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Installing Windows 7 – HP EliteBook 2730p Tablet PC

UPDATE: The official release of Windows 7 in October brought with it the necessary driver updates from HP. You can download them here instead of using the links below.

This post will document my install and configuration experience for Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) on an HP EliteBook 2730p Tablet PC (which is definitely what I recommend, and make sure you upgrade it to at least 3-4GB of RAM while you’re at it… oh and a solid-state drive helps too, but isn’t required).

First, because this system has no DVD drive, we have to prep a USB flash drive for the installation (note that SELECT DISK 1, D:, and F: parameters may vary depending on your setup):

  1. Start > Run > CMD.EXE
  2. DISKPART
  3. LIST DISK
  4. SELECT DISK 1
  5. CLEAN
  6. CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
  7. SELECT PARTITION 1
  8. ACTIVE
  9. FORMAT FS=NTFS
  10. ASSIGN
  11. EXIT

Take a Windows 7 DVD, and switch the command prompt to the DVD using this command:

  1. D:
  2. CD BOOT
  3. BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 F:

Copy the entire DVD to the USB flash drive.

Reboot and press F9 to do a custom boot… choose USB Hard Drive.

This will start the Windows 7 Setup process. Select your language (English), and continue.

Select your hard drive and partition to install to. For best results, do a clean install, and erase all existing partitions before proceeding. Setup will take approximately 15 minutes and will reboot at least twice.

You will reach a point in which setup prompts for some information:

  • Username and Computer Name
  • User Account Password and Hint
  • Product Key (You can actually do this later, but I recommend doing it now)
  • Automatic Updates (I recommend Automatic Settings)
  • Time Zone
  • Wireless Network

Windows will finish configuring itself, and will automatically run Windows Update to install any critical hardware drivers and updates. Do NOT interrupt this process, and I would recommend running Windows Update again after it’s finished to grab additional updates (out of the box, it has no fewer than 8 driver updates available). After install all available updates, reboot your computer, even if it doesn’t tell you it needs one. (Optional: I also recommend disabling the User Account Control settings in Control Panel > User Accounts. Although it’s intended as a security feature, it’s more annoying than anything.)

At this point, initial setup is complete. If you want to be thorough, run Windows Update, enable it’s full functionality (Get more updates), and run it until it offers no more updates. When you’re done, you’ll need to download and install the following updates manually:

I won’t go as far as saying that you’ve got a certified Windows 7 system, since officially these last four drivers are intended for Windows Vista, but I will say that this is a very stable, very FAST configuration. I’ve not found any technical snafus with this setup. With the latest BIOS update, I have no problems with standby, or any other driver functionality (including the fingerprint reader which is fully supported from the word go now).

Bottom line: If you have this system, you are a fool to not install Windows 7 at your earliest convenience!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 5:40 PM and is filed under Tech News.

6 Responses to “Installing Windows 7 – HP EliteBook 2730p Tablet PC”

  1. On August 26th, 2009 at 1:32 AM seemebreakthis wrote:

    Is 3D DriveGuard working for you? It seemed to have installed correctly on my machine, but i can never get it to activate (of course i will not go so far as to drop the device on the floor, but it does not seem to activate even with rigorous movements).

    Other than that, it is working perfectly for me. Very responsive on Win7.

  2. On August 26th, 2009 at 11:20 PM seemebreakthis wrote:

    DriveGuard working perfectly after I installed the latest release instead of the one I obtained from this article. Do a search in the HP official website to find the latest DriveGuard installation for the 2730p. It is intended for Vista, but it works on my machine with Win7.

  3. On August 27th, 2009 at 2:21 PM Aaron Hall wrote:

    Thanks, I’ll grab the latest link and re-post when I have a moment to spare. I appreciate the update! :)

  4. On September 20th, 2009 at 7:40 AM Leslie wrote:

    Does the finger print reader also work?? Mine never does and the rotation of scree also is problematic.

  5. On October 2nd, 2009 at 10:49 PM Aaron Hall wrote:

    Yes, I use it with the native Windows 7 drivers from Windows Update and the built-in Biometrics control panel. Do NOT attempt to install the Vista drivers for the fingerprint reader. The only ones you should download separately are the 4 listed in the article. :)

    Sorry for the late reply.

  6. On October 22nd, 2009 at 10:08 PM ed wrote:

    Just installed my Windows 7 today. So far I’ve had 2 problems:

    1. When I rotate the screen to use my Elitebook as tablet, the screen goes dark and nothing can bring it back…I’ll have to shut down the machine cold.

    2. When I try to register my fingerprint by calling on the biometrics devices in the control panal, I could get as far as to register my windows password. After that I get a “TrueSuite.FPR has stopped working” message. The problem signature says “System.NullReferenceException”.

    Does anyone have the above problems and know how to fix them?