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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended

HP ZBOOK 15

F0U63ET#ABZ

S/O: WINDOWS 7

 

My laptop has HDD 750gb and 32gb SSD that should work as a cache. I needed to re-install S/O from windows 8 to 7 but i don't know how to configure the SSD as a cache.

S/O installed on HDD 750gb in RAID mode.

When I try to install from HP DVD the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software nothing happen. After re-start, software and drivers not installed. NO ERROR MESSAGE.

 

Screenshot show you the current situation. In the OPTION ROM I'm not able to create a Volume as a cache.

 

Hope someone here can help me.


Thanks!!

original.jpg

 

 

P.S. This thread has been moved from from Workstations - z series, xw series, and legacy x and w series to Notebook - HP ProBook, EliteBook, Compaq, Slate/Tablet PC, Armada, LTE. -HP Forum Moderator

3 REPLIES 3
HP Recommended

Hi Davide82,

as a disclaimer, i don't have a Zbook15 nor do i use an ssd cache but if you googled "install windows 7 with ssd cache drive" you should have found this useful article on how to setup intel smart response ssd caching technology.

 

Without me spending too much time reading the article, it seems that to utilize STR, your Zbook15 must include iRST driver version 10.5 or later and a Z68express chipset or a series 6 or 7 chipset or later. Since HP does provide for SSD cache on their Zbook 15, all the prerequisits are met so all you need to do is follow the install process as defined within the article.

 

That is, you should set SATA mode to RAID in BIOS and then install the OS to the HDD as normal (in non raid mode). Once the OS is set up and your chipset and other drivers and apps are correctly installed, you should be able to fire up Intel Rapid Storage Technology (normally located on your taskbar) and click the "Accelerate" button within this app. The rest should be rather straigh forward but reading the article and it's comments should clear up any further concerns.

 

Cheers.

HP Recommended

Hi Skylarking,

 

thanks for your answer, but I wanna just pointing few things.

My ZBook is brand new (less of 1 month of life), never touched. At the moment i'm in contact with HP Italia, but it seems they don't know how to solve it!

 I'm not expert on pc but:

when i set SATA on raid mode into the BIOS and I re-start the pc with the OS DVD I have to install raid driver because i can't see any partition where install my OS... Then with the OS installed, using HP DVD RECOVERY i install all the driver but... no the IRST. After the installation the pc re-start but no software/driver installed.

If I install the OS on AHCI mode and I install the IRST, after the re-start, i have bsod 0x0000007B, that's normal... because doesn't recognize the raid driver (i'm on AHCI!)

Tell me if i'm wrong...

 

Cheers

 

 

HP Recommended

I feel your pain davide..

 

Unfortunately i'm not across what happens with the Zbook with respect to reinstalling an OS being that it's UEFI capable Win8 workbook. Win8 & UEFI adds extra complexity compared to a Z210 workstation reinstall of Win7 and in any case i'm not a fan of UEFI secure boot as it adds much complexity and a false sence of security... Downgrade rights further complicate the situation...

 

Anyway, looking at the Z210 for a moment, a HP Win7 System Recovery Disks will allow one to reinstall the OS on systems originally shipped with Win7. For these disks to do their thing, the motherboard BIOS needs some 'special' data included, data like 'featurebyte', 'buildid', 'productid', 'serial number', etc. Such 'special' data must be added to a new motherboard (a once only task) to allow these disks to install and activate the correct OS (which is cross checked against corresponding OEM certificates and OEM volume license keys located within the motherboard firmware SLIC tables one doesn't have access to). Also, any additional software included in the product build will also be installed via the system recovery disks.

 

So, as mentioned, the featurebyte defines the equipment configuration and other special conditions. For example, 6b=64bit, 67=Win7, 48=ultimate?, 6T=Raid0, 4B=sata raid, 7a=3year parts laboure next day service, 5j=BDRW, 3f=MS Office Pro, etc, though i'm not sure how 'global' these bytes are and whether they are relevant across different model platforms.

