Windows 7 on HDX18

As always, please message me with any suggestions. I have yet to update this with any changes or issues with the 7201 build - forthcoming

Everyone should be dumping Vista, and embracing W7, especially when you figure as a general rule you should be formatting your C drive and reloading your OS at least annually, and W7 is available freely from microsoft HERE until July 2009, and will be fully functional till March 2010. Many of us in the owners lounge have already made the jump, and you will be hard pressed to find any complaints. Who knows, they may have a discounted W7 install disc ordering link at hp.com like they do for Vista Ultimate.

One of the benefits of W7 is running XP in compatibility mode.(virtually) To run this the best way, you will need to enable "virtualization technology" in your bios, at the "system configuration" tab. LJCook wrote a nice little guide HERE.

Concerning that row of buttons above your keyboard... I am trying to refine this process, so that you need not install all the MediaSmart bloatware unless you want to, and still have a functioning row of buttons, so check back here in a few days, but in my 32 bit version, I installed the audio driver listed below, as well as the mediasmart MPV, and then the mediasmart smartmenu update, (both listed on the HP HDX driver page under Vista 32), and now I have fully functional smartmenu button control.

INVALUABLE INFORMATION
Here is the HP Windows 7 Forum and for the best authoritative reference on W7, go HERE.

PLEASE NOTE : I DO NOT HAVE THE NEW 100 SERIES GRAPHICS CARD, SO IF SOMEONE COULD PLEASE POST OR MESSAGE ME WHETHER THE NVIDIA DIRECT DRIVERS ARE OK, I WILL UPDATE THE INFORMATION, OTHERWISE THE VIDEO DRIVERS LISTED BELOW ARE ALL FOR THOSE OF US WITH THE "LESSER" 9 SERIES CARD, AND 100 SERIES USERS SHOULD USE THE HP DRIVER PAGE - VISTA 32 or 64 DRIVERS.

AUDIO DRIVERS
Some people, who just want less messing around, were happy just to use the default windows driver for the IDT audio. If you are one of those less is more types, just disregard the IDT Audio driver listed below. You will have less bells/whistles, just good sound.

1. Introduction
2. 32 bit drivers / software
3. 64 bit drivers / software
4. Misc

IF ANYONE HERE HELPS YOU, DON'T FORGET TO THANK THEM WITH A CLICK ON THE REPUTATION BUTTON (MIDDLE ICON ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THEIR POST)

 

32 bit drivers / software

Drivers

Video
NVidia 9M Series 32bit - from NVidia

SD Card
JMicron - from JMicron - 05-2009 - thanks to Lancorp

Audio
IDT Driver from the HP driver page - 09-2009

Fingerprint
Validity W7 Driver

ENE CIR (Infrared receiver)
ENE CIR 32 bit - from the HP driver page - 11-2008

Software

DigitalPersona 32bit Version 4

 

64 bit drivers / software

Drivers

Video
NVidia 9M Series 64bit - from NVidia

SD Card
JMicron - from JMicron - 05-2009 - thanks to Lancorp

Audio
IDT Driver from the HP driver page - 09-2008

NOTE
There is an offending process, called stacsv64.exe. This is a driver exe file that comes with the IDT driver packs, and is having real problems behaving itself with W7 64bit. Goto the services window, withing computer management, and double click on "audio service". Stop this service, and then disable it. The driver is not yet properly written for W7 (if you look at the properties of the IDT speakers/headphones in the playback devices window, you will see a single jack listed, or a digital jack listed, depending on what driver you are using - this explains why the driver for the jacks is going bonkers) This will be fixed soon, i'm sure, but in the mean time, just disable this (jack monitor), and then try playing something demanding like a blu-ray movie. Please chime in if this isn't working for you, like I say I tested it on 3 drivers within W7 64, including the XP64 driver within W7 64. All succeeded to perform flawlessly without that stacsv64.exe running.

Fingerprint
Validity W7 Driver

ENE CIR (Infrared receiver)
ENE CIR 64bit - from the HP driver page - 11-2008

HP Mobile Data Protection Sensor - (the third "unknown device")
Protection Sensor Driver 64bit - from HP

Software

DigitalPersona 64bit Version 4

 

Misc

MEDIASMART CONTROL

In both 32 and 64 bit mode, I have been able to get full control over the mediasmart audio keys by installing mediasmart from the HP driver and software page, and then installing the mediasmart update. It seems to be overly demanding on the machine though, as it slows down whatever i'm doing when i adjust the sliders, and it's not a very good response in the sliding of the sliders. This is a vista/w7 coding difference and will surely be addressed and corrected soon, and I will post the fix when it arrives.

