Almost successful Windows 2003 install on HP Pavillion dv4000

I saw a related thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=89312&highlight=windows+2003) so I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

After at *TON* of mucking about a playing with drivers, I have win2k3 installed on my laptop, but there're a few key components that I can't get working which might send me back to XP. :^(

1) wireless - I can't get the system to even recognize I have a wireless network adapter. :^( I've tried numerous drivers and no luck. Nada.

2) PCMCIA slot not recognized. I use a SmartCard reader for RAS access to a client. My GemCard reader isn't recognized. Luckily I have a USB version that does work. Go figure.

3) I can't get my camera to show up on USB.

So #3 isn't critical, but #1 will kill the deal. Too bad really. I think win2k3 actually runs a bit faster. My hot-key shortcuts pop-up faster and the shutdown and boot processes are quicker as well -- which I wouldn't have expected.

FYI: I did try to go through HP support, but of course they're line is "we don't support windows 2003 on laptops".

So has anyone had luck on an HP machine with windows 2003 and a wireless adapter?

 

I am sorry you had some glitches in your installation that might be show stopper. What is the brand name of your wireless network adapter? Is this device currently sitting as an unrecognized device? Try searching on google using the Device Id, chances are you might come across people who are running into similar situations.

If you have a driver that currently doesn't work, make sure you try uninstalling it and then rerun the setup program (if it is an executable) using "Windows XP compatibility mode". You could be surprised that it might work! Good luck and keep us posted if you find anything worth sharing or ranting! Cheers!

 

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Quick follow-up: wireless is now working!

I found the XP drivers on the HP site, but unfortunately the most recent driver download package was corrupt -- when I downloaded it, it was always 0 bytes. I tried the previous drivers (only a year old), but no luck. I just received an email from HP about another location for their most recent XP drivers, and I was able to download and install -- then whamo: "wireless networks detected"... Who hoo! Whatever was updated in the newest XP driver makes it (so far) compatible with Win2k3 server.

I'm just pickled tink!