display dr8iver for a HP G62 Notebook PC ?

[R.Wieser]

Hello all,

I've been donated a "HP G62 Notebook PC" (as shown on its info screen), and
am now looking for a display/video driver, so I can set a higher resolution
than its current maximum of 1024 x 768.

The problem is that I see a lot drivers, bit only for specific models : "HP
G62-xxx".

Question:

As there does not seem to be a generic driver available, which model should
I be looking for ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Paul]

Post by R.Wieser
Hello all,
I've been donated a "HP G62 Notebook PC" (as shown on its info screen), and
am now looking for a display/video driver, so I can set a higher resolution
than its current maximum of 1024 x 768.
The problem is that I see a lot drivers, bit only for specific models : "HP
G62-xxx".
As there does not seem to be a generic driver available, which model should
I be looking for ?
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Need the sub-model information. Messy...

https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-G62-Series.31933.0.html

A couple are good, some are miserable, in terms of what
kind of driver might exist. Like Aero might not be a candidate
for a couple of those.

At my house, we insert the LinuxMint, boot, and run INXI -F
to get the machine details. I don't know what a Bumblebee setup
looks like in INXI (two GPUs).

But at the very least, if you don't want to run utilities,
find the sub-model info. G62-xxxxx sort of thing.

You know, HP made some models that were so broad, the "same model"
of laptop had both AMD and Intel processors in the range of submodels.
Naturally, these are entirely different motherboards.
Using the sub-model field, you could Google and figure out
whether it was an AMD or an Intel, in that case.

Other HP products are narrow, and there is less of this
"bobbing for apples" shit.

The HP site should have drivers, and using the "tag" on the machine,
they should allow you to close in on the drivers faster.

The "generic driver" is what is making your screen run at 1024x768.
That's the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver, formerly called the
VESA driver, because it only runs at limited VESA screen resolution settings.
It's an unaccelerated driver. It should make the screen a bit fuzzy.
Or, it makes circles into ellipses, squares into rectangles. Thin people
into fat people.

If the former owner did not zorch the 15GB restore partition,
the copy of Windows 7 in there would already have the
graphics driver for the machine.

When you make the recovery media set, one of the DVDs is the "driver DVD".
That's one of my favorite discs, that one. On modern computers, W10 and W11,
they no longer do it that way. You get... nothing, really. The older
setups would have 13-15GB of factory restore.

Paul

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

Post by Paul
Need the sub-model information. Messy...

Getting it is the problem.

I can, at BIOS boot time, press ESC and than F1 to get an "system
information" screen (the "info screen" I mentioned earlier) , but the the
only place "G62" is mentioned is in the (first) "notebook model" entry.

I've just (again) looked at all 8 sides (2 for the screens bevel and the
keyboard area :-) ), but did not find any indication of a model number/name.

[snip link]

Post by Paul
A couple are good, some are miserable, in terms of what
kind of driver might exist. Like Aero might not be a candidate
for a couple of those.

I did my own searching too (and discarded all non-Win7 drivers, like the
above), but all that I found where earmarked for specific sub-models. Hence
my post here.

Post by Paul
But at the very least, if you don't want to run utilities,
find the sub-model info. G62-xxxxx sort of thing.

"utilities" ? Any (GUI or CLI) that have been included with the
installation of Win7 ? I just took a peek at what the "control panel" had
to offer, but although "system" looked promising it didn't want to say
anthing about the laptop itself. :-\

Post by Paul
Other HP products are narrow, and there is less of this
"bobbing for apples" shit.
The HP site should have drivers, and using the "tag" on the machine,
they should allow you to close in on the drivers faster.

The above-mentioned "system information" screen showed a few big-ish
"numbers" (11 symbols and more). I guess I could try those in a search.
I'm not looking forward to it though. :-|

Post by Paul
The "generic driver" is what is making your screen run at 1024x768.

Ah, but thats a different kind of generic.

In my case the "generic" was ment as being sub-model agnostic (including an
installer which would have drivers for all sub-models and would pick the
right one itself)..

Post by Paul
If the former owner did not zorch the 15GB restore partition,
the copy of Windows 7 in there would already have the
graphics driver for the machine.

Alas, the drive was thoroughly nuked before I got it. It might have been
in my favour though : the person who gave the lappy to me said that it had a
20 GByte HD (not really usable anymore in this day-and-age). It turned out
that the BIOS reported the 500 GByte HD wrong. :-)

Thanks for the response. I will just have to do some more web-searching.
:-\

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[R.Wieser]

Post by R.Wieser

Post by Paul
Need the sub-model information. Messy...

Getting it is the problem.

...

Post by R.Wieser
I've just (again) looked at all 8 sides (2 for the screens bevel and the
keyboard area :-) ), but did not find any indication of a model number/name.

I just realized that there was one place I *didn't* look : under the
removable battery-pack.

And what do you know, it was there : "model: G62-b09ED"

I just did another websearch with it looking for a display driver, and found
a webpage containing it. Though I think I overstayed my welcome (hopefully
only for today) by downloading, from the start of the list, all the other
related drivers too.