 

FYI, there is an official JMicron Windows 7 card reader driver, version 1.0.29, at JMicron's site: JMicron Card Reader driver for Vista/Windows7

 

The great lancorp stops by for a visit. Thanks

 

I have an HDX18 QX9300 with an Intel SSD and a 500gb HD. Vista 64bit is installed on the SSD along with my programs. I've moved the Documents, Pictures, etc folders to my HD. Recently, I successfully installed Windows 7 on a partition on the SSD, and I have some newbie questions.

Do I just click the links for the drivers and "run" them in Win7 to install them?

Am I correct in assuming that I have to install my apps on the Win7 partition? I can't run them from the Vista drive?

How do I configure the Win7 partition so that the path for Documents, Pictures, the Desktop, etc are on my HD (D drive)? Sorry if this question isn't worded well: I'm not quite sure of how to ask it.

In Vista, I performed a number of tweaks to optimize the SSD's performance (tweaked the registry, turned off prefetch and superfetch, changed some options, turned off the paging file, etc) based on a guide on www.hdx18.com. Will most of these tweaks have to be repeated on the Win7 partition? Or, perhaps they can't be done or don't need to be done in Win7?

Sorry for my lack of technical sophistication. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Yes, yes...thought I would come by and see what people were doing with Windows 7 and their HDX18. Your post here helped me quite a bit in getting Windows 7 running on my HDX18...so, likewise, thank you!

The only thing that seemingly is not working is the fingerprint reader. I used the driver listed and installed the Persona software, and everything looks O.K., except at login, it says no reader is detected. In device manager, it's there, and looks OK.

Any ideas?

 

Yes, running them direct works, but I always tend to just save them to a "drivers" folder on my HDD, and then run them. Takes just a few extra seconds, and saves time should I have to reinstall them.

Correct.

If I understand you, you relocate your "my" folders (document, pictures, etc.) the same way you did it in Vista. The only difference is the drive letter of your HDD may be different in Win7 than Vista.

It depends on the SSD. I've read that Windows 7 "knows" when you have an SSD and aligns and configures itself accordingly, and supposedly disables services like defrag and superfetch. So far, on two systems I've used Windows 7 on, it aligned the partition correctly, but did not "tweak" the services...I had to do it. I basically just turn off Windows Search, Superfetch, Defrag, and System Restore. I also disable Hibernation.

Good luck and have fun!

 

I have the same issue with no luck.

 

EDIT - I have updated the DigitalPersona link on page 1 of this thread for 32 & 64 (from the HP TX2525 notebook page). I then reinstalled 64bit Win7 and reran all drivers and this DP software. Fingerprint works just fine. This seems to be the easiest method yet. Enjoy.

 

Sry , i type wrong

 

OMG...sounds like the nightmarish experiences people have had with the Dell fingerprint software! Works one time, then suddenly, it's not detected! HP has always been reliable where as Dell...I wind up just uninstalling it and not using it!

 

Thanks so much, lancorp!

 

After I install Windows 7, it boot and shuts down in about 30 seconds, but after I install the important updates, boot and shut down times increase to about 3 minutes each, and they stay that long after numerous restarts. Should I not install the updates?

 

are you able to get the 7201 build? i'm hearing VERY good words, and will be trying out shortly.

if you are talking about updating your 64 bit version of the 7100 build, then i would say it's not the updates per say, but rather a particular driver that's slowing you up. mine did not slow up gratuitously with the 64 bit updates. my first guess would be your IDT driver.

 

Thanks, petermichaelw,

The IDT driver seems to have no effect on my performance. I thought that it might be the fingerprint reader so I didn't reinstall it after reinstalling Win 7. Everything was fine until I installed the "important" updates. I'd like to try the new build, but I can't seem to find it.

 

THEY NEED TO MAKE ANY REVISIONS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. PERIOD. NOT DOING SO WOULD BE A FATAL MISTAKE!

Think about it. Everyone is testing and revising. Individuals, Vendors, OEM. The last thing Microsoft wants right now is a bunch of people having only access to an outdated version, hearing about improvements from an elite group of IT pros/ pirates, and not having access to the improvements. There will be a bunch of individuals rolling back to Vista (GOD FORBID) and being hesitant on purchase. And microsoft could easily keep the same drop dead date on the RC versions. THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME. Kind of like being in debt and deciding to spend a bunch of money you don't have??? (forgive the political shot)

 

