The Giant HP Laptop Out-Of-The-Box Guide

EDIT: please read my last post in this thread, this guide is out of date for win7 notebooks

Here is a guide with recommendations of out of how to optimize your hp laptop straight out of the box.
All credit goes to the original authors of each link; I just compiled everything into one guide

The HP Laptop Out-Of-The-Box-Guide​

So, you just bought a new hp laptop? Congratulations and here starts your journey of optimization.

1. CREATE HP RECOVERY DISCS, Do not do anything else in this guide without doing this. Creating these discs will allow you to restore your computer to a factory state at any time if you mess up. To create these discs, click the start orb, and type in recovery. Click the program called recovery disc creation, and follow the prompts. (If for some reason, the discs did not burn properly the first time, use this method to allow yourself to burn them again (thanks to sideswipe and peppa): Link ) IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU COULD RENDER YOUR SYSTEM INOPERABLE IF YOU MESS UP. Also, back up your SwSetup folder (C:\SwSetup) to a DVD for original software and drivers.

1.1. Do you have a vista disc? If you need a vista disc, you can download one legally (see this thread for more info: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=240320 ) If yes proceed to step 2, If not, then go straight to step 3

2. If you have access to a windows anytime upgrade dvd use the information in this thread (thanks to orev) to do a clean install: Orev's Clean Install Guide
Once you have done this, Proceed to step 4

3. If you dont have access to a vista disc, proceed with uninstalling HP bloatware:
Here is a list of software that I recommend removing (I probably forgot some so feel free to notify me of ones i forgot):
Vongo
Norton (use the norton removal tool)
Hp Photosmart Essentials
Hp Easy Setup (also delete the online services folder in program files, after you have uninstalled)
Hp Games (and delete the folder in program files, after you have uninstalled)
Disable HP Total Care Advisor (Do not uninstall it if you want to keep the recovery partition)
Hp Update (Its better to manually update from Hp.com)
Hp Wireless Assistant (unless you want to manually enable and disable wireless and bluetooth)
Rhapsody
Also go to program files, and delete the folder called "Online Services"
AFTER uninstalling each program, go to the program files folder and delete their respective directories.

Also, if you have not done a clean install, you will get a black screen (for like a minute) after the welcome screen. To stop this screen from showing up, disable UAC (to disable UAC, first click the start orb, and then the account picture, then in the window that comes up, select "Turn User Account Control on and off" and follow the prompts) and install the updates in this thread: link

4. Now, since you have no antivirus software (either because of a clean install, or uninstalling norton) install your antivirus software of choice. Click here for a listing of reviews and ratings of antivirus software.

5. With your computer cleaned and protected, its time for some real optimization:
First off, install any updates for windows.
Then follow this guide by Les (flamenko) to optimize your notebook.

6. Install the latest drivers for your computer components. You should especially get new drivers for your graphics card. These are available at laptopvideo2go.com (make sure you follow all of their guides).

7. Now, with your computer running smoothly, install your software. If you need software, check out this thread: Hucsman's Free Software Thread

8. Read up on keeping your notebook running well. Check out these guides:
Notebook Dummy Guide Articles
Guide to Cooling Your Notebook (By Chaz)
The Notebook Battery Guide (By chrisyano)
The Notebook Battery Guide (By Adam@NBF from notebookforums.com)
PC Mag Vista Optimization and Customization Guides

Once again, congratulations on getting a new notebook, and enjoy!

I will add more steps as I get the time.
Suggestions are welcome!
-v3loc1ty2.0

you can download this guide in pdf format at this link: http://dv9500t.blogspot.com/ (see the post titled "The First Guide is Ready!!!)
or at http://cr1t1cal.v3loc1ty.googlepages.com/HPNotebookOutOfTheBoxGuide.pdf

hehe... honk(rep) if you like the thread

 

You should also add to the Anti Virus section, the name of some free anti virus.
Clam AV
Avast
AVG

 

ok thanks Jamaicanyouth
ive added a cnet search about antivirus and reviews of different software

 

This is very nice,
Good for new users!
Great done!

 

thanks
ive added step 7 and 8
PM me if you want me to add your guide to step 8

 

Very helpful, thanks. If you want to make it even MORE helpful, I would suggest that you offer more manual detailed instructions--or links to instructions--for some of the various tasks. Even simple things like uninstalling or disabling UAC.

