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Windows 8 Consumer Preview – Feb 29th
If you are a geek like me you were probably pretty excited with the recent news that Windows 8 Consumer Preview (CP) is slated to be available on February 29th.
I have been playing around with Windows 8 Developers Preview (DP) on several of my Tablet PC’s (HP TC1100, HP Slate 500, Asus EP121, and Dell Latitude ST) since September and have been really impressed how they have all performed. I am excited about the new touch features in Windows 8. Looking forward to the CP.
I find it interesting that in recent software releases by Microsoft they are not calling things Beta any longer. You have the Community Technology Preview (CTP), Release Candidates (RC), and now with Windows 8 they are calling it a Consumer Preview (CP). I guess the word Beta has the stigma of being buggy. Anyway, I must say that I have been more than happy with the Windows 8 DP version.
Well, I am anxious to download it and to get it on my machines. Why you say, because that is what we geeks do.
Installing Windows 8 DP on HP Tablet TC1100 part 2
In previous post we installed Windows 8 Developers Preview on the HP Tablet TC1100. Now we are going to continue where we left off and configure it.
Screen resolution
1. At the main start page / tiles click on Desktop.
2. Right click on the Desktop and select Screen Resolution. Change the Resolution from 800×600 to 1024×768 and click Apply. Then click keep changes. Way better.
Device Manager (Let’s take a look at what we are missing)
1. From where we are click the Start button to take us back to the Tiles.
2. Click on the Control Panel Tile and scroll down the list to More Settings.
3. Click on Hardware and Sound.
4. Under Devices and Printers click on Device Manager.
Above is a view of what the Device Manager looks like and the missing items.
5. Recommend first hard wiring to your network and running Windows Update. As of 10/17/2011 these were the following Windows Updates (specifically related to Windows).
If you can’t directly connect to Ethernet you will need to get your wireless driver (here). I have had been experiencing a lot of problems getting the wireless working. I tried the HP WLAN W500 and the Intel PRO 2100 3B.
If you have the HP Compaq W500 Compatible 802.11/a/b/g [Part #: 349985-001], you can install the following HP Driver after the OS has been installed.
SP32579 – HP WLAN W400-W500 Driver for Windows [2006-05]
If you have the HP Compaq Laptop Wireless 2100 802.11b Mini-PCI Card [Part #: 348997-001], you will have to manually connect computer to NETWORK with Ethernet and run Windows Update to get the Wireless working.
To determine which one you have you will need to unscrew one of the back covers and look at the HP Part Number.
This is the list of drivers that I installed and in that order.
SP27014 – NVIDIA Video Driver [2004-01] w/NVIDIA 82.12 Fix (here)
SP28787 – Q Menu for Tablet [v2.10 Rev A] | [2004-10-10]
SP24241 – Tablet PC Button Driver [v1.00 Rev B] | [2003-11-07]
SP29116 – Texas Instruments 4in1 Card [v1.011.1 Rev A] | [2004-10-20]
SP24581 – Wacom Digitizer Driver [v1.6.1.3 Rev A] | [2003-09-24]
Install the drivers in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode. Right click on the file and select Properties, click on the Compatibility tab. Put a check in the Compatibility Mode. Click ok and then double click on the file to install.
I am still playing with and learning Windows 8. If I come across anything new I will be sure to post.
Installing Windows 8 DP on HP Tablet TC1100 part 1
In a previous post I wrote about how to get Windows 7 installed on the HP Tablet TC1100. Now with the recent release of Windows 8 Developers Preview at Build I thought that I would give it a try on the HP Tablet TC1100.
Let’s get right into this.
I recommend a clean install and not an upgrade. I had an extra disk lying around so I used that rather than my original W7 disk. You can use existing image but format it during the install. I don’t ever recommend upgrading OS. I would rather have clean install.
Pre-Steps
1. Download the Windows Developers Preview 32-bit here (2.8 GB).
2. Download and create a bootable USB with the iso here. This makes the process so easy. Click, click, walk away and boom, you have a bootable Windows 8 USB drive. I used a 4 GB USB stick that you can get for $10 at Walmart.
Install process
1. BOOT HP TABLET TC1100 TO USB. The following will allow you to boot from the USB stick. By default on the TC1100 you will not be able to boot from the USB Stick.
Put the USB Stick in the USB Slot on the computer.
Start up the Tablet and hit the jog dial and Launch System Setup.
