Has anybody Upgraded their Processor in ENVY 17-17t-j000/j100 ('2013?) or 15'' j models?

I hope I made that clear enough, maybe I didn't but I'm thinking of picking up a base ENVY TouchSmart model, most likely a 17" but a 15" is relevant for this thread too--I was looking for a quad core and wondered how easy would it be to change from a 4700MQ to a 4900MQ, or, even better, to a 4910MQ?

I was ready to buy someone's 17TS j000 that has two 1TB drives and the 4900MQ with 16GB and BR/SuperDVD, but upon doing a restore he got errors about files missing, and it's still under warranty, so he sent it in. It only has 1x1 wifi w/BT, so I'd like to either install the 7260 wifi, and a Samsung 840 EVO mSATA. I figure why use up a drive spot if I can use mSATA? But buying a laptop with 2 drives I wouldn't have to wipe one clean & delete all its partitions... plus it's like getting the hardware and cable free.

My other option is to buy a $600-$700 17" base TS 1080p that has the 2x2 AC wifi and add the mSATA SSD and change the 4700MQ to a 4910MQ.

My questions are:

Did anybody with a 15 or 17 upgrade to the 4910MQ? If so, was there any problem with the BIOS or UEFI?

How difficult is the swap to do on a 17 TS?

How difficult is adding the mSATA SSD on a 17" ENVY TS? I have seen the thread about making it the boot drive but had more concerns about the actual job; seems I read here it's easy to do on a 15, not as easy on a 17.

I already bought a brand new sealed mSATA 840 EVO and figured I could install it as the boot drive and just remove the original boot drive & save it in case the laptop ever has to be sent in under warranty.

Thanks for any help/info/links.

 

I wouldn't try a refresh processor in the J model, but if you stick to those listed in the service manual, then they will all work fine. If you want 4910MQ then make you check the service manual, pretty sure it can take the 4900MQ. Don't worry about the UEFI, doesn't matter.

 

Thanks. Are you one of the guys that did a mSATA install? I ended up getting a refurb ENVY TS 17-j043cl (4700MQ, 12GB, 1080p, 1TB, 2x2/AC WiFi, backlit KB) for $699 and another $138 for a 3-day Onsite 3-year warranty, plus another $57 for an HP 8GB sodimm, so $756 delivered,, now 16GB with a leftover 4GB stick plus the 3-yr warranty.

I really wanted the 4910MQ, I think it's in the top 2 or 3 mobile processors, but this laptop seems like 100x faster than my last, so I'll wait on the 4900/4910MQ.

I downloaded the Samsung software for cloning this drive to the mSATA 840 EVO but it says:

"OEM recoverypartitions, generated at the factory by computer manufacturers, cannot be replicated."

So can somebody recommend a free cloning software that will include the hidden partition? Thanks.

 

Clonezilla

In fact, I would use Clonezilla over whatever cloning software the oem gives you any day of the year.

 

As for the recovery partition, it can be replaced if you use HP recovery disks, I contacted HP about an issue i was having when i was attempting to create a USB recovery stick using the HP recovery manager with my usb 3.0 32GB Sandisk extreme. the recovery manager would not detect the flash drive but windows was able to see and access the flash drive.

HP have sent me a set of recovery disks for free which was nice of them and they told me that should i wish to change my current 1TB hybrid drive with a SSD drive i could use the HP recovery disks
and it will install the OS on my new hdd along with the recovery partition.

but this does not resolve my issue about the usb flash drive. i guess i will need to spend more money on a slower drive that does work to make a usb recovery stick.

 

Thanks for replying.

I have not attempted to make recovery disks yet. The HP Touchsmart 17 I originally attempted to buy with the 4900MQ processor the owner said he'd restore it to as new using the recovery disks... the process failed, saying missing files. He had to send it in to HP and after waiting over 2 weeks, I bought this one (ENVY TS 17 w/1080p, 2x2 AC WiFi) from newegg with 12GB and the 4700MQ instead for 699 (w/no tax & free shipping!) That's why I'm leery to try the recovery disks (I also had IBM CD recovery disks not work in the past. When I bought this I ordered a 32GB USB 2.0 flash drive for around 10.99 I think. I thought I read here you must use a 2.0, a 3.0 won't work.

Also, when you create Recovery disks, does it make them from the hidden partition or from the current OS? This laptop came with Win 8.0 and I immediately spent hours updating to 8.1 (you must do all the updates/security updates, etc, to the 8.0 before you can update to 8.1 through the MS Store), so will making the disks, if they work, restore it to 8.0 or 8.1?

Anybody know?

 

if you use the recovery partition to restore your laptop then it will go back to what ever was on the pc at the time it left the factory , as you have upgraded to 8.1 you will need to reinstall it all again. But here is were windows comes in handy with its own built in recovery method. it will let you make a complete system recovery dvd/usb hdd of your current system state.

i will post back on how you can do this, its a little late to do it now as its 1am here. but i will post back some time tomorrow to assist you with your problem.

 

Will using the HP Recovery Manager use the old hidden partition or the current OS?

YES, please post that! I haven't made any recovery disks yet... I have also lost Toggle Keys function somehow along the way, the caps lock won't beep and if Filter Keys is enabled at the same time the keyboard becomes unresponsive... I don't want to do a backup without fixing this first, and I don't want to have to re-install all my software & reverse all the shells & apps from the MS Store, especially one-by-one to find the problem. Thanks.

 

Hi matermark.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, if you want to make a windows recovery flash drive then the guide is located at the link below

Code:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html

as for the HP method then it will recover the system back to factory default if you do a full restore/recovery. so you would be better off making a recovery flash drive using windows, as this will allow you to recover/restore your system from the day it was made so you would not need to download updates and install software again.

The problem you are having with the toggle keys can you explane this a little more as Im not understanding it fully. you might have sticky keys enabled so press the left shift key 5 times to bring up the options and go from there.

 

I really want Toggle Keys on, but I set it to "On" but at the Login screen it works, but after I'm logged in Toggle Keys stops working... even after repeated resetting it to "On."

If I try setting Filter Keys to on, I lose use of the keyboard! I try typing into a text box field and the keys do nothing, The Caps Lock key doesn't work anymore. Alt + Tab no longer works. I had to uncheck Filter keys to get out of Ease of Access to get back here.

I really need the toggle keys to work--I somehow always hit the Caps Lock accidentally and don't realize it until I mis-typed a bunch of words or sentences! I googled the problem but none of the remedies worked. I didn't want to reinstall everything again... I did add some shell enhancements but can't remember which... my Taskbar is on the left where I want it...that was one program/tweak. Some didn't show up in Programs or Uninstall Programs...

 

ok sorry, as this is a software issue you might be better off creating a new topic else where on this site. i will not be able to help you as i have not used shell extensions on windows 8.x

 

Thanks for your help on doing the Windows backup, rootbeer. Is there such a subforum for software issues on this site where software is causing hardware issues? With so many different ENVY subforums, I'm not even sure where to post about -j000 (j043cl) TS 17 models...

Back on topic, what has to be done to get to the mSATA port to add the Samsung 840 EVO card to an ENVY TS 17?

 

your best bet is to try a different website, perhaps one of the many winddows customisation sites.
i am not pimping any sites for points but this one

Code:

http://www.eightforums.com/

has many areas related to customisation software.

please add some rep points by clickint the grey star below where it says rep power if i have helped you out here thanks