Resolved Windows 7-Internet connection concerns

I have an hp 6400 series 32bit laptop that suffered a catastrophic crash that has proven to be beyond repair or recovery. I have no desire to deal with Windows 8 as there just seems to be NO benefits and fraught with troubles.

I would like to install Window 7 Home Premium, which I was running before. I can find Windows 7 OS (OEM) all over the place for around $100 and that is an acceptable price I believe. (Ideally I would like to have a retail license version but that is something I can't find.)

Now my concern is with being able to get my machine back on the Internet with a clean installation of Windows 7. Would I encounter any problems with this? I am thinking along the lines of drivers and such for the currently installed devices that may not be current. Would the 'new' Windows recognize these and find the right updates or what? It seems to be a quandary that I can't figure out, the Windows 7 (new disc of an older OS) may not install the right ones, I just have no idea what to expect and don't want to chase down a blind ally and waste money.

If I should have this type of problem, how would I go about getting everything compatible?

Sorry if this is to general, I will provide any more info that might be needed to help me deal with this situation, frankly I am a bit too ignorant to know what else to include.

Thanks for any assistance!

 

Are you saying the HP laptop came with Windows 7, and you don't have the installation disk?

I'm not familiar with HP's policies, but they may send you an installation disk for free if you ask them. It would be worth a try assuming you still have your product key.

 

Got to agree with James here. HP should send you the recovery CD's. Did it ask you when you first got your PC to make the recovery disc?

 

Thanks for the replies;

I do have the recovery disk, it is a VISTA 'student' version, and I have run it several times. It fails to recover the computer to a working state. I have follwed every step recommended, and nothing has worked. Some of these 'diagnostics' took literally days to run to completion. Hence I have concluded that there is just no way to recover the computer.

My intention is to start anew with a complete reformat and new installation. Hence, Windows 7 being a newer and familiar OS I would prefer it over VISTA in any regard.

It may be the case that nothing will work to get the computer back in operation and I am willing to take that risk. My concern is trying to prepare for issues that might be encountered with a new installation with Windows 7.

Thanks again.

 

How did you upgrade to Windows 7 ?

Anyway, you can download free iso images of Windows 7 from here...

Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River​

Just scroll down a bit for the x86 english versions. I have no idea what media refresh means, so I can't guide you on that. Just burn your chosen iso to a disk or USB thumb drive, and boot off of it.

 

Thanks James,

I have not upgraded to Windows 7 on the defunct hp dv6400 laptop as yet. (I am on a different desktop system at the moment that came with Windows 7 Home Premium installed) As I stated in my initial post, I am considering buying an OEM Windows 7 Home Premium disk for installation on the laptop. I would like a retail license version of the OS but cannot find one to buy at this time.)

Would the Digital River iso image suffice for a clean installation, basically would that be the same as using an OS disk that I went out and purchased?

Thanks for the information!

 

I would think so...

Are these illegal, cracked or pirated downloads?

Since this is an official download channel, you can be sure to receive setup files that are virus-free, secure, legitimate and untouched. Downloading the files from Digital River is absolutely legal and completely free of charge. Without a legally obtained product key however, any Windows 7 installation will only run for 30 days. Afterwards, it needs to be activated, or the evaluation timer be reset.
​

Read down where it says Purchase an Activation Key. There are links there that will take you to Amazon, but I am sure you could scour places like eBay for product keys. Just make sure they are legitimate keys.

You can also reset the evaluation timer if you need more time...

Reset the evaluation timer

After 30 days of evaluation, you can reset the evaluation timer by opening the command prompt in admin mode, and typing in the command "slmgr -rearm ". You can repeat this procedure up to 3 times, so your evaluation time will be 120 days altogether.​

I just discovered that last part. I wonder if that works for XP?

 

Hi Bearclaw, Before jumping in - can you confirm this is the Model HP Laptop?
http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/si...ac.admitted=1397710918893.876444892.199480143

From your description I have noted it was operating Vista Student 32 bit?
I feel that if your unit had a

it may be that the Hard drive has gone South in a big way.

Can you furnish more detail about exactly what happened when the "crash" occurred. Neil.

 

James,

Thank you for the information, this I will look into. The activation code is a major concern, and that is the major reason I was looking into just buying an OEM installation disk. The download is definitely of interest if I can verify the legit nature of an activation key, though I would not likely know for certain until it failed... so many concerns, so little time!


Hi Retired!

The nature of the crash was pretty straight forward, the machine just stopped working normally, and when trying to effect a repair it went through all the processes like normal, but when instructed to do a reboot, it failed to finish opening Vista. I went through all manner of repair and recovery procedures which all failed to effect a repair.

I am confident that the motherboard is OK, why I think that is that the diagnostics I ran and those literally took days to complete, everything seemed to work in that mode.

I am not dependent on the laptop, but would like to have one in good order. I think the cost of trying to get it working order ($100 or so) is a gamble, but one worth taking. Local shops want that much just to do a diagnostic run on the thing! Anyway, the cost of a new laptop similar to this one makes me inclined to at least try to get it running.

I hope I explained things, not being a real geeky guy I can't really know.

 

Have you tried a System Restore?
Did you do a Chkdisk or a sfc /scannow?
Have you run a Manufacturers Test on the Hard drive? Neil.

 

Neil;

Yes, tried the system restore, did not resolve anything and that led to Chkdisk and at least one other diagnostic routine, these took several DAYS to run. In the end the report was that all the 'fixes' were attempted and without resolving the problem.

No, did not have anyway to run a test on the hard drive as the system was not doing anything that would allow me to attempt such.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to see if the hard drive had any life in it at all, I pulled out an old Unbutu CD (Linux) and tried to boot up. It worked and began an installation process. I stopped the installation at a point where it was safe to do so as I felt the mission was accomplished at that point.

At this juncture I think the hard drive is viable. Now I will need to clean things up, reformat the drive and go from there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the input.

 

If you are going to Format and install W7 - you will need to ensure that you have the Motherboard Drivers for W7 as the laptop was running Vista Student 32 bit. Neil.

 

Neil,

Thank you! This is the kind of information that I was seeking! Any thoughts on how I would go about obtaining these motherboard drivers? Should I try the HP support site or should they be available from some open source place? Any idea on just what these might be called or designated?

Along a similar line, I am thinking that the device drivers might also not be readily identified and installed during the Win 7 installation. I believe I have one of the GForce cards in the laptop that would need to be updated, but have no idea just which driver would be needed, so could I just 'shotgun' several of the drivers and let the Win 7 find the one it needs? Or might that cause some 'confusion'?

Assuming I am able to identify the needed drivers, how would I go about installing them? Would I find them and download them to a flash drive using my desktop then plugging the flash drive into the laptop?

I know, I am a super novice with this, sorry for all the questions, and I do thank you so much for all the assistance!

 

Bearclaw, Try HP first to see if they have a W7 Driver upgrade for your HP Model Laptop. Generic drivers MS approved are usually installed to get it going.

Once you have the unit functional, look in Device Manager to see if there are any Yellow! showing and then > Update Driver option on the web.

If you Download Speccy:http://www.piriform.com/speccy you will be able to find the Make and Model of the Hardware on the Motherboard. Neil.

 

Neil and all others that helped,

I have managed to get the laptop up and running, all the drivers needed have been updated and all seems to be well. I have it set up as a bare bone Linux at the moment but will change that over to Windows 7 once I find and get the OS software.

Thanks a million guys, you have saved me some $s and made my situation much less frustrating! Don't know what I'd do without ya!