... I should have started with the display driver.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Paul]

Post by R.Wieser

Post by R.Wieser

Post by Paul
Need the sub-model information. Messy...

Getting it is the problem.

...

Post by R.Wieser
I've just (again) looked at all 8 sides (2 for the screens bevel and the
keyboard area :-) ), but did not find any indication of a model number/name.

I just realized that there was one place I *didn't* look : under the
removable battery-pack.
And what do you know, it was there : "model: G62-b09ED"
I just did another websearch with it looking for a display driver, and found
a webpage containing it. Though I think I overstayed my welcome (hopefully
only for today) by downloading, from the start of the list, all the other
related drivers too.
... I should have started with the display driver.
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

The graphics are IronLake. That is an HD graphics inside the CPU, with 12 EU (Execution Units)
The GPU is 45nm geometry, and was used by two sets of CPUs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_graphics_processing_units#Fifth_generation

Luckily, there was a security update for the GPU driver, and it's
still on the site. It's not the security that matters, it's that
there is any driver at all :-) The user perspective is different.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18424/intel-graphics-driver-for-windows-7-8-1-15-36.html

The GPU has QuickSync (built-in video decoding). This would be
a pretty early generation of it.

"Hardware decoding and encoding

Support for Quick Sync hardware accelerated decoding of H.264, MPEG-2, and VC-1 video
is widely available. One common way to gain access to the technology on Microsoft Windows
is by use of the free ffdshow filter. Some other free software like VLC media player
(since version 2.1.0 "Rincewind") supports Quick Sync as well. Many commercial applications
also benefit from the technology today, including CyberLink PowerDVD, CyberLink PowerDirector
and MacroMotion Bogart gold edition.
"

What I was hoping for was a table, like the table NVidia provides
for their products. For example, the GPU probably does not have
all three of those. I don't know of a way to list them either.
Normally, I'd just consult a table to answer such a question.

Who knows, you might get a sharp 1360x768 or 1368x768 output.
Generally speaking, a driver cannot do 1366x768 , as the horizontal
is divisible by 8, the vertical divisible by 2. 1366 happens to not
divide by 8 (you hardware guys, how clever).

Paul

[VanguardLH]

Post by Paul

Post by R.Wieser

Post by R.Wieser

Post by Paul
Need the sub-model information. Messy...

Getting it is the problem.

...

Post by R.Wieser
I've just (again) looked at all 8 sides (2 for the screens bevel and the
keyboard area :-) ), but did not find any indication of a model number/name.

I just realized that there was one place I *didn't* look : under the
removable battery-pack.
And what do you know, it was there : "model: G62-b09ED"
I just did another websearch with it looking for a display driver, and found
a webpage containing it. Though I think I overstayed my welcome (hopefully
only for today) by downloading, from the start of the list, all the other
related drivers too.
... I should have started with the display driver.
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

The graphics are IronLake. That is an HD graphics inside the CPU, with 12 EU (Execution Units)
The GPU is 45nm geometry, and was used by two sets of CPUs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_graphics_processing_units#Fifth_generation
Luckily, there was a security update for the GPU driver, and it's
still on the site. It's not the security that matters, it's that
there is any driver at all :-) The user perspective is different.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18424/intel-graphics-driver-for-windows-7-8-1-15-36.html
The GPU has QuickSync (built-in video decoding). This would be
a pretty early generation of it.
"Hardware decoding and encoding
Support for Quick Sync hardware accelerated decoding of H.264, MPEG-2, and VC-1 video
is widely available. One common way to gain access to the technology on Microsoft Windows
is by use of the free ffdshow filter. Some other free software like VLC media player
(since version 2.1.0 "Rincewind") supports Quick Sync as well. Many commercial applications
also benefit from the technology today, including CyberLink PowerDVD, CyberLink PowerDirector
and MacroMotion Bogart gold edition.
"
What I was hoping for was a table, like the table NVidia provides
for their products. For example, the GPU probably does not have
all three of those. I don't know of a way to list them either.
Normally, I'd just consult a table to answer such a question.
Who knows, you might get a sharp 1360x768 or 1368x768 output.
Generally speaking, a driver cannot do 1366x768 , as the horizontal
is divisible by 8, the vertical divisible by 2. 1366 happens to not
divide by 8 (you hardware guys, how clever).
Paul

Post by R.Wieser

Post by R.Wieser

Post by Paul
Need the sub-model information. Messy...

Getting it is the problem.

...

Post by R.Wieser
I've just (again) looked at all 8 sides (2 for the screens bevel and the
keyboard area :-) ), but did not find any indication of a model number/name.

