Updating the BIOS - Presario C700

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @indyjeepman :

I would not try to flash the BIOS unless you do it with a supported operating system (vista).

That PC has a sata hard drive so you should be able to run a 500 GB SATA II hard drive in there with no problem.

I also believe the controller in the Mobile Intel 965 chipset can run a SATA II HDD at the SATA II speed.  In any event, you won't have to jumper anything.  The drive will automatically adjust down to the slower transfer speed if need be.

I ran one of those free PC utilities on my HP 6910p business notebook that has the same chipset, and I put a 320 GB SATA II HDD in mine that I had lying around, and the utility indicated it was running at the sata II speed (not just that it was a SATA II HDD).

I always thought the 965 chipset was SATA I only.  I know the memory in the mobile chipset only runs at 667 MHz, whereas the desktop version runs at 800 MHz.

That is interesting you can't run 2 x 2 GB of memory in that rig.  It must be a BIOS thing.

That's why I always buy the HP business desktops and notebooks.  They don't limit the BIOS' to stop whatever the hardware can handle from running.

I'm running 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) in my 6910p with no problem.  Had some of that lying around too.

[indyjeepman]

Thanks for the reply!  I have actually heard of someone running 4Gb in this laptop, but doing it with a single stick only in one of the busses.  I can't remember which one anymore.  Seems to me that it was the one that I know have the 2Gb stick in.  I really don't know what kind of performance issues the lack of dual channeling may have caused, since I have never had any benchmarks to compare it to, but for my business uses, it does seem negligabe, especially now that the system has perked up with W10.  

As far as the HP side, I haven't owned an HP branded machine since a miserable experience with a zd8215us that I had which turned into a $1900 paperweight a week after the warranty expired.  That Pentium 4 was entirely too hot to put into that machine.  If I had known a bit more about hardware before, I would have avoided it.  As it was, my experience with Customer Service back then made me avoid HP like the plague until my mother passed away and I got this one from her estate.

My experience with this one has obviously been pretty good.  I may take that 500Gb drive back to Microcenter today as one other poster indicated that he is running a 1Tb in his.  I have tons of photo files and video files from my jobs that I would prefer to have in here and more will be coming.

Again, thanks for the reply.  Have a great day!

[indyjeepman]

Hi Ab.  This is not personal experience, but there are some cases that I know of where a person has gotten this laptop to run 4Gb by using one stick in the buss where you now have the 2Gb stick.  Mine seems to do okay with the 3Gb as it stands.  HPs line on this machine is that it will support 2Gb only.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, a 1 TB drive will also work fine too. 

Just make sure it is the same 9.5mm thickness as the smaller capacity drives.

Some 1 TB drives used to be thicker than 9.5mm, and wouldn't fit in the drive bay.

The problem with a 4 GB DDR2 memory module today is that new they are about $100 each.

You'd have to find a used one for much less to make adding a 4 GB chip worthwhile.

You have a great day too!

[Miles28]

I have a Presario C700 with Windows 7. I've got a better processor and a new ssd hard drive.

I'm also thinking about a BIOS update, but I'm not pretty sure if WinFlash for HP Notebook System BIOS with Windows Vista will run under Windows 7.

Any help.

Thanks in advance.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Miles28 :

I would not run the BIOS flash written for Vista on W7.

99% of those who do, have to toss their notebooks in the trash afterward.

If everything is working fine, a BIOS update--even if you were running Vista, would make no difference in performance.

Always read the BIOS release notes prior to updating the BIOS, to see what fixes or enhancements they provide.