Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information
Number of business segments			7
Net revenue:
Net revenue	$ 31,189	$ 30,729	$ 95,123	$ 92,755
Earnings before taxes:
Corporate and unallocated costs and eliminations	(114)	(175)	(118)	(375)
Unallocated costs related to stock-based compensation expense	(130)	(156)	(426)	(504)
Amortization of purchased intangible assets	(358)	(383)	(1,196)	(1,060)
Restructuring charges	(150)	(598)	(466)	(909)
Acquisition related charges	(18)	(127)	(68)	(242)
Interest and other, net	(121)	(134)	(294)	(424)
Earnings before taxes	2,399	2,189	8,588	7,760
Segment total
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	32,142	31,377	97,478	94,514
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	3,290	3,762	11,156	11,274
Services
Segment Reporting Information
Number of business units in segment			4
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	9,089	8,772	26,673	26,404
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	1,225	1,381	3,961	4,161
Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	5,396	5,021	16,586	14,468
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	699	706	2,293	1,937
HP Software
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	780	650	2,241	1,966
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	151	182	428	521
Personal Systems Group
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	9,592	9,918	29,456	30,458
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	567	469	1,772	1,464
Imaging and Printing Group
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	6,087	6,167	19,462	18,769
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	892	1,040	3,165	3,192
HP Financial Services
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	932	764	2,644	2,238
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	88	72	250	208
Corporate Investments
Net revenue:
Net revenue - segment information	266	85	416	211
Net segment earnings (loss) from operations	(332)	(88)	(713)	(209)
Eliminations of inter-segment net revenue and other
Net revenue:
Net revenue - reconciling items	(953)	(648)	(2,355)	(1,759)
Infrastructure technology outsourcing
Net revenue:
Net revenue	3,884	3,692	11,303	11,091
Technology services
Net revenue:
Net revenue	2,754	2,611	8,069	7,894
Application services
Net revenue:
Net revenue	1,698	1,664	5,054	5,029
Business process outsourcing
Net revenue:
Net revenue	658	727	1,989	2,177
Other services
Net revenue:
Net revenue	95	78	258	213
Industry standard servers
Net revenue:
Net revenue	3,302	3,042	10,137	9,044
Storage
Net revenue:
Net revenue	976	904	2,968	2,741
HP Networking
Net revenue:
Net revenue	659	572	1,921	1,086
Business critical systems
Net revenue:
Net revenue	459	503	1,560	1,597
Notebooks
Net revenue:
Net revenue	5,082	5,314	15,929	16,979
Desktops
Net revenue:
Net revenue	3,777	3,941	11,314	11,591
Workstations
Net revenue:
Net revenue	547	459	1,623	1,257
Other personal systems
Net revenue:
Net revenue	186	204	590	631
Supplies
Net revenue:
Net revenue	4,143	4,130	13,113	12,542
Commercial hardware
Net revenue:
Net revenue	1,292	1,389	4,194	4,028
Consumer hardware
Net revenue:
Net revenue	$ 652	$ 648	$ 2,155	$ 2,199

This element represents acquisition-related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include consulting fees, bonus costs, stock based compensation and moving costs.

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The number of business units within a segment.

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This element represents the amount of share-based compensation that is not included in the operating income or loss from reportable segments and is a reconciling item included in the reconciliation of total operating income or loss from reportable segments to the entity's consolidated operating income or loss.

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Aggregate amount of amortization expense recognized for intangible asset during the period. A recognized intangible asset shall be amortized over its estimated useful life to the reporting entity unless that life is determined to be indefinite. If an intangible asset has a finite useful life, but the precise length of that life is not known, that intangible asset shall be amortized over the best estimate of its useful life.

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
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The aggregate amount of income (expense) from ancillary business-related activities (that is to say, excluding major activities considered part of the normal operations of the business).

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-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
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Amount charged against earnings in the period for incurred and estimated costs, excluding asset retirement obligations, associated with exit from or disposal of business activities or restructurings pursuant to a program that is planned and controlled by management, and materially changes either the scope of a business undertaken by an entity, or the manner in which that business is conducted.

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Aggregate revenue recognized during the period (derived from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an entity's earning process). For financial services companies, also includes investment and interest income, and sales and trading gains.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Amount of total revenue for the reportable segment, including revenue from external customers, transactions with other operating segments of the same entity, and (gross) interest revenue. All considered to be "operating revenue" for purposes of the taxonomy.

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Amount of an item in the reconciliation of total profit or loss from reportable segments, to the entity's consolidated income before income taxes, extraordinary items, discontinued operations.

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Total of reconciling items between total reportable segments' revenues and consolidated entity revenues.

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