How to upgrade HP Mini 110 from XP to Win 7.

[David12228]

My wife has a Mini 110. When we bought it we were about to go to Indonesia, I was going to be the sole tech support, I knew my way around XP so we got it with XP instead of Win 7 Starter. Now I'd like to update the OS to Win 7 Home Premium. I have downloaded the HP drivers, including a BIOS update, but do not know in what order I install everything.

I have an ISO which I will use to make a boot USB drive (I hope). So the first question is how do I change the boot order in the BIOS?

Assuming that I get as far as the Setup file do I first install Win 7, then run all the upgrade .exe files? At what stage should I update the BIOS? First? Last? Does it matter?

Any light on the matter much appreciated.

David

[Sumanthnagm · Accepted solution]

Hi David,

Try these steps.

Step 1: Turn on HP Mini 110 and keep tapping F10 key to go to BIOS.

Step 2: Access BOOT menu using the arrow keys.

Step 3: In BOOT MENU, you will find BOOT ORDER.

Step 4: Select it and hit enter.

Step 5: You will see a list of things there, highlight USB Drive and keep tapping the F6 key till it reaches the top of the list.

Step 6: Once it is on top of the list, you can use the ISO file which is on your USB Drive.

Step 7: Press F10 to save and exit, once it is done you can go ahead and install the Operating System.

After installing the Operating System you can install the BIOS update and then install the drivers at the end.

Hope this works for you.

Regards,

Sumanth Nag M

[David12228]

Many thinks for such a clear and concise answer, couldn't ahve asked for more.

David

[Sumanthnagm]

You are welcome.

[XXP]

Were you successful in upgrading your Mini 110 from XP to 7?

Hate the fact that this handy little PC is going to become a security risk in a few months, or that the only alternative is minimally useful Linux

[David12228]

Thanks for your interest. The short answer is no, I didn't manage to get Win 7 installed, at least not yet. There was a health crisis in the family so the Mini was not at the top of the priority list. However, that wasn't the reason for the update failing in the first place. I did mange to boot from the HP setup disks, and the update seemed to be going well, through Disk 1, to Disk 2, to Disk 3, then a popup box. "The installation has failed." And that was all the information given.

I did try again, foolishly I suppose, and unsurprisingly ended with the same opoup box. I did send a stream of e-mails to HP Support, and very restrained ones even though I do say so myself (I'm a believer in, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"). They came up with nothing, then the health problem took centre stage.

Right now the Mini has no OS so it isn't a security risk, it's a paperweight. And my wife has a shiny new laptop, not from HP. Unfortunately it came with Win 8, enough said. What I intend to try next is a full format of the drive in the Mini, then I'll start over with the HP upgrade disks. What I don't know is whether these disks require an OS to be installed, i.e. one which can be upgraded, or whether they'll install on a blank drive. If worst comes to worst I'll install XP and try starting over from there. The only reason I'd like to get it running again is to give it to some charity, as you say it was a useful little machine.

David

[XXP]

OK. Thanks very much for your quick and thorough reply.  Hope all's OK on the health front now.

I'd run the update tool for 7 and for 8 with negative response, but was hoping that you'd had a different result.

On to Ubuntu which seems to get good marks on the Mini 110.

Thanks again for your quick reply.

[David12228]

I'll post here if I get the Mini up and running, on any OS!

David

[jssmithjr]

I would like to upgrade my HP mini from XP.  I have a windows 7 image, but where do I get driver and bios upgrades?  This small computer still has usage value but xp is no longer supported.

[XXP]

I have "Mint" Linux running on my Mini 110.    It works great.

Steps to do it:

1. Get a USB external DVD drive -- needed to boot the installation disc.  (Link goes to Amazon, but you can find at Staples, BestBuy or eBay.)
   
   
2. Download the 32-bit Mint Cinnamon distro of Linux and burn it to a DVD as a bootable image. (www.LinuxMint.com)
   
   
3. Plug the eternal DVD drive into your Mini 110, load the Linux DVD into it, and cold start the Mini 110.
   Press F9 before it boots to get the boot menu up.  Choose "USB boot device" from the menu.
   
   
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to boot up Mint in trial mode.  
   
   
5. After it boots in trial mode -- try it out. Make sure that it works on your machine.  If all is OK, then use the icon ont he desktop to install it normally.
   
   
6. I installed it "next to" XP, so that I can still go back to XP should the need ever arise, but the fact is that I've never gone back to XP but have exclusively used Mint ever since the install close to two years ago. It works great!