Recently we had a need to run full system diagnostics on a 1.5 year old HP Notebook. So we visited the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics page from hp.com and downloaded the 'HP PC Hardware Diagnostics 3-in-1 USB Key' utility (HP Diagnostics Key).
Once the sp72497.exe file is downloaded onto your computer, it needs to be extracted into an automatically created folder called 'swsetup'. First of all, make sure that when you extract sp72497.exe that it is being extracted on an HP Desktop or HP Notebook. We were attempting to extract it onto a Dell computer and we kept receiving a message that the C drive did not have enough free space. When it actually had almost 700GB of drive space available on C. So make sure you extract it using an HP computer. Since it is an HP diagnostic utility it only makes sense that it is happiest with an HP computer product.
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Once extracted into the swsetup folder make sure you have your USB flash drive ready as it will automatically ask for it to be inserted. Once inserted it asks what drive letter the USB flash drive has been assigned. Look under Computer and enter the assigned drive letter and hit enter. Follow additional prompts.
Once the USB flash drive is ready, go ahead and insert it into the HP computer that you need to diagnose if it isn't already. Reboot the HP computer and immediately press the Esc key. This will bring up a list of startup options. Select F2 for Diagnostics.
HP Diagnostics Key: CSO Number and Agent ID
Now this is where we ran into an issue. Once we pressed F2 for Diagnostics it immediately prompted us to enter a CSO Number. What is a CSO Number? It stands for Customer Service Order number. Since this utility is used by HP field technicians this is where the field tech would enter the order number for the service call. To make a long story short, we simply entered 1234 for the CSO Number and that was accepted. It then prompted us for an Agent ID, and once again we entered 1234 which at that point gave us access to run a variety of diagnostics. In the below image you can see both CSO Number and Agent ID. We hope this additional information helps someone else.
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Frequently Asked Questions - HP Diagnostics Key
❓ How do I run HP diagnostics?
To run HP diagnostics on your laptop or desktop, follow these steps:
- Turn off the computer if it’s currently running.
- Power it back on and immediately begin pressing the Esc key repeatedly (about once every second).
- When the Startup Menu appears, press F2 to open the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI tool.
- From here, you can choose from a variety of diagnostic tests — including memory, hard drive, battery, and system board.
- Select the desired test and follow the on-screen instructions.
Tip: You can also download the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows app from HP’s website if you prefer to run diagnostics within the Windows environment.
❓ What is an HP Diagnostics Key?
The HP Diagnostics Key refers to a specific key combination—usually pressing the Esc key, followed by F2 during startup—that launches the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI tool. This utility allows users to test various hardware components such as memory, hard drive, battery, and processor.
Some newer HP devices may also come with a dedicated diagnostics key or button that provides direct access to this tool without navigating through the BIOS or Windows.
This tool is especially useful for troubleshooting hardware issues before the operating system loads.
❓ What is the BIOS key for HP diagnostics?
The key used to access HP diagnostics during startup is F2, but it’s first accessed through the Esc key. Here’s how:
- Turn on or restart your HP computer.
- Immediately press the Esc key repeatedly until the Startup Menu appears.
- From the Startup Menu, press F2 to launch HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI.
Note: These keys may vary slightly by model, but Esc followed by F2 is standard for most HP laptops and desktops.
❓ How to run full diagnostics on a laptop?
To run a full diagnostics check on your laptop, follow these general steps:
- Shut down your laptop.
- Power it on and immediately press the Esc key repeatedly until the Startup Menu appears.
- Press F2 to open the Diagnostics Utility (on HP devices, this is HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI).
- Choose System Tests or Component Tests, then select Extensive Test or Run All Tests for a complete diagnostic scan.
- Follow the on-screen instructions. The process may take 30 minutes or more, depending on the system and selected tests.
Optional: Some manufacturers also offer a downloadable Windows-based diagnostics tool for use without restarting your system.
❓ What is the F key for HP recovery menu?
To access the HP recovery menu, press the F11 key during startup:
- Turn on or restart your HP computer.
- Immediately press the F11 key repeatedly until the HP Recovery Manager or Recovery Environment opens.
- From there, you can choose to restore the system, recover from a drive image, or reset the PC to factory settings.
