Hyperventilating: My new, used, DV7-6178us comes today. Part 1?

Psyched to get my new, used DV7 and already have a few upgrades planned, like an SSD. But, before I change any hardware, I want to clean up the HD and evaluate the unit for problems and performance to make sure I got what I paid for.

First up, verify hardware. Can I just look in Device Manager and see the make, model # and firmware version, of my CPU, GPU, Memory(incl speed), HD, BIOs, SATA controller, ethernet card, wireless card, DVD reader/writer, and USB ports(3.0), and any other hardware which I forgot to list here? Or, is there a better freeware program which I can DL to use to get the full details on the hardware in this new laptop?

Next Up, clean HD bloatware....

 

Laptop got here about 3 hours ago and at this point, I have cleaned it up a bit, both externally and internally. Used HP Manager to update all my drivers and had to run it twice before all was updated, including the bios.(held my breath)

One driver which looks like it didn't upgrade is the driver for the Radeon GPU as it is still dated 3/15/11 in the Device Manager. And, the Update Driver box is not available. I am guessing that is because the Radeon GPU is not ON and the Intel HD3000 is being used.
Is that correct?

I also noticed that during the update process I got a quick box appearance during the Intel Wireless Drivers and My WiFi software saying that ADAPTER NOT FOUND. Is that because I don't probably have an Intel Wireless Adapter? Gotta go and look in Device Manager again to check.

So far, this notebook is turning out to be the incredible deal that I hoped it would be... except for one complaint.
The previous owner obviously smoked... alot. He tried to use some sort of air freshener to cover up the smoke smell but it only makes it worse.

Other than opening up the entire laptop and hand cleaning every internal component, is there some other trick or thing I can do to get rid of the smoke/air freshener odor?

Thanks for any help and advice anyone can offer!

 

D/L HWinfo32 or the 64bit version: HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools

As for getting rid of the smell, leave it outside overnight if you are sure there will be no dew or rain. That will reduce the odor to a manageable level. Also, wiping it down with rubbing alcohol on a lint free cloth or towel will help. Just don't get any on the LCD. Then a damp cloth with a mild soap on the exterior wiped off with a damp cloth then buffed with a lint free cloth might help. But for sure, use a Q-Tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the keys. The keys harbor many germs than you might imagine.

 

This is very true, keys can get incredibly dirty, imagine opening a doorknob for each time you hit a key. It's good to regularly clean your keyboard regardless, and probably your whole laptop. I do it for the sake of aesthetics (because I think I might be OCD and can't handle when something isn't clean). and to clean off the bacteria, of course.

 

Thanks guys(used generically for M/F BTW)!!!

Already, after one day the smell is alot less than it was when I first got this laptop. Used my trusty can of compressed gas and my little PC vacuum to clean the internal dust bunnies as best I can through the cooling intakes, vents and after removing the battery/HDs/DVD. Thoroughly wiped the rest of the non-lcd surfaces with a bunch of anti-bacterial wipes. Was meticuluous with the keyboard. And finally cleaned the very smudgy(with whatever air freshener the previous owner sprayed on the unit to try and limit the cig smoke smell.

For awhile though, the smell gave me the intense urge to pour myself a single malt and stoke up a fat Padron...

Was able to update my 6490M driver and catalyst to their latest versions... although the latest driver is apparently only mid year 2011 for the GPU.

Visibly identified my wireless adapter as an Intel Centrino and installed latest drivers. Still no "My WiFi", whatever that is? Should I even worry about that?

DVD writer driver is dated something like 2006 and is supposedly the latest driver available. Has HP been using the same DVD for THAT long?

Just downloaded and installed Chrome(my familiar browser), even though IE was working fine. Chrome is default browser but not gonna delete IE since some of the college grant sites for my kids are IE only and IE's compatability mode in Chrome didn't cut it.

Also D/L'd CCleaner but didn't install it yet... Laptop came with free Norton for 6 months so I'll hold off D/Ling AVG until I see how I like Norton. Still think I'm gonna add Malwarebytes since it saved my butt in the past and worked well with AVG.

Got everything hooked up to the USB 3.0 ports and dang... camera cards images are almost instantaneous and my external 2Tb backup HD seems to be as fast as the laptops HD.

Screen is pretty both on and off but dang... the reflected glare is bothersome. Future upgrade if I keep this laptop for my own use will definately be the 1080p MATTE screen.

Going to download HWINFO64 now to see what it says. Thanks again for the help!

 

Yes, get MBAM. I prefer avast over avg. And norton is a horrible AV.

 

Thanks Doc!
Grabbed Malwarebytes.

Spent a few hours today researching, D/Ling, installing and then trying to use a half dozen programs which are supposed to be able to let me make copies of my own CDs under Win7. I am used to using the new CD or DVD in order to make a working disc based copy for everyday car use while also leaving a copy of my music and certain movies on my portable 2 Tb HD for watching movies and listening to music while away on the road. Had a nice and easy setup for making copies of CDs and DVDs on my 6 year old WinXP Compaq laptop but now it seems that technology and MS has done everything they can to try and force us to buy multiple copies of each CD and DVD.

Ended up using EAC for ripping my new CD to my portable HD, and then just used CDCopyXP for burning a new CD copy. Pain in the butt, but since I only have to do this every now and then, once for each new CD/DVD, I guess it won't be too bad.

Anyway... I am LOVIN' this DV7!!!

 

Try imageburn for copying them.

 

Thanks Doc!