I installed Windows 7 x64 on my HDX18t with the nVidia 9600M GT 1GB and worked through the install and got everything working perfectly, or so I thought. I launch any of my games, which so far have been Enemy Territory Wolfenstein or Enemy Territory Quake Wars, and I get wide horizontal shaky colorized lines. If I try to view a DVD it crawls a long at 1-2 frames a second. This happens when I use the HP NVidia drivers, build 179. When I tried the Windows 7 64 185.85 driver from the NVidia Website the horizontal shaky lines are gone, but it artifacts with sparkling pixels on the screen here and there and eventually I get the video driver has stopped responding error, preceded by a blank screen while it recovers itself. All other hardware works fine, including the quick launch buttons, so it's just the graphics subsystem of Windows 7 that appears to not like the mobile 9600M GT graphics card just yet. I have also installed Windows 7 x64 (using the same install disk in fact) on my desktop with an ATI HD 4870 using the Windows 7 x64 drivers from ATI's website and they work perfectly for gaming, video, etc, so it's definitely a laptop thing. Anyone had similar issues with Windows 7 x64 and the HDX18t?

 

I'm a nut for Media Player Classic, due to it's free-ness, and it's constantly being updated, so this is not an apples to apples comparison, but I have watched 5 or so blu-ray on the x64 version, and no such problems. What player are you using to play DVD, and are you saying you had problems with standard DVD, or high definition material? (bad if standard DVD, much less demanding and would suggest bigger problem with driver/app incompatibility)

 

Yep, it's the updates in Windows Update that's causing me problems. I finally realized that I hadn't set it to NOT automatically install the updates. After the updates installed, I got the slow boot and shut downs, and I always had to force quit Windows 7 on shut down because it was waiting for explorer.exe to do something.

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE UPDATED IDT AUDIO INFORMATION FOR THE 64 BIT VERSION

 

Hi there,
I just got an hdx18 with a 130m graphics card and since nobody else posted, I wanted to say that it's running well with Windows 7 64 bit, dual-booted with the latest Nvidia drivers. The only PC game I've ran so far is WoW (for the Horde!), and it's been playing fairly well, even with dual monitor setup -extended to my 24inch Dell.

Issues:

Fingerprint Scanner - I had the same issues mentioned in this thread about the fingerprint scanner working, but eventually got it to work - somehow. I found it confusing trying to figure out which files to install in what order... First having to figure out which files were driver files and which were software files, then figuring out the correct order in which to install them to make it play nice.

Audio - I had installed one of the original drivers posted and had horrible static/cracking sound when any audio played. Windows 7 even began hanging when trying to shutdown, stating something about the explorer hanging (which turned out to be the shutdown.wav file hanging). I uninstalled the drivers and am using the default Windows drivers for now, but I see that there is another workaround just posted so will give that a try soon (I want the good sound! ...and the touch volume controls all functioning).

In any case, I want to say thanks so far to petermichaelw and everyone else who has contributed to making this an easier process. I shall go back to tinkering with my new toy now =)

 

Audio
IDT Driver from the HP driver page - 09-2008

NOTE
There is an offending process, called stacsv64.exe. This is a driver exe file that comes with the IDT driver packs, and is having real problems behaving itself with W7 64bit. Goto the services window, withing computer management, and double click on "audio service". Stop this service, and then disable it. The driver is not yet properly written for W7 (if you look at the properties of the IDT speakers/headphones in the playback devices window, you will see a single jack listed, or a digital jack listed, depending on what driver you are using - this explains why the driver for the jacks is going bonkers) This will be fixed soon, i'm sure, but in the mean time, just disable this (jack monitor), and then try playing something demanding like a blu-ray movie. Please chime in if this isn't working for you, like I say I tested it on 3 drivers within W7 64, including the XP64 driver within W7 64. All succeeded to perform flawlessly without that stacsv64.exe running.

Dear petermichaelw!

Impressive post! Thank you!

The new audio driver solve the problem:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp43501-44000/sp43746.exe

(Using: W7 x64)


One day later
Sorry, I have to revise myself: the new driver works perfectly only for a day, now I have got the same problem!

 

hey guys. i have just made a windows 7 VM, and am testing it out as we speak. i was just wondering if briefly you guys could tell me how much of a performance boost i will see using windows 7 64 over vista 64.

 

Much less hanging/ "not responding" delays.
Smoother, and snappier operation overall.
I can't reference any benchmark personally, except certain audio programs with their own CPU monitor built in (ableton live), running identical file, show much less CPU usage with Win7 than with Vista. Not even close.

 

guys, how do u get the 7201 build? when i downloaded from microsoft yeserday, it gave me 7100

 

The 7201 through 7300+ builds are only officially available to the approved MS testers, but I wouldn't get hung up on these newer "editions". The update process should get you there. Microsoft would be very foolish to push out 7100, and then not allow it to be updated properly.

