Finally had a minute to work on my tester Mini. I used
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM ($135). Thanks much to chippind for laying the groundwork! Make sure you make an HP USB recovery stick before wiping your original drive. If you're going the USB installer route for getting Windows on there, just drop the zipped driver package onto the root of it for convenience. I'm not completely sure everything is 100% accurate, but after some trial & error I was able to slim down the install package & knock everything off the missing Device Manager list.
Simple method to install Win7:
Win7 USB tool (
ImgBurn if you need to make an ISO)
F10 @ boot to get into BIOS (Disable Secure Boot + Enable Legacy Support under Secure Boot Configuration)
F9 @ boot to USB
Install Windows (nuke all partitions)
Install driver package (
499 megs zipped)
Missing drivers at initial install: (included in the package above, links provided for convenience)
BCM4314A0 (this is the Broadcom Bluetooth chip; streaming download and takes a LONG time to install)
Ethernet Controller (this is Realtek Gigabit Ethernet port)
Network Controller (this is Broadcom Wifi via a Lenovo-supplied driver & requires the offline
.NET Framework 4.5.2 to be installed
first)
PCI Device (this is the Realtek Card Reader slot)
PCI Simple Communications Controller (this is the Intel Management Engine software, a version I pulled from a compatible NUC for version 10; it requires the
Kernel-Mode Driver Framework version 1.11 update from Microsoft to be installed
first)
SM Bus Controller (this is the Intel Chipset driver)
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller (this is for the Intel USB 3.0 ports)
I also included an
Intel HD graphics driver (
4th-gen Haswell version here) in my ZIP kit so that it wouldn't read as a generic VGA adapter anymore (although it's not listed as a call out in Device Manager). The official Windows 8.1 drivers are
available here if you need them for a fresh install of Windows 8.1 Professional using a full upgrade (instead of the Pro Pack upgrade...this method enables you to use a larger hard drive without having to resort to a torrented OEM image).
Progress recap:
Successful software upgrades:
OEM 8.1 with Bing (torrent only; removes WIMBOOT partition locking)
Windows 8.1 with Bing (stock, can be reinstalled externally using the HP recovery USB program from the factory install)
Pro Pack ($99 8.1 Pro upgrade with Windows Media Center)
OEM Windows 8.1 Pro (using official MCT ISO creator)
Win7 Pro 64b SP1 ($135 OEM)
Successful hardware upgrades:
RAM upgrade (up to 16gb)
HDD upgrade (up to 256gb)
M.2 USB adapter (for cloning)
Intel 7260NGW 802.11ac Wifi + Bluetooth (confirmed on an Amazon review)
The wifi card has M.2 NGFF connector - NOT Mini-PCI-E
There is a lot of information on the web about "white lists" for acceptable wifi cards, though from what I can gather HP discontinued white lists for desktops just in the past couple years, and Stream Mini can be upgraded. Look for a combination wifi/bluetooth card with the M.2 connector and two antenna connectors. The Intel 7260NGW 802.11ac wifi + bluetooth works with the stream.
The wifi card unscrews just like SSD, but it also has two wires connecting to the antennas. There is a piece of tape covering them, after removing the tape they just pop off one by one. Be careful as they take more force to pop off than you would think. Connect the antenna wires to the new card and reinsert into the slot and replace the screw. Windows 8.1 has drivers for the intel card and will install by itself, you don't need to be connected to the internet to download any new drivers. When you boot up it will take a minute to install by itself and you're good to go, you will need to re-establish your connection to your router when it's done. If you have 802.11ac wireless in your home, you can verify the new connection speed by going to your network and sharing center -- right click on you wifi signal strength meter in your task bar and click on "Open network and sharing center". From there look for "Connections: Wifi (name of your wifi network)" and it'll give you a status report, under "Speed:".
Note: You could also download drivers from intel, but I would try to let windows install before trying to install any other drivers.
Also, you
should be able to add a 2.5" drive using a
special cable (794966-001 - Cable - Prius SATA, L:65mm PR2), which unfortunately costs $75. I'm not sure if it takes over the M.2 port or acts as a second drive; I ordered a Pavilion Mini (includes a 2.5" drive) awhile ago to test with my Stream Mini with, but have not received it yet.
Sample business build: $655 (add an HDMI monitor with speakers for convenience)
$180 HP Stream Mini
$30 4GB (total of 6GB RAM)
$135 Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
$190 Office 2013 for Business
$120 256gb M.2 SSD
That gives you a pretty nice machine:
Windows 7
Office 2013
Dual-monitor output
Tiny size + quiet operation + low power
Dual-core CPU
6GB RAM
256gb SSD
Gigabit Ethernet + Wifi + Bluetooth
(4) USB 3.0 ports
Not an enormous cost savings over my typical $1k BRIX build (under $400 once you factor in VGA adapters if you're repurposing old monitors), which has an i5 (laptop chip, but has hyperthreading for an extra boost), but for what it is, not bad at all!