*HP ProBook 4430s & 4530s Owners Lounge!*

@xvvvz:
I did some test with and without the caddy, and it's presence affect the power off issue. I've tryed to use different boot settings for SSD and caddy (also different boot order) but problem is still presents with both drives installed.

I'm currently use the F9 bios (dated may 2011) that is the original one. This evening I would like to upgrade it to last rev F.0A (even if the only change made seems to be the 'peak shift support' that is truly not interesting for me).

 

You can find out the caddy Here.

Is listed as for Lenovo but it's a 'standard' one so it fits also on other notebook (the only thing to do is to replace the external cover plate with the original one as I told before).

 

Is there a requirement for change in bios for the change in CPU?

 

Hmmm. I wonder if there is a lighted keyboard from another model that is the same size/layout? That would be a cool hack if it fit and there was a power socket on the MB that would match up. There are lots of third party sellers of replacement keyboards for HP laptops.

 

I have wondered the same thing. That and a Blu-Ray drive would be awesome.

DLB

 

Hp has only 2 models similar in size to 4430s with backlit keyboard, the Envy 14 and the 5330m. The Envy keyboard is quite different in the external perimeter layout, don't know in pure size. The only one that maybe can be put on with a 100% match, can be only the 5330m keyboard at the moment, but it's quite difficult to find as spare part.

Bios:

last evening I flash the new F0A version, with no sostanzial improvement, on the contrary this morning I have the first BSOD on this laptop, so I would come back to F9 version. (first maybe I try also the oldest F7 rev.)

 

I looked up a number of Elitebooks to see if they had backlit keyboard. While I didn't have time to research them all, the few I saw that did have backlit keyboards had the little navigation nub/post.

 

I don't understand the need for frankenstein modifications since it works fine as designed and comparable to my Dell XPS 17 i7-2720 for daily average use ; ) I bought the 4530s for its size rather than hump the Dell XPS 17 I do not see a performance difference with average use. Its never going to be a gaming laptop as even the Dell XPS 17 i7-2720 nvidia gt555 is short changed compared to something like a Sager 8130. . .

 

I think that we just can't help it.

 

I have a question about the fingerprint reader - I set up two accounts on my 4430 (1 office, 1 home). I set up the fingerprint security, but it appears to only allow me to use it on one account. I attempt to set it up on the second account, but it is forcing me to use two different fingers! Is there a way to allow the same finger scans to access both accounts? Thanks.

 

Well, for the 4430S that I have the web site states 4 USB2.0 and 1 USB3.0. Kind of implies there are 5 available ports. Actually, there are 4 available ports. The one marked SS is both USB2.0 and USB3.0. Dunno if that is the same for your model.

 

Anybody know where I can pick up or ship a 4530s in Canada for under $500? Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys

 

A midnight run over the border may be necessary ; )

 

I was just emailed this service alert. It explains why many of us did not have a screw in the hole to lock down the bottom cover:

HP Notebook PCs - Service Door Opens Too Easily - c02986034 - HP Business Support Center

 

Thanks for the post. Nice catch.

 

Ive recently had issues with stuttering audio weither its from the hd online. any idea how to fix this annoying issue?

 

Hey folks, I've implemented the eGPU solution with a 4530s and I'm using an Radeon HD 5770 video card to play games on my external monitor at 1920x1200 at high settings and it runs like a dream!

For more info see my original post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-503.html#post7827715

 

Lots of extra gadgetry hanging around but infinite external gpu options for a laptop ; )

 

Someone ought to try out a 5330m keyboard and see if it would work to make it backlit. I would gladly swap them out if they worked.

 

Hi guys,

I have just received my 4530s laptop. The graphic card is a AMD RADEON HD 6490M.
I know this is not a laptop for gamers, and the graphic card is entry level.
However, I would like to get the most of it.
I have just seen that HP does not accept the use of catalyst drivers.
I am wondering how you guys are doing with your graphic card drivers ?

The only third party drivers I know for ATI are Omegadrivers, which are quite outdated and does not support my card.
I have found the ATI Mobility Modder tool, which modifies files from the official catalyst drivers to make them compatible with HP Laptops. However, the tool has been discontinued too.

So what are the alternatives left ?

Beforehand, thanks.

 

In case you aren't signed up to get them, HP issued an alert for our laptops.