 

The benefit of such a System Recovery method is that one normally doesn't have to worry about drivers, raid configurations, etc, as they are automatically taken care of by the System Recovery disk itself which will restore your system to a factory fresh state for your product build...

 

So first step is to understand what type of recovery process is used by the Zbook. Simply check if you have featurebyte and build id on a system by looking at the physical lables on your machine and by going into BIOS. Pressing CTRL-A allows access to such hidden data within (i think) the system information menu of your BIOS...

 

If your system does use this 'featurbyte' method of System Recovery then you should see such data on the labels and within the hidden BIOS page of your system. This will mean that you must have the appropriate System Recovery disks for your system to restore the OS as defined by this 'special' data. Unfortunately your data would be pointing to Win8...

 

If your system does not use a 'featurebyte' method of System Recovery, then i doubt i can help as the OEM volume install mechanism is likely different from that on my Z210 Win7 machine.

 

But assuming the 'featurebyet' mechanism is used, if you use the appropriate System Recovery disk (Win8), it will install and auto activate since it cross checks for the appropriate OEM certificate and OEM volume key which is defined within the SLIC table. But as your system is Win8, it is unlikely you can use a Win7 recovery disk to automate the downgrade install process unless HP did something very special with the featurebyte and slic tables (which is unlikely)...

 

So it's more likely your featurebyte and slic table data will not be appropriate for your intended Win7 install which means you will have to do the Win7 install manually...

 

And it's highly likely the HP support script junkies will have no idea about featurebytes and slic tables and how this impacts a downgrade of a Win8 machine to Win 7 using Win7 System Recovery media...

 

To do a manual install, you can use any MS Win7 install disk which you can modify by removing 'ei.cfg' file on the DVD. This results in a pop up window at install time asking what version you want to install; either basc, home, pro, or ultimate. You can even download an trial ISO from MS itself (which i believe is the same as the retail version)...

 

So set your system to boot DVD or USB as appropriate and also set up your system to legacy BIOS mode and your SATA to RAID mode. Boot your modded install media and install Win7 as normal but manually adding the RAID driver (F6). Obviously you will need to save the appropriate expanded iRST F6 drivers to USB stick and point to it during the driver load early in the install process. That way you will see the HDD and can contimue to install. When the OS is installed you will need to install any missing drivers & apps from the Zbook support download page. Don't use the System Recovery disks to update drivers, it wont work!

 

At this point, your Win7 system should be up and running but it will not be activated. If your slic tables contain the correct OEM cetrificate and OEM volume keys for the installed version of the OS, you can auto activate without connecting to the web via the following commands.

 

%windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -ilc %windir%\system32\oem\OEM.xrm-ms
%windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -ipk abcd-abcd-abcd-abcd-abcd

 

You can find the appropriate OEM.xrm-ms cetrificate and 4x5 volume keys on any HP Win7 machine and copy them to your machine, then run the above commands and it may auto activete but likely it will not work as you woul dlikely be missing the Win7 OEM data within the slic table of your Win8 machine... You will simply have to try it and see...

 

Aluternatively, if you can't do the above, or if it does not work, then you can enter any Win7 product key during the install process. You can use any key from any Win7 system you have previously owned or still own. Obviously activation will fail but the theory is that the appropriate local Activation Support phone number will be displayed when this occurs. Then the person performing the downgrade will need to call the Activation Support Line and explain the circumstances to a customer service representative who will ask a bunch of questions before providing a new Win7 key for you to use... 

 

Do note if you install the OS with SATA in RAID mode and you later change the SATA mode to ATA for example, you may see a BSOD unless the OS has appropriate ATA drivers available. The great thing with HP System Recovery disk is that they include all drivers appropriate to all BIOS settings but this is not the case if you do a manual install using MS media... Which brings me to another point, you will be responsible for the new downgraded machine as HP will likely not provide support with any Win7 software problems...

 

Hope that clears up some issues for you.

 

Oh, and as for downgrade rights, i believe you can go from Win8Pro to Win7 Pro... I don't think you can go from Win8 to Win7 home or basic...

 

{edited to fix spelling & clarify some poorly expressed points}

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