HP Pavillion a1632x

W

walter deodiaus

I have a HP Pavillion a1632x which came with XP, but was advertised to be
upgradeable to
Vista. Later on, this option was not supported. This falls on false
advertising! Doesn't HP have trial drivers? I called HP, but they don't
seem to support Vista for this machine.
Last week, I was infected by a virus and was unable to recover my XP OS.
I received a copy of Vista at a trade show, and decided to install it, as I
did not want to shell out $30 for the CDs. Besides, I heard that Vista was
far better after Service pack 1.
Does anyone know where to get device drivers for the NVidea nForce Network
Controller? I tried both the HP & nvidea, but none of those work.
Moreover, HP does not talk much about the exact specs on the network
controler (which is on board).
I guess my time is cheap, so I am willing to spend a couple of hours before
breaking down and ordering the XP reinstall cds!
 
W

walter deodiaus

I did look on the HP & NVidia site and found some drivers. They did not work
well..
I really wanted alternate locations. The reason I posted to msnews was that
I was hoping for more insight on drivers, especially on how they work
differently under Vista as opposed to XP.
I would hope that the technical issue of drivers which worked under XP but
not under Vista would be well discussed here.
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi,

Drivers are bits of software written so that the operating system can
address the system hardware. Drivers are always specific to the operating
system (usually singular, but sometimes 2 or 3) in question, meaning they
are always only for use with a designated OS. In the case of HP systems,
like many manufacturers, the hardware is proprietary and requires drivers
written specifically for it. Quite often these are not found in the general
OS-provided driver library (each version of Windows comes with thousands,
but this does not cover every concievable hardware configuration and some
are designed only to provide basic, not full, functionality), so you have to
get them from HP. If there are non available, or if they don't work well,
there is not much you can do about it other than complain to the
manufacturer.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
C

Curious

I had a scanner which did not have Vista drivers but I was able to get it
operational by installing the scaner's XP drivers in XP compatibility mode
and also running the scanner from XP compatibility mode. Due to major
changes in the security design of the OS kernel between XP and Vista all/or
almost all hardware vendors had to rewrite their drivers for Vista.
When you say you had trouble with Vista drivers from both HP and Nvidia what
do you meant? Did you confirm that these drivers did get installed and that
they were the ones being used by Vista using Device Manager?
 
W

walter deodiaus

I went to my neighborhood small computer store and bought a DLink DFE-530TX+
10/100 pci network adaptor which had an MS Vista compatibility logo on it.
It cost about $18, so I bought it. The merchant told me that it would not
work either, but for $44, would make my existing one work. If that were
all, I might consider that, but who knows what other devices might not work
once I get going. Any suggestions on the secret? Are there any websites
which might be a better avenue than this one.
The new adaptor did not work either.
I am unemployed, so spending money is tough. For $30+, I can get XP from HP
with all the drivers on it. I think this is what I am going to do.
BTW, 20 years ago, I use to write DSP integration modules for PC, so I am
not completely unknowledgeable.
 
W

walter deodiaus

It said it was installed and running, but it keeps disconnecting and
reconnecting from the network. The cable is seated firmly and the computer
is still, so its not a louse connection.
 
W

walter deodiaus

BTW this all worked under XP before virus hit.
Also, the network connector works under Ubanto Linux
 
C

Curious

Why were you unable to recover/reinstall the original XP OS? Didn't the
system come with a recovery partition and instructions on how to reinstall
the OS and on how to back up the recovery partition?
 
W

walter deodiaus

No, the recovery process did not work. It reinstalls, but still gives me an
error with lsass.exe. I called HP, and they said I needed the CDs which
cost $30 to continue.
I got curious and decided to install Vista, which I got from a trade show.

As it turns out, if I disconnect my Linksys Wireless G router and plug the
Motorola network (provided by Comcast) modem directly into the computer,
then recycle the power on the modem, the network is found. Great as long as
I don't want to use the wireless or the Vonage phone in my house.
 
C

Curious

I suggest you disconnect the Vonage phone and do a complete Reset of your
wireless router and then try again after setting the router up again.
Was the computer directly to the router or was it using wireless also?
 
D

Deodiaus

My cable modem I got from Comcast is a Motorola SB4200. It has a lan
attachment as well as a USB attachment. I went to the Motorola
website and downloaded the USB drivers, but get an error that the INF
was not correct. BTW, did the layout of the INF change from Vista SP0
to SP2?
Originally the computer was plugged into the Linksys WRTP54G-VR
Wireless Broadband G router.
BTW, someone suggested I get a Ethernet patch cable? Is that wired
differently than a standard LAN cable?
Do they make a LAN cable wired as a Y, so that I can run a line into
the computer and another into the Wireless router. Will that work, or
will it mess something else up?
 
T

TheDuck

All this BS and the easiest solution is to disable the onboard function and
buy a new lan card. They are cheap.
 
C

Curious

AFAIK you need to be using the LAN Ethernet connection and not the USB
connection.
You can not use a Y splitter on a Ethernet LAN connection.
A LAN cable and a Ethernet patch cable are the same thing.
 
W

walter deodiaus

I am going to try installing the Motorola SB4200 USB modem from
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/support/default.asp?supportSection=DiscontinuedProducts
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/SB4200/downloads/542708-001-install-utility-b.exe
When installing it from the Vista prompt to update the unknown driver, I get
an error saying that is is unsupported
I tried installing it as a legacy driver but get an error that the inf is
not supported
The motorola web site says to install it anyway, but that fails.
I copied the *.sys files to c:\windows\system32
Is there a way to force the installation of the files?
How can I modify the inf file to make Vista sp2 accept it?
 
B

Barb Bowman

use the Ethernet connection instead of USB.

I am going to try installing the Motorola SB4200 USB modem from
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/support/default.asp?supportSection=DiscontinuedProducts
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/SB4200/downloads/542708-001-install-utility-b.exe
When installing it from the Vista prompt to update the unknown driver, I get
an error saying that is is unsupported
I tried installing it as a legacy driver but get an error that the inf is
not supported
The motorola web site says to install it anyway, but that fails.
I copied the *.sys files to c:\windows\system32
Is there a way to force the installation of the files?
How can I modify the inf file to make Vista sp2 accept it?
Click to expand...
Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
 
W

walter deodiaus

I went out and bought a SB5101 today, which has the same issues! Taking it
back to BestBuy!!
 

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