HP Notebook PCs - Mismatched Memory Chip Bus Speeds Cause Performance Problems With Notebook - c03002880 - HP Business Support Center

Oddly, the BIOS that is shown is the "F.0A" version
that has been out since 18 Jul 2011.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

I purchased the 4530s from Newegg for $484 and free shipping last week. They bundled it with a Rosewill USB 2.0 to HDMI Adapter with software, (normally a $59 standalone price tag.) It's the i3 XU016UT with a 320GB HDD 7200 rpm. Still listed this way on Newegg as of this post, but now with only a 2GB memory stick. I added a 4GB G-Skill PC10666 DDR3 memory stick for $22.00 and got a noticable performance response! Will buy another soon.
The scrollpad is difficult at first, but I'm adapting. The HDMI adapter is faster and easier than the VGA hookup. I duplicated the graphic display to a Hitachi widescreen TV through the HDMI adapter and watched Avatar with VLC player, which allowed gamma and saturation tweaks. It showed comparable color hues despite the dulling effect of the Chi Mei monitor. The HD Graphics 3000 card produced a 4.7 score on Windows Experience Index (other HW scores were ~ 6-7); it has no native support for external monitor and TV settings, so kudos for the HDMI adapter.) The Newegg specs says it has USB 2.0 on 4 ports, but my AIDA 64 Extreme benchmark app lists my USB mouse as plugged into a USB 3.0 port next to the HDMI port. I like this laptop for the money. It performs well for my tasks. No serious gaming on this machine, but low level games are OK. Reset the security screw for the maintenance door, thanks to the recent posts.
I will eventually reformat and do a limited installation with my Win7 retail disc without a lot of the extras (I do like the fingertip logon scan.) I used CCleaner to tweak the startups and uninstalled NIS in favor of NOD 32, MBAM, and the Win7 native firewall. I use Ghost for imaging on an external USB HDD. I burn discs with DVD FAB. Will eventually install a Blu Ray DB burner, but maybe external. Overall, I'm pleased for the money. Did a lot of research first and this forum is quite helpful.

 

How do you get 5.7 on Windows Exp. Index? I get 4.7 with 8gb. I'll try max performance tweak. Hmmm...

 

I get 4.7 as a performance score on the same system. Will try the graphic tweak at max.

Sorry about the double post. Needed to add a quote.

 

>>Extreme benchmark app lists my USB mouse as plugged into a USB 3.0 port next to the HDMI port. <<

That is the port that was the single USB 3.0 port back when these PCs were still shipping with a USB 3.0 port. It is good to hear they may be including USB 3.0 again.

 

Just to clarify, the XU0 15UT ($484) at Newegg still shows the Rosewell USB 2.0 to HDMI Adapter as a free add-on. The XU0 16UT ($474.99) at Newegg does not offer this. Are you sure you got the "16" and not the "15?" Just wondering because this may clarify USB 3.0 questions w/r/t the "15."

...Adding, as best I can tell, the only differences between them is the "15" has Win7 Home Premium 64-bit and 4mb RAM vs. Win7 Professional 32-bit and 2gb RAM in the "16."

 

4mb of RAM? That's not much...

 

And yet no performance hit. Imagine that...

 

Just bought the hp probook 4430s. I don't know what to uninstall. I'm a noob. I don't want to uninstall something important by accident. Look at attachment to see if there's anything I might not need.

Any suggestions on anti-viruses? I already uninstalled Norton.

Just updated the BIOS and other drivers that looked like I needed.

After using the laptop for a couple of hours, I realized that the double finger scrolling isn't as responsive as side scrolling.

How do you check if you have usb 3.0 again? I remember reading about it, but I don't remember the exact page number.

Any suggestions/tips for me? THANKS in advance.

 

I would personally get Microsoft Security Essentials for anti-virus. It's free, reliable and doesn't slow down the computer. As far as scrolling goes, in control panel you should be able to adjust the sensitivity. And to find USB 3.0, just check in the device manager...should be listed. Where did you but the 4430s? how much?

 

I didn't get usb 3.0 but I'm fine with it. I got my 4430s from tigerdirect for $580. It was $650 before, but I guess they wanted to get rid of the non usb 3.0 ones. Now they are selling 4430s with usb 3.0 for $700 something.

 

Look on the left side. Second port from the front should have a USB symbol with an SS in front of it.

 

Is there a way to make the volume buttons/brightness levels the primary buttons instead of the F1-F12 ones? Hate pressing fn to raise/lower the volume.

 

Actually, not all do. I have a 4530s with no markings, but it does have the USB 3.0 port.

Check device manager.

 

I see two different chips on the single 4GB card in my 4430S:

DTKBC129A1 and
DTKBC100A1

Nothing to be found in Google as to their specs though.

 

Whoops. Yes, it's the XU015UT#ABA R. Thanks for the clarification.

 

I need some help with my 4430s.
I have installed an OCZ Vertex 3 SSD, and loaded windows 7 ult. When I install the video driver, the computer gets BSOD saying IQR less or equal or something along those lines. What can I do? Does anyone have SSD experience with this model?

 

Who wins?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJwIAhwYGls

HP Probook 4530s
Celeron B810 1.6Ghz
SSD SATA3 MX DX fusion 120GB up to 540MB/s MXSSD3MDSF-120G
3GB RAM

vs

Dell Precision M4600
i7-2620M 2.7Ghz
SSD SATA2 Samsung PM800 256GB up to 230MB/s
8GB RAM

 

Wow. HP released some alerts on our PCs. I find the first one particularly strange and am glad that I used TrueCrypt (free) to encrypt my hard drive instead of what HP provided.

