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- HP Community
- Notebooks
- Notebook Boot and Lockup
- Drivers for Compaq Presario CQ42-368TU Notebook PC

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04-08-2024 11:32 AM
Have been using this laptop since a long time. The original hard drive crashed so had to purchase a new one.
Have downloaded windows 7 using bootable USB drive and now looking for drivers, but the official driver page shows service unavailable, so please help.
04-08-2024 12:22 PM
HP has retired support for your notebook since it is more than 10 years old.
This reputable 3rd party driver website that I frequently use has the drivers you need for your notebook:
HP Compaq Presario CQ42-368TU drivers (driverscollection.com)
04-08-2024 02:32 PM
Okay thanks, the problem with drivers is sorted now, but need a little bit extra help.
Official website shows that windows 7 is retired and I can't download media creation tool for bootable usb method.
Can't you give some other website that has genuine win7 media creation tool?
I don't want to download win10 because it will be slow on a 10 years old laptop, moreover it is not official support for my laptop.
04-08-2024 02:45 PM
You're very welcome.
You indicated that you already had a bootable W7 drive.
There is no source that I know of that would have a W7 ISO file download that would work with the W7 product key your notebook has--especially if it is not for W7 Home Premium.
W7 Home Basic or W7 Home Single Language have no sources for download.
This site as a W7 Home Premium download but I think the file will only work with a W7 Home product key from the United States.
Windows 7 Home Premium Free Download ISO 32 Bit 64 Bit (getintopc.com)
All the way at the bottom of the page, the blue 64 bit download icon.
It is going to tell you the file is blocked by Microsoft Edge to download, so you will have to select those 3 horizontal dots on the right side and select 'Keep' >'Keep Anyway,' and the file will begin to download.
I used this site a few years ago to create a bootable W7 drive.
Otherwise, you will have to install Ubuntu or W10 (if you had previously upgraded to W10).
04-08-2024 09:48 PM
Okay, thank you for the link
And do you think that Ubuntu would be a better OS for me ?
I just require MS word, Excel and PPT for my office work, and after from these I also use chrome frequently.
So should I download Ubuntu or win10?
I think win10 would be slower....