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    Recycling an HP Compaq nc8430: the fingerprint reader solution

    Discussion in 'Notebook Cosmetic Modifications and Custom Builds' started by pacman, Oct 19, 2010.

  1. pacman

    pacman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Bought an HP Compaq nc8430 laptop with windows XP 3 years ago. Loaded Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and raised memory to 4gb 6 months ago. Various bits of the HP software wouldn't work with W7, including the fingerprint reader. Spent ages thrashing around on forums, consulting HP helpdesks to no avail. HP basically said that they sell the system as a system and cannot offer help if the operating system is changed. I gave up in despair and resigned myself to logging in with the password.

    There must be at least a gigabyte of "I dunno" postings on this subject around the WWW.

    Now I have, by chance, stumbled on the solution and it's so simple I am still whacking the side of my head in fury. Buried in Windows 7 Ultimate is a fingerprint module ! It was there all the time ! I found it by pure chance when looking for something completely different. I installed it and it recognised my fingerprint reader hardware and installed the drivers and works perfectly and I can now use my fingerprint reader.

    Why the great almighty HP knowledge base couldn't tell me this is a mystery to me, but there we are.

    The Solution: click on Start at the bottom left of the screen, type "Fingerprint reader" in the Search box, click on "Using the fingerprint reader" (yes, I know, don't tell me, I'm cringing already in embarassment) or "Biometric devices" and follow the instructions. There's just one thing you need to know in case it doesn't immediately work as you expected: wait a couple of days. Windows 7 occasionally has a very odd behaviour pattern when you are trying to install a new device. At first nothing works and then a few days later, without your having done anything in the meantime and despite the fact that the system has been restarted several times in the meantime, the device suddenly works. I've no idea why this happens. It's as if W7 had written home for help or a special driver and had to wait a couple of days for the help to arrive.
     
    pacman, Oct 19, 2010
    #1
  2. zCee

    zCee Notebook Enthusiast

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    What's the fix Charlie Brown.
     
    zCee, Oct 19, 2010
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  3. pacman

    pacman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've added it above.
     
    pacman, Oct 19, 2010
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  4. Rorschach

    Rorschach Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I just sold one of these to a forum member the other day the driver shows up just fine after using a windows update and selecting other updates. Odds are all you did was activate auto update.
     
    Rorschach, Oct 19, 2010
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