*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

305 - C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons\\hpSysInfo.exe

8536 - C:\Windows\System32\sndvol.exe

8546 - \QlbOv.exe

8602 - C:\SWSetup\AppInstl\HPSoftwareSetup.exe /H

8603 - DefaultBrowser

The other ones are empty.

 

Interesting... It seems you're running Win7 64-bit and, the most important part for a few owners of EliteBooks, me included (soon ): that it's possible to remap the QuickLook button in order to launch your favorite mail client instead of the software installer. Cool!

Can you perform a test for me please? First note down the original path of the Assignment entry under the 8602 subkey ( C:\SWSetup\AppInstl\HPSoftwareSetup.exe /H ). Then, double click this entry and change its value to:
C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe

Now, restart Windows and touch the QuickLook button (the 1st touch sensitive key on the left). If I'm right, the calculator tool should be open instead of the software installer. Once you've done the test, you can restore its original value (or point it to another program if you wish).

Also, do you have the following key in your Registry?
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons. If so, please, expand it an list its contents.

I suspect if the other subkeys are empty is because they don't have custom actions associated and, on this scenario, the QLB tool launches the default program for each button. If I'm right, you'll be able to remap the Calc button in order to launch the program of your preference. We still need more tests, so be patient

 

Are there musicians over here? So I know alternate options for other music programmes exclusively to Apple.

 

Well, I tried the quicklook button thing, but it doesn't change anything. BTW, my button opens Office Outlook, not a software installer. Maybe this software installer runs when you press the quicklook button right after you turned the laptop on?



The other folder don't seem relevant to me.

 

I think the problem is the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch. For some reason, is overriding the values found in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch. Now I see the "Tokens" subkey in the HKLM branch. You're running Win7 64 bit. For that reason the previous HKLM branch was almost empty.

In order to work faster, please export the whole HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons. Simply right click the subkey and select Export... Type in a file name and save it. Then attach the registry file to a new post for me.

 

Here it is.. I renamed the file to .txt because it wouldn't upload a .reg file :S

BTW thanks for your time!

 

Hi,

I was looking to get a 17' w/ BR like the Dv7t but then saw that the screen on it really has terrible vertical viewing angles. I do work a fair amount w/ photoshop and have a real need for a nice accurate screen. I love my Nc8430 and since I cannot afford the 8740w version, I am looking at either 8540w or p and am wondering if it's possible to upgrade the dvd player to a BR? Thankx.

Answered my own question: BR for Sata bay drive 12.7 mm! Now where could I pick one up for cheap?

 

@s1ncere:
Here you have a subtle modification for your Registry in order to launch the Windows Calculator when QuickLook is pressed. This is an initial test. I'm aiming to provide you the Calculator button customization, but it's necessary to do preliminary tests before.

Remember to DELETE the HKCU\Software\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons in order to work.

 

It worked!! I succesfully changed it to calculator using your method. And another thing. My QuickWeb button opened Firefox instead of Internet Explorer which I usually use. I succesfully changed this to IE with the dubbel backslash you used in the path. It seems this is it :S

But when I looked for the calc button reg key, I couldn't find it.

 

I'm glad to hear that

What change did you do? The double backslash has an explanation. Windows is written in the C programming language, and for this language the \ symbol is an escape character for reserved letters. Then strings such as \a (alert), \n (new line), and \r (carriage return) have their own meanings. If you want to print the real \ with this language, you must precede it with another one, that is: \\. Of course, this is also applicable to Registry files.

Yes, I already knew. It's likely the QLB tool launches the Windows Calculator when the Calc button is pressed if the needed Registry entries are absent. This will require some tests more, but we are on the right track

 

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe

I put this in the Assignment and AssignmentDisplay keys of folder 8603. And then it just worked!

Hmm okey, it's nice we have some progress

 

Just got my 8540w in and have some dumb newb questions! I am as computer illiterate as they get so forgive me. First, there is a thread here at HP, the "Out of the Box" one which states you want to burn a restore disc. This computer came w/ a window 7 and an "application and driver recovery" dvd. Is this the recovery disc, so that I don't have to burn a new one? thx.

