Reinstall BIOS on old(ish) notebook

[SteveInNZ]

Hi,

I have just installed a 1Gb SSD (Crucial BX500) on my wife's notebook (Pavilion DV6-6024tx), cloning the original HDD. This was more or less a success.

(The "less" was my fault. I missed the "make this drive the master" command, and spent a couple of days using CMD to find out why it didn't boot. Eventually I re-cloned the original, made the drive the master, and... success!)

However, it takes 90 seconds of black screen before Windows 10 leaps to life. After that, everything runs like a dream, faster than ever before. Shut down takes a couple of seconds.

Q1: Should I blunder around in Diskpart to try to improve the startup? I have a Windows system drive on USB, and I can use it to open CMD.

Q2: Perhaps BIOS needs to be updated. This used to be a Windows 7 machine, upgraded to Windows 10. Can I pretend it's Win7 and download a slightly later BIOS? Or even a new copy of the original?

Note that everything works. 90 seconds is nothing, really, but it would be nice to replace the black screen with something that said "Welcome. Please wait for a couple of minutes."

Regards,

Steve

[Raj_05 · Accepted solution]

Hi @SteveInNZ,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

Congratulations on successfully installing the SSD! Regarding your questions.

Q1: Before diving into Diskpart, you might want to check a few other things first. Make sure your SSD is set as the first boot device in BIOS. Additionally, check if there are unnecessary programs set to launch at startup. You can manage startup programs in the Task Manager on Windows 10. If these steps don't improve the startup time, you could explore Diskpart or other optimization tools.

Q2: Updating the BIOS might be a good idea, but it's crucial to use the correct BIOS version for your specific laptop model. Pretending it's Windows 7 won't change the BIOS compatibility. Visit the official HP website for your laptop model, look for the support or drivers section, and download the latest BIOS update if available. Follow the instructions carefully during the update process.

In any case, make sure to back up important data before making any significant changes to your system.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4

HP Support 

[SteveInNZ]

Hello Alden4, and thank you for responding.

Yes, the SSD is set to be the first boot drive. (At least, Notebook Hard Drive is.)

The laptop is a HP Pavilion dv6-6024tx Entertainment Notebook PC.  Looking in the HP support site I can't download a replacement BIOS, as there isn't a path to one unless I say that the machine uses Windows 7. Since the "Windows Free Upgrade to Windows 10" some years ago, it has been a Windows 10 machine. I guess that makes the BIOS upgrade a bit risky.

Not to worry! What's a minute and a half, in the scheme of things?

Thank you for your advice,

Steve