Technical white paper Installing Microsoft Windows 8 on an HP ProBook or EliteBook Notebook PC Commercial Managed IT Table of contents Executive summary 2 System requirements and prerequisites Supported models 2 2 Installing the OS, drivers, and enhancements Drivers and enhancements 3 4 Appendix A: Using HP SoftPaq Download Manager 7 Appendix B: Minimum Required BIOS Versions Appendix C: Installing preboot applications and tools Applications accessible during startup Restoring the preboot applicat
Executive summary This white paper provides instructions for installing the 64-bit versions of Microsoft® Windows® 8 operating systems (OSs) along with applicable HP drivers and applications on supported HP EliteBook and HP ProBook Notebook PC models. Windows 8 is the latest client operating system from Microsoft. It features a modern user interface while maintaining all of the compatibility, manageability, and security features for which Windows is known.
– HP SoftPaq Download Manager (www.hp.com/go/sdm) – High speed Internet access (www.hp.com) IMPORTANT Make sure you have the latest compatible versions of drivers and enhancements (Table 1). In addition, you must have a Microsoft operating system license for each system on which you install Windows 8 Professional. The Windows 8 Professional license allows you to use Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Professional.
Drivers and enhancements The tables provided in this section list minimum recommended software versions for a range of HP EliteBook and ProBook models.
Table 2 lists minimum recommended HP drivers and enhancements for Windows 8 Professional covering HP ProBook 6475b. Table 2. Minimum recommended software versions for the HP ProBook 6475b Name Version Priority Alcor Micro Smart Card Reader Driver 1.7.30.0 A Required AMD AHCI Controller Driver 1.3.1.43 A Required AMD Comal Video Driver 8.982.7.1 A Required Broadcom Bluetooth Software 12.0.0.1900 E Required Broadcom WLAN Driver 6.30.59.43 D Required Ericsson Mobile Broadband Drivers 8.0.6.
Table 3 lists minimum recommended HP drivers and enhancements for Windows 8 Professional covering HP ProBook sseries models. Table 3. Minimum recommended software versions for HP ProBook s-series models Name Version Priority AMD Thames Win8 Video Driver 8.982.6 A Required Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth 4.0+HS Driver 1.00 B Required Atheros AR9485 Wireless LAN Driver 1.00 B Required Broadcom Bluetooth Software 12.0.0.1900 E Required Broadcom WLAN Driver 6.30.59.
Appendix A: Using HP SoftPaq Download Manager Using HP SoftPaq Download Manager to update the current platform 1. Boot the Windows OS. 2. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer. 3. Download and install HP SoftPaq Download Manager from www.hp.com/go/sdm. NOTE: .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is required. Refer to Appendix F for details on installing .NET Framework. 4. Launch SoftPaq Download Manager. 5. When prompted, select Show software for this model only (Figure A-1).
7. Select the desired SoftPaqs from the Available SoftPaqs list (Figure A-2). Figure A-2. Available SoftPaqs list 8. After selecting the desired SoftPaqs, the following options are available in the Downloaded SoftPaqs window: Download Only, Download and Unpack or Download and Install (Figure A-3). Figure A-3. Downloaded SoftPaqs window Download Only – this option will download all selected SoftPaqs to “C:\ProgramData\HP\HP SoftPaq Download Manger\SWDownload”.
Using HP SoftPaq Download Manager to download SoftPaqs for multiple platforms 1. Download and install HP SoftPaq Download Manager from www.hp.com/go/sdm on any Windows based system. 2. Launch HP SoftPaq Download Manager 3. When prompted, select Show software for all supported models (Figure A-4). Figure A-4. SoftPaq Download Manager menu 4. Select the respective platforms in the Product Catalog window. 5.
6. Prior to downloading the SoftPaqs, set your download preferences in the Configuration Options window (Figure A6) accessed from the Tools menu (ToolsConfiguration Options). Figure A-6. Download tab in Configuration Options window 7. Additional customizations are available through the Unpack tab (Figure A-7). Figure A-7.