I just realized that there was one place I *didn't* look : under the
removable battery-pack.
And what do you know, it was there : "model: G62-b09ED"
I just did another websearch with it looking for a display driver, and found
a webpage containing it. Though I think I overstayed my welcome (hopefully
only for today) by downloading, from the start of the list, all the other
related drivers too.
... I should have started with the display driver.
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

The graphics are IronLake. That is an HD graphics inside the CPU, with 12 EU (Execution Units)
The GPU is 45nm geometry, and was used by two sets of CPUs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_graphics_processing_units#Fifth_generation
Luckily, there was a security update for the GPU driver, and it's
still on the site. It's not the security that matters, it's that
there is any driver at all :-) The user perspective is different.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18424/intel-graphics-driver-for-windows-7-8-1-15-36.html
The GPU has QuickSync (built-in video decoding). This would be
a pretty early generation of it.
"Hardware decoding and encoding
Support for Quick Sync hardware accelerated decoding of H.264, MPEG-2, and VC-1 video
is widely available. One common way to gain access to the technology on Microsoft Windows
is by use of the free ffdshow filter. Some other free software like VLC media player
(since version 2.1.0 "Rincewind") supports Quick Sync as well. Many commercial applications
also benefit from the technology today, including CyberLink PowerDVD, CyberLink PowerDirector
and MacroMotion Bogart gold edition.
"
What I was hoping for was a table, like the table NVidia provides
for their products. For example, the GPU probably does not have
all three of those. I don't know of a way to list them either.
Normally, I'd just consult a table to answer such a question.
Who knows, you might get a sharp 1360x768 or 1368x768 output.
Generally speaking, a driver cannot do 1366x768 , as the horizontal
is divisible by 8, the vertical divisible by 2. 1366 happens to not
divide by 8 (you hardware guys, how clever).
Paul

Too bad they don't give specs on their drivers, like maximum screen
resolution to let the OP know if they go beyond the 1024x768 with
whatever driver/INF he is currently using.

Would the driver update check (if not disabled as I do) by Windows
Update have found a later CPU graphics driver? If not, I remember
getting stuck and then removing the Intel Drive & Support Assistant from
my build (it was bundled with some other Intel software that I wanted,
and no custom select on components, so I had to install then to trim
away).

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

I have an Intel CPU, but primary video is from an AMD/ATI daughtercard,
so I saw no point in keeping Intel's tool to update a graphics driver
for the CPU video that I don't use.

[Paul]

Post by VanguardLH
Too bad they don't give specs on their drivers, like maximum screen
resolution to let the OP know if they go beyond the 1024x768 with
whatever driver/INF he is currently using.
Would the driver update check (if not disabled as I do) by Windows
Update have found a later CPU graphics driver? If not, I remember
getting stuck and then removing the Intel Drive & Support Assistant from
my build (it was bundled with some other Intel software that I wanted,
and no custom select on components, so I had to install then to trim
away).
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html
I have an Intel CPU, but primary video is from an AMD/ATI daughtercard,
so I saw no point in keeping Intel's tool to update a graphics driver
for the CPU video that I don't use.

It's been a long time since an attempt to use the Windows Update search
for a driver thing, actually delivered a driver :-/

I'm back to looking for these manually.

As for resolution limits, you know that 1024x768 is the "safe resolution
which will not break non-multisync monitors". There was a lawsuit, for
people with busted or burned out monitors, damaged by drivers, and
the industry remembers that incident.

One of the side effects of the ;awsuit, is companies
like Microsoft, if they did not have an EDID table from a monitor to
work with, they would select 1024x768 as the max resolution. In modern
times, the VESA driver (fallback) just goes to that res out of habit.
In fact, under some circumstances, a VESA-like driver will go a lot
higher than that, but I haven't had that happen by accident in a long
long time.

Video cards around the year 2000, had two connectors. The companies
were so cheap, they used to put different BrookTree DACs on the
two video paths. The "second" connector (not many people could
afford a second CRT), the DAC only did 1024x768 (a bandwidth or
speed limitation). The main DAC might do 1600x1200. At the
time, the hardware simply could not manage 400MHz and 2048x2048
resolutions on analog out. Back in those days, you'd get cable
reflections and non-linearity on the CRT, that you don't see today.
Back in the old days, I would not dream of doing 1920x1080 over VGA.
Today, I routinely do that. Not a smudge on the screen. Works fine.
But when more of the working bits were analog, high resolutions
over VGA were pretty ugly.

Paul

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

Post by Paul
Luckily, there was a security update for the GPU driver, and it's
still on the site. It's not the security that matters, it's that
there is any driver at all :-) The user perspective is different.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18424/intel-graphics-driver-for-windows-7-8-1-15-36.html

Thank you.

Although the other website I spoke of* does have a display driver for
download (just have to wait another 12 hours to be allowed to do so), having
an security updated one does seem the better choice.

* https://driverscollection.com/?H=G62-b09ED&By=HP&SS=Windows%207&dpage=3

Post by Paul
Who knows, you might get a sharp 1360x768 or 1368x768 output.
Generally speaking, a driver cannot do 1366x768 , as the horizontal
is divisible by 8, the vertical divisible by 2. 1366 happens to not
divide by 8 (you hardware guys, how clever).

I didn't even notice that. Makes me wonder where those "extra" 6 pixels
came from / are for.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[VanguardLH]

Post by R.Wieser
I've been donated a "HP G62 Notebook PC" (as shown on its info screen), and
am now looking for a display/video driver, so I can set a higher resolution
than its current maximum of 1024 x 768.
The problem is that I see a lot drivers, bit only for specific models : "HP
G62-xxx".
As there does not seem to be a generic driver available, which model should
I be looking for ?