Scroll over to the Advanced Tab
Scroll down to Boot Order and hit Enter
Select Hard Drive and hit Enter
Hit the -/+ to move up the USB drive to the top of the list.
Hit F10 to Save and Exit.
System should automatically boot to the USB drive.
2. Go through the usual installation options. Prepping the disk (format etc.), unpacking the image, installing, configuring, computer name, username, preparing devices, etc.
Boom you have Windows 8 Developers Preview Installed on your HP Tablet TC1100.
In my next post I will discuss configuring and installing drivers.
Tablet PC (TC1100) sleep problem
Recently I came across a person on the Tablet PC Forum having a problem with their HP Tablet PC (TC1100) running Windows 7 not coming out of sleep mode. The problem was after a period of inactivity or manually putting sleep mode the Tablet wouldn’t come back online.
l have seen other people report this problem as well. l made several suggestions and had him confirmed was using the correct video driver and the post video fix and he was. At this point didn’t know what else to try.
Well I just got a message from that person that he was able to resolve the sleep by upgrading the hard drive from a 4200 rpm to a 5400 rpm drive. These tablets originally came with 40gb 4200 rpm drives. I personally have several of these Tablets and have not ran into this issue on any of them, but I have 5400 rpm drives on them so this might be why mine work. In any case I will have to keep that in my bag of tricks in case I see this being reported by others.
My favorite things for Tablet PC (OneNote)
My favorite things
This is second in a series of “My favorite things for Tablet PC”. In the last post I talked about Grahl Software Design PDF Annotator, which allows you to mark up PDF Documents and make notes using ink and/or a multitude of other editing tools. You can read that post here.
In this post I am going to look at Microsoft OneNote 2010. This is an office component that is in all editions of Office 2010, please note that this is not the case in Office 2007.
I am a huge fan of Microsoft OneNote 2010. This is one of those applications that once you start using it, you will be hooked. I started using OneNote by accident on a Tablet PC at work and since then I have been hooked. I have been overly impressed on the improvements in the product from 2003 to 2007, and now in 2010.
What is OneNote?
What is OneNote?
OneNote organizes your notes in Notebooks, each of which are broken into Sections with multiples pages. Notebooks are located on the left side, with sections on the top as tabs, and pages listed on the right side. Think of it like a school notebook like a your old high school Trapper Keeper. You have multiple classes that you keep in folders (sections), and multiple notes in each folder (pages).
You can have multiple Notebooks like one for school or a notebook for a project.
Some of my favorite features:
- Great inking and ink tools (with ability to convert ink to text). My primary use for it is the inking with my Tablet PC, but I use it on my laptop at work and at home.
- Ability to print to OneNote (adds a virtual printer that allows you to print to and import into OneNote.
- Tightly integrated with other Office applications. You can send other Office apps to OneNote. For instance in Outlook you can send an email to OneNote and
- Create audio notes (Can search for key words spoken through OneNote special indexing)
- Great advanced searching tool (includes powerful OCR technology with ability to search images). Ability to tag notes for even easier searching.
- Send a web page to OneNote (right click on a page and send to OneNote or click on the icon located on the upper right corner of web page).
- Ability to attach files into OneNote pages (not links but actually imbed the file into the OneNote page)
- Share Notebooks to a network location where multiple people can edit at the same time. Changes are merged automatically.
- There is no save button. This was weird at first but now you don’t even think about it. You make any changes they are instantly saved.
Download your copy of it here and give a spin. Let me know what you think and how you are using it?
Related Posts:
Tablet PC (TC1100) as an e-reader (problems with Wacom) here.
Tablet PC (TC1100) sleep problems here.
Installing Windows 7 on HP Tablet TC1100 here.
My favorite things for the Tablet PC (PDF Annotator)
I have an older HP Tablet PC (TC1100) and over the years I have come across some great Tablet applications. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to share some of my favorite ones. In this series of my favorite things for the Tablet PC I am starting with PDF Annotator by Grahl Software Design.
PDF Annotator lets you open PDF files and mark them up with notes, pictures, etc. This especially rocks on a Tablet PC with inking capabilities. However it is not just for Tablets, it does work well with desktops.
My top 5 list of what I like about PDF Annotator
1. Mark up PDF file and send to another user who can open with Adobe Reader and see your markups.
2. Installs a PDF Annotator Virtual Printer that allows you to print any file and makes the document open in PDF Annotator as a PDF file.
3. Can remove all annotations in a single client to restore to the original document.
4. Multitude of editing tools.
5. Can create blank PDF files or add blank pages into existing documents.
Below is a page from the read me document that I have marked up.