Note: F11 works on most HP systems with a recovery partition. If F11 doesn’t work, the recovery environment may have been removed or damaged.
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Thanks, that worked.
The CTO # hack works on later versions of the HP Diagnostics Tool also.
Thank you for the comment and the information! Very much appreciated!
Thanks a lot for the help, guys!
You are welcome! Thanks for the comment!
I have tried numerous times to try to download the “HP PC Hardware Diagnostics 3-in-1 USB Key’ utility” and it always stops before getting the entire file. I have been able to download about 500 mb at best of a file which shows to be about 1.2gb
I have looked for someone who might let me get a copy of one of the various diagnostic keys. They are various numbers such as the sp72497.exe you downloaded and the one I was trying to get lately sp75230.exe
I do not know why I cannot get the complete download but I suspect that hp detects it is being downloaded by other than one if it’s tech support people and ends the download.
If you have a copy I would welcome a chance to obtain a copy. I would pay to have it sent to me on a usb stick for instance.
Ken
Hello Ken,
We can send the utility to you on a USB stick. Send us a message through the sites Contact form and reference this HP posting.
Regards, Bruce
Mine also kept failing through Chrome and Firefox. When I used IE (*cough*) it downloaded just fine. Something on HP’s FTP server must not like Chrome or Firefox downloads for me.
Hey this worked for me on the April 2016 version, thanks! My download failed over the corp network twice, so I got on the guest wireless and it completed first time.
Thanks for the tips !
I’m wondering if this might be any use on thinclients?
Our center uses the old HP T610’s with flash modules and I didn’t know if the HDD tests would be applicable to flash media or only standard HDD’s
Thanks in advance
Thank you for this info sir! It worked like a champion! But there is a *small* snag…
If you try to use the same CSO on a second HP laptop (with the same DIAG USB key), it says “identical CSO” and then errors out. It was really strange… so I tried “2345” and that worked. I guess I will just go right up the number line whenever I need to use it!
It is strange to me that HP doesn’t want the diagnostics tool available to everyone, as if allowing the consumer to use the diagnostics might break something.
Dell doesn’t seem to have any issue with it!
Sorry to dig up this old thread. I have a question and a comment.
I downloaded the 3-in-1 HP tool and installed on a USB stick (takes ages for the 2,615 files to copy over but gets there eventually).
Question:
I need to flash an HP desktop with the latest BIOS. What are the quick steps on this please? I have the updated bios (in the form of an exe file) and need to do via the 3-in-1 tool as I can’t get to the c: OS.
Comment:
I also had many failed downloads of the 3-in-1 utility via browsers so I went via FTP. Simply use a ftp tool (e.g. filezilla) and navigate to http://ftp.hp.com. The 3-in-1 tool (as most other stuff) can be found under pub.softpaq. The 3-in-1 tool I downloaded was sp76597.exe. Worth also picking up the related html and cva files found in the ftp folder as it gives some useful information.
Hope this helps? Appreciate any help on flashing the bios in a HP desktop,
cheers
Edward
It downloaded perfect for me with Internet Explorer (IE) after severa failed attempts on Chrome?
i have an HP netbook, tablet with keyboard, and ive erased the ssd, and in the bios i continue to try to change it to boot from a usb drive, or dvd drive, whatever, and it WONT BOOT!! EVER! it continually has a little black triangle on a thing called something like automatic boot manager, and i cant get it to change to usb boot. i must install win10 on this now erased hard drive but cant! anyone got any ideas how to get this netbook to boot from a thumb drive or usb attached dvd with a boot-able version dvd of win10??
How is this for oddity.
Have two HP Elite SFF units in our charity scheme. The 4000 has been in use for a while and memory stick died, so thought “OK swap system disks over” easy NOOOO
Swapped system disk from HP Elite 4000 to 8000.
Had to swap back and do the sysprep /OOBE etc
Swapping from 8000 to 4000 post sysprep works a treat.
But 4000 to 8000 post sysprep starts up, allows me to login BUT NO mouse either PS/2 or USB (have tested USB slots front/rear – working).
So finally created the USB Diags key and booted.
Thanks for the 1234 tip loaded to “select category…” but as do not have mouse nothing runs, even using the TAB and Arrow keys grrrr
Any advice welcome 🙂
Pssst: Never had these problems on VMS 🙂