Warning: Using a different screen resolution than the native resolution
results in artifacts, like fuzziness and color tinging.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-g62-a00-notebook-pc-series/4156509
Which video driver depends on which onboard video controller is present,
and that probably varies by sub-model which was not mentioned.

I take it that HP's graphics driver doesn't give you a higher screen
resolution choice than the display's native resolution. The specs show
1366 x 768 for native resolution, but that could be sub-model dependent.
You sure the driver you already have doesn't let you select that?

According to:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

You use Fn+Esc to get a popup of info on the HP laptop (probably
requires some HP ancilliary got installed usually bundled with the
sysprep image put on the drive). If the case sticker is still legible,
you can use the serial number or product ID to walk through HP's support
site to find the correct software.

If the popup info tool wasn't installed, or got removed, maybe their
support assistant tool tells what model & sub-model you have, or serial
number, or product ID. The latest version requires Windows 10, but it
might already be installed on your laptop. Search the Start Menu on
"support assistant".

https://support.hp.com/si-en/document/ish_2025988-1592331-16

That says the tool shows the device info. However, I didn't find a
download for an old version that runs on Windows 7. You might be stuck
having to find an old version at some 3rd party (non-HP) web site, but
that risks getting malware. Did the used laptop come with the CDs?
Those might have the installer package for the graphics driver. I did
not bother hunting around for the package name of the installer file.
As I recall, HP doesn't use obvious filenames to let you know which
installer is for which components of the device.

[R.Wieser]

VanguardLH,

Post by VanguardLH
Which video driver depends on which onboard video controller is
present, and that probably varies by sub-model

Hence my question.

Post by VanguardLH
which was not mentioned.

Thats correct. The G62 notebook nowhere showed or mentioned the sub-model
(yeah, yeah, I know you didn't mean it that way).

Post by VanguardLH
1366 x 768 for native resolution,

...

Post by VanguardLH
You sure the driver you already have doesn't let you select that?

In my initial post I wrote "its current maximum of 1024 x 768". Do you have
any reason to doubt that/me ?

Post by VanguardLH
You use Fn+Esc to get a popup of info on the HP laptop

You forgot to mention *when* that combo should be pressed.

Though in my case I just press "ESC" when the booting notebook tells me to.

Post by VanguardLH
(probably requires some HP ancilliary got installed usually bundled with
the sysprep image put on the drive).

Nope. For the the G62 notebook its a BIOS thing.

Post by VanguardLH
https://support.hp.com/si-en/document/ish_2025988-1592331-16
That says the tool shows the device info.

Alas, although I got several web-search hits like yours, when I try to
navigate to them all I get is a "403 forbidden" status and a blank page.

Post by VanguardLH
You might be stuck having to find an old version at some 3rd party
(non-HP) web site

I already did that for some of the notebooks hardware (lan, WiFi,
bluetooth), but none of those websites showed any display drivers.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[VanguardLH]

Post by R.Wieser
VanguardLH,

Post by VanguardLH
Which video driver depends on which onboard video controller is
present, and that probably varies by sub-model

Hence my question.

Post by VanguardLH
which was not mentioned.

Thats correct. The G62 notebook nowhere showed or mentioned the
sub-model (yeah, yeah, I know you didn't mean it that way).

I take it the sticker on the case has been so worn that the info is
obliterated. Maybe the sub-model isn't listed, but how about the serial
number? https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops lets you enter the
serial number. Or, is the product sticker gone?

Maybe you could ask the prior owner if they know what they had, and gave
to you. Possibly they still have a purchase receipt that shows model
and sub-model. They might have something to identify the sub-model.

How about looking at the main battery, and working backwards by seeing
in which sub-models is listed as a replacement.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
1366 x 768 for native resolution,
...
You sure the driver you already have doesn't let you select that?

In my initial post I wrote "its current maximum of 1024 x 768". Do
you have any reason to doubt that/me ?

As Paul mentioned, check if you are using the standard graphics
controller, or the driver from HP (look in Device Manager). If 1366x768
is not listed, perhaps you can elect to view non-standard resolutions.
The ones listed are those specified in the .inf file for the video
controller.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
You use Fn+Esc to get a popup of info on the HP laptop

You forgot to mention *when* that combo should be pressed.

Forgot where I read that, but likely when I visited HP's support site to
read a manual for one of the G62 models. I suspect it is a key macro
added by some HP software that is bundled in the sysprep image laid on
the drive from the factory. A lot of HP provided ancilliary software
has a filename of sp*.exe, like those listed at:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-g62-a00-notebook-pc-series/4156509

That means it is software that runs or gets loaded under Windows, so you
have to boot Windows and login. If that ancilliary software got removed
by the prior owner, yeah, it won't be available to you. I know some HP
users will clean out all the junk that HP dumps in the OS image in the
factory setup.

