HP 625 Drivers Windows XP Vista 7 and Windows 8 8 1 Upgrade

HP officially released all support for widows XP, Vista and Windows 7 for HP 625 Notebook PC. If you plan to upgrade to windows 8, you can read windows 8 upgrade guide which I will describe in this post.

Divers:
There are lots of downloads available on the official  support page and you may confuse which you need to install. I rearrange the drivers base on order which you need to install first, second and so on. Only important drivers listed, optional installation such as utility excluded from this list because it is only optional.

1. Chipset and CPU:
AMD M880G Chipset/AMD Processor
Since this model uses AMD chipset, you do not have to install any chipset drivers because all chipsets components will be installed along with graphic driver installation. You can update your processor by installing:

AMD processor Update:
Only for Windows XP, Windows Vista and above does not need any update for the processor.
Windows XP : 6.8MB : Download

Audio Patch !
For Microsoft Windows XP Operating Systems, the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) Driver must be installed before installing the audio driver. Reboot after installation. (KB 888111)
Download (From HP Server) 
Download (From Microsoft)

2. Audio
IDT (92HD88) High Definition Audio Driver
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 28MB: Download

3. Graphic
ATI Video Driver and Control Panel 
(ATI Mobility radeon HD 4200)
Windows XP (32/64-bit) 91MB: Download
Windows 7/Vista(32/64-bit) 124MB : Download

4. Webcam/Camera
HP Universal Camera Driver (International)
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 45MB: Download

Then Install Hp webcam software to use your webcam, it is optional, you can use other 3rd party software such as Cyberlink cam software:

HP Webcam Software (International)
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 31MB: Download


3. Keyboard/Input
HP Hotkey Support
(Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard with HP Quick Launch Buttons (QLB))
Requirements: Please Install .NetFramework 3.5 SP1 or above first.
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 17MB: Download

4. Touchpad
HP Synaptic Touchpad Driver
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 29MB: Download

5. Modem
LSI High-Definition Audio (HDA) Modem Driver
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 5.9MB: Download

6.  Wireless
Most HP 650 Notebook PC uses Broadcom Wireless Drivers, but there are 3 other drivers listed on the official download page means you must select base on your specification. If you have no idea which to download, you can try base on the lists order, or leave your comment in the comment section below and I will assist you to download the right wireless driver.

 a) Broadcom Wireless
 Broadcom 802.11 b/g/n (BCM 43225 and 4313)
 Windows XP, 10.3MB : Download
 Windows Vista (32/64-bit), 21MB : Download
 Windows 7 (32/64-bit), 86MB : Download

 b) Realtek Wireless
 Realtek RTL8191SE 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Driver 19MB :
 (Windows XP, Vista, 7 32/64-bit) Download

 c) Atheros Wireless 
 Atheros 2011 Wireless LAN Driver (International)
 (Windows XP, Vista, 7 32/64-bit), 82MB : Download

 d) Ralink Wireless
 Ralink 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Adapter
 (Windows XP, Vista, 7 32/64-bit), 11MB :  Download

7. LAN- Ethernet
This driver will install LAN/Ethernet port driver in your system so you can use wired Internet or Intranet connection.
Realtek PCIe GBE/FE Family Ethernet Controller
Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32/64-bit) 8.4MB: Download

8. Storage
AMD SATA AHCI Controller Driver
(Only for windows XP because Windows Vista and 7 does not require this driver, example: If you try to install windows XP and you get an error "No hard Disk Found", so you need to use Floppy or Integrate the SATA driver into new installation disk to install windows XP - Read more
Windows XP, 5.3MB : Download

9. Bluetooth
There are 2 applicable/possible bluetooth drivers. You need to choose base on your specification. Now most of us use smart phone which have USB cable connection, if you dont use bluetooth, you can skip this driver and it wont affect your computer performance.

a) Broadcom Bluetooth
Broadcom 2070 Bluetooth Driver
Windows XP, 244MB : Download
Windows Vista 32/64-bit, 58MB : Download 
Windows XP, 59MB : Download 

b) Motorola Bluetooth
Ralink/Motorola Bluetooth Adapter, 68MB
(Windows XP, Vista, 7 32/64-bit) Download

After that install bluetooth application so you can use your bluetooth adapter with the interface provided by this software. You can also use 3rd party bluetooth application such as BlueSoliel.

