobile workstations and business laptops on the other hand, designed to be reliable and easy for corporate IT departments to maintain them.

[@nathanielslawski2993]

these laptops last forever. they are very reliable. when they had Windows 7, the Lenovo recovery partition was very useful and easily one of the best. these are built to last.

[@gamingexperience4621]

You're videos inspire us ..I'm a huge fan..I don't have knowledge about laptop as I can't afford one☺️ ..but it's okay..keep up making videos..We will always support👍😊

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Thank youu for the support bro :)

[@lifeai1889]

Lenovo laptops are awesome now I'm still using the Thinkpad x230 and I have more x220 and x210 as collection they r quite tuff and it have lots of ports (where is hdmi)I like it allot

[@k.p.5263]

i am using a T430 as a daily driver :)

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@k.p.5263 I am using a T60 with a 1600x1200 screen and (Gentoo) Linux as a daily driver. It sits next to my electronics workbench and is my PDF repository for circuit diagrams and electronic references, the old 4x3 screen dimensions make it perfect for viewing PDFs and for looking up other info on the Internet. It also happily plays music from my music server and YT video in up to 720p format.

[@alexf1515]

@@k.p.5263 Tell me please. How is your fan in T430 and hinges. The first one is buzzing like an airplane, the second ones are shattered... It seems that there are really weak points of this wonderful device)

[@gnononaquin6775]

Proud T420 user here, 8gb upgraded with ssds- running so smooth in windows 10 pro

[@xPLAYnOfficial]

I highly-recommend spraying some sealer over the rubberized plastic sections. it keeps them from becoming sticky over time.

[@trandinhvietdung9357]

Finally! A ThinkPad! Thanks Andrew and nice video

[@corsa701]

The good old T420.. i dont know how many ot them went through my Hands.. 200 maybe. Fixing them was a dream. Never needet more than 30 minutes.

[@asland408]

GREAT Restore and more! I have 2 Lenovo t520 laptops that I run Linux on. Thank you for the inspiration to upgrade my laptops.

[@erehmisaka7448]

This kind of contents are the reason why I watch youtube

[@FabianReyesBahamon]

This makes me remember when i took my Asus X452CP laptop, and i proceed to adapt an RX470, but.... i used a mining riser adapter, with PCie so i did have to use teh WiFi port of the laptop; next i used just a generic power Supply wich was not able to give enough power for high loads of the GPU... as result, i could play many games, in the own laptop screen and obiously in one external monitor, but i did have to play using just mid graphics configurations because on high loads for the gpu, the powersupply just stop working. Thta was an interesting test and i use it for a couple months whern i finally build one cheap PC and i use the same RX470. Since then i use the whole time my Desktop and usually i use the laptop for just navigate and watch some videos. This was a really nice video. Thanks a lot.

[@spacecy]

Great video Andrew!!!

[@MotionSigma]

I have this same Lenovo but its 520i I ran windows 11 as well! yup I do laptop collection. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!

[@darianrenko5029]

Excellent work ass always Andrew!

[@TH3N00BK1N9]

Hey, I've been watching your videos for a while now and I've been really inspired by your amazing work. I love the satisfaction of restoring old electronics and have been planning to do them in the future. Any helpful tips that I should follow?

[@manastambat4076]

These old laptops are better build quality than today's any modern laptops

[@shafrannilamdeen2856]

thank god you have tools list in the description thank you very much my man

[@prodbyz33]

I like the new music

[@grishayoutrip]

thanks for simple speech. your videos support me to learn english, im russian by the way. thank you!

[@omarfmarquezs]

Great video Andrew

[@adityasanjaya838]

Me: Nice laptop but can it run crysis? Andrew: Hold my isopropyl

[@prodbydanai]

Pro tip: For future restoration videos, you can use Vaseline to polish the lids of laptops. It removes 95% of the scratches and makes it feel smooth.

[@marciomaiajr]

Still using a T420 as my daily driver. These things just refuse to stop working.

[@HSPossibleSolution]

Helping Others In Their Tough Of Need Is The Best Gift Of Humanity So Your One Click Can Change Whole Life♥️♥️♥️

[@robertushartono1546]

what is that solution you pour on the cover (seen time stamp 7:10)? I have T420 with lots of scratches, any suggestion to remove the scratches?

[@mattfoose7216]

You are awesome in laptop 👍🏻

[@gamerdude8354]

Andrew u r using an xp pen, pen display just as a monitor! That is many artists dream display tablet.!!!