The price for a single license is $69.95 along with a $29.95 mtce/upgrade fee that includes technical support. The file download is just over 20 MB and they are pretty good with several updates a year. They are currently on version 3.0.0.324, go download a 30 day trial version today and tell me what you think.
Next up Microsoft OneNote 2010.
Tablet PC (TC1100) as an e-reader (problems with Wacom)
With Christmas right around the corner it seems that e-readers are the popular gift and it seems that everyone has one, Borders (Kobo), Amazon’s (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), and Sony (Daily Edition), with a few others.
They seem pretty cool, but to me they seem limited and it’s another gadget to have to carry around with me. Also, I am not going to read a book on my Droid2, It is barely big enough to read my email.
This brings me to one of my favorite gadgets, the HP Tablet PC (TC1100). It is a Tablet PC running Windows 7, it has inking capabilities, it can detach from the keyboard to become a slate device with a stylus/pen. Basically it is my Desktop, Notebook, Netbook, Tablet, Slate, and now e-reader.
I currently use my Tablet PC to read PDF files and it works great in portrait mode (in full page view). I use the jog dial to advance the pages. It really works great. However, I wanted to see if my Tablet would run some of the e-reader applications that seem to be coming out.
I installed the Borders Kobo and Amazon Kindle e-reader applications to see how they would work out on my Tablet PC. I found an issue right off the bat when I put either application in portrait mode. The stylus/pen did not work correctly, the orientation got messed up. The stylus/pen moved the opposite way you move the pen. I move the stylus up the cursor was at the bottom of the page. I move the stylus to the left the cursor was on the right. It was really weird.
The cool part was I went out to TabletPCReview.com posted my problem and one of the members commented back that it was probably the Wacom Driver. It was weird because I have not had any other problems with any other application in landscape or portrait, so I wasn’t sure what to think. I have been running the Wacom Penabled Driver v5.08-2a for better of a year on Windows 7 and have not had a problem. The member recommended using the HP default Wacom driver.
I uninstalled the Wacom Penabled Driver v5.08-2a and restarted. I then downloaded and installed the HP Wacom Digitizer Driver v1.6.1a (sp24581).
Bada bing! It resolved the issue with the e-readers. So far I am enjoying the Tablet running the two e-reader apps, but I haven’t decided which one I like more though. Still pretty new.
Installing Windows 7 on HP Tablet TC1100
I love gadgets; I especially love gadgets that help me be more organized which in turn helps me be more productive.
The HP Tablet TC1100 originally came out in 2003 and at that time the operating system was Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which added the Tablet and Ink capabilities. Since then Microsoft has made tremendous improvements to the ink and hand writing capabilities in Vista and now in Windows 7. HP however does not have compatible drivers for Windows 7. Why you say? Good question, I can’t think of a good reason for this. Thankfully a kind soul took it upon himself to tinker with it and get it working. The below link documents his labors to get Windows 7 installed on the Tablet. Why would you want to do this? Well, Windows 7 totally rocks on the HP Tablet and is totally worth upgrading. The main reason is the performance, the ink features, and handwriting recognition. Awesome stuff.
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WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Compaq_TC1100
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REQUIRED READING TO GET THINGS WORKING
Read the following article from MobilePCWiki to get an overview of the installation of Windows 7 on the Tablet. The author goes through and explains in great detail the process. The installation notes cover the RC version of Windows 7, but I have gotten to work with the Windows 7 RTM Home Premium and Ultimate.
http://mobilepcwiki.com/mpc/index.php?title=HP/TC1100/Windows_7_Installation_Notes
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INSTALL USING USB
Since the Tablets do not come with a DVD drive you will need to either attach an external DVD or create a Windows 7 Installation USB Stick. The following website IntoWindows link walks you through creating a USB installation stick.
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide
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BOOT HP TABLET TC1100 TO USB
The following will allow you to boot from the USB stick. By default you will not be able to boot from the USB Stick.
Put the USB Stick in the USB Slot on the computer.
Start up the Tablet and hit the jog dial and Launch System Setup.
Scroll over to the Advanced Tab
Scroll down to Boot Order and hit Enter
Select Hard Drive and hit Enter
Hit the -/+ to move up the USB drive to the top of the list.
Hit F10 to Save and Exit.
System should automatically boot to the USB drive.