 

Does anyone else take issue with how little the IPS DreamColor2 display is mentioned in the official 8540w review ... a passing statement and no mention of it when discussing viewing angle and color gamut?

I added this comment regarding my objection to its omission:

HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation Review Discussion

 

Oh get over it. He did mention it, it's not like he says that it's has the worst screen.

 

The windows 7 and application & driver recovery dvd set is for a "clean" install.

Whereas the recovery disc set you create will install all the preloaded extras and trial software that was with your machine when you first received it (though I think you can pick and choose some software you want installed, it still will preload some junk software, so it is not as clean as it can be).

But I say create the recovery disc, doesn't hurt to have a backup copy just in case. Plus the blank DVDs are like 10 cents each.

 

Does 2560x1600 work on an external display connected via DisplayPort if I have the DreamColor monitor. I know you need the bigger power adapter with the DreamColor monitor I didn't know what else it affected.

 

I think which lcd screen your laptop has is irrelevant. The determining factor is the whether the video card can drive that resolution. I believe it can, because a mbp 13 2009 with a Nvidia 9400m can drive a 30" Cinema Display.

Perhaps you're wondering if the video card can handle dual screens, your WUXGA laptop screen + the WQXGA monitor simultaneously. Probably could, but for gaming purposes it most likely will be weak, so probably better to drive 1 screen for gaming.

 

It works with my coworkers standard 1920x1080, so hopefully it works with the dream color then. I didn't think it would make a difference so I wanted to make sure. I have the 1GB ATI graphics I ordered

 

Does anyone know how much the DreamColor screen affects battery life? What kind of battery life are people getting with and without it (idle, browsing with WLAN, and under load)?

I did a quick search for "battery life" in this thread, and I didn't find a discussion of this comparison, so I'm sorry if I overlooked something. (Maybe I should start a separate battery life thread for a more concentrated discussion?)

 

I'm sorry for the delay. I've been very busy these days

Try this new Registry modification. If this doesn't work, don't worry, my new 8740w will arrive later this month and I will be able to do real tests with QLB installed

 

I have a question -- this is the first notebook I have ever owned, so bear with me.

I know with my desktop I have to continuously upgrade my power supply, and with some applications, were I to not have enough power it would result in problems (mostly with video).

Does it help operate my Elitebook at high settings were I to plug the larger power brick (I believe this is for the docking station?) directly into the laptop, or were I to simply dock the laptop?

 

Do you know which value you have to change for the calculator button? 8617 / 8610 / 8605 ??

 

@Jones37:

Have you tried my Registry modification? Also don't forget to delete the HKCU\Software\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons key in order to work.

 

I have a 8540w and my fans are increasing/decreasing speed every 30sec (temps between 55C and 70C) when I'm using my HP which is quite annoying.

It feels like the turbo boost is activated just when I click somewhere in my programs and the fan cries for speed and slows down again after a few seconds. Pretty bad job from HP imho.

btw. If I choose the powersaver energy profile, the problem is not appearing, the turbo boost seems not active but you can clearly see that programs and graphics are lagging. (no gaming, just working with several programs)

...I need a solution to control fan speeds...

 

I don't see anything similar to you in my 8740w; maybe that's because I have the quad core and enhanced cooling tubes?

Here's probably what you are looking for: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-.../519840-hp-notebook-fan-control-hwinfo32.html If I play a game, I always load this and cranup the fan speed to max. Just be aware that if you set it at a medium or lower setting than the machine would want, you are responsible for monitoring your temps and you could overheat if you do not.

 

The power brick the laptop comes with is sufficient to power the notebook, don't worry about it. It is designed to handle the maximum power draw from the notebook.

The docking station has a larger brick most likely because it has to power additional electronics besides the notebook.

Congrats on the laptop.

 

Dear all,

I've got my 8540w for some weeks now, and I'm happy with it.

There's one thing that keeps bugging me, though. It is the sound card, or it might be the driver.

As you may have read, I use the laptop for music programs like Sibelius, and for DAW's like Reaper, with VST's (Virtual Studio Technology).

The thing is, the sound card doesn't seem to behave like one entity, but like two.

When I plug or unplug my headphones, the speaker icon says "Speaker", no matter what.

