Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

[Paul678]

The BIOS bootup sequence never shows on this netbook,
is that normal? I'm using an external screen, through the
VGA port, because the original LCD is badly cracked.

I need to set the boot sequence, so that it will boot from
my USB flash drive, because I have windows password bypass
software there.

The girl who sold me this is not returning my texts, asking
for the password!

If the software doesn't work, how do I install Windows 7 from
a USB drive? Never done before, and these little netbooks
don't have DVD or CD drives....

Thanks much for any advice....

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Ok, I found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srOoGhm-jcI

Hopefully it will work for me.....

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Ok, this is strange.

I cannot see the BIOS, or the boot order menu through
the external VGA monitor. I also cannot see
the "Windows Starting" window.

The only screen that appears through the VGA is the "Insert password"
screen.

I'm not sure if would be the same case for the internal screen,
but because I don't have a spare or test N101L6 display,
I cannot see if this is the case. But why would they display
the BIOS and boot up only through the internal screen?

I'd rather not buy one on Ebay just to find out the internal
display also doesn't display all the screens.

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

These guys had a similar problem:

http://www.computing.net/answers/har...tor/76003.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-c...os-screen.html

Apparently, it's sometimes the norm that the BIOS only shows up on the primary
display.

I guess I'll bite the bullet, and order a replacement screen.....

[artois7]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Installing 7 from a USB is easy - format it to fat32, set it active and extract the .iso contents to the drive.

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Installing 7 from a USB is easy - format it to fat32, set it active and extract the .iso contents to the drive.

Or use this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srOoGhm-jcI

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Installing 7 from a USB is easy - format it to fat32, set it active and extract the .iso contents to the drive.

What exactly do you mean by, "set it active"?

[Scenic]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Installing Win7 from a USB stick is really easy. Not quite sure why people keep recommending WinToFlash when MS offers their own tool for it. All you need is a Win7 .iso and a USB stick of at least 4GB.

Tool:
http://images2.store.microsoft.com/p...B-DVD-tool.exe
Website for it:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...usbdvd_dwnTool

As for not being able to see anything on the screen during boot:
That's unfortunately the norm for a lot of laptops and netbooks. They only show stuff on the internal LCD till windows has booted up and loaded the driver.
Sometimes, you have the ability to switch outputs via hotkeys (Fn+something .. usually a monitor symbol) to get it to output something via the VGA port.

I'd try turning it on and hammering F2, Del or F10 to try and get into the BIOS (without yet seeing anything). If it doesn't boot windows (HDD LED), you should be good to go, as it's probably displaying the BIOS or the screen to select the boot device.
Then try those Fn+something key combos to switch to VGA output to be able to see what the heck is going on.

edit: found a photo of the keyboard. Looks like the key that would normally be labelled "F4" is what you're looking for to switch outputs

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Installing Win7 from a USB stick is really easy. Not quite sure why people keep recommending WinToFlash when MS offers their own tool for it. All you need is a Win7 .iso and a USB stick of at least 4GB.

Tool:
http://images2.store.microsoft.com/p...B-DVD-tool.exe
Website for it:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...usbdvd_dwnTool

As for not being able to see anything on the screen during boot:
That's unfortunately the norm for a lot of laptops and netbooks. They only show stuff on the internal LCD till windows has booted up and loaded the driver.
Sometimes, you have the ability to switch outputs via hotkeys (Fn+something .. usually a monitor symbol) to get it to output something via the VGA port.

I'd try turning it on and hammering F2, Del or F10 to try and get into the BIOS (without yet seeing anything). If it doesn't boot windows (HDD LED), you should be good to go, as it's probably displaying the BIOS or the screen to select the boot device.
Then try those Fn+something key combos to switch to VGA output to be able to see what the heck is going on.

edit: found a photo of the keyboard. Looks like the key that would normally be labelled "F4" is what you're looking for to switch outputs

Thanks Scenic.

Just a reminder: you will need 4 gigs of
usable memory, which means a labeled 4 gig
usb flash drive will not be enough, since it will only have
about 3.7 Gigs. I found this out the hard way, and I
believe this is why I didn't have luck with WintoFlash, because
it never told me I didn't have enough memory, where the
Microsoft version did.

So I got an 8 Gig drive, and it worked perfectly the first time.

The new screen I got from Ebay works great. It's glossy
versus the original matte version, but it's very sharp and clear.

Thanks for the help fellas!

[Scenic]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Just a reminder: you will need 4 gigs of
usable memory, which means a labeled 4 gig
usb flash drive will not be enough, since it will only have
about 3.7 Gigs.

With WinToFlash maybe, but not the MS tool.. at least in my experience.
The 32bit version of a Win7 SP1 DVD is 2.38GB, the 64bit version 3.09GB.
What edition (Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate etc.) it is doesn't matter. They're all the same size, because all that differs is a text file called "ei.cfg" which locks you to a specific edition. If you were to remove that file from the DVD (or .iso image), it would ask you which edition you want to install.

My cheapo (read: noname) 4GB stick with 3.77GB available space worked fine with a 64Bit Win7 SP1 DVD and the MS tool.

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

With WinToFlash maybe, but not the MS tool.. at least in my experience.
The 32bit version of a Win7 SP1 DVD is 2.38GB, the 64bit version 3.09GB.
What edition (Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate etc.) it is doesn't matter. They're all the same size, because all that differs is a text file called "ei.cfg" which locks you to a specific edition. If you were to remove that file from the DVD (or .iso image), it would ask you which edition you want to install.

My cheapo (read: noname) 4GB stick with 3.77GB available space worked fine with a 64Bit Win7 SP1 DVD and the MS tool.

I see. The version I have is like an "All Versions"
copy that includes both 32 and 64 bit versions, so this
is probably why it takes up more memory.

Anyhow, all is good in the world.....

[artois7]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

What exactly do you mean by, "set it active"?

'Mark partition as active' under disk management on the administrative tools (or whatever tool you use to alter partitions).

Basically it tells the computer the partition is bootable.

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Ok, I've got this baby up and running well, except:

The brightness buttons don't seem to work!

I downloaded a basic keyboard tester, and the
F2 and F3 keys work when you press the FN
button, but when pressed alone, they should be
"dimmer" and "brighter", but they don't register.

https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...98e6f3d127.pdf

Also, the touch-pad ON/OFF button doesn't
appear to work.

Jesus, I hope I don't have to take this apart again....

[Scenic]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

You might need some hotkey utility/driver from HP to get those to work.

Edit:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...21202&sw_lang=

general driver/tools page for this netbook
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...roduct=4121202

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

You might need some hotkey utility/driver from HP to get those to work.

Edit:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...21202&sw_lang=

general driver/tools page for this netbook
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...roduct=4121202

Ok, thanks, that got the ON/OFF button on the
touch pad to work.

But the brightness buttons still don't work. Is there a
software method to adjust brightness in Windows 7 Home
Premium?

[Paul678]

Re: Cannot see BIOS Bootup on HP Mini 210-1010NR

Nevermind.

Windows 7 update fixed it!! BRIGHTNESS WORKS GREAT!

THANKS EVERYONE!!! LIFE IS SWEET!!!