Technical white paper HP recommends Windows.

Restoring Windows 7 on the HP

Z420, Z620, and Z820
Using HP OS DVD and Driver DVD

The goal of this document is to guide the user through the process of restoring
Microsoft® Windows 7 operating system (OS) on the HP Z420, Z620, and Z820
Workstations using the operating system and driver DVD restore media.

Before you begin

Before starting this process, note the following:
• This new restore process does not restore the image that was shipped on the system from the factory. This installation
is a clean operating system installation using a Microsoft image. If a restore with the factory image is still desired, this
can be achieved by restoring using the recovery partition on the hard drive (accessed using F11 at system startup).
• The Web URLs listed in this document are for additional reference. URLs are subject to change or termination. HP makes
no attempt to assure that these URLs are current.
• By providing this document, HP is not liable for providing any additional consulting services. Contact your HP Sales
Representative or Channel Partner to arrange for additional HP Consulting Services.
• This document is not meant to be comprehensive in supporting all the possible configurations of the HP Z420, Z620,
and Z820 Workstations. Instead, it provides sufficient information to enable key hardware devices.
• CAUTION: Following the installation guidelines outlined in this document will erase your hard drive. Back up all
important data (such as but not limited to, files, photos, videos, documents, applications, email, etc.) before you begin
any upgrade to avoid losing your data.
• CAUTION: To ensure all data on any data drives is not erased, disconnect the data drives from the motherboard. When
the system is turned off, disconnect the cables to the data drives from the motherboard.

Things you need before you begin

Make sure you have the following items before you begin:
• The Windows 7 OS and driver restore DVDs.
• This document.
• Application media for applications which were installed by the user. After the restore has completed, all additional
applications which were installed by the user will need to be reinstalled.

Click here to verify the latest version of this document.

Technical white paper | Restoring Microsoft Windows 7 on the HP Z240, Z620, and Z820 Workstations HP recommends Windows.

Operating system installation process

This section will detail the steps to install the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system (OS) and hardware enabling drivers
on the desired HP Workstation.

Step 1
Have the Windows 7 OS and driver restore media readily accessible.

Step 2
Install the Windows 7 OS from the restore DVD media by following the onscreen instructions.
• To install using UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface­— applies to 64-bit only) GPT boot
To install for UEFI booting GPT, boot to the media by hitting the F9 key during BIOS POST, and select UEFI Boot
Sources -> the optical drive containing the OS media. When the prompt “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…”
immediately hit a key on the keyboard to initiate the install. If there is a delay hitting a key, the install will continue to
a Legacy MBR installation.

To use UEFI, the destination hard drive must not have an existing MBR partition. UEFI requires a new partitioning
method referred to as GPT. (See the Microsoft “Windows and GPT FAQ” at msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/
hardware/gg463525 for more details.) If you wish to install via UEFI and ensure there is no existing MBR partition,
delete the existing volumes shown during the Microsoft Windows 7 setup. Note: If all partitions are deleted, this will
remove the ability to restore using the restore partition on the hard drive. More information on installing via UEFI can
be found in the HP Support Document “HP Z420, Z620, and Z820 Workstations—Installing UEFI-Based Microsoft
Windows 7 (x64)”.

• To install using MBR (Master Boot Record)

To install using an MBR partition, boot to the media by hitting the F9 key during BIOS POST, and select Legacy Boot
Sources -> ATAPI CD/DVD Drive -> SATA.

After selecting “Custom (advanced)” during the installation:

• To keep the factory recovery partition on the hard drive
Do not delete the SYSTEM, HP_RECOVERY, or the Windows RE Tools (if applicable) partitions on the OS drive if
retaining the ability to restore using the recovery partition is desired. Delete the remaining partitions on the OS drive,
and select the resulting Unallocated Space partition as the destination for the operating system and click Next.
For example:

• To delete the partitions necessary for a hard drive based recovery and obtain more storage space
Delete all partitions on the destination hard drive, and select the resulting Unallocated Space partition as the
destination for the operating system and click Next.

Step 3
The loading of the operating system is complete when a prompt to enter a user name and PC name is available to the
user. Proceed through the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.

Step 4
Once at the desktop, install the drivers using the driver DVD restore media, which should auto launch. At the HP Software
Setup window, click on the button for Hardware Enabling Drivers. This will prompt the user to first install pre-requisite
software and reboot the system.

2
Technical white paper | Restoring Microsoft Windows 7 on the HP Z240, Z620, and Z820 Workstations HP recommends Windows.

Step 5
After a reboot, the HP Software Setup window will reappear. Click on the Hardware Enabling Drivers button again. This
will launch a new window displaying all drivers available to install on the system. Note: Drivers that are already installed
will not be checked. HP recommends selecting all drivers for installation.

Step 6
Select the drivers to install, and then click the Install button. Once all drivers have been installed, there will be a prompt
to reboot the system. Click Continue.

Step 7
After a reboot, the HP Software Setup window will reappear. Click on the Recommended Software Applications button.
This will launch a new window displaying all available software on the media to install on the system.

Step 8
Select the applications to install, and then click the Install button. Once all software has been installed, there will be a
prompt to reboot the system. Click Continue.

Step 9
At this point your system is restored. The HP Software Setup window will reappear. Close the window and remove the
driver restore DVD media from the optical device. Additional drivers and software can be downloaded from the following
locations:
hp.com/support/Z420
hp.com/support/Z620
hp.com/support/Z820

Step 10
Install any applications that were originally installed by the user using the application installation media.

Support plan
HP support
All HP support provided for the HP Z420, Z620, and Z820 Workstations is subject to and governed by the terms and
conditions pursuant to which you received the system and its related package and options from HP. Hardware support
will be covered under the standard warranty and support or related upgrade options that were purchased with the system.

Summary
Thank you for your purchase of and interest in HP Workstations. For additional products and services that might meet
the needs for your organization, please contact your HP Sales Representative or Channel Partners.

Appendix A: Additional HP support URLs

HP Workstations
www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/workstations/overview.html

HP support and drivers

welcome.hp.com/country/us/eng/support.html

HP driver subscriptions, alerts and notifications

hp.com/united-states/subscribe/gateway

© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only
warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein
should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
4AA5-3390ENW, June 2014