Hp Integrated Module with Bluetooth Wireless Technology
Windows XP, 93MB : Download
Windows Vista 32/64-bit : Download
Windows 7 32/64-bit : Download


EXTRAS :  Battery - Utility
This is a utility not a driver, but I feel it is important so that you can monitor your battery condition from time to time. It is optional, you can choose either to install it or not.

HP battery Check :
Windows XP 32/64-bit : Download 
Windows 7/Vitsa 32/64-bit , 9MB : Download

Windows 8 and 8.1 Upgrade Guide for HP 625 Notebook PC

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You can install/upgrade windows 8 and 8.1 on this model (both 32-bit and 64-bit), you will notice several drivers already installed along with the windows installation/upgrade. The most important driver you need to install is ATI Graphic driver for ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series (for this model for HD 4200 and HD 4250).

*Note 1: (currently the term ATI changed to AMD). You need to install AMD Legacy Drivers for windows 8 which available on the AMD Download page.
*Note 2: Normally most laptop manufacture will advise users to uninstall graphic driver before upgrading to windows 7.

Graphic
AMD Legacy Drivers Version 13.1 (current version).
Windows 8 32-bit : Download (102MB)
Windows 8 64-bit : Download (147MB)

In case the link broken go to AMD download page, select base on the following order and in step 5 select display result. Then select the driver base on your operating system :

Other Drivers
Other drivers such as Audio, wireless, LAN etc normally automatically installed. If not follow the steps below to get all the drivers you need for windows 8 and 8.1 :

1. Run windows Updates
Run windows updates, it will list out all drivers updates available. After installing the updates you will need to reboot for the changes to take place.

2. Install Windows 7 drivers in windows 8
You can install windows 7 drivers in windows 8 by set the compatibility mode for windows 7 and run as admin. (read tutorial)

3. Do not clean install from windows 7.
Upgrade to windows 8 is recommended because windows 8 will use your windows 7

If you need certain drivers from windows 8 and unable to find it, let me know and Ill assist you with the instruction to install the drivers.

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How to Upgrade or Replace Your laptop GPU

It is not difficult to replace your laptop graphic card, the hard part is to upgrade where you need to identify which graphic is better and compatible with your laptop. So how to identify which graphic card is compatible? for this one you need to get advice from laptop graphic card seller and they will tell you what is the compatible graphic cards you can buy for you laptop model. You also can call the service center or Google the Video Cards replacement parts for your model or read the Manuals. For example HP NX9420 and NW series can use Nvidia FX 1500M over AMD Mobility Radeon X1600.

A. Upgrade and Replacement Process
Get your laptop service manual, you will need to read the part removal and replacement. You can get it from your laptop manufacture site. For this tutorial we will replace Acer Aspire 7720 With ATI Graphic Card.

1. Remove the back cover by loosen the screw and open the back compartment.
*Note : For othe model such as HP or DELL or other models, the removal might be slightly different. Please refer your manual.

2. Next step is to remove the heatsink. Unscrew the driver and carefully remove the heatsink.

3. Now loosen the Graphic Chipset Screw, and carefully pull to remove it from the slot.

4. Insert you new graphic and apply fair amount of thermal paste.

5. Lastly put the heat sink back in place and close the back compartment.


C. Things to consider before Upgrade/Replacement.
1.Normally if there is only a slight increase in graphic performance after upgrade. You cant expect to get from 256MB to 512MB. Normally 251Mb to 358MB is the highest replacement I ever know.

2. This method originally intend for replacement where lots of GPU is defect caused by high temperature.

3. Upgrade normally requires you to replace both Mainboard and GPU which costs more than a new laptop, so you better use that money to buy a new one instead of upgrading. Replacement on the other hand only requires a new the same new graphic chipset which is available on

4. If your graphic chipset is defect by overheating, make sure after the replacement the temperature is below 60 degree. Different graphic chip will produce different amount of heat and you need to observe the temperature carefully. Otherwise it will defect again after 30-days (or less).

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