My Dv9000CTO Windows 7 Install Results

When I got my HDX18, I gave my wife my "old" Dv9000CTO, which came with Vista Ultimate. After she used it for a while, the thing got so bogged down with crap that it was almost unusable because it was so slow.

So, I had an old Intel SSD (G1 - The one that doesn't do TRIM) lying around, so I installed that and a clean copy of Windows 7 Home Premium and held on to see what happened. I was amazed that it went so smoothly and so fast. After installing Windows 7, right out of the box, the wireless worked, I was able to go on line and activate, install MS Security Essentials (Free), and do Windows Updates.

I was shocked I needed no drivers from HP or anyone to get the thing working. The Windows Update even installed the QuickPlay stuff!

Before the second round of Windows Updates, my display was "generic". After the second (and final) blast of Windows Updates, the display was perfect and the only yellow (!) in Device Manager were two "Base System Devices", of which I have no idea as to what they are, but they are not impeding the use of the PC.

So, to everyone thinking of revitalizing a dv9000 with W7 (and maybe an SSD), it works PFG!

Also, if anyone knows what the two "Base System Devices" may be, please let me know.

 

Open the properties of the uknown device, see the Hardware ID and type them here (or in google).

VEN_xxx and DEV_xxx <- look for those

 

THANKS KLF!!

Did just that and they were both related to the RICHO Memory Card readers. I quickly downloaded the HP Vista Drivers for that device, which loaded without issue, and now I have a clean device manager.

Very sweet!! So, Win7 Home Premium (OEM-32bit) works perfect on a dv9000 CTO, for those who find this thread in the future.

Go for it!

 

If you're 9000 has 4GB of ram, and you have a 32bit installed, you won't be able to take advantage of all 4GB of the ram you have installed. Install a 64bit version.

 

Actually, that's not true for the dv9000.

The BIOS will only do 3.2Gb, 64bit O/S or not. I had 64bit Vista on it before, and it only saw 3.2Gb, which really ticked me off.

That's why I put 32bit W7 on it for my wife, so there would be no compatibility issues with any of her programs that would not like a 64bit OS.

 

In that case I believe the chipset in that dv9000 is Intel 945? It's a "known feature" that it doesn't handle 4GB ram well I had that same issue in my nc8430.

Normally, if chipset allows, you could get up to 3.8GB available ram in XP, perhaps even more. It depends on your hardware configuration. With my current 8510w 32bit XP gets only 2.8GB ram.

Also you need to remember that dv9000 -series includes different configurations roughly in a thee year era. Also Intel and AMD setups. Even the newest dv9800-series had the dv9000 sticker in the display, it was never changed.

 

KLF,

Yeah. I think my dv9000 was an early one. I searched for BIOS updates and stuff, but no matter how current I kept the BIOS, I could never get it to look past 3.2Gb, even with the Vista 64 Ultimate. It's one of the reasons I dumped it and got the HDX 18.

One thing about laptops though, even at this state of their maturation, it seems the model life is only about 9 months. It seemed like I got my HDX18, it was all the rage, then in 6 months it was discontinued.

These are expensive boxes to keep buying every year. I'm sticking with the HDX18 for the time being.