T61--Win7 --> Win10 failure: Trouble in paradise

Glad you made it - it is satisfying innit!

markg2 said:

4. After sliding the drive in and booting the machine and it doesn't see a hard drive, you (Moi) have installed the drive upside down!

He-he - you sound like me :)

markg2 said:

I called MS. What a pleasant surprise. The T61 had 7 home premium. Somehow I had installed 10 pro. I explained all to the rep also mentioning that my primary laptop has OEM 10 pro. She dialed in, entered a mess of numbers on two different screens and I ended up with Pro activated and using my same key ))).

I've always found them very helpful like that also (once you get through).

markg2 said:

Since I no longer have a mechanical drive can I used a magnetized driver? Is there a common driver size for laptop screws?

All my Lenovos have required only one small phillips (cross head) screwdriver - size #1 I think - small not tiny. Magnetised is much easier than fishing around with tweezers when you drop them and apparently it is safe.

If I may make a suggestion, from my incompetent tinkering I'd recommend not plugging it into the mains to see if it works immediately after replacing the heat sink. I did that on my old Lenovo X201 and it let out a piercing screech and never worked again. Maybe I'd left some screws lying around and it shorted somewhere but I had to get a new one off ebay to replace it. Probably it is a better idea to put it all back together first and make sure there are no bits left over...

I stopped by Home Depot and picked up an inexpensive set of Husky precision drivers. Although we've had a set of 4 for forever, the handles are thin, round and metal--not at all comfortable. The reason for picking up the Husky set--they have hardened tips and nice grips. IMO, good grip equals increased leverage and decreased strain. For another $3 I picked up a magnetizer/demagnitizer.

Thanks for the tip on putting all back together before powering up. I just might have tried doing that to save time opening the machine back up if a problem.

One of the fan install instructions that I've read suggested putting the screws in cups as removed. A separate cup for each different size. I think there's either 2 or 3 sizes.