Lenovo Session at Cloud Expo

Cloud Computing Expo - Lenovo announced the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox on Monday, a new combination of system health, security, and support services to keep ThinkPad laptop and ThinkCentre desktop PCs running safely and efficiently.

Built on the proven PC-Doctor diagnostic platform, Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox monitors critical system components, notifying the user of problems and offering solutions to quickly repair the system before components fail or data is lost. With its push-button operation and intuitive interface, Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox provides a comprehensive solution for system health, security and productivity.

Launched from the well-known "Blue Button" on ThinkPad laptops and the System Toolbar on all systems, the application is pre-installed on new Lenovo ThinkPad and ThinkCentre PCs running Windows 7. A complimentary version is also available for download at www.lenovothinkvantagetoolbox.com for Think systems running Windows 7, Vista and XP.

In contrast to other system health applications, Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox has a fully contextual support messaging capability. Messages from Lenovo are displayed only when they are relevant to the user’s system, based on the results of diagnostic tests, system information, state-matching and inferences. These support messages can include offers for relevant products and services to repair an existing condition or to enhance a user’s experience.

For example, while monitoring the health of a battery through a daily health scan in idle time, the resident ThinkVantage Toolbox application can warn the user that the battery is past its prime ability to hold a charge, and take the user directly to the Lenovo web page with the correct replacement part.

PC-Doctor’s recently announced Intelligent Messaging Services form the foundation for Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox. This contextual cloud-based architecture protects the user’s privacy while ensuring that only timely and relevant messages are presented to the client system. Unlike centralized data mining approaches, the server delivers a general suite of broadly applicable support and information messages to the user’s system and only pertinent messages are selected and displayed by the user’s PC.

“Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox’s is like having an onboard PC technician,” said Peter Schrady, vice president and general manager, Software, Peripherals and Enterprise Products, Lenovo. “It’s a powerful new toolset that will provide additional peace of mind for our customers - knowing that their PC is monitoring itself and ready to guide them through a problem, even before it occurs, getting them back to work with minimum disruption.”

“Our Intelligent Messaging Services (IMS) platform is a predictive, self-healing technology that can diagnose a problem or a performance issue before the user is even aware, and then help them take the appropriate corrective action,” added Steve Petracca, chief executive officer, PC-Doctor. “IMS combined with Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox represents a major advancement in intelligent support services.”

Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox is built around five information tabs that help users navigate the application:

• System Health Tab displays the status of key components and processes in the system.
• System Security Tab monitors password, anti-virus, firewall and other security related settings.
• Ultimate Business Tool Tab presents an overview of support messages from Lenovo as well as information and assistance with other ThinkVantage tools. Information on related Lenovo software, services and accessories to optimize and enhance the Think system experience is also provided.
• Diagnostics Tab provides system and component diagnostics to troubleshoot and resolve issues.
• Lenovo Support Tab displays system messages and other information from Lenovo.

The Toolbox also includes Drive Space Manager, a visual analysis of file allocation on the system’s hard drive, and Performance and Configuration History, illustrating system performance, hardware and software changes over time.