No rescue/recovery CDs came with the laptop? If not, I question if the
sale/donation was for just the hardware (that happened to have a
populated drive). If there is no way to install the OS from scratch,
you really only got hardware. I've brought this up with companies that
sell off their old workstations, but don't provide a means of installing
the OS.

Possibly one of the boot-time options is Recovery that uses a hidden
partition on the drive with the OS image/setup. If there is nothing you
need to keep, or could backup elsewhere, I'd see if a recovery that
reinstalls the OS would give you all the HP software that originally
came with the laptop instead of whatever the prior owner set up or
deleted.

You don't what the fart you're getting with an old OS setup on a used
computer. I would start with a fresh install, especially to get rid of
any unwanted tweaks or malware that are in the old setup. If the
rescue/install CDs are absent, I'd use the boot-time recovery option to
restore to the factory image. That's me. Lots of users don't want to
do a fresh install, and just move forward with whatever came on the
computer. I prefer a known going forward, not an unknown that some
prior owner might've screwed up.

Do you have driver updates disable in Windows Update? If not, WU might
suggest a later video driver.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
https://support.hp.com/si-en/document/ish_2025988-1592331-16
That says the tool shows the device info.

Alas, although I got several web-search hits like yours, when I try to
navigate to them all I get is a "403 forbidden" status and a blank page.

HP had their FTP site at ftp.hp.com, but it won't connect now when using
FileZilla (FTP got removed from Firefox a while ago). Yet I can find
links, like https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp56501-57000/sp56849.exe,
that will still work. No, I don't know what that is for. Found it
mentioned in an HP forum post. Used SysInternals 'strings' command
piped into a .txt file, and opened in Notepad. Too much for me to
determine what that sp file was for. The HP forum thread was about
battery level. Seems odd that I cannot connect to ftp.hp.com, but can
to some path to a file there.

From that HP forum, someone mentioned the following FTP URL:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp58501-59000/sp58915.html

That's an HTML file describing version 7 of the HP SUpport Assistant
tool. Version 9 is the latest, but requires Win10 minimum. G62 is not
listed as a supported model, though. I tried replacing .html with .exe,
but got file not found. I did find:

https://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/HP/HP-Support-Assistant-Utility-703915-for-Windows-7-Windows-8.shtml

Sometimes the download link points to the manufacturer's web site which
could mean it is a dead link if the manufacturer no longer has the
download. However, in this case, the download comes from Softpedia for
an HP SoftPaq named SP58915.exe.

I have used Softpedia in the past, and they seem an okay 3rd-party site
to get software. They test for viruses and other malware. True for the
files their servers deliver. If the link points to an author/mfr site
then they are absolved since the download doesn't come from them. Of
course, you could run the download through VirusTotal before running it.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
You might be stuck having to find an old version at some 3rd party
(non-HP) web site

I already did that for some of the notebooks hardware (lan, WiFi,
bluetooth), but none of those websites showed any display drivers.
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

As Paul mentioned, perhaps you are not using the HP driver, but the
Windows-supplied generic graphic driver. When you go into Device
Manager, whose driver is listed for the video controller? Maybe you
could look at the video properties, Driver tab, and see if an update
finds a different (HP) driver already available on the laptop.

Likely all that is needed is not a .sys or .bin or other binary driver
file, but just an .inf file. The INF file describes what the device
supports. I know I had to, in the past, get an .inf file specific for
my monitor to have all its supports resolutions listed instead of just a
few that the generic device listed. Even if the prior owner changed the
graphics controller to some generic one, that wouldn't remove the .inf
file that was there that HP put in their OS image. Most of the .inf
files are found under C:\Windows\INF. I'd use voidtools [Search]
Everything with the option to hunt inside for text, like "G62", on .inf
files under C:\Windows\INF to see if any mention that laptop model.

You might only need the .inf file to list all resolutions for the
graphics controller. A generic "driver" INF file might only list the
most common resolutions. While I could hunt around HP's support site on
driver files, those are all .exe files. I found:

https://www.driverscape.com/manufacturers/hp/laptops-desktops/hp-g62-notebook/87090

which has downloads of .zip files within which was an .inf file.
However, when I look in the igdlh64.inf file (it's a text file), I see
comments like "No install on XP" and "No install on Win7", but those
entries might be to ban certain drivers on those platforms. I'm not an
INF guru.

Another comment says "DriverVer=10/09/2012,8.15.10.2858". Well, Vista
came out in 2012, and Windows 10 in 2016, so this .inf file is for
Vista, or maybe earlier. The HP G62 family looks to have been
introduced in early 2010. That's when I see reviews first show up for
any G62. 2010 is also the copyright date noted in the manual at
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02542102.pdf.

If the serial number is legible on the case sticker, it indicates the
manufacture date in the 4th (year), 5th and 6th (month) characters, or
in the format ***YWW***. For example, cnf1021mtb was manufactured in
year 1 (2011), 2nd week (02), so January 2011.

[R.Wieser]

VanguardLH,

Post by VanguardLH
I take it the sticker on the case has been so worn that the info
is obliterated.

