*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I noticed that, too. But it was just the first day after my fresh Win 7 installation. I never saw this brightness switching again.
Do you still have the preinstalled Windows? First, I thought it came from my newly installed Windows.

 

No I delete it last week
I'm using Win7 Ultimate if that can help^^

 

Then it really could be an issue when installing a "new" Windows.
Do you still have the brightness switching? It was while using VLC or Windows Media Player, so the player seems not to be the problem.
I don't really know what I did before it stopped. It was just gone after one day.

 

Unfortunatly yes.
I'm sure that cannot be the player or the video (I test it on another pc)
Perhaps the proximity sensors or the grapics cards

I don't know what to do because if I contact hp support they're going to tell me to retore my computer
We need a third opinion over here^^

 

Quick question, I have an Envy 17 (no 3D) and I'm wanting to partition off 100GBs of my hard drive, but when i try to do it in disk management it only gives me the option of making a dynamic disk and not a basic disk. Any way around this?

I only have one drive: 733GB Hitachi HTS727575A9E364 (RAID)

 

I believe you need to do the partitions on both disks prior to doing your RAID.
With SSD's being so much faster and reliable, and the price came down, RAID configs are now considers old technology.

READ HERE:
Basics of RAID | Overclockers
Speed Up your Computer using Striped Volumes [How-To] | Windows 7 Customization | Windows Tools, Help & Guides
How to Short Stroke for RAID | Overclockers (Important reading)
Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk - Windows 7 Forums
How to Create a Software RAID Array in Windows 7 - How-To Geek

 

you can only have a maximum of 4 primary partitions per hd. there may already be 2 (system reserved & hp recovery) except for your OS partition.

take a look at the diskpart function in cmd and type "select disk 0" [enter] "list partition".

then youll see what kind of partitions you (or the OS resp. the factory) already have created.

 

That's one thing im confused about, I only have one hard drive, and I have talked to HP about why it is setup as a RAID. Apparently the RAID isn't active, and technically it cant be, i need two separate physical hard disks to complete a RAID.

so based upon that little statement and what you said previously, i cant make anymore basic partitions?


I also did check via command prompt, i do have 4 partitions, I have my C: default partition, HP_Tools, System, and Recovery. Another question I have would be; What would happen if I deleted the HP_Tools, System, or Recovery Partitions individually? and which one would I be better off without, (mind you that I do have a 1TB external hard drive that has most of my content on my laptop backed up)

 

then you obviously already have your 4 primary partitions on this only drive youve got inside the envy.

what do you want to use the partition you wanna create for? if its only data or apps, just create a logical drive!

DONT DELETE SYSTEM! this is the OS-reserved partition! the 100mb are essential to windows!
HP_TOOLS is UEFI. its not really necessary if you dont know you need it.
Recovery is useful if you dont wanna install the OS freshly, but i wouldnt recommend deleting it if youre not sure you dont need it.

 

I'm attempting to install hackintosh (please don't ask...), if you haven't heard of it, it's an OS, that's as specific as I would like to get. So I am partitioning 100GBs for an OS install, and yes it will be dual boot. The OS can't load and install properly on a dynamic disk and is only functional on a basic disk.

I haven't delve deep enough into HP technology and support tools to understand what HP_TOOLS actually is, but I will ask an already answered question (for clarity and understanding). HP_TOOLS is not needed for the RECOVERY portion?

 

yea then you need a primary one.

HP_TOOLS is the UEFI. its kind of a sequel to BIOS, however its not a replacement for it, yet. you can delete this HP_TOOLS partition in order to get one primary partition free, since if you need any UEFI functions in the future, you can create an UEFI USB stick where you can use the UEFI functions from. you get the UEFI from your notebook's support page, if needed.

 

Thanks for clearing all that up.

 

used my brother's macbook pro today............. our touchpads suck.

 

MacBook Pro's touchpad may function better, but it's too big for my tastes.

 

From Wiki:
The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ( UEFI) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware. UEFI is a more secure replacement for the older BIOS firmware interface, which is vulnerable to bootkit malware. It can be used in business computers to allow remote diagnostics and repair of computers, even if the operating system will not load.

Dude, you might want to keep this, HP/MS/AMD will not be able to do a remote connect to update/help you in the future.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/UEFI-Just-How-Important-It-Really-Is/1385

 

1. its still far from having replaced BIOS completely, unfortunately, so each HP notebook can still live without UEFI, but cannot without BIOS

2. he wouldnt "lose" it forever if he deleted the HP_TOOLS partition!
if he really needs it any time, he just has to download it from hp.com and create a UEFI boot USB using the integrated function to do that, and then put the stick into the notebook and boot it from the stick and there he has his UEFI.

ive been using UEFI thoroughly already for quite some time, i havent read about it for the first time now and conclude my opinions based upon that.