Unpack Directory – this field allows the user to change the location where the SoftPaqs will be unpacked once they are downloaded. Unpack Folder Options – Legacy Behavior – this option will unpack all selected SoftPaqs in the Download Directory established on the Download tab (above). Unpack directory field will be locked. – Separate by SoftPaq IDs – this option will unpack all selected SoftPaqs in the folder designated in the Unpack directory.
8. After selecting the desired SoftPaqs, the following options are available in the Downloaded SoftPaqs window: Download Only or Download and Unpack (Figure A-10). Figure A-10. Downloaded SoftPaqs window – Download Only – this option will download all selected SoftPaqs according to the settings established in the Download tab in the Configuration Options dialog. Default is Single Folder set to “C:\SoftPaqDownloadDirectory”.
Appendix B: Minimum Required BIOS Versions Model Minimum BIOS version HP EliteBook 2170p F.30 HP EliteBook 2570p F.31 HP EliteBook Revolve 810 F.31 HP EliteBook 8470p F.31 HP EliteBook 8470w F.31 HP EliteBook 8570p F.31 HP EliteBook 8570w F.31 HP EliteBook 8770w F.31 HP ProBook 6470b F.31 HP ProBook 6570b F.31 HP ProBook 6475b F.32 HP ProBook 4445s F.31 HP ProBook 4545s F.31 HP ProBook 4340s F.31 HP ProBook 4440s F.31 HP ProBook 4540s F.31 HP ProBook 4740s F.
Appendix C: Installing preboot applications and tools On Windows 8 systems, the preboot applications are installed on the UEFI System Partition, which is created by the Windows installation. The UEFI preboot applications on the UEFI system partition are not required for the basic operation of HP notebook computers. However, if the applications are missing, some of the features described in this paper will not be available.
Appendix D: Windows 8 Product Guide You can download a Windows 8 Product Guide from the Microsoft website using the following steps: 1. Go to www.microsoft.com/download. 2. Search on “Windows 8 Product Guide“. Appendix E: Downgrading to Windows 7 The Windows 8 Professional license allows you to use Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Professional. A clean install must be performed when downgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 7. All applications and data will be lost during the downgrade process. 1.
Appendix E: Q & A Q: Are my accessories compatible with Windows 8? A: Software and hardware compatibility can be checked at the Compatibility Center for Windows 8 on Microsoft’s website. Q: Will I have access to HP Store? A: Depends. Scenarios outlined below: If using VL or KMS server to install Windows 8: o No. Access will not be available to HP Store. Therefore no HP Metro apps available that are preloaded from HP. If using Retail Key to install Windows 8: o No.
Appendix F: Installing .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 Although .NET Framework 4.5 is included with Windows 8 and installed on your computer with the operating system, .NET Framework 3.5 is not automatically installed with Windows 8. Thus, to run applications that require .NET Framework 3.5 on a Windows 8 system, you must first enable this version using one of the following methods Installing .NET Framework 3.5 on demand (that is, when an application that requires .NET Framework 3.
Using the Control Panel to enable .NET Framework 3.5 You can also enable .NET Framework 3.5 yourself through the Control Panel. Select Control PanelPrograms and FeaturesTurn Windows features on or off, as shown in Figure F-2. If you have an Internet connection, you can select the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 check box. Figure F-2. Message box that allows you to turn on .NET Framework 3.5.
References Microsoft .NET Framework http://www.microsoft.com/net/ Microsoft Windows 8 Compatibility Center http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/en-us/CompatCenter/Home HP Support & Drivers Page http://www.hp.com/go/support HP & Windows 8 Page http://www.hp.com/go/windows8 For more information To learn more about HP business notebooks, contact your local HP sales representative or visit www.hp.com/go/notebooks. Get connected hp.