You're making too many assumptions. Including that I would not have noticed
such a worn-down sticker and not mentioned it to begin with.

Why not just ask ? In that case: yes, there is a sticker on the 'puter that
was destroyed. /On purpose/. Yep, the one with the licence number of the
MS OS. No other stickers present, worn-down or not.

Post by VanguardLH
Maybe you could ask the prior owner if they know what they had, and
gave to you.

:-) From a user who got a lappy with a pre-installed OS, and as such had
zero need to know that kind of stuff ?

Heck, I can't even tell you the make, let alone model of the monitor I've
been using for 10+ years - and both bits of info are prominently present on
its bevel. The make-and-model of the 'puter I'm writing this message on ?
Same problem.

Post by VanguardLH

Post by R.Wieser
In my initial post I wrote "its current maximum of 1024 x 768".
Do you have any reason to doubt that/me ?

As Paul mentioned, check if you are using the standard graphics
controller, or the driver from HP (look in Device Manager).

Lol for that last part. What's this thread about again ?

Post by VanguardLH
If 1366x768 is not listed,

For the third time, no it isn't.

Post by VanguardLH
perhaps you can elect to view non-standard resolutions.

No such choice is presented.

[snip rest of post]

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[VanguardLH]

Post by R.Wieser
VanguardLH,

Post by VanguardLH
I take it the sticker on the case has been so worn that the info
is obliterated.

You're making too many assumptions. Including that I would not have
noticed such a worn-down sticker and not mentioned it to begin with.
Why not just ask ?

I stated earlier "If the case sticker is still legible" to which you did
not reply on that. So what was I suppose to assume? That you did read
the sticker, but chose to ignore its information? No, that the sticker
was too worn to read.

Post by R.Wieser
In that case: yes, there is a sticker on the 'puter that was
destroyed. /On purpose/. Yep, the one with the licence number of
the MS OS. No other stickers present, worn-down or not.

Not sure how I'm supposed to interpret that. To me, and without further
info, that seems the prior owner was only donating the hardware to you,
and the OS was not included. They purposely destroyed the sticker,
because they wanted to keep the license (which would be illegal since
they got an OEM license tied to that computer), so you got hardware, and
no OS.

In your reply to Paul, you said the prior owner nuked (erased?) the hard
drive. Well, further proof what you got was hardware with no legit OS.
However, maybe the nuking did not wipe the recovery partition with the
factory sysprep image, if there ever was one. Yet, you'd end up with an
unlicensed OS since you can't read the sticker, and the prior owner
nuked the drive. I don't know if the sysprep image in the hidden
recovery partition (if not deleted) is pre-licensed. The boot process
should offer a recovery option.

http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02542102.pdf
Performing a Recovery, page 104

Since the prior owner erased the drive, and obliterated the license on
the case sticker, and, yes, yet another assumption because you didn't
mention it, I take it the prior owner did not give you the recovery CDs.

If the drive was nuked by the prior owner, how are you running Windows 7
on the notebook? So, are you installing a fresh copy of Windows 7 and
have your own license to put on this donated hardware-only laptop? If
you want the image provided by HP, they may sell it to you. I had a
family member where I ordered the recovery CDs for $20 to get their
desktop back to the factory state. Cheaper than buying a new license
and easier than finding the installer for Windows.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
Maybe you could ask the prior owner if they know what they had, and
gave to you.

From a user who got a lappy with a pre-installed OS, and as such had
zero need to know that kind of stuff ?

If they bought it, they should know what they bought. If they somehow
"acquired" elsewise, yeah, they wouldn't know. Perhaps they are the
type that discard everything that came with the computer, including the
sales receipt, instead of filing it. Your assumption is they are too
stupid to know what they had, but you haven't asked them.

Despite the deliberate destruction of the case sticker, in another reply
you said you found the sub-model on a sticker inside the main battery
compartment. When I go to HP's support site, and enter "G62-b09ED", it
is not listed.

https://icecat.us/p/hp/xf215ea-abh/g-notebooks-g62-b09ed+notebook+pc-5909921.html

That lists some specs on that notebook. Video is Intel HD as part of
the CPU. In another reply, I already mentioned Intel's Driver & Support
(Intel DSA) tool to get updates. Again, that URL is:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

and says it runs on Windows 7. It will figure out from a curated list
which updates and drivers are appropriate for your computer. Be
prepared for disappointement, though, in what you want may not be
possible. The 1024x768 might be the best that notebook can offer. The
specs I've found say 1366x768 (which is for the screen panel, not
necessarily for its integration with other hardware), so maybe the Intel
DSA would offer a different video driver to get up a bit from 1024x768
(you'd get a one-third wider screen, but not taller). The native aspect
ratio is 16:9 or 1.78:1 which fits with 1366x768. 1024x768 is 4:3 or
1.33. I take it -- oh boy, another assumption instead of asking -- that
you see black bars along the sides of the screen.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH

Post by R.Wieser
In my initial post I wrote "its current maximum of 1024 x 768".
Do you have any reason to doubt that/me ?