Question: I just got a new laptop with Vista Home Premium and have not figured out how to get rid of various icons on the desktop, like "Try Aol" and "Vonage." They are not listed among the programs to uninstall.

Thanks again.

 

You need to do clean install of Vista. For more information go to the Sticky at the top of this Hp forum. Its something like clean installion by orev

 

Sure, ill add the detailed instructions
To get rid of these icons, just delete them (they are just simple shortcuts)

 

the cnet antivirus review is now updated to 2008....

 

I will definitely use this when I get my laptop.

Question, wouldn't it be better to create a backup after uninstall bloatware, that way you don't have to go through the uninstalling process if you restore again?

 

the backup recovery discs are burned from the backup partition which contains all the bloatware, not from your current settings.

 

Oh okay.


Thanks

 

the cds are the same, no matter when you burn them,
but i think the recovery partition changes depending on driver updates and windows updates (i could be mistaken)

 

so are there any steps i forgot?

 

Hey,

Nice thread.

I've just got a dv9500t. I got it shipped to a friend's place in US.

Can anybody please list the contents of the box?
I might have some things missing and I want to confirm that.

1) Does HP send any printed manuals/quick start guides etc?
2) A remote is included, right?
3) Has anybody bought the Computrace LoJack? Does one get a CD/Key with it?

These are the things I couldn't find in the box.

Thanks
Nilesh

 

Yes, there are manuals in the box, and also the remote should be there too. I don't know about the lojack. Does it look like the box was opened? Maybe when it went through customs?

 

Hey,

Thanks for the reply.

The unfortunate part is I am/was not in US, so I don't really know if the box seemed opened.
I received my laptop when another friend of mine came over from US and got it for me.

So, what exactly came with the box and what was the state of the box, when it came are dead-ends. My friend at whose place it came has not been of much help.

Also, I talked to HP and I was told atleast thrice that they don't send any printed manuals with the dv9500(and maybe other notebooks too) anymore.
Manuals are available online, they said.

The Lojack is the concern. It's worth 99$ and I have nothing to show for it.

 

Maybe your friend couldn't fit everything into his bags? It's possible that they have stopped shipping manuals, but I doubt there would be no paperwork at all. Usually they would have some pamphlets at least that give you a "quick setup" sort of thing. But you can get most of the manuals online, so that's probably not much of a concern.

Did you look for the remote in the expresscard slot? That's where it fits normally, but usually isn't shipped in that slot. Maybe your friend put it in there to carry it?

Is the lojack software installed on the system, or is it nowhere to be found? They mostly don't give you discs anymore for software, so it might just be what's already installed.

 

Yeah, I guess they have stopped shipping it. All my friend remembers seeing is a Quick Start guide(No, he didn't get it for me. ). Yup, manuals are not a concern really.

I did. I owned a dv9000z earlier(got stolen), so I knew it fits there and I checked. It was not there. HP says they can ship it again. Once again, not much of a concern for me.

I checked that too. It's not installed. And in any case, the vital link in using that software is that I need to register my laptop with the Lojack site. That's where it needs the key (the cd is not really required as the software can be downloaded). No key means I am stuck.

 

I guess I would contact HP for the software key, or to see where it might have been (on a card or something in the box?)

 

Hi Nilesh,

Please share the experience about your new 9500t .

Im planning soon to buy a dv 9507tx in India.By the way which is the exact model number you received from the USA ?

Being 17 inches is the dv 9500t quite heavy for carrying around ?

As Ive heard,does the dv 9500t make some significant sound or not ?

How is the picture quality ?

Regards

 

the dv9500t is one of the lightest 17 inchers out there
the noise is not too bothersome
the screen is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
i use it a lot for gaming and watching HD movies

(Go India Cricket by the way)

 

Hi v3loc1ty2.0,

Thanks for the response

Your laptop has a slightly faster processor than the one available here .

The dv9500t with the fastest processor "available in India" is pavilion dv 9507tx with the following specifications :

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7990&cc=au&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_AUEN

We here in India have a limited choice for HP laptops since all the pavilions available here are pre built and we dont have the facility of configuring laptops online .

