My First HP

Ok guys, I am new to the whole HP world...I have owned a Dell XPS M140 for the past few years and absolutely hated it. Well...I go and get this (DV9500 with AMD operating system) and already I am having problems. First off....all of our other puters can connect to wireless connections without any problems and my new HP will NOT connect at all. It keeps telling me that my settings are wrong for the network. I don't understand....I don't want to start tinkering with it b/c of the fact that I don't know anything about it. I also would like to know how to upgrade my RAM and graphics too. Please any information would be greatly appreciated...........Jeremy

 

im not sure whats wrong with your wireless my connected right away, no problem. try reseting your settings and make sure your wireless is on. And for upgrading your graphics card, you can't. You can't upgrade any laptop graphics card. Also for the RAM just go find some on newegg.com and its really easy to install.

 

I appreciate your help.....also are you having any problems with Vista?? I hear alot of ppl say that vista sucks and they downgraded to XP Pro...why???

I also need to know what CRAP I can remove from the computer w/o affecting any major programs. It came with so much junk that it's taking up almost 10 gig's of my hard drive....Did yours come that way as well??

 

Okie dokie...let's see what we can do here. What can you tell us about the wireless network you're trying to connect to? Is it your home network, a public hotspot, etc? Security on or off? Does your computer see the network and then fail to connect, or simply not see it at all? Have you tried another wifi network? And the obvious question: have you confirmed that your wifi switch on your new laptop is set to "on"?

Upgrading the RAM is pretty simple on a DV9500 - there is a little port on the bottom of the machine that is held in with a few tiny screws. Turn of the laptop, take the battery out, remove the cover on the port, take out your old RAM, insert new RAM, reattach the cover, put the battery back in, plug it in & you're done. How much RAM do you have in it right now? If you're running Vista you'll get a good speed bump going from 1gig to 2gig; there are mixed opinions about upgrading beyond 2gig.

Someone else might know more than I do about this, but I don't think you can upgrade the graphics card. What it is is what it is; you might be able to get small speed bumps with different drivers, etc, but you're not going to be putting a new memory card in that machine.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new laptop.

 

He means wifi switch. LOL

Look around in "Programs and Features" in the Control Panel, and it's pretty safe to uninstall anything that says "trial." Vista's not that bad. However, it will take up lots of room for System Restore points and Shadow Copies. Here is a guide on how to limit it. I have my space limited to 5GB for System Restore and Shadow Copies.

 

Here are the specs for it:

-17" WXGA High Def Brightview Widescreen (1400x900) display
-AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core Mobile Technology TK-58
-2048MB DDR System Memory
-160GB Hard Drive
-802.11 a/b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
-Lightscribe Super Multi 8x DVD +/-R/ RW w/Double Layer Support
-NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M (UMA) with up to 559 MB total available graphics memory
-Vista Home Premium

It seems that this operating system is slower then the Intel Pentium processor I had in my XPS...can anyone tell me why?? All my wireless settings are the same on my HP and Dell so I still don't see why it isn't working. Oh...it's a network that is about 50 yards from me at a neighbors house. I can ALWAYS pick up a signal on my Dell but I am yet to succeed with my HP. He has the network set up as Open so I can connect but nothing.......OH AND YES MY SWITCH IS TURNED ON LOL....

 

personally i think vista is great. i think the reason most people don't like it is because it doesn't support a lot of programs on it at the moment, and uses more resources like RAM ans stuff. All you really need is 2gb of RAM, also note if you have a 32bit Version of vista or xp you can only use 3gb of RAM.

Also you can pretty much get rid of most programs, you can judge by the name and if your still wounder google it. Mine came with a bunch of junk on it too, note that if your has that yahoo search on the desktop tool bar and you don't know how to get it off just ask me.

 

you mean your possessor is slower then your old one? You probably should of got a better one but it's good. Wait so you can't even see your neighbors network on your laptop? Also do you have internet at your house? if so then just pick up a $50 router, you will get a lot better connection.

 

How do you know if it's the 32 Bit or the 64 Bit?? By looking in the graphics settings??

 

I don't have any experience with processors. I thought since it was a new laptop that it would have a better (faster) processor.....yeah my screen name says it all....LMAO

The computer can recognize the network but won't connect...BUT all my other puters connect right away...Just seems kinda weird to me. I am going to Wal-Mart and buying a router and modem today....I get my internet next week. So if I want it to be faster I need to get a new processor then. I don't think I want to do that....or my wallet. I will send a list of all the programs that are on here and maybe you all can tell me what to get rid of and what to keep. My wife works in the IT dept for a large corporation in Dallas so she can get windows XP pro if i want it. Would it be worth it to downgrade or should I just wait it out?? My ram.....isn't 2048MB close to 2 gb?

 

well no, but goto start menu, search welcome center, click it, then click view system details, and it should be listed there...

 

lol, 2048 is 2gb of ram. just wait next week till ya get your internet.

 

All it says is Windows Vista Home Premium

 

kept reading...

you might have to scroll down a tad...

it will say 32bit operating system, or 64bit

 

it is only the 32 bit operating system....how do I upgrade to the 64 bit and how much is it? The actual model number is DV9626us......

 

32-bit is fine for your needs. If you want more speed, putting in another 1GB will help, and you really shouldn't need any more than that. Besides, 32-bit has more support for programs...especially older ones.

Have you tried connecting to any other networks? You should do that as a test, to make sure that the problem is just with your neighbor's network.