As Paul mentioned, check if you are using the standard graphics
controller, or the driver from HP (look in Device Manager).

Lol for that last part. What's this thread about again ?

Now you're getting beligerant. You never mentioned Device Manager, or
what it reports for the graphics device. So, how was this thread about
Dev Mgr before it was ever mentioned, and which you have yet to mention
visiting? As yet, we don't know, and apparently neither do you, which
driver is used for the graphics device.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
If 1366x768 is not listed,

For the third time, no it isn't.

Gee, wait for it. Wait. Yep, there's that comma before the rest of the
sentence. You've become beligerant even down to hacking apart
sentences. The first part you hacked apart was an intro to the 2nd
part.

Post by R.Wieser

Post by VanguardLH
perhaps you can elect to view non-standard resolutions.

No such choice is presented.
[snip rest of post]

You react like we can see your computer through a magic telescope. All
we know is what you tell us, and often that means probing with more
questions during the thread to get more information than has been
revealed. Sorry, but I never claimed to be God.

Despite you not using Device Manager while claiming somehow it was the
topic of this thread, did you ever try to go there to update the driver?
I'd try using the Intel DSA first, but Dev Mgr would work if the .inf
file is still there. Oh wait, you said the prior owner nuked the drive
which means you only got hardware, not with the HP OS image installed.

Since the drive got nuked, so you didn't get the HP sysprep image they
created for that hardware, and there was no hidden recovery partition
else you would've use it, and the prior owner didn't give you the
recovery CDs, and you installed a fresh copy of Windows (yep, all
assumptions, but are they wrong?), you won't have HP's video driver in
your OS install. You could try a driver from other HP G62 notebooks, or
see if Intel DSA suggests a better driver.

[Paul]

Post by R.Wieser
VanguardLH,

Post by VanguardLH
I take it the sticker on the case has been so worn that the info
is obliterated.

You're making too many assumptions. Including that I would not have noticed
such a worn-down sticker and not mentioned it to begin with.
Why not just ask ? In that case: yes, there is a sticker on the 'puter that
was destroyed. /On purpose/. Yep, the one with the licence number of the
MS OS. No other stickers present, worn-down or not.

Post by VanguardLH
Maybe you could ask the prior owner if they know what they had, and
gave to you.

:-) From a user who got a lappy with a pre-installed OS, and as such had
zero need to know that kind of stuff ?
Heck, I can't even tell you the make, let alone model of the monitor I've
been using for 10+ years - and both bits of info are prominently present on
its bevel. The make-and-model of the 'puter I'm writing this message on ?
Same problem.

Post by VanguardLH

Post by R.Wieser
In my initial post I wrote "its current maximum of 1024 x 768".
Do you have any reason to doubt that/me ?

As Paul mentioned, check if you are using the standard graphics
controller, or the driver from HP (look in Device Manager).

Lol for that last part. What's this thread about again ?

Post by VanguardLH
If 1366x768 is not listed,

For the third time, no it isn't.

Post by VanguardLH
perhaps you can elect to view non-standard resolutions.

No such choice is presented.
[snip rest of post]
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

COAs are naturally scratchable. And used 3-point fonts, for the
most obvious of reasons. HP was putting them in the battery bay,
as an attempt to avoid "frictional loss" of COAs from the bottom
of their laptops. Only a determined attempt would remove a COA
from the battery bay area. It won't be an "accident" or "wear and tear".

Scratching off the COA, can be part of the Refurbishment process.
They scratch off the Win 7 Pro COA sticker, and replace with
a copy of Win10, where the Win10 license number is only in
the Registry. Do not wipe the copy of Windows 10, until
you record the key with a key extraction utility.

For a Win7 era machine, that's not the only license mechanism.
The SLIC in the BIOS also enables Royalty OEM OSes for HP.
You would need a specific image (the image from the 15GB
restore partition would work). Other images might work, and
the 15GB factory restore is merely a lazy example.

The Win7 Pro COA is only for "restoring a copy of Retail Win7, in the event
the Royalty OS is lost". Normally, the machine is never licensed
that way. Most of the machines would be SLIC-activated.

The key for Windows 10 is "fair exchange" with the original (emergency) key.
The replacement OS installation is so that the "HP Royalty OS"
is not being "sold" by a second party (the Refurbisher company).

It's obviously not a fair swap. And when you could only get
Win10 Refurbished machines, that cut down on sales. My
(quite old) Optiplex 780, was refurbished with Win7 Pro.
Who ever removed the COA, was quite good at it, as there are
no scratch marks.

As for video resolution, I don't think the MBDA driver offers any
other choices. Even though, from a technical perspective,
all it needs is a Mode Line stuffed into it, and you could
have practically anything you wanted. It's an arbitrary
choice on Microsofts part, but I feel it is no coincidence
it's the same value as established by the lawsuit long ago.
It's kinds like giving customers the finger.

The PowerStrip utility from Entechtaiwan, could custom
program some hardware. But that utility is retired.

Paul

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

HP was putting them in the battery bay, as an attempt to avoid "frictional
loss"
of COAs from the bottom of their laptops.