It was good to note that HP dv 9500t is light and noise is not much

Actually Im interested in a notebook with HDMI port and fast processor so I had shortlisted the following SONY and HP models although some specifications and display size are different :

http://www.sony.co.in/product/vgn-fz25gn?site=hp_en_IN_i (SONY)

and

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7990&cc=au&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_AUEN (HP)

So please suggest which one I should choose after comparing the specifications ?

By the way your 9500t blog and "The Hp Laptop Out-Of-The-Box-Guide " is very informative and useful .

Thanks and Regards,

H.S.Brar

 

id say overall that the HP is better because you can upgrade the cpu later,
but you cant upgrade the gpu and the sony only has an 8400mGS
what exactly are you going to be using the laptop for?

 

Hi,

Yes you are right .

I had noticed the difference in the graphics cards and CPU of the SONY and HP models.

So what I wanted to ask was if we compare the CPUs(1.8 GHZ vs 1 GHZ) and the graphics cards (8400 M GS vs 8600 M GS) ,are the differences very much ?

If so in what aspect ?

By the way I'll be using the new laptop for everything including watching tv via tv tuner(I have a Pinnacle PCTV USB 2.0 TV Tuner),watching DVDs on notebook as well external LCDs(later on),day to day computing and since the graphics cards are good ones some games also .

My first choice was in fact Dell .Here in India Dell allows online configuration and sends the notebook from Malaysia in a month or so.

But I could not find any Dell laptop which has both S video as well as HDMI port .Hence dropped the idea and decided to settle for HDMI enabled notebooks from HP or SONY.

HDMI port makes the notebook future compatible.

Just curious to know isnt the HP 9500t screen too glossy and shiny and reflects a lot ?

Regards

 

the pages you linked to say that the hp has a 1.8 ghz and the sony has a 2 ghz
if thats true, the difference is not much at all...
id definitely go for the hp
the dv9500 screen is not too glossy (id say its just about perfect) unless youre going to use it outside a lot

 

Hi,

Thanks for the convincing remarks on 9500t.

Are you located in India .If so,how would you rate the after sales HP customer service in India
?

By the way how is the sound quality of the in built speakers ?Have you compared that with other laptops ?

 

no i dont live in india, but ive been there many times (im from there)
the quality of the speakers is pretty good (they're from altec lansing)

 

nice guide. thanks

 

you're welcome, thanks for checking it out, i hope it helped

 

ive posted download links to download this guide in pdf format
(see the first post)

 

do you think that the dv9500t is to big for sitting on the couch with it or traveling??? how heavy is it

 

no, im a pretty small person (5'2" (im less than 20)) and i find it perfect for using on my lap (it only weighs like 6 lbs)

 

It's 9 pounds, so it's pretty heavy. It's just fine for sitting on the couch, and for some traveling. If you are carrying it every day, it might be a little big for that.

 

Hi V,

Nice thread, specially for someone as new as me with notebooks
I haven't received mine yet but it's just 11 days away... so I'll be popping up every now and then with some very, very basic questions
I assume that newbies like myself will be checking out this thread as well, so I'll play that part -like I had a choice -

Ok, first question:
I just read that you cannot use any other OS rather than Vista because of some configuration in the BIOS. I've also read that there's a workaround but it seems that you have to be an astrophysicis or the heir to HP to understand it. So it seems that I'll have to "choose" Vista as my OS. I have no experience with Vista so I'll have to see if all the bad rep is true or not... which leads me to my first question -finally-... If I'm to upgrade to 4G of RAM should I go for the 32bit or the 64bit version? I know the 32 bit version will only recognize 3G but I've been told that at the end it will use the whole 4G... so what would you recommend?

Second question:
I'm a visual artist so I'll be working with programs like PhotoShop CS3, Illustrator CS3, Flash CS3, ZBrush 3 and of course some gamming which is more likely to bring some compatibility issues?

I know this sounds more like an OS question, but I decided to post it here since the issue starts with the dv9500t OS options when you customize it.

This is my first notebook ever so I'm very excited

Thanks!

