Ok ..I think I have created the diagnostics partition ..
just run Hardware diagnostics quicktest ..and nearly crapped myself when the 16 bit audio test ran ..it was so unexpected and so loud ..
🤣
😉
progress is being made.
😀

So ..it looks like I have indeed created this hidden Setup partition ..but sadly I cannot access it.
I now get the flashing cursor (top right) of the screen ..but when I press F10 ..I receive a large key ..
a password is expected ..
3 attempts to enter..then lockout.
I assume this is the bios password I refererred to earlier ..
Thus the bios is locked ..presumably by the company that originally owned the laptop.
Is there a way to unlock it ..or will this laptop have to be re-flashed ?
and if so ..with what ?
I therefore need more help at this point.
rgds
VS

So ..what appears to be set is a SETUP password ..which unless known is permanent ..
maybe there is a master password somewhere out there ..but for now ..
I'm stuffed ..
oh dear !!

Think the power-on / setup passwords are on-chip based so without them you have to get serious. Seen this method mentioned in a few places, so may be worth a try

http://web.archive.org/web/20041120002033/htt … 1_passclear.htm

I learned a lot with this re-furb...
but looks like I won in the end ..thanks in part to the great help I received.
This unit had a damaged screen ..
(replaced)
No Floppy Drive ..
The replacement I got was suspect ..until I realised it was locked out in the Cmos.
Nasty passwords had been set ..
Now I have full access ...and a 12 mb hidden diagnostics partition ..
on the 10gb hard drive I installed to replace the original ...and a full working Win98se install which I cloned onto this 10gb drive.
It seemed the best way to go ..as there was no personal data found on it ..and the correct drivers were already installed ...and a working anti virus program.

plus 2 x floppy disks ...Setup and Diagnostic which work.

btw it took 2 attempts to remove the setup password ...1 hour was not enough ..so I gave it 2+
Thanks guys.

Please HP no longer supports armada laptops. 🙁(
please will be anybody here so kind to provide setup disk for me for armada 1572 laptop?

Masoxik_CZ wrote on 2019-02-17, 17:32:

Please HP no longer supports armada laptops. 🙁(
please will be anybody here so kind to provide setup disk for me for armada 1572 laptop?

Hi! Sorry for the little necro.
Just found a copy of Computer Setup for Portables [Version 2.01 Rev H] in English language (sp8975).
Since the specific HP FTP servers are nolonger, I'll attach it here. Hope that's okay. It'll work with multiple models.

Hello,

Sorry for replying to an old thread, but my problem is related and I think the information in the previous posts was helpful.

I bought an Armada 1700, it came with Windows XP on the C partition and the Setup partition was still working great.
I decided to instal Win95, because it was the original OS for this laptop.
Because I'm an idiot, I didn't image the Setup partition and when I installed Win95 I deleted that partition by mistake.

I manage to find the correct softpaqs for this computer in the internet, and I created a Diagnostics floppy disk and a Setup floppy disk.
I installed the Diagnostics and Setup floppies according to the instructions (first I inserted the Diagnostics floppy, it created the partition on the HDD and than it installed itself, after that the Diagnostics floppy asked me to insert the Setup floppy, I insert the Setup floppy and it installed itself).
Everything seems to have installed correctly.

My problem is, when I press F10 now I get the Diagnostics software (please see attached picture).
I don't get the Setup software as I used to get before wiping the HDD by mistake (please see picture attached by @Vipersan in 15April2018).

Does anyone know if I've done something wrong?

Thank you.

EDIT: After everything I've done before, I tried the following: I booted from the Setup floppy disk and choose the "Install" option, installation proceeded, the PC rebooted, but nothing changed, the Diagnostics software still shows up.
Maybe there is a hidden option to choose if the user wants the Setup of Diagnostics screen to show after pressing F10?
Is there any way to get from the Diagnostics software to the Setup software and vice-versa?

PS:
For anyone looking, if you need drivers, bios and another Compaq software, first search here for the names of the files you need:
https://web.archive.org/web/20021024182514/ht … /support/files/
https://web.archive.org/web/20000111152526/ht … S/allspidx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20070406055219/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070406073034/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070409181812/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070429141333/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070406050448/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070409115658/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070701234831/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070406214201/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20070409172606/ht … ient=S-A-R163-1
After you know the names of the files you need, download the files from here:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq
http://cwcyrix.duckdns.org/ftp-archives/ftp.c … com/pub/softpaq
It's time consuming, but I managed to get everything using this method.