[@BigDrewski1000]

I have the next gen, T-430, and I LOVE the thing! Sadly (or not depending on how you look at it) after Windows 10 reaches its end of support I'll be switching over to Linux Mint, which I've heard good things about. These laptops really are from a different time when companies still cared about consumers over shareholders, and upgradeability wasn't a pipe dream.

[@tommasodibello]

Always a SUPER WORK my friend, i would tell you only one thing about the video-editor. I preffer your previous video for the music management, why you changed it? It were perfect as it were.

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

I will return that, now I done some tests :D

[@DragonBlazeDesigns]

Watching your work really inspiring so many also myself thank you for all your hard work 💜 ♡☆

[@Think_Pad]

HI! I have the exact same model with the Nvidia graphic card. Of course it sits in a drawer for like 3-4 years. Now you gave me the idea to rejuvenate it. But I'd still keep the CPU because for what I5 can do, the upgrade to a I7 is no big difference. I think the most important gain in speed is changing the old HDD with a SDD. Thank you for the nice video.

[@giovannivelez78]

Bro do you think it doesn't affect if I leave the i5? I have doubts because in the video it says that the i7 yields almost double

[@Think_Pad]

@@giovannivelez78 Yes, true on paper, but in real life what application do you use on this laptop that you need a much powerfull CPU? The main speed gain comes from the SDD. The main purpose of ThinkPad series is bussiness applications, conectivity and endurance. Gamming is not one of their purpose;-) If you can do the following leave the I5 and replace your old HDD with an SDD and see how it runs. Then replace the CPU with a I7 and put back the HDD and see the results..

[@maximianocoelho4496]

Dont get a eGPU like u saw in the video, is not Plug n Play, it requires precise configurations that even a system reinstallation can undo and the performance bottleneck in that cable is sometimes more than half the bandwidth. Go for a mini PC like, if u want to connect the lap to the PC use an RJ45 cable, full bandwidth with Steam Link, but if u still want to do it, I have the whole kit (GPU not included).

[@giovannivelez78]

@@Think_Pad okay bro thank you very much for the advice, I was thinking of using it to emulate wii and gamecube, would it work with that i5?

[@Think_Pad]

@@giovannivelez78 For the emulation of a game console it would be better if you have the T420 version that have the Nvidia m4200 optional video card installed. I5 with the imbedded Intel HD3000 video card will struggle for higher resolutions. As I said before, this is a business laptop, meant for office applications, presentations and such, with one of best keyboard in the branch, great array of connectivity and very efficient power consumption for mobility. All these things were for the reality of 10 years ago.😀 It's like an old car.. you can change the manual gear box with an automatic, tires, some chairs, and so on, but you can't change the 10years I5 old engine. (only with a slightly faster10 years old I7 engine).. Good luck in your endeavor 👌

[@thetrashman5258]

Old one looking neat and updated

[@mohammadtalha3185]

man i cant wait for the other video in this laptop as i have the same laptop but its keyboard stopped working and i always wanted to fix it but its specs were not too good for me.. also its keyboard was no more available in market.. by this i can not even fix but take my laptop to next level

[@_DonnyFirdani]

Good job andrew 👍

[@edwingaming2.046]

First viewer I see your old videos and new videos I like your all videos 💚

[@rossothecrimson7]

I've been obsessed with Lenovo. I wish I wouldve bought more from some guy selling 8 with some missing parts for under 100. I bought one t420 and want the butterfly keyboard one too. Looking to upgrade the one I have.

[@Shobiaki-23]

Sir I watch you whole channel please sir more Lenovo Thinkpad restore Thanks

[@ghost-xl6zn]

Can you do the Thinkpad E430c please I have one and not sure if its worth upgrading it or not. Thank you🙏🥺

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Hi bro, yes E430c is upgradable, I will try find some

[@aynlim1866]

Greeting from the Philippines! Hope you notice me!

[@jonahman15]

Watching this on my E430!

[@watercannonscollaboration2281]

1:53 that is one clean t420 out of the box

[@luiszavala2586]

Amazing bro, what a wonderful video. Greetings from Mexico City.

[@someperson8670]

At 2:55 what is this component that you remove? In my t420 there isnt anything connected to that connector but I can't find what it is anywhere...

[@1mag1n3tv4]

i enjoy this music much better my man

[@NormanF62]

It doesn’t have the discrete graphics card found on a high end mobile workstation since it wasn’t designed to do very demanding work or do intensive game playing. The T420 however is an excellent business laptop and as seen still has a lot of life left in it in 2022 and it performs as well if not better, than modern laptops.

[@RiccardoConturbia]

I would love to see your take on a heavily scratched think pad! Maybe some modifications too!

