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IBM_ECW

Current version : 1.0.7.3 (2015-09-05)

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IBM_ECW is a small tool aimed at reducing heat dissipation and power consumption of IBM ThinkPads computers. It has 3 main functions :

• automatic control of the CPU frequency and voltage based on CPU load (for the Pentium M, Core (2) Duo and Core i families);
• automatic control of the fan speed level according to customized temperature thresholds;
• manual control of the GPU frequencies and PowerPlay state swiching (only for some ATI, NVidia and Intel graphics adapters).

Other features :

• Can be run as a service;
• Customizable hokeys to create some kind of profiles (also possible to set up a profile for AC and battery);
• In-memory patching of the AcpiEC.sys or Acpi.sys driver to avoid unwanted entries in the event log (except on Windows 8 x64);
• Small program (160 kb), no installation or dependancies required and small memory footprint;
• Setting of the harddisk APM and AAM values;
• Can be used by other applications to blink the ThinkLight and some LEDs using the Win32 event functions;
• Registers performance counters (perfmon) with frequencies and temperatures (starting from Windows Vista).

Download (Windows 95 / NT 3.51 or later [x86], Windows 2003 or later [x64]) : IBM_ECW.ZIP

Screenshots :

• Main window
• Configuration window

Installation : Just copy the IBM_ECW.EXE file to a folder of your choice and run it. It will install its driver to %WINDIR%\system32\drivers and create a configuration file named %WINDIR%\IBM_ECW.INI.
If you are using a 64-bit version of Windows, you will first have to disable Driver Signature Enforcement to be able to install the driver. You can also use the alternate build below that uses the WinRing0 driver which is signed. The only difference is that the patching functions will not work. Using the WinRing0 version is not recommended (because of performance and security issues).
Please review the parameters of the configuration window before saving, especially the values that the program tried to detect automatically (they can be incorrect) : FSB base frequency and GPU I/O address.

The program needs to be run as an administrator for the first time (and every time if you don't use it as a service). Please see the help file for more details.

DOS and OS/2 version : Here is a very basic command-line version of the tool for DOS and OS/2.

Alternative Windows x64 build using the WinRing0 driver (see above) : IBM_ECW_WR0.ZIP

Linux version (alpha stage) : IBM_ECL.ZIP

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