HP Notebook PCs - Downgrading the Drive Encryption of an Encrypted Hard Disk Drive Results in Error - c03011898 - HP Business Support Center

Downgrading HP ProtectTools Drive Encryption while an HDD is already encrypted cannot be performed successully. Version 6.0.80 (and later) of the HP ProtectTools Drive Encryption software actually prevents the downgrade process from being initiated. However, versions that were released before 6.0.80 do not have this built-in safeguard and inadvertently allow the downgrade process to proceed on an already encrypted HDD, which subsequently results in this problem.

If an HDD has been downgraded to a version of HP ProtectTools Drive Encryption prior to 6.0.80, download the most recent version of the software and install it.

-----------

HP Notebook PCs - Notebook Cannot Connect to Wireless 802.11n Networks - c03010833 - HP Business Support Center

All wireless devices sold in the Russian Federation which utilize the IEEE 802.11n standard must be approved for use by the Ministry of Communications there. Until such a time that the approval is granted, those wireless devices are not permitted to broadcast using the 802.11n standard. Once a device has been approved by the Ministry of Communications, it may then broadcast using the 802.11n standard. The notebooks on the Hardware Platforms Affected list have been approved and may be updated to activate the 802.11n functionality using one of the SoftPaqs listed below.

 

So I think I may have messed up -

Upon receiving my 4530s from Newegg, I immediately re-formatted the C drive and performed a clean install of windows 7 home premium (using a disk I already had). Now I've realized that I can't reactivate it with the same key that came with the laptop. I've called HP and they have shipped recovery disks. My question is if there is anyway to activate my windows 7 with the recovery disks without having to do a whole new clean install?

 

I cleaned the original install startup, services, registry using ccleaner thereby keeping what I needed or wanted and used windows to uninstall the other unnecessary or unwanted programs ; )

There is a utility named RemoveWAT that will circumvent the Microsoft WGA until you get the proper key.

 

Thank you for the reply -

My question is will I be able to use the recovery disks that HP sends me to activate Windows 7 on my clean install. I'm afraid that the recovery disks that HP sends are simply going to be a copy of the HP recovery partition.

I'm under the assumption that because I bought the laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium installed from newegg.com, that I now own the right to legally use Windows 7. So if I want to perform a clean install of the hard drive on the laptop that Windows 7 came on, I should be able to re-install Windows 7 and re-activate it.

My fear is that I will not be able to pull the product key from the recovery disks HP sends me to re-activate Windows 7 on the new partition that I have created with a clean install.

 

wow that was so irrelevant...like really?
Anyways I am trying to order one soon!

 

Anybody have problems with the wireless reception?

 

If you run the recovery disks, I am pretty sure you are just going to restore the computer back to the state it was when you bought it. You could probably do a limited install from the recovery disks but that still isn't going to be the same as a clean install from the Win7 disks.

Why aren't you calling Microsoft's activation line and telling them your situation? They are the ones who can help you know your options and help you with a new key number to activate your current install if you are actually entitled to it.

 

No problems here.

 

Thanks for the reply -

Calling Microsoft was no use unfortunately, they just told me to contact HP again, lol.

From speaking to both companies I've gathered this information:

When you buy this computer (HP Probook 4530s) it does not come with a Windows 7 Product Key, or Windows 7 Disk. It comes with a recovery partition that will return the laptop back to it's factory settings.

I did not want to restore the machine back to factory settings because I wanted to get rid of all bloatware for sure. So my plan was to wipe the C drive that Windows 7 came installed on - and then re-install it with a Windows 7 disk that I had already. I then wanted to use the product key that was allowing Windows 7 to be activated on the recovery partition to re-activate Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I then planned on re-installing all the drivers manually from the HP support site.

I called HP and was told that the Windows 7 that comes with your machine does not have a product key. When I told them what I wanted to do - they told me they would send "recovery disks".

After reading some, I began to fear that the recovery disks just do the same thing as the recovery partition - revert the machine back to how it was when it first came out of the factory.

So after being concerned about this, I called Microsoft to investigate - they told me that I would not be able to activate Windows 7 without a product key, and that I needed to contact HP about it (derp).

I called HP back and asked in detail about the recovery disks. I had the guy repeat back to me at least 3 times what I wanted to do - that I did not want the recovery disks to bring me back to factory settings, but instead, to a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit without the drivers. He insisted that first disk will be Windows 7, and the second disk would contain the drivers. And that if I just did a clean install with the first disk - it would provide me with an activated Windows 7 machine without the drivers.

Needless to say I'm not convinced.

 

The wireless N problem from the last page says "This document only pertains to notebooks sold in the Russian Federation."


And use the recovery partition, install, and look into ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) | directedge.us

You can reinstall with the activated one, use that to back up the activation, and then do a wipe, and restore using that activation. I have done it several times and can confirm it does work.

 

My wireless connection disconnects at least four or five times a day. I thought it was a wifi problem, but it seems to happen no matter where I'm at. It's only brief though. Sometimes it's a couple of seconds. Other times, it's a couple of minutes. I've heard that HP wireless cards are poor so I was thinking of replacing it cause it gets annoying when I'm studying or working on something. Anybody have any suggestions?