 

shadow99 -- i'm by no means a big guy but my dv9500t fits me perfectly. i like the keypad even. the screen size make the 15.4" seem small. i've never had another notebook to compare it to but it doesn't seem heavy to me. i plan to take it back and forth to school a lot and don't forsee any back problems or anything


elarcano -- 32-bit vista will only recognize around 3 to 3.5 gigs of memory, you have to have 64-bit to see the full 4 gigs of ram. take a look at orev's clean vista install once you get a notebook, too. it makes a pretty big difference.
i've run cs3 on my computer with 2g of memory and it seems a little big sluggish but i had other programs running also. i don't think you'll have any problems with the 4g of ram.
i've no idea on the compatibility issues though.. i'd imagine that developing such draining software they would have the whole 32-bit vs 64-bit thing in mind though. you can probably find it on their sites

 

thanks for the guide, by the way. very useful

 

What HP did was to remove legacy SATA support from the BIOS. This is not in any way meant to lock you to Vista, but simply a removal of very old technology. The workaround if you want to install XP is to make a custom XP CD with the SATA drivers already on it. It's not that hard when using the program "nLite", but it's also not really for "newbies" either. :/

As for Vista's bad rep, that's mostly what it is. People just like to complain about things, and this year's fashion is to bash Vista. When XP came out everyone was bashing that, but the Internet wasn't as prominent back then, so the bashing didn't reach such a fervor. It does have it's problems, but in general it works.

To use all 4GB, you need 64bit. There's no way to somehow "make it" use 4G in the end. It's just not possible. I am using 64bit and it works just fine with Photoshop. I don't play games, so I don't know the compatibility with it. You can also switch between 32bit and 64bit if you really need to, but you need to do a clean install for that. But it is possible, as long as you have the discs for it. You can get them cheap, see the clean install guide in my sig.

 

Hey again guys,

* Dragon RR

Yeah, I've read that before but some of HP online Technicians told me that in the end it would use the 4G... that's why I was so confused... I guess I was just being purposely naive

* orev

Aha! thanks for clearing the "because of some configuration in the BIOS" issue

Indeed it sounds interesting and provocative

Amen to that!

I'd appreciate if you could post a link to any "tutorial" about making such custom XP CD or anything related... whenever you can of course.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It takes a lot of time to fix all the possible bugs and problems. That's why I was contemplating the possibility to go back to the XP 62bit. Since it's been around more time I would assume it has fewer problems. If I can't handle the custom XP CD I'll go for the Vista 62 version and see how's it for myself.

You mean like a dual OS? I thought that was not possible with this model. Wouldn't that use double the amount of HD space than having 1 OS?

* v3loc1ty
Hope you don't mind me posting so many OS questions but the way I see it's related to the model and your "out of the box" guide. It's not my intention to derail the subject of this thread, more like expand it... in other words, if it bothers you, just let me know

Thanks a lot for keeping up with the basic questions

 

A good place to start is the web site for nLite. Just google it. There is also a "How to install XP" thread that is sticky in the HP forum. Should be right at the top.

You could do dual OS, but I meant was you could try 64bit, and if you run into problems, you can install 32bit instead. It's a little involved, and you'd have to install the system clean, but it's possible. Just some information so you don't feel locked in to whichever you choose.

 

My 8710W came with DVD's labeled "Operating System DVD" Vista 32 on one and 64bit on another. Are these the same as what the HP program would create or are thes DVD's for "repair" only?

 

I think those are just plain vista discs
the HP software will make discs that will recover your computer to the out of the box state (with all bloatware)

 

wow... i should probably clean out my computer

 

how do i disable HP total care advisor?

 

you can disable it from starting up at startup by removing its entry in msconfig

 

thank you so much!!!

 

i was wondering if you ended up getting the HP laptop? Im actually looking to buy the same model but the dealer here told me HP is discontinuing that model (DV9507TX) and replacing it with (DV9704TX) when i check the only difference was an upgrade of 1.8 ghz core 2 duo to a 2.0 ghz core 2 duo and the DV9504TX comes with Nvidia Geforce 8600m GS w/256 mb dedicated .. And the DV9704TX comes with the same card but 512 mb of dedicated memory.. now my main purpose of the laptop is gaming so will the increase in memory of the two cards actually make a difference because there both DDR2..?

 

If you are really serious about gaming, the 512MB card and upgraded processor will definitely be better

 

well its 200 mhz increase were talking about .. Is it really worth it? Ill probably end up buying that one anyways atleast even if it doesnt really make much of a difference.. Atleast i can brag about the specs..

 

Good thread!