..no need to keep the HP_TOOLS partition.


PS: btw when was the last time HP/MS/AMD did "a remote connect to update/help you"?

 

sorry my q on 2nd bay is answered page 2!

 

Best Buy has some nice teal and black 17.3" Swiss Gear cases on sale for $29.99. I just bought one to replace my neoprene one because its zippers caused a slight scratch on the side of my Envy's top. It's small enough that I can dab it with black nail polish, but no more of that.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Swiss+G...6191286&skuId=9926189&st=swiss gear&cp=1&lp=1

I honestly want to find someone capable who can paint the top of my Envy. I'd want it to be a darker version of the aluminum color at the bottom -- still two-tone but more interesting than the boring black, even if that would make it resemble a MacBook Pro even more.

 

I wasn't addressing to you, soooo, this post is just spam/arguing/flaming.
AND,,,
I'm sure the OP is an adult an can make up his own mind, as to what to keep on HIS notebook.

To answer this;

I'll remind you again,
The reason HP sent me this free Envy 3D as a replacement for my HDX 18,,,,
I did the Online Crash Analysis (OCT) on the HP SUPPORT FORUM, THAT IS A REMOTE CONNECTION!
The HP OCT Team is staffed Microsoft trained tecks.
Sooo, if there was ever a reason/lesson to be learned by leaving well enough alone,,,,,,

I guess you know it all,,,,,,,Don't you!?

 

LOL

1. yes, he is free to do whatever he wants on his notebook. however, he wouldnt have posted here and asked some questions if he knew well what to do. so same as you try to convince him not to delete the UEFI partition, i tell him that theres is no risk of doing it, since he still can use UEFI with a USB stick, if he really needs it, because he asked whether it is safe to delete it, he posted a question to the whole community here, not you specifically.

2. OCA (not OCT) is a feature within windows. it has nothing to do with HP.

3. OCA is NOT a remote connection, its a simple file upload from a computer to a microsoft server

4. the remote connection UEFI is used for is something you probably never are going to use or need anyway, since its mostly used in big corporations where hundreds of client pcs/notebooks all around the world have to be accessible from one single point, while theyre connected to the corporate intranet, no matter what distance theyre all away from each other. such a connection is then used for an OS installation or other similar tasks, including, but not limited to troubleshooting.

and once again, if anyone needs UEFI, he can boot it using a simple USB stick. there is no need for a partition on an internal drive for it.

 

You sure are argumentative if someone has a difference of opinion than yours, I guess in your opinion, it's your way or no way.

 

absolutely not. i welcome everybody to discuss and post their arguments. thats what such a forum is for. different people, different opinions. hence if two peoples' opinions differ, its quite logical theyre gonna post counter-arguments, like i do when you give bad advice to somebody. its not because we dont share the same opinion, its because yours is a bit wrong. then its up to the others whom they believe.

 

Just got my Envy 17 3D today! I had already purchased a Corsair 240GB ForceGT to replace my primary drive. I also ordered the Envy with dual 750GB 7200rpm drives so that: 1) I'd have all the mounting hardware, and 2) I can use the removed 750GB in an external USB 3 dock that I also purchased as a backup drive.

Now that I'm ready to use Acronis TrueImage 2012 to do the cloning, I have just one (slightly) important consideration- which of the two internal drives is the primary? Am I correct in assuming it's the one closest to the side of the case with the back cover off (as in the image way back early in the threads of the single drive Envy 17 3000)?

Thanks all!

 

the one in the corner of the laptop is the primary one.

just heads up.. my first clone had alot of problems (IE didnt work and windows file system was messed up) so test first b4 you delete but on second clone it worked fine.

I ended up reinstalling windows about a month later because graphical glitches every where from the ati card. I am suspecting some application changed resolution slightly and I didnt pay attention. I realized this after seeing that my bookmarks bar fits one more bookmark in fullscreen on clean windows.... will never know if that was the reason for sure but my best guess because reinstalled drivers 50 times.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I just finished swapping the SDD for the primary HDD (HP kindly labelled the caddie with 1st HDD for me ). I'm going for the cloning process now.

 

Everything seems to have gone well enough. But I've found something about the build quality that is annoying to me- there's a raised ridge in the case right in front of the middle of the keyboard. It's like they stuffed too much of something under it there, causing a slight 'hill' at the right rear of the trackpad. Otherwise it works fine, and I don't have the bent case near the USB port.

 

Hi,

Can you give me some profile for the equalizer of the beats audio ?
I also notice that the speakers detected by windows are 2 simple speakers and not the 6.1 one is that normal ?

Thanks !

 

For some reason, my backlit keyboard no long dims and lights up according to my presence. Does anyone know what I might have done to cause this? Where can I go to adjust settings? Thanks.