These newer editions are just refinements, from what I'm reading and seeing myself, and I'm much more concerned with proper IDT drivers than testing out a new edition of W7 every week.

 

Fingerprint reader:
These are the steps I took to make it work:
Install DigitalPersona
Uninstall any current driver for the Biometric device (use Device Manager)
Install the Validity drivers from the HP website. Driver version is 2.0.0.1
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3772041&os=2100&lang=en
(latest did not work for me for some reason) - Note: I have an HDX 16.

Also, running HP MediaSmart Menu in Compatability Mode works (keyboard button works as well)

 

New Win7 IDT audio drivers available on Windows Update Catalog (search IDT and sort by date) or on laptopvideo2go.com.

 

Thanks!!

----------------
Now playing: Green Day - Walking Contradiction
via FoxyTunes

 

does any one else have the same issue that I do, of the mute LED staying red?

 

Thanks! I tried these drivers out. I had Version 6.10.6047.5 before and stacsv64.exe was using 50% when in Windows Media Player. The new drivers (6.10.6209.0) seem to have fixed this (at least while running WMP...)

 

I did have this issue as well, but installing the new audio drivers fixed it.

 

which drivers are you using? the ones from Laptopvideo2go?

 

Yes, http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23793
first driver listed

 

weird, i'm using those too and I still get the red LED, which build of W7 are you on?

 

I downloaded this driver, but no setup file, how on earth do I instlal it? im using win7 32bit

 

Update the driver by going to device manager, right clicking the sound card, and update driver. Browse to the location which contains the driver files which are downloaded here.

 

I am on build 7100 64-bit.

 

Are we in agreement these most recent drivers from laptopvideo2go are working at 100% with no problems?

And this is 32 bit only or both versions?

 

I'm running W7 as a VM in Virtualbox. Anyway to share the files off my Vista HOST to the W7 Guest? I feel like I've tried everything w/o success.

 

This is working for me on a 64-bit win 7 7100 build with the following:

Issues:
1) Sometimes the volume/treble/bass show the panel on the screen as they are being changed, but other times the settings change without showing the panel (the one with white bars on a black background)
2) Sometimes hear crackling when changing the volume using the media bar but not during playback

Resolved issues:
1) Media bar works completely with the correct light for muting.
2) The offending process no longer uses 50% cpu or much memory.

 

Good news for those waiting on their HP.....If you PC ships after June 26th....tommorrow.......please register when you get it and.....yes..... you will be eligible for the free upgrade to Win 7! That's so cool! I ordered on the 15th because my current PC went down and couldn't wait for 7...but now I'll still get it once MS starts selling it on Oct 22. Was told that once it's released, I will be sent a key and disc for the free update!

 

The file doesn't appear there anymore. I'm still trying to find a driver that's not pegging out my cpu like crazy and crashing Ventrillo. Last night, my audio was making my system so lagged out. I had 1-5 second delays connecting to voice servers and jumping channels. Audio would cut out completely from my game, my voice chat, or both. It would cause any programs trying to use sound to "Not Respond" for a minute or so, then either crash or finally catch up and work a few minutes later. And my CPU utilization stayed at 99% constantly.

I regrettably had to boot into my Vista Partition and start installing apps there just to use my machine.

 

I'm just curious, as no one can tell me what did not work for them using the IDT driver I posted, and disabling the process in the services manager with 64bit W7?

Not what it's supposed to do, but an actual problem that results, because I can't find one.

 

I'm not sure if this was a coincidence or not, but I still had my mute light stuck on orange with the drivers on page 1.
When I installed the new drivers, this problem went away.

 

Hallo, all!

Im runnin Windows 7 on a HP HDX18 1080 EG.
The posts were really helpfull for me. THANKS, to all!

2 Problems, I have to solve:

Can´t get the fingerprintreader to work.

I download the driver from
="http://www.validityinc.com/news/wp-content/uploads/winbio_x64.zip"


In the device manager I always have the unknown device with the Hardware ID

I think its the fingerprint reader?

The 2nd problem:
Unknow device with the Hardware ID

Google around doesn´t really bring me to a solution.

So, please all help is welcome?

Greetings from Austria (sorry, for my not perfect englisch) :confused2:

 

You were right, your first device was the fingerprint, the second pertains to HP Drive Guard, but first, did you install 32 Bit Or 64 Bit?

 

From just reading the last 2 pages, I am getting that
A. the problem continues, for some.
B. the driver is not available for download still

Apparently you are doing ok, what "new drivers" are you referring to, so that there is no confusion.