The HP speakers are the default device, while the headphones are the communication device.

When I run Sibelius, I cannot run WMP or VLC, as it seems Sibelius has got the exclusivity for the sound, and then only the sound comes out of the headphones channel, the reason I thought the sound wasn't working in Sibelius.

I use ASIO4ALL, as otherwise I can't hear anything when using programs like East West PLAY with Ministry of Rock. It seems like a conflict with ASIO4ALL and the main driver, but I never had problems like these with my earlier laptop (Acer Aspire One) or PC (Acer Desktop). On the other hand, when it's not running ASIO4ALL, the thing still seems shaky, as I can mix both the main output as the headphone output.

Anything I can do about this?

Thanks

 

I'd like to know how I can turn off the turbo boost functionality in a 8540w since there is no bios option for this and thus made an extra topic in the forum ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...rbo-boost-reduce-heat-system.html#post6810936 ). Maybe some of you guys have a solution in mind. Thank you

 

edit: was thinking about getting the 8540p/w, I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

I do still have a couple questions though...

- HP has been updating the elitebook line with the newer CPUs, should we expect to see any other updates, such as optimus or at least manual switchable graphics?

- does the 8540p/w support two finger scrolling on the touchpad?


and if any readers out there are looking to buy the 8540p/w, there are a couple of configurations on HP's business outlet worth checking out.

8540p $820
- i5 540m
- 2gb
- 250gb
- 1600x900

8540w $920
- i5 520m
- 2gb
- 320gb
- 1600x900

I ended up going with the P model and the rep confirmed that they had 2 more.

 

From what I've read on Optimus, it's a lot of hassle. All Punk-Buster games are incompatible with Optimus. There are instances where Optimus must be disabled for video playback. People have problems getting the dedicated card to run when they need it to run. People have been posting all sorts of problems on the Sager forums where the NP5125/NP5135 laptops have Nvidia 330M Optimus

 

Optimus is good in theory, but needs a little more work. Give it a few more generations and also hope that companies can integrate drivers better.

 

Try ThrottleStop.

 

Hi
I have my Elitebook 8540w since friday. I'm very happy with it.
But I can't install XP on it. The system say that I have a virus.
I formated my hdd during 10h and without any results.

Can somebody help me?

thx

BR

Loïc

 

Does your 8540w has a Gobi WWAN/GPS Device?
Mine does and i wondered a while why the GPS did not show up in the Connectionmanager and others. After a while of research I found out, that a Device called[HP un2420 Mobile Broadband Module NMEA] has to be shown in the Device Manager. If you have a Gobi and it does not show up try the following steps. Download the latest Drivers for the Gobi (right now its HP SP50075), extract the files.
In MultiInstaller.ini change the [GPS-Disable] Dev1=GPS=0 value to 1 and run the setup from the Qualcomm Folder. New Hardware should be found, and after reboot the connectionmanager can show you your GPS Position.

greets 1d9c5

 

Yet I' havn't the Gobi but its ordred.
I try the XP installation wy a empty and formated disk
Windows 7 was not a problem to instal but XP.
I try with 3 different XP versions

 

Does nobody else have this problem? It's still not working right.

 

Hi Indrek


Here is my bluescreen:

I hope you can understand de problem because it's in german.





For those how are intrested I took some pictures from the heatsink and the graphiccard.

the used GDDR5 chips wehre SAMSUNG K4G1032FE-HC04 with 0.4ns and 1250mhz. So you will have a lot space to overclock ;-)

Thx

Best regards

Loïc

 

I followed your advice and see that it works.

best thanks Indrek


BR

Loïc

 

hello

i have a few questions about power consumption :

- do you know what i should do to ensure that the HP Power Assistant automatically switches to Mobile Mode when running on battery, and comes back to High Performance mode when connected the AC adapter ?