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

I will try find some, now I have something other which is heavy damaged

[@iranouspolaris2035]

Great Video Thinkpads are the best and will be Retro Expensive in the Future.

[@jinxnatorx]

Yes brother Thank you for the video 🌟🌟🌟

[@dimitrissafantis8705]

wellcome back bro !!!!!!

[@comicalrock34]

In 12:56... what type of stiker do you use for cable management?

[@poodlescone9700]

I still have my T420 as my daily use laptop. I just updated the bios and will be upgrading the RAM soon. These things were built to last.

[@eazyd1983]

What did you update them to? Do you have a video link? Thanks in advance

[@as8kay]

I'm getting one for 80$ with i5 and 320gb HDD but without battery I want it for coding, accounting, and other day to day stuff should I buy it ?

[@dealer2372]

Nice video!

[@gabrielandreibadea8122]

Andrew this models of T420 .. is comes with Intel HD 3000 Graphics and Nvidia NVS 4200M 512 or 1024 mb card..

[@Hemendra5595]

Amazing video bro. Can you make a video about dell inspiron 15 3537 and egpu connection or compatibility bro.

[@fouziwindows4593]

you deserve millions of followers

[@bodyquepos]

Saludos desde Costa Rica, excelente trabajo, lo admiro, cual liquido usa para restaurar la parte externa de la laptop? Gracias.

[@CarlosLopez-jm7eg]

segun lo que entiendo es alcohol isopropilico

[@florider_hd]

@@CarlosLopez-jm7eg yes it is

[@Champ毛熊]

Every laptop user should know this. 1. Just “raise the bottom” let more air into the machine and you will found cpu&gpu each them reduce 10~15°C or in high usage will have more efficacy 2. You shouldn’t be use “laptop cooler” , cuz that effectiveness actually just like you put two bottle caps under laptop to raise it. But the cooler still use your limited power and it will let cpu&gpu become more hungry. Unless it has an “independent power supply”. There also very many ways let your experience better , like “gamer most of the time should limit cpu’s PL1&PL2 and offset voltage” “discrete graphics card overclock”. Sorry my bad English,hope it's not too hard to read. Just want help you gus. From Taiwan

[@eerchant]

Amazing work!

[@juliusbautista9674]

i really love how you upgrade the old laptop into gaming laptop. please make a video upgrade also on LENOVO T520. i have lenovo t520 and i really want to see and learn from you how to upgrade LENOVO T520 into atleast low to mid range gaming laptop. thank you so much in advance. i really love your videos.

[@doduyle8476]

hi Andrew, best restoration so far in 2022. the renewed laptop looks as fascinating as usual. My question is, do you have any plan to resell your restored laptops that you've published on this channel?

[@ComputersAndTechAndAndrew]

Thank you bro :D About laptops, mostly the tech isn't mine, but something which is, I give it to someone who really needs

[@grawlixes]

just bought one of these machines to upgrade and use. :) thanks!

[@martingiavedoni8837]

Espectacular cada día mejor esos trabajos. Felicitaciones.

[@jorgerosales9836]

yo solo quiero saber que liquido le pone a las pantallas o plasticos para eliminar los rayones 🤨🤨

[@theshadow8334]

Long time no see man

[@JustRobertCZE]

YAAY A NEW VID

[@deaddude628]

glad to to see your video i have a t430 and i want to do same thing should i use the m.2 for e gpu or the wirless card connector ? im planning to upgrade from i5 3210m to i7 3630qm .... and what is the perfect gpu ?

[@yasu_red]

Just bought one of those to upgrade, so this video being the newest is funny.

[@rajkumarram9350]

hello I am having a issue with my laptop and that was latest version Lenovo the performance is so slow I have to upgraded bye 1TB SSD 12gb Ram still getting lag performance time I try multiple device connected and speed I try to minimum not installed that much softwareI updated all the new version latest 11 you have any idea how can I make the laptop speed and reaction time fast

[@jetli4826]

Thank you for your video. I almost did the same hardware upgrade on my T420. After installing the Windows 10 system, Bluetooth was not recognized correctly. How did you do it? Now only USB Bluetooth adapter can be used

[@floatingrabbit3556]

Lovely video. To get more performance you need a PCIe connection, that is you need to removed the wifi card and instead connect the card connection that instead and you will get better bandwidth for sure.

[@Joyousmicor]

It wouldn't work without BIOS modifications (ThinkPads have a whitelist for Wi-Fi cards, and from **30 series - for batteries)

[@stripeysnake3624]

oh. my. god. someone finally made the T420 GTX 690 meme pc

[@p.r.s8675]

Can you make a video on what are the basic tests that you do ?