~Toughbooktalk~

I have one of Jeff's very nice CF-30MK2 (CF-30FCS85AM) to play with/sell. It has a Vista Business COA so I did a restore to factory. After Jeff related some of his adventures upgrading to W7, I thought I would give it a shot. The idea is to end up with everything working properly, as painless and quick as possible. I used a new Intel 240GB ssd for this experiment.

What you will need to have on hand to make the job smoother is a Vista Business restore disc, Vista Service Pack 1, a W7 install disc (I used an AIO disc I made) and the Vista video driver. You can also download and install the SP1 and video driver once on the desktops.

Here is Vista SP1:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... aspx?id=30

The Vista video driver, video_1930_22_d070577.exe (15.0 mb) is available from the Panasonic Japan download site. Select all drivers, CF-30, CF-30F/G(mk2), Vista and search keyword 'video'.

Make sure the touchscreen setting in the BIOS is set to AUTO or TABLET before you start the install.


1. Install Vista Business from restore disc. When done, calibrate screen, for convenience.

2. Install Vista SP1

3. Uninstall the Intel Extended Thermal Model. Reboot. You reinstall it later in W7.

4. Insert the W7 disc and start the install from the desktop. To be sure there will be no other conflicts with your unit, you can run the compatibility checker.
4a. Select 'go online for updates'.
4b. Select the 'Upgrade' NOT the 'Custom' method.

5. After you have a W7 desktop do the initial MS critical updates.

6. If you find your cursor is jumpy after the updates, disable it in the BIOS when you reboot.

7. Calibrate the touchscreen, using the stand alone Tablet Calibration program in Control Panel, from an admin account. It is the old XP style with 16 contact points. Do not use the calibration utility found in the Tablet PC Settings, in Control Panel for the initial calibration. Use it after you are done all the updates and installs.

8. Install the Vista video driver from Device Manager. Right click the display adapter entry and select update driver. Tell it you want to pick your hardware from a list, and once you have the Intel 965 chipset v7.14.10.1244 highlighted click have disc and point it at the folder you extracted the driver to. I put mine in the C:\util\drivers\video folder. Reboot after driver install. I never got a BSOD like some have reported. YMMV.

9. Finish the MS updates, including SP1.

10. Enable the GPS in the BIOS, setting it to 'Auto'. Install the GPS registry patch when back in Windows.

11. In Device Manager I had one entry with yellow exclamation mark, PCI data acquisition something. Right click on it and select 'Update driver'. Point it at the C:\util folder. It will find and load the Intel Extended Thermal Model driver. Clean DM now.

12. At this point the OS install is done. Now load any programs you want/need.

That's it. And yes you need a W7 COA to activate the OS but you do not need to do the phone activation. When you click the 'Activate now' link in the System properties window, you are asked to input the key, then the program goes online to check the key. After about 3 minutes, it should come back as genuine and be activated.

All in all, I find it a lot quicker and easier than a clean install of OS and manual install of drivers and programs.

Thanks to Jeff for the info, help and guidance.

Have phun!

Typo Pak
Line 7 un-clear....I know what you mean but.....

My reasoning for doing it this way is all the drivers are in all the right places.....more like the FOLDERS like \util are in the right places. It's nice to get a unit in for re-sale or whatever and see drivers where they are "supposed" to be. IOW duplicating factory restore.

Very good write-up.

Between M and myself we have done upwards of eight of these this week. I'm just finishing a CF-52G and it is nearly the same. No bsod but I did get a hang-up on the first online upgrade. Needed to hard boot.

Phun it is,

Jeff

I used the F. Sinatra method on the word 'Pak', did it my way, but as a show of respect, I corrected it.

Also expanded point 7 to try and clarify which calibration program to run. I will add a bit more detail and some links.

Hope'd I hadna shot myself in the foot there. (get it?):D

Thank you. Point 7 is great.

I know I write in TLA's and my version of technical expressions...for example the tag team post from yesterday. Some I do on purpose to get the new folks looking things up... Like TSPCB....well that's it's name and a google search will tell you what it is. I thought FPC stood for flat plastic cable for a long time. Maybe we need a glossary or Toughword...Toughbook Crossword. I just try to clarify so the vast amount of people stopping by like what they see and stick around. (I'm talking about my writing here, not anyone else's)

All in all a great job and the respect part is totally appreciated. The feeling is mutual.

And despite the excess verbiage on my part this tutorial "works".

Bob...Three Letter Acronym=TLA...
.
.
.
.
.
.
You said F. Sinatra I thought of Bob Hope....convoluted mind. (a synonym for which is long winded I looked it up.)

Lol. Got it.

I wrote it, from the few notes I made and memory, this morning before I opened the shop. Was in a bit of a hurry. I will finish it later this evening. Thanks for the critique.

Bob?? So that makes you my uncle?

Added Vista SP1 link, info on acquiring the proper video driver and some more details of the install procedure.

This method should work for putting W7 on any Toughbook that came with Vista.

Morgan, I'd like to try this model you propose, and in step#3, un-install extended thermal model, I could not find the extended thermal model anywhere except on the c: drive under drivers this labeled "etm 11/03/2008file folder"
Do I just delete this entire file/folder? or run one of the applications in the folder to un-install"

Notes from the right coast...brrrr it's cold and windy here.
The Intel (r) dynamic power performance management (etm.inf.) is on the C; drive, to untinstall it you must double click on the SetupApp an run to "un-install"it will then ask you to re-start the system.
My stock MK3 CF-30 winvista MK2 has pro installed from the factory. Although I have a Windows 7 Pro Refurbished PC installed on the bottom with a valid product key, Heartland would only sell me either XP or Vista as shipped from the factory for my model #. I followed Morgan's steps and found that I could NOT upgrade as I had Vista Pro installed, and my Upgrade disk for Win 7 was HOme Premium. Oh well, I ran custom instead of upgrade since it would NOT let me, and now I am installing updates. The gps works with Gps info us global sat and the video seems to work too..we'll see

Sorry for the late reply, I was catching up on some racing last night.

IIRC, I uninstalled the extended thermal program through the Programs and Features in Control Panel.

I have never heard of Vista Pro, Home, Business and Ultimate, but not Pro. New one on me!

UNCNDL1 wrote:Notes from the right coast...brrrr it's cold and windy here.
...
My stock MK3 CF-30 w

Mk3 cf30 had win7 as an option ..correct?


I can help you out...I'll send a PM when I get home...