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HOW TO TAKE APART COMPUTER TO GET AT INTERNAL MEMORY
The TC1100 has two memory slots and by default comes with 512MB of Ram. This is really not enough ram to run Windows 7 on. You can easily upgrade the memory to 1.5gb by adding a 1gb chip to the external slot (User Accessible Area). To upgrade the machine to 2gb, which I highly recommend you will need to take apart the Tablet to get at the slot. I have done this 3 times without issue, just take your time and review the great photos from the below forum discussion on the subject.
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/showthread.php?34009-wicked-cool-tc1100-upgrade-hard-drive-and-RAM
Type of RAM to buy
(2) 1GB PC2700 SODIMM DDR-333 (200 Pin)
Newegg.com has this for $40.99/each [Confirmed 9/22/2010]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145068
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INSTALLATION NOTES
There are no specific Vista or Windows 7 drivers for the HP TC1100 Tablet. You must use the old XP Tablet PC drivers. The trick is to install the drivers in XP Compatibility mode. You do this by right clicking the file, select properties, then click on the Compatibility tab. Under the Compatibility mode put a check under “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and select Windows XP SP2. Click Apply and then Ok. Double click or right click and select Run as Administrator.
DRIVERS
SP29116 – Texas Instruments 4in1 Card [2004-10]
SP27014 – NVIDIA Video Driver [2004-01]
SP28787 – Q Menu for Tablet [2004-10]
SP24241 – Tablet PC Button Driver [2003-11]
HP’s Website
NOTE
If you have the HP Compaq W500 Compatible 802.11/a/b/g [Part #: 349985-001], you can install the following HP Driver after the OS has been installed.
SP32579 – HP WLAN W400-W500 Driver for Windows [2006-05]
If you have the HP Compaq Laptop Wireless 2100 802.11b Mini-PCI Card [Part #: 348997-001], you will have to manually connect computer to NETWORK with Ethernet and run Windows Update to get the Wireless working.
To determine which one you have you will need to unscrew one of the back covers and look at the HP Part Number.
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ADDITIONAL DRIVERS
Installed NVIDIA Fix 82.12 [XP Compatibility Mode]
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/showpost.php?p=316329&postcount=48
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ADDITIONAL DRIVERS
Installed Wacom Penabled Driver v5.08-2a [XP Compatibility Mode]
http://www.wacom.com/downloads/drivers.php
The newer driver doesn’t seem to work. You will need to find the driver on the web. Do a google search for PenTablet_508-2a.exe
I found it on UserDrivers.com.
http://www.userdrivers.com/Keyboard-Mouse/Wacom-Penabled-Driver-5-08-2a-RC-for-Tablet-PCs/download/
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Confirmed available: 9/22/2010
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GOTCHA’S
Windows Aero
Supports only 1GB Secure Digital
Single Core Processor
My Tablet PC (TC1100)
I love gadgets and one of my current favorites is the HP Tablet PC (TC1100). I recently picked this up from the company I work for during an employee sale. These units were originally going to be used as inflight enter
tainment, but were scrapped when the project was canceled for one reason or another. They were being used in our training room, but the main application being used required more resources, so they were replaced with desktops and became obsolete.
The units came preconfigured with Windows XP Tablet Edition, Pentium 1GHz CPU, 512MB ram, and 40GB-4200 rpm drive. I upgraded the RAM to 2GB, replaced the hard drive with an 80GB-5400 rpm drive, and installed Windows 7 Ultimate (HP Tablet PC specs). This increased the performance substantially.
This Tablet PC is like a convertible/hybrid computer (see right). You can detach the keyboard and the Tablet PC becomes like a slate PC. You can see a pretty good review and info on the TC1100 here. It reminds me of the new Microsoft Tablet that Steve Ballmer showed off at the CES conference, except this does not have the touch feature, it requires the pen.
At home I primarily use it in convertible mode with a rubber case (DK504a) around it to protect it. It slides over the unit and has an access opening for all of the ports and a slot on the side for the pen to snap in. It is great when I am sitting on the couch in front of the TV, I will grab the Tablet and I will use it to write out a to-do list for the next day or brain storm about some upcoming project. I like the size and weight of this Tablet PC as well, just slide it in my backpack or messenger bag without much notice. I recently packed this with me during the PASS Summit conference in Seattle. It was very convenient to take notes during the sessions and occasionally check my email. One of my favorite programs for the Tablet PC is Microsoft OneNote. I really like the note taking aspect of the program and the use of the pen.
While this does not have a lot of processing power it is great for basic computing. What is your favorite gadget?
Cameron Mergel 
