HP DV8t: Problems migrating Win7 OS from original HD to new SSD.

[Saladin_A]

Hello everyone!

I have a HP DV8t laptop. The laptop was purchased with 2x 500GB hard drives and Windows 7 64bit. I would like to replace the primary hard drive with an 80 GB Intel SSD.

Immediate problem is that I cannot simply install Windows 7 onto the SSD because the recovery disks will not accept a HDD smaller than 500GB.

What I have done so far:

Done factory reset + formatted hard drives.

Replaced secondary hard drive with 80 GB SSD, then used Acronis Migrate tool to clone contents of primary drive to SSD.

Put SSD drive as primary drive, put back (empty) secondary 500 GB drive.

Problem: At login I get a blue screen that says 'this version of windows is not original" and cannot do anything.

I try again; repeat the process until putting SSD as primary drive but now as secondary drive put the 500GB (with OS) drive from which I cloned the OS.

No blue screen at login. Things seem to be ok, I see the windows logo on the SSD in my computer so assume that windows is running off the SSD. Problem: Now windows installer will not work. Most programs will not install, giving a windows installer error. I cannot update the installer online as it now hangs indefinately. Also I cannot update things such as .net framework (more installer errors). This essentailly means the laptop is non-functional as I cant run anything on it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Saladin

[HaggisCat · Accepted solution]

This will work and notice I said "will" and not "should". It should work though as I have done this before.

  Download the ISO files of Windows 7 Home Premium and create (burn) a retail W7 install disc of W7.

 http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

 What ever version you use it has to match what the computer was shipped with so your W7 product key will work on the underside of the laptop.

 If you need help with burning the ISO files or making the disc, post again _ remember to verify the disc after burning or it won't work.

 Follow this tutorial to install W7.

 http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/windows-7-clean-install-part-1.htm

 The tutorial has you delete the entire drive to install W7 on, this is important to delete the entire drive, do not just format it. After you delete the drive let the W7 disc format it automatically, do not do it your self.

 In your case you have made such a mess trying to install W7, that you must use the W7 install disc to delete all the corrupted information on the drive. If there are any partitions on the drive, delete those too. You will end up creating "Unallocated" space on the entire drive and this is what you want.

 Continue the install and install it as a trial, when it's done, right click on "Computer" and go to "properties"

  At the bottom of that page find "change product key". Click on that and follow the directions to enter the laptop's product key.

 The above instructions are very important so follow them exactly or it won't work. It will take about 20 minutes to install W7 and about 2 hours to download the ISO files from Digital River.

 Install your chipset driver first.

 Run the automated driver finder to install the most recent one.

 http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect?iid=dc_iduu

 It will also find one for your Intel WiFi card if applicable.

 Next install your video driver, here's the one direct from NVIDIA.

 http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-296.10-whql-driver.html

 Install the rest of your drivers here.

 http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-drivers-software-forum/404164-drivers-hp-dv6-2xxx-dv7-3xxx-dv8-hd...

 Install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver too, from the link above.

 Install the drivers in the order that I have posted them. If you need help with the rest of the drivers or getting the hot key bezel to work (bass and treble _ volume _ eject) then post again.

 Don't use the tone control utility on your support page, it's corrupted and HP won't fix it.

 In all cases save the install files to the desk top and install them from there, not from a temporary folder.

 Don't worry about the secondary hard drive, none of this has anything to do with this, it's just used as a storage drive. When you follow the tutorial it will show up there (you will see what I mean when you get there), just ignore it and only deal with your new SSD.

 I have a dv8 so I know exactly what to do.

[Saladin_A]

Thank you for the excellent explanation HaggisCat!

I understand what to do; but would like some help getting the bass, treble, volume, eject touch keys functioning?

[HaggisCat]

First install a file extraction program like WIN RAR or 7 Zip

 Keep extracting the files in this folder until you get to HPToneControl64 (the other file is for machines running 32 bit operating systems of course). Click on that to install the Bass and Treble OSD and restart. That will make the bass and treble OSD function.

 http://minus.com/mJ1qKGOFZ 

 Install the file of Media Smart Web Cam (51029), save the file to the desk top and right click to extract the install folder.

 Look for a folder named src, open that and find setup, 10th one from the bottom. Install the Web Cam and restart.

 You need at least one Media Smart program to get the eject and volume OSD to work. You can use anyone, but this one is at least useful, the rest of the Media Smart stuff is basically bloat-ware.

 ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp51001-51500/sp51029.exe

 Save this file (51007) of the Media Smart Smart Menu to the desk top and unpack the files.

 ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp51001-51500/sp51007.exe

 Ounce the file is extracted click on it and find SmartMenu click on that and find src click on SmartMenuSetup64 to install the Menu and restart.

The eject and volume OSD should work.

 Note that I do not recommend using Media Smart DVD for Blu-ray play back, it's nothing but a watered down version of a Cyberlink product. Use Cyberlinks Power DVD10 instead.

 ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp56501-57000/sp56904.exe

 If it won't install you will have to extract the contents and look for the setup file. Many of these HP files will not install on a machine running a retail version of W7. It becomes necessary to extract the contents first.

 When running a Blu-ray for the first time, restart the computer after it's installed. Open the DVD drawer with the button on the drawer face. Let the Blu-ray movie load automatically with Power DVD10 without opening the software. (give DVD10 a little e time to load the movie).

  If you open DVD 10 first and try to play a Blu-ray, 99% of the time it will not load. After you go through this silly procedure you can play a Blu-ray anyway you like. 

 Here is the rest of the Media Smart Stuff if you want it.

 http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-drivers-software-forum/519991-popular-hp-notebook-software.html

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 There is an alternative to the HP-W7 volume OSD, it does not require the installation of the Web Cam program, but it doesn't look as pretty, it's just a gray bar that comes up with small segments in it to indicate when the volume is increased or decreased.

 You will still need the Media Smart Smart Menu (not the version above, but a different version) to get the eject to work though.

 If you want to go this route, do not install any of the above, except for the file extraction program and the HP Tone Control Utility.

 Post again if you want me to help you with this.

[HaggisCat]

Here is also an interesting article as well, in case you missed it.

 http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/windows-7/17239-enabling-trim-support-windows-7-a.html

[Saladin_A]

Thank you for another excellent reply HaggisCat!

Glad to soon be able to enjoy SSD on my laptop. Ive been through the whole TRIM thing with another computer so I should be able to manage.

Thank you again.

[HaggisCat]

I try to be as thorough as possible in case someone else comes along who is not as computer literate as you.

 Here is another thread that you may be interested in, in case you missed it or develpop this problem.

 http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware/dv8-and-HDX-Series-OSD-Pop-Up-Solution/td-p/816295

 Please feel free to kudos any of my other posts.       Thanks !