HP Pavilion dv7-4165dx Entertainment Notebook PC

February 2014:
Vickie's sister bought a new notebook PC and gave Vickie her old laptop. It is a HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC sold in 2010 for $780 retail.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370653,00.asp

HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC Model no. dv7-4165dx 
big and bright 17.3-inch display
2.20GHz AMD Phenom II Triple-Core Mobile Processor N850 CPU
Memory    4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM)
Video Graphics    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 Graphics
Hard Drive    640GB (5400RPM)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

It arrived fully functional but without an Operating System. The original Windows 7 SP1 had been erased by a computer tech for privacy reasons. He misunderstood instructions to remove personal files and wiped everything clean. I ordered a System Recovery Kit from HP for $15.79 It includes Windows 7 and all original software that came with the computer.

It took several hours to load. Possibly indicative of another problem. But it did work for one month until the original Hard Drive failed in March 2014. The laptop would boot only from a removable drive. A friend gave me an old 120GB drive that I installed myself (thanks Tim!).

Until August of 2015 the system worked just fine. It then became sluggish and failed completely. It would not boot up from internal hard drive or disc drive or USB. My conclusion was the CPU had failed. I purchased a replacement on eBay slightly slower and with a lower temperature operating average. I bought a AMD Athlon II Mobile Dual Core P320 2.1GHz for $3.70. It was included in the list of compatible CPUs in the user manual.

I downloaded the HP Reference Manual with complete instructions how to replace all internal parts. It involves complete disassembly of the laptop removing all drives, keyboard and cooling systems.

If it continues to work it will provide Vickie with a 17 inch screen for movies and videos. There is nothing software related that she uses that would require more computing power than this. My time to repair it might add up to the MSRP of the original but my cost for parts is less than $20.00

Saturday February 27,
Upon disassembly I discovered one hinge attachment screw of the display with a broken mount. The plastic of the housing that the screw attaches to was broken away with no chance of fixing it. I am researching epoxies that might hold the screw attachment to the housing.

Sunday February 28,
I purchased Loctite Epoxy Instant Mix (0.47 FL. OZ.) at my local Home Depot for $5.15. The plunger in the applicator automatically mixes the chemicals as it is applied. I've placed the epoxy and the parts together and am waiting for the adhesive to set. The instructions claim 20 minutes for initial setting and 24  hours for full hardening.I waited about three hours but it didn't work.

I replaced the CPU.

I reassembled the laptop but it still wouldn't boot. I did more research online and found a possible solution typical to HP laptops. It wasn't the CPU but old-age solder. I found several instances of people who did a "reflow" of the motherboard. I disassembled the laptop again removed all RAM and Wi-Fi device and cooked the motherboard in my kitchen oven for 10 minutes at 385 degrees.

It worked!


 http://www.computerrepairtips.net/how-to-reflow-a-laptop-motherboard/ 

The CPU I bought on eBay for $3.70 is also working. Now I have a spare with the original set aside for future use if needed.

Friday March 11, 2016
Upgraded Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 10 Home with option to save "nothing". Installation worked but in trying to download VLC media player I inadvertently used the wrong website and got malware that hijacked Windows Edge browser. About the same time the speaker mute button became stuck - no sound. I began a RESET of Windows 10 that took hours to perform. Hours!

I chose the "Remove everything" option to prepare to sell the laptop.

Monday March 14, 2016
The Windows 10 Reset function is still wiping my hard drive.  The screen is stuck at 25% and appears to be still in operation. HDD light is flickering and all systems operating. I am afraid that if I halt operations the drive will become inoperable. I am hoping for a clean install of Windows 10. I assume that a small hard drive (120GB) may not have enough space to both  save the data for installation and clean the drive therefore, it is using small amounts of data at a time to wipe the remaining drive clean. There can be no reason to take this long. No error codes have appeared and the screen continues to say: "Resetting this PC 25%"

Tuesday March 15, 2016
Gave up. Created Microsoft Media USB with another computer to install.windows 10 via the media creation tool. Had to download an HP High Definition audio driver and HP 3D HDD software to resolve an unknown device. It now works. Activation however, was not included in the media install.

Saturday March 19, 2016
Vickie pawned the computer for $50.00 (Windows 10 not activated).