- how can i tune paramaters for each of the power modes listed in HP Power Assistant ?

thanks for your help

anthony

 

Got my 8540p yesterday and so far, I'm pretty satisfied...
It has i5 540m / NVS 5100m / 6GB / Corsair F120 w/ Toshiba 1TB upgrade bay drive
- pleasantly surprised to find that 5-6 hours (w/ wifi on and screen at lowest) is very possible. You guys are right, I'm glad I don't have Optimus. The GPU downclocks enough that the battery consumption is about on par as my Dell E4310, which has a 13.3" screen, i5 540m, and Intel graphics
- very decent game performance
- keyboard is excellent
- touchpad is excellent (after upgrading to Synaptics driver, not HP)
- would love to have the FHD screen, but even 1600x900 is a nice upgrade over 1366x768. Plus, the 1600x900 specs are a bit better than the 1920x1080

1600x900

Maximum: 260 cd/m²
Average: 245.6 cd/m²
Illumination: 88 %
Black: 0.28 cd/m²
Contrast: 879:1
Brightness on battery: 246 cd/m²

1920x1080

Maximum: 225 cd/m²
Average: 210.4 cd/m²
Illumination: 84 %
Black: 0.32 cd/m²
Contrast: 666:1
Brightness on battery: 213 cd/m²




Sadly, there's a few points that are bugging me. My HP 6930p was nearly flawless, but the 8540p has a few issues:
- battery is loose and rattles, the most loose battery I've seen in the dozen+ laptops I've owned.
- the point stick left click button works about 25% of the time, requires significant pressure to register


Anybody else experience these flaws?

 

On Monday I put in an order for a 8540w with 820QM, X1800M, Dreamcolor and got 27% off over the phone with free shipping.

Through newegg I picked up a 4GB DDR3 1333mhz chip for a total of 6GB and a 500GB Seagate Momentus XT (4GB SSD Hybrid) which ill be the OS drive. I'll be using the 250GB drive as a secondary in place of the optical drive.

I can't wait to see just how good this will be.. How long do these things usually take to build?

 

I am not sure if I understand your question, but from what I understood of it:
Go to Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Power Options,

HP Optimized and Power Saver seem to have the exact same parameters, but the former is for pure performance and the other for power consumption. I would set the settings for battery to very low (brightness, screen saver, etc.)

I hope I'm of some help.

Mano

 

Ok, so my harddrive just died. Worked fine all day. Got home it was very slow, reboot and it wont come on. Contacted HP, they say the drive is bad. They will send a new one but give no support for unlocking it. I was able to take it out and connect it to my desktop. In load up fine, kind of. It loads HP_TOOLS and the main drive is locked. Any help with this?

 

HP_TOOLS is probably marked as the active Primary partition. Maybe you need to mark the other main partition as Active before you can read it? Personally I'm confused because I see on my machine all 4 Partitions as configured by HP are Primary, yet I can read from both C: and F: ... I had thought only one Primary Partition can be active and read per disk; thought the others needed to be extended logical drives. [confused]

 

Just tried that, nothing. It shows up as a RAW. Anyone know of any good data recovery?

 

I think I've got a fix for the speaker/headphone switching. Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Sound. Right-click "Headphone (RTC)" and choose Disable.

 

Anybody else notice that some of the keys on the keyboard are a bit squeaky? Or is it just me? I've noticed that the "ENTER", "E" and "BACKSPACE" keys make this noise. Almost makes me want to spray some WD-40 on it...

I recorded a little video:
YouTube - HP Elitebook 8540p squeaky keyboard


Other issues I'm having:
- fairly loose battery
- point stick's left button doesn't register most of the time

 

Not sure if fixmbr will work in your situation, but perhaps these pages can lead to something?
- MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record - Windows 7 Forums
- XP: Repair or fix master boot record using recovery console | Windows installation | Tech-Recipes
- master AND boot AND (fix OR correct) AND (Win7 OR "Windows 7") - Google Search

Sound like you may have lost the complete partition. Not sure if fixing the master boot record will be enough. But, sounds like this can't make things worse.

 

Hi there,

I accidently format my HD when I failed to install linux on my HP 8540w. So I tried to install win 7 with the recover CD but it is impossible. I got this message:

error 0x8007045d

I tried something seen here with google:

error 0x8007045d - Microsoft TechNet Search

Nothing really work but when I do a chkdsk, I got this:

"Cannot lock the current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected."

So anyone could help me?

 

thanks Manolito, i will check this evening if this is the right thing to do for my problem ..