Which logon credentials to use for FTP access to archived driver software?

[iwannaknow2]

There are many websites that provide me with driver software of archived material. Some are malicious and not easy to get the files I need. Yet, when I check the address location the hyperlink is pointing to, they seem to get the software from the 'ftp.hp.com' farm. So when I copy that link address and I copy/past it into my browser, the '.exe' file appears and all I have to do is select the location to save that particular file to. All without the hassle on those websites. The files I currently try to find are somewere located like at 'https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64001-64500/' However, accessing the farm with a FTP client, usually needs logon credentials etc. to enter the farm and select the files I need. Question here, how do I get those credentials, or better than that, is there another way to still get the drivers (via FTP) i need?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

HP removed all public access to the FTP site several years ago.

No one but some select HP employees that have a need to know, have access nowadays.

So, what you can do is this:

As you can see from the link you posted, all files are broken down into two groups of 500.

sp#001-sp#500, and sp501-sp#000

So, let's take an example:

Suppose I am on a 3rd party website for a retired product and the driver file I want is sp63552.

Find any HP driver page and copy the link to a driver.

Copy and paste the link to Notepad.

I randomly chose this one:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp61501-62000/sp61629.exe 

sp63552 is not in that range so, change the link in notepad to:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63501-64000/sp63552.exe 

And if you want to see what the file is for, change the .exe to .html in notepad and you have the link to the description.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63501-64000/sp63552.html 

And that's all there is to it.

Now, there are some circumstances where HP has removed a driver from the FTP site, so you will have no choice but to use the driver from the 3rd party website.

I found that the driverscollection website has most of the drivers we need for out of support products.

That's where I randomly got the above driver file from.

HP Pavilion dv6-7000 CTO Intel Wireless Display Software v.4.2.19.0 for Windows 7 64-bit free downlo...

I've never had any issues with their files.

[iwannaknow2]

Thanks for the in detail explanation, that is very helpfull. Especially the change from '.exe' to '.html' to learn what the content of this particular package is used for. Good to know that 'driverscollection' has a lot of the drivers I might need for the older devices I still work with. If a computer is a bit older but not used that much and it is fast enough with i5 CPU and a minimum of 4GB of RAM and one way or the other I can make it run again reasonably fast with Windows 11, than for the time being there's no need purchase a new pc, right?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If your PC has an i5 processor and 4 GB of memory, depending on what generation processor it is, you should be able to install at least another 4 GB of memory in the second slot.

That will help a lot.

1st Gen core processors require a specific type of memory.

It has to be DDR3-10600, not DDR3-12800 and it must be 2Rx8, not 1Rx8, so the memory should have 8 little black memory chips on each side of the circuit board, not 4.

The problem nowadays is memory has become very expensive due to the AI demand for memory chips.

You can install W11, but you will have to use a workaround that bypasses the W11 hardware checks.

If you want to do an in-place upgrade from W10>W11, I found that the info contained in this video is currently the easiest way to do that:

How to Install Windows 11 25H2 on Unsupported PCs (New Easiest Method)