In my case th OS COA was actually on the bottom, but placed in a (just a
bit) sunken area - It wouldn't stop accidental scratching, but would make
wear-and-tear a bit harder.

The (transparant) sticker mentioning the full model was the one in the
battery-bay. Not a bad choice, as its well protected and, as a user, you
seldom-to-never need it.

Scratching off the COA, can be part of the Refurbishment process.

In my case it it looks someone tried to peel it off, ripped it and stopped
when the number was gone (some of the very recognisable top of the sticker
was still there).

My (quite old) Optiplex 780, was refurbished with Win7 Pro.

:-) When I had to replace my Win98se machine in 2017 (the motherboard
started to fail) I was, due to technical obsoleteness (I didn't think I
would be able to find W98 drivers for a 2017 machine), forced to switch to
XP. What I got was an Optiplex 745 (two actually - E50,- a piece).
Although one developped memory-controller problems a year back I'm still
using its twin.

Who ever removed the COA, was quite good at it, as there are
no scratch marks.

My guess (of sorts) would be they used (a sticker-specific?) glue solvent.
I seem to remember having seen someone do it on an OS COA sticker.

As for video resolution, I don't think the MBDA driver offers any
other choices.

If by MBDA driver you mean the one which comes with Win7, than I had two
choices : 800 x 600 (the installation setting) and 1024 x 768.

By the way:

the display driver you suggested tells me that my 'puter doesn't meet its
minimum requirements (but /ofcourse/ doesn't say what they are), and the one
I posted the link to doesn't seem to change anything. It must be my lucky
day. :-( :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

Post by R.Wieser
the display driver you suggested tells me that my 'puter doesn't meet its
minimum requirements (but /ofcourse/ doesn't say what they are), and the
one I posted the link to doesn't seem to change anything. It must be my
lucky day. :-( :-)

It turned out I installed (or /tried/ to, see below) the ATI driver, which
only /after/ the whole process was done tried to show me a warning(!) - by
trying to open a webpage - which didn't work as I'm still in the process of
setting-up the 'puter, and thus remain offline.

When I downloaded and installed the Intel driver I got exactly *two* extra
resolutions. 1360 and 1366. I can only hope that the (assumed) hardware
support makes the whole effort worth it ... :-|

And oh yeah, when I tried to un-install the ATI driver (before installing
the Intel one) I was told that there was nothing to un-install. And all I
got was a /warning/ ? :-(

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Paul]

Post by R.Wieser
Paul,

Post by R.Wieser
the display driver you suggested tells me that my 'puter doesn't meet its
minimum requirements (but /ofcourse/ doesn't say what they are), and the
one I posted the link to doesn't seem to change anything. It must be my
lucky day. :-( :-)

It turned out I installed (or /tried/ to, see below) the ATI driver, which
only /after/ the whole process was done tried to show me a warning(!) - by
trying to open a webpage - which didn't work as I'm still in the process of
setting-up the 'puter, and thus remain offline.
When I downloaded and installed the Intel driver I got exactly *two* extra
resolutions. 1360 and 1366. I can only hope that the (assumed) hardware
support makes the whole effort worth it ... :-|
And oh yeah, when I tried to un-install the ATI driver (before installing
the Intel one) I was told that there was nothing to un-install. And all I
got was a /warning/ ? :-(
Regards,
Rudy Wieser

Yes, drivers are a constant source of amusement.

Some of them have an "unpack" phase, before install.
They pollute the top level of the C: partition.

That's different than unpacking in %temp% like they used to.

Paul


Paul

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

Post by Paul
Yes, drivers are a constant source of amusement.

Thats certainly one way to put it. :-)

Post by Paul
Some of them have an "unpack" phase, before install.
They pollute the top level of the C: partition.

Which was pretty-much the first thing I thought of when went to install the
driver. "if it creates one do I need to keep it, or can I delete it
afterwards?" . It turned out it did create one. I'll probably just delete
it and see if anything bad happens - even though it makes me think of all
those stories going "my computer suddenly stopped working." "Did you do
anything before it stopped?". "Well, I was going thru the folders and
deleted everything I didn't recognise." :-)

Post by Paul
That's different than unpacking in %temp% like they used to.

Yup. And we can only wonder why that that change was made.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Newyana2]

Post by R.Wieser
Hello all,
I've been donated a "HP G62 Notebook PC" (as shown on its info screen), and
am now looking for a display/video driver, so I can set a higher resolution
than its current maximum of 1024 x 768.
The problem is that I see a lot drivers, bit only for specific models : "HP
G62-xxx".
As there does not seem to be a generic driver available, which model should
I be looking for ?

32-bit? 64-bit? If it were me I'd download CPUID
and find out what the display adapter is. Then go for
that and skip HP.

[R.Wieser]

Newyana2,

Post by Newyana2
32-bit? 64-bit? If it were me I'd download CPUID
and find out what the display adapter is. Then go for
that and skip HP.

As it turns out I was able to find the notebooks sub-model (at a "hidden"
location) and after another websearch found a website with a number of
drivers specifically for my notebook.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser