Install win2k on HP Pavilion 9680

[mpaulson44]

I have an HP Pavilion 9680c with an Award Bios dated 4/17/2000. It came with win98, but I am trying to upgrade to win2k. The computer is a 650 MHz PIII, so it should be able to run win2k with no trouble, but I cannot do it.

I have tried several different wint2k disks, and even copied the i386 folder to the HD and tried installing from there, but it always dies after the first re-boot. Says there is an error copying files or something similar.

A friend suggested updating the bios, but I can't find a later update..

Anyone have any suggestions, please.

[NooNoo]

bios update at hp here Firmware updates for the cd as well.

How much ram do you have?
What errors are you getting?

[mpaulson44]

bios update at hp here Firmware updates for the cd as well.

How much ram do you have?
What errors are you getting?

I have 3 128s, so that should be plenty. I also tried swapping out the ram to see if it might be defective. No improvement.

I do not recall the exact error, the only way to see it/them is to start from scratch to recreate them, however, when I use any one of four different win2k disks, each from different sources, I get a file copy error at some point, and a notice that the file on the disk has an error and I should try a new disk. It is a different error each time (or at least with each disk). Swapping disks halfway through the install does not help, either. I have also tried copying the i386 folder to the hard drive and installing it from there (idea from the windows page - they discuss a similar problem installing windows XP). This also did not work and gave an error I forget.

Actually, I did all this work last spring, and have been taking the summer off to be outside, but will start again in the fall.

As a side issue, I was also not able to install linux on this PC. Windows 98 works fine, but I would prefer win2k.

My guru at work suggests using a hard drive from another machine which already has win2k installed to see what would happen, so I probably will try that this weekend, but he still thinks it is a bios issue. The latest bios (apparently) available is 4/2000.

thanks

mike

[DonJ]

If you're having problems with 4 diff disks, I would try another CD drive.

Just a suggestion...

[DonJ]

I also found:
HP Pavilion Desktop PCs - Upgrading From Windows 98 to Windows 2000

HP does not recommend upgrading HP Pavilion PCs from Windows 98 to Windows 2000; although some may wish to upgrade for specific needs. This document provides information and instructions on upgrading HP Pavilion PCs to Windows 2000 Professional.

Lots of good basic info there.

[rwswork1]

I have an HP Pavilion 9680c with an Award Bios dated 4/17/2000. It came with win98, but I am trying to upgrade to win2k. The computer is a 650 MHz PIII, so it should be able to run win2k with no trouble, but I cannot do it.

I have tried several different wint2k disks, and even copied the i386 folder to the HD and tried installing from there, but it always dies after the first re-boot. Says there is an error copying files or something similar.

A friend suggested updating the bios, but I can't find a later update..

Anyone have any suggestions, please.

I do have the upgrade to the Award bios. What did you expect from the upgrade ?

[mpaulson44]

If you're having problems with 4 diff disks, I would try another CD drive.

Just a suggestion...

tried that already, too... it has two drives, I tried both, but I could try another one...

[mpaulson44]

I do have the upgrade to the Award bios. What did you expect from the upgrade ?

Do you have a version newer than 04/2000??

[bftchevy]

Have you done a diagnostic check on your hard drive?

Every hard drive maker has diagnostic software you can download.

You will need to find out the make and model of your hard drive then download the software. Usually it requires you to have a blank floppy for that.

Win2K is much larger than Win98. So when you install Win98 it doesn't get to the bad area of the hard drive like 2K (or linux) does.

[rwswork1]

Do you have a version newer than 04/2000??

Yes a 2004 variant. It cost me $50 bucks but it did give me more chioices to set my memory like I wanted.

That is why I asked you . What did you expect to change if you got a newer bios flash ?

I could tell you if this newer version would work or not.

[mpaulson44]

I and a few friends who know more than I have tried to install win2k on this HP 9086c Pavillion. It does not seem to work at all. All those smarter than I feel it is a motherboard problem, and I do, too. In fact, I was able to install win2k on a different, older, pavilion, but not the 650MHz model. I tried different disks, different hard drives, and different CD drives. My friend, who thought he would like the challange, tried too, along with some of his friends, all computer professionals. None could do it. Basically, there is an error copying files which always appears in a random fashion depending on which of the above variants were tried. Other friends say HP puts propriatory stuff in the MB/bios which would interfeer with upgrading. The HP instruction referred to above is meaningless, since I removed all the offending items and still had errors - never even got to the point where the OS would begin to try to detect hardware, so I have given up. I will keep it as a win98 box lying around in case I ever need win98 to format a floppy or some other mundane reason. by the way, one also cannot install either linux or unix on this computer, for whatever that's worth.
If anyone has successfully installed win2k on this exact model and has overcome similar problems, I would appreciate a reply, but otherwise, I have tried just about everything a person could.
thanks

[rwswork1]

I have an HP Pavilion 9680c with an Award Bios dated 4/17/2000. It came with win98, but I am trying to upgrade to win2k. The computer is a 650 MHz PIII, so it should be able to run win2k with no trouble, but I cannot do it.

I have tried several different wint2k disks, and even copied the i386 folder to the HD and tried installing from there, but it always dies after the first re-boot. Says there is an error copying files or something similar.

A friend suggested updating the bios, but I can't find a later update..

Anyone have any suggestions, please.

Hi,

I have the 8670c pavilion. I got tired of hearing HP try to tell me what was NOT wrong with their bios then on the next email, give me suggestions. I have purchased a new bios on the internet. My old bios reported: VT693-596A-PELICAN Date: 04/17/2000 . I had no problem with new 2004 update from esupport. I told HP tha tI was going to upgrade since they could not reply to my questions about the bios. They admit its an HP proprietary thing created by them and ASUS but they will NOT release any info on the specs that were used to create it. I have now with the new AWARD bios from esupport complete controll over RAM and other basic features of this AWard bios and it still worked with win 98 SE. My son has the exact same computer with the old bios (VT693-596A-PELICAN ) and I just loaded XP SP2 without any problems. Our Pavilion is a 600 Mhz 133 bus with a max ram of 384 mb of RAM. I just called him and he is having a blast loading new games on it. XP SP2 was loaded after I loaded a FULL XP SP1 from CD, then downloaded all the upgrades from Microsoft. I even put a wireless PCI card for 802.11g and it worked great. THe keyboard and mouse are plug and play via the USB. All hardware on it ranges from 1999 to 2002 (keyboard, memory hard drives etc.). I loaded XP SP2 with the FAT32 option instead of NTFS so my son would not have any problems with other legacy hardware.
I will be soon adding dual boot to my Pavilion 8670c so I can run both WIN98SE and XP. I have a lot of phone calls from customers that still have win98 and its easier to have the OS in front of me.

Hope this info helps....... BTW, the Bios upgrade cost me $49 from Esupport.com.....

[rwswork1]

I have 3 128s, so that should be plenty. I also tried swapping out the ram to see if it might be defective. No improvement.

I do not recall the exact error, the only way to see it/them is to start from scratch to recreate them, however, when I use any one of four different win2k disks, each from different sources, I get a file copy error at some point, and a notice that the file on the disk has an error and I should try a new disk. It is a different error each time (or at least with each disk). Swapping disks halfway through the install does not help, either. I have also tried copying the i386 folder to the hard drive and installing it from there (idea from the windows page - they discuss a similar problem installing windows XP). This also did not work and gave an error I forget.

Actually, I did all this work last spring, and have been taking the summer off to be outside, but will start again in the fall.

As a side issue, I was also not able to install linux on this PC. Windows 98 works fine, but I would prefer win2k.

My guru at work suggests using a hard drive from another machine which already has win2k installed to see what would happen, so I probably will try that this weekend, but he still thinks it is a bios issue. The latest bios (apparently) available is 4/2000.

thanks

mike

my bios on my Pavilion 8670c used to report : VT693-596A-PELICAN Date: 04/17/2000. I have replaced it though with a new bios (non-HP) from esupport.com. ($40) its an April 2004 update.. It allowed me to tailor my ram to PC133 or PC100 among other things but I'm still running WIN98SE with 3 128 mb chips (384 mb total ram). I will be loading a dual boot system on it soon (January) to boot WIN98SE, XP Sp2 and linux. I need a multi boot system to support my clients.
My sons computer is another HP 8670c but still has the old VT693-596A-PELICAN Date: 04/17/2000 bios that came with it. I have loaded XP sp2 on it for him but using FAT32 instead of NTFS. Works great so far. No hardware problems or anything.

Hope thins helps if not too late....

Rich

[mpaulson44]

Thanks very much for your long reply. It was very frustrating to me, too. I still have the computer, but not sure at this point what I will do with it, as I actually just repair old/broken computers people give me or I find, and give them to a charity for teenagers. They would be happy to get it with windows 98. I also have several more old computers I am giving away, I generally try not to spend money on them... just time...

Did you get an actual new bios to plug in, or just a flash?

Thanks, mike

[rwswork1]

Thanks very much for your long reply. It was very frustrating to me, too. I still have the computer, but not sure at this point what I will do with it, as I actually just repair old/broken computers people give me or I find, and give them to a charity for teenagers. They would be happy to get it with windows 98. I also have several more old computers I am giving away, I generally try not to spend money on them... just time...

Did you get an actual new bios to plug in, or just a flash?

Thanks, mike

I actually got a FLASH upgrade. It is dated 04/2004 as an AWARD upgrade. I have XP SP2 on my PC along with Win 98SE on a multi boot.
Works very well. With the new bios, I have clocked my 600 mhz pc to 633. It has improved it without any overheating. I guess I have maxed this thing out. It took me a day to find all the drivers for my scanner and HP keyboard which was the ONLY 2 things I could not run on XP as is. My multi media Keyboard was trickey but is working fine now.

Rich