 

are the two red dots on bezel on?

 

Yes, it is.

 

Check your Proximity Sensor settings (Windows Search Bar: "Proximity").

 

I'm using my Envy 17 for CAD as well, and the power behind it is more then enough. The Graphics on the third gen isn't a massive difference imo.. The graphics on the third gen will be more then sufficient for CAD and most things you want to throw at it. And once you start using CAD it'll heat up the laptop a bit, but the third gen has fixed the heating issues.. So, I'd say go with that. The price is a bit more, but by every means worth it.

 

I have these settings now and I think it makes sound better from laptop's speakers. Can someone confirm that its just me wanting sound to be better so I think I hear better sound...........

 

I just tried it with Star Wars Episode I on the last fight with Darth Maul. It does seem better. I need to compare with my Bose family/marital aide headphones (wait, I mean noise cancelling )...

 

I finally gave up on the Envy 17. The third one is gone back. What a sad end! I really wanted to like this laptop. It has everything going for it but I just couldn't use it much because of missing key strokes. And everything I tried to fix that failed on me. In the end, I got frustrated with missing every other keystroke and having to retype things got me sick of it. Goodbye Envy 17. It was good knowing you.

 

I have another question- is there supposed to be an option in the Envy 17 3D's bios to change the graphics to fixed? I haven't been able to locate such an entry in mine, and wanted to be sure that it's actually using the AMD dedicated GPU for my 3D games.

 

isnt it already on fixed? my idea of the dynamic vs fixed is that dynamic switches based on program not power state. But my envy switches based on battery or plugged in.

 

That's what it appears that mine does, but I just finished running the latest Unigine Heaven benchmark, and it claims to have been using the Intel HD 3000 GPU. I had power connected, and the settings indicated that the AMD dedicated GPU was in use. I wasn't sure though.

 

my games have been lagging recently and i didnt know why so I ran benchmark test and gpu scores were horribleeeeee. reinstalled drivers and now normal again..

 

I had problems with keystrokes as well, I even contacted HP support but the guy couldn't figure it out. I tried to make a video of the problem, to document it, but I realized that the problem decreased more and more the more I typed. Now it never misses any keystrokes. I was very close to returning it, but now I'm happy. The fans are still noisy though, but I guess it's not a perfect world.

 

Going to do a clean install of Win 7 Pro on my Envy 17 3D.

Can anyone explain how I reinstall the TriDef stuff ?

Is it available in SWSetup because I don't see it.

Thanks!!

 

Ok, I've got this "thing" again. It happens every ~15 minutes once. It could be something about brightness-correction when the sceen shows bright / dark pictures. Like my Samsung monitor.

Do you have an external monitor connected? If so, via HDMI or Display Port?

 

Hi, I'm very interested in buying an Envy 17. I like the 1080p screen, the really good audio and the dual hdd setup. I started reading this thread from the beginning, and it seemed like people were having problems with the first envy 17's! So my question is now that the new envy 17 has been out a while do you guys recommend it? Thanks !

 

Interesting. HP.com just changed the listed battery and excepted life on their CTO page to "8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++" but still says "A 6-cell 86WHr Lithium-Ion long life battery (up to 5.25 hours, upgradable to 9-cell5)" on the overview page.

HP Official Store — Buy and Customize your ENVY 17 3D series PC direct from HP
HP ENVY 17 3D series | HP Official Store

 

Hi,

No for the moment I'm just using the laptop monitor
Perhaps I'm going to see with the support

 

TriDef is NOT in the SWSetup folder. It resides in C:\Program Files (X86)\TriDef 3D Simply make a copy of the entire directory. There should be four subfolders

Apps
File Types
HP
Install Manager
TriDef

You are spefically going to need the HP folder...it contains your license.

Once you have made the copy of the above folder...you can wipe your drive and do the install. Once done, copy the folder back to C:\Program Files (X86). Go to Tridef and download the latest version of the software 5/1

TriDef 3D

Install it. It should overwrite most of the already existing folder you just put back. When you start the program, it will ask you for a license. Close the program...go to your TriDef folder...then to the HP folder...double click on the HP License file. It will then license TriDef and make it fully functional.

Pretty much it

 

Can someone please post an image of the directory I was supposed to save ? I goofed and wiped before I saved it.

Thanks!!

 

I think theres a unique serial in there.

 

I believe that it simply checks that your are using an Envy 17 as the other "licensing" app they supply do just that.

I did find this link on TriDef's website and if you run the "AMD HD3D Checker" it will say that the program should have been installed by default and gives link to request replacement.

TriDef 3D :: TriDef 3D for AMD HD3D - Welcome

I went ahead and asked for a replacement and will wait to see if they provide something.

 

the adobe stuff have serials so I assumed the same for TriDef but I dont own the 3D envy 17