Windows XP/7 on an HP 2133 Mini Note (June 2008)

Well before I decided to try out Windows XP (or Windows 7, for that matter) on my Mini Note, I wrote a review on Amazon. If you're interested, check it out here.

Just after I bought the Mini-Note, I read numerous reports about the performance advantages of XP over Vista. Therefore, I decided to give it a try, mainly because I had a spare OEM licence for XP Home.

For those of you interested in reloading an OS on the Mini-Note, be warned, the process is not simple and the Web is rife with misinformation (some say that installing XP from a 16-bit DOS boot can’t be done – WRONG!!) and there are hundreds of ridiculously complex methods of creating boot disks/USB devices, mostly just a waste of time.

The method I describe below incorporates the use of a USB floppy drive and a 1Gb USB key. The main reason is that's all I had, and at the time, an external USB floppy drive was considerably cheaper than a USB CD/DVD drive.

Currently, it would be much simpler (and possibly cheaper) to acquire an external USB CD/DVD ROM/Burner and then, simply, boot from the XP or Win7 installation disc.

Let's get going:

  1. Go to HP Software & Driver Downloads and grab all the XP drivers for the HP 2133 Mini Note.
  2. Create a WIN98SE boot floppy (FORMAT /S) and add SMARTDRV.EXE, FreeDOS FDISK.EXE and FreeDOS FORMAT.EXE (you need the FreeDOS commands to handle large drives) http://www.freedos.org/
  3. Copy the entire Win XP disk contents to your USB drive (you probably only need the i386 folder, but what the heck).
  4. Copy the previously downloaded drivers into a subfolder on the USB flash drive.
  5. Don’t plug the USB flash drive into the HP 2133 just yet.
  6. Boot the HP 2133 with the floppy (use F9 to select the USB floppy drive as the boot device).
  7. Type SMARTDRV (probably not necessary at this stage, but get into the habit – or add it to AUTOEXEC.BAT).
  8. FDISK the hard drive on the HP, ensure it has an active BOOT partition – REBOOT.
  9. Format the hard drive with the FreeDOS command FORMAT c: /u /q
  10. Plug in the USB flash drive and REBOOT with the floppy drive.
  11. Type SMARTDRV (this is important, or the following processes could take hours).
  12. At the prompt, type d:\i386\winnt.exe /s:d:\i386 (substitute your flash drive letter, if necessary).
  13. Let the machine copy the installation files and do its thing.
  14. Once it reboots for the first time, you can remove the floppy drive, but leave the flash drive connected.
  15. Select the install location (C: drive) and convert it to NTFS.
  16. Follow the rest of the standard XP installation steps.
  17. Load all the drivers. Be aware of the following:
    1. Load the MS UAA Bus Driver patch BEFORE loading the ADI Soundmax driver.
    2. Load the HP Quick Launch Buttons Drivers and Services, even if you have no intention of using this "feature". Otherwise you will have an "Unknown Device" sitting in your Device Manager. Note: When running the installation, you can un-tick the option to install the program, but the drivers and services must be installed.
  18. Enjoy the performance benefits of XP on your Mini Note!

Update May 2009:

I have since downloaded and installed Windows 7 RC1 on the Mini Note. All I can say is that it outperforms Windows XP by a considerable margin. It also found ALL the hardware and installed native drivers (except the HP Quick Launch Buttons Drivers and Services - but who uses those?). It just worked!

Even with all the pretty screen junk turned on, it seemed to work reasonably quickly. Turn all that off and it flys!

What don't I like? Sadly, MS has decided that the "Classic Start Menu" is outdated. The forum even says something along the lines of, "Don't keep asking for the Classic Start Menu back, tell us how to improve the new one!" BAH!

It's stable and feels complete and I know I will be rebuilding both the Mini Note and my dv7 as soon as Windows 7 is officially released.

Update 12 July 2009

One evening in Early July 2009 (one month after the manufacturer's warranty ran out), the Mini Note refused to boot! I did the usual checks, but was unable to determine the problem. All that happens is the "on" LED lights up and nothing else. Nothing on the screen, no beeps or any other signs of life!!

Obviously, I do not blame Windows 7 at this stage. I can only assume it is a hardware problem.

The good news is, for some unexplained reason, I had taken out an extended warranty on this particular item. That's something I have never done before. So it has been returned to the dealer.

When I know some more, I shall post the diagnosis. I just hope this doesn't turn into a saga.

Update 19 July 2009

Well, what a pleasant surprise!

I got my Mini Note back in just a week. Apparently, the motherboard was at fault, therefore, it was replaced. I must commend HP on their service. Well done!

Update 30 October 2009

I finally installed a full version of Windows 7 Pro (32bit) on the Mini Note and am impressed so far.

The machine is running out of room for the licence stickers, though... It's sad that the Vista and XP licences are now wasted!

Mini Note Licences