[cerigby]

Hi there,

I'm just needing help regarding upgrading my Notebook.

HP Pavilion DV6500 Notebook Limited Edition, OS: Windows Vista 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz 667MHz FSB, 2.00GB L2 cache MEM DDR2, 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard disk drive, Nvidia Geforce 8400M Graphics.

I want to change to Windows 7 64-bit from my Windows Vista 32-bit. I want to do a complete clean install and wipe everything - files, programs, settings etc and start from scratch. How do I know if I can go from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7? I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 advisor and it said it was fine to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows 7, does this mean I cannot go up to the 64-bit, or does it mean I need to upgrade ram etc to do so? My OEM back up disks are located in my D drive - they didn't come with the Notebook on actual CD's, I have to burn them off, however I get error after error when I try to do so.

Do I need to create these OEM back-up disks if I am doing a clean install with Windows 7 64-bit? I have Office 2007 and I am buying 2010, if I do a complete clean install, apart from personal programs like antivirus etc etc, do I need anything else? I think I'd like to partion the drives so in the future I can do a clean restore on my main drive but still have my personal files on my computer.

I love my computer and don't want to buy another at this point, I just want to upgrade a few of the internals like ram, I have 2GB but want to upgrade to 4GB, how can I find out what ram I need? And I'd perhaps be interested in upgrading the HDD, nothing huge, maybe 320GB HDD or more. I heard upgrading video cards and processors was very hard - costly and difficult to fit - is thsi true? My ex used to do all these things for me. If anyone can give me any information regarding any of this, that'd be great. Thanks.

Celeste

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Hi there,

I'm just needing help regarding upgrading my Notebook.

HP Pavilion DV6500 Notebook Limited Edition, OS: Windows Vista 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz 667MHz FSB, 2.00GB L2 cache MEM DDR2, 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard disk drive, Nvidia Geforce 8400M Graphics.

I want to change to Windows 7 64-bit from my Windows Vista 32-bit. I want to do a complete clean install and wipe everything - files, programs, settings etc and start from scratch. How do I know if I can go from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7? I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 advisor and it said it was fine to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows 7, does this mean I cannot go up to the 64-bit, or does it mean I need to upgrade ram etc to do so? My OEM back up disks are located in my D drive - they didn't come with the Notebook on actual CD's, I have to burn them off, however I get error after error when I try to do so.

Do I need to create these OEM back-up disks if I am doing a clean install with Windows 7 64-bit? I have Office 2007 and I am buying 2010, if I do a complete clean install, apart from personal programs like antivirus etc etc, do I need anything else? I think I'd like to partion the drives so in the future I can do a clean restore on my main drive but still have my personal files on my computer.

I love my computer and don't want to buy another at this point, I just want to upgrade a few of the internals like ram, I have 2GB but want to upgrade to 4GB, how can I find out what ram I need? And I'd perhaps be interested in upgrading the HDD, nothing huge, maybe 320GB HDD or more. I heard upgrading video cards and processors was very hard - costly and difficult to fit - is thsi true? My ex used to do all these things for me. If anyone can give me any information regarding any of this, that'd be great. Thanks.

Celeste

Usually laptop's aren't very easy to upgrade.
Find out computer specifications
This would help a little for the people on the forums, and for using 64bit you need 4gbs of RAM, and do note that some programs need a different version to run a x64bits.

[royuix]

Hi there,

I'm just needing help regarding upgrading my Notebook.

HP Pavilion DV6500 Notebook Limited Edition, OS: Windows Vista 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz 667MHz FSB, 2.00GB L2 cache MEM DDR2, 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard disk drive, Nvidia Geforce 8400M Graphics.

I want to change to Windows 7 64-bit from my Windows Vista 32-bit. I want to do a complete clean install and wipe everything - files, programs, settings etc and start from scratch. How do I know if I can go from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7? I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 advisor and it said it was fine to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows 7, does this mean I cannot go up to the 64-bit, or does it mean I need to upgrade ram etc to do so? My OEM back up disks are located in my D drive - they didn't come with the Notebook on actual CD's, I have to burn them off, however I get error after error when I try to do so.

Do I need to create these OEM back-up disks if I am doing a clean install with Windows 7 64-bit? I have Office 2007 and I am buying 2010, if I do a complete clean install, apart from personal programs like antivirus etc etc, do I need anything else? I think I'd like to partion the drives so in the future I can do a clean restore on my main drive but still have my personal files on my computer.

I love my computer and don't want to buy another at this point, I just want to upgrade a few of the internals like ram, I have 2GB but want to upgrade to 4GB, how can I find out what ram I need? And I'd perhaps be interested in upgrading the HDD, nothing huge, maybe 320GB HDD or more. I heard upgrading video cards and processors was very hard - costly and difficult to fit - is thsi true? My ex used to do all these things for me. If anyone can give me any information regarding any of this, that'd be great. Thanks.

Celeste

Usually laptop's aren't very easy to upgrade.
Find out computer specifications
This would help a little for the people on the forums, and for using 64bit you need 4gbs of RAM, and do note that some programs need a different version to run a x64bits.

[cerigby]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry what is meant by some programs need a different version to run x64bits?

[SpywareDr]

HP Pavilion DV6500 Notebook Limited Edition, OS: Windows Vista 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz 667MHz FSB, 2.00GB L2 cache MEM DDR2, 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard disk drive, Nvidia Geforce 8400M Graphics.

I want to change to Windows 7 64-bit from my Windows Vista 32-bit. I want to do a complete clean install and wipe everything - files, programs, settings etc and start from scratch. How do I know if I can go from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7? I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 advisor and it said it was fine to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows 7, does this mean I cannot go up to the 64-bit, or does it mean I need to upgrade ram etc to do so?

The T5450 is 64-bit. See the following page for confirmation:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5450 (2M Cache, 1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB) with SPEC Code(s) SLA4F
http://ark.intel.com...0787&code=T5450

The reason the Windows 7 Advisor said it was fine to upgrade to the 32-bit Windows 7, and did not mention 64-bit Windows 7, is because to make the jump from 32-bit to 64-bit requires a clean install, not an 'upgrade'.

Do I need to create these OEM back-up disks if I am doing a clean install with Windows 7 64-bit?

If you never intend on going back to 32-bit Vista, then no, you do not really need to create the OEM back-up disks.

... if I do a complete clean install, apart from personal programs like antivirus etc etc, do I need anything else?

You'll probably want to copy (backup) of all of your Pictures, Music, Documents (Word, Excel, etc.), and Email to some other storage medium before you totally erase the drive.

... I have 2GB but want to upgrade to 4GB, how can I find out what ram I need?

Go to Crucial.com (http://www.crucial.com), and under the "Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool", select the Manufacture (HP - Compaq), then the Product Line (Pavillion 6500 Series), under the Select Model pull-down there are several different DV6500 options. Select your correct model number and then click the Find It button. You should end up on a page describing all of your options to upgrade your system to 4GB of RAM.

And I'd perhaps be interested in upgrading the HDD, nothing huge, maybe 320GB HDD or more.

If you're going to start with a new hard drive, you wouldn't really need to the backup mentioned above. Once you get the system up and running on the new hard drive, attach your old hard drive to a USB port and then use Windows Explorer to drag and drop all of your personal files from the old to the new. (IDE/SATA-to-USB adapters run about $20-$25).

I heard upgrading video cards and processors was very hard - costly and difficult to fit - is thsi true?

Yes, because on a Laptop most of the components are soldered directly onto the motherboard. On a Desktop motherboard they are usually plugged into sockets, and can therefore be replaced/upgraded.

[cerigby]

Wow. Thanks very much for the reply, very very helpful indeed and easy to understand. I think I will only upgrade the RAM and HDD. I've done a bit of research and come across TweakNow Power program, my current HDD is SATA 5400rpm, so can I just look for any SATA 7200rpm HDD? RE: the ram - I've gone onto the HP website and I have 2x1GB model: EM994AA, the 512MB is EM993AA and 2GB is EM995AA. So I assume I can just get 2x2GB EM995AA, which looks like it's up from my current EM994AA 1Gbx2? This is genuine HP product though, or I can just get it through Crucial. Does it make any difference getting genuine products?

[SpywareDr]

Wow. Thanks very much for the reply, very very helpful indeed and easy to understand.

You're welcome, and Thank you.

... my current HDD is SATA 5400rpm, so can I just look for any SATA 7200rpm HDD?

Yes, but I'd look for: 2.5" Laptop hard drives (9mm tall, not 12mm), SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200 RPM. Like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600003459%20600003340&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

RE: the ram - I've gone onto the HP website and I have 2x1GB model: EM994AA, the 512MB is EM993AA and 2GB is EM995AA. So I assume I can just get 2x2GB EM995AA, which looks like it's up from my current EM994AA 1Gbx2? This is genuine HP product though, or I can just get it through Crucial. Does it make any difference getting genuine products?

Crucial has never let me down.

[cerigby]

Awesome, well I think I'll be going through Crucial - with guarentee compatibility, can't go wrong really.

With the HDD, what is the difference between 16MB and 32MB Cache? When I ran TweakNow Power Pack is stated:
L1 Data Cache: 2 x 32 KBytes
Decscriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction Cache: 2 x 32 KBytes
Descriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 Cache 2048 KBytes
Descriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
(Summary was: L1 64KB L2 2048KB L3 0KB)
- is this relevant to my question?

Another quick question, my mum also has a HP Pavilion a few models earlier though. Since I'm replacing my HDD and RAM would it be possible to put them in her notebook?

Her PC is: HP Pavilion DV6201TU, Intel®Core Duo T2250 1.73GHz, 1GB RAM (2 x 512MB DIMM), 80GB SATA 5400rpm HDD. So yes just wondering how I can find out if my RAM and HDD is compatible with her Notebook before we pull it apart.

Thanks.

Edited by cerigby, 31 July 2010 - 07:09 PM.

[SpywareDr]

With the HDD, what is the difference between 16MB and 32MB Cache?

16MB

Wikipedia: Cache
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache

When I ran TweakNow Power Pack is stated:
L1 Data Cache: 2 x 32 KBytes
Decscriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction Cache: 2 x 32 KBytes
Descriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 Cache 2048 KBytes
Descriptor: 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
(Summary was: L1 64KB L2 2048KB L3 0KB)
- is this relevant to my question?

No, that's the CPU cache. (Which in your case is the "Intel Core 2 Duo T5450").

Wikipedia: CPU cache
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_cache

Another quick question, my mum also has a HP Pavilion a few models earlier though. Since I'm replacing my HDD and RAM would it be possible to put them in her notebook?

Her PC is: HP Pavilion DV6201TU, Intel®Core Duo T2250 1.73GHz, 1GB RAM (2 x 512MB DIMM), 80GB SATA 5400rpm HDD. So yes just wondering how I can find out if my RAM and HDD is compatible with her Notebook before we pull it apart.

The HD should work; don't know about the RAM. Plug her model# into Crucial's site and see what kind of RAM it requires.

[cerigby]

Hmm... thanks. I'll have to research the RAM side of things a little more. I'm purchasing Windows 7, does it matter if I'm in Australia and I buy a copy from the U.S?

[SpywareDr]

I'm purchasing Windows 7, does it matter if I'm in Australia and I buy a copy from the U.S?

Don't know, never tried it. Can't imagine why it would be a problem though. Shipping to Australia will probably be higher though.

Edited by SpywareDr, 01 August 2010 - 05:29 AM.