NP530U4C AO1UK and Windows 10

First off - Thanks for all the knowledgeable contributors here, I've consulted information to get me out of trouble here many, many times.

To my question - does any one have any experience of this particular notebook and Windows 10?? Or can thy make an educated presumption about the risk?

I have read through quite a bit of the long Samsung Windows thread but most specifics are around more powerful laptops with dedicated graphics etc and issues that may not apply to this model.

My model is a [Series 5] laptop / ultabook with I5 3317U, 6GB and Intel HD4000 graphics and 24gb iSSD, Win 7 SP1. I have just installed a Samsung evo 850 SSD in place of the HDD and am leaving the iSSD unused as the motherbroad was replaced once, for what I believe to the an iSSD failure.

Samsung's UK site for this model has a very generic Windows 10 guide at: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/NP530U4C-A01UK which does not provide much confidence. Although I also notice samsung software update lists a Windows 10 update as a software update before installing the OS, so maybe it would be carefree.....

But contrasting, searching the internet there seems to be a samsung US published guide which presents compatability tables, and processors platforms without support or partial support and 3rd Gen ivy bridge is listed as limited or no support. See http://www.samsung.com/ca/windows10/upgrade_windows10.pdf

So, whilst I'd like to update I'm starting to think it might be in the high risk category, would this be an accurate interpretation of things?

Windows 10 compatibility checker says you need to un-install easy settings and that is about it but I wonder about all the other drivers (except express cache - which I'll leave un-installed). Excuse the possibly stupid and obvious question but will Windows 7 drivers work in Windows 10 if I download and install them after the 10 install?

Many thanks.

 

Apart from the iSSD your NP530U4C has very similar basic hardware to my NP900X4C for which the Windows 10 upgrade proceeded acceptably smoothly. Samsung's SW Update lists what appears to be a complete set of Windows 10 drivers and software for this notebook. My recommended procedure would be to run SW Update (also now called Samsung Update) which you can install on any computer (not just Samsung), use the Find Model option to go to United Kingdom > Series 5 > NP530U4C-A01UK > Windows 10, then download everything and put on a flash drive. Then install Windows 10 and fix anything that is not working properly (including Settings) using the file on the flash drive. However, if Windows 10 has found a driver that it working OK then it might well be newer than whatever Samsung is offering.

My only worry is that the iSSD might cause problems. I can't remember whether Windows 10 is clever enough to not put boot files on the unbootable iSSD which was a trap for Windows 7 and 8 (one fix was to install Windows from an optical drive). If you are doing an upgrade from Windows 10 then you shouldn't encounter the problem. I would also NOT enable UEFI in the BIOS, which is not properly UEFI compatible.

John

 

Thanks for the reply John. Sounds like there is hope then...

I downloaded SW Update software (but realised as I was installing I had this installed already and used it for some of the drivers after doing a fresh install on the SSD of Win 7!)

Strangely whilst it lists >NP530U4C-A01UK>Windows 10, clicking on it returns no drivers and a message "...no files found, visit download centre to manually download files".

Edit: There is one update that appears on the main area of the update software, under General, that is called "update patches". The desciption reads "Welcome to windows 10. For optimal windows 10 user experience it is recommended that all available software updates are installed." v1.0.0.2 Size 4.91MB ...Not sure what that is, as that is suggesting download for my Win 7 PC.

Drivers are visible for Win 7 and 8 under my model, just not Win 10.

I am still on Win 7 - SP1. I do have the integrated optical drive.

I have also read on the issues with installing windows from USB onto Samsungs with iSSDs. I think I recall reading that Win 10 was smart enough to cope but can't find the thread again.

I would be doing an upgrade from Win 7. I assume when you said if you're doing an upgrade from Win 10 you'll be ok, you actually meant Win 8?

Thanks for the specific advice..

 

SW Update must be feeling moody: This is what I can see:



Yes, and I meant upgrade from Win 7 (or 8) - my fingers don't always type what my brain is thinking. An upgrade should avoid problems with the iSSD and UEFI because Windows 10 will respect (and, in theory, keep) what is already there so it can't reformat the drive.

John

 

Brilliant John.

Just tried this again now and there are drivers. Didn't work when I tried twice before! Also noticed this is the "NP530U3C-A01UK" rather than "NP530U4C-A01UK" so assuming it won't have the optical driver driver driver but I imagine there would be a good probabliltiy of a windows one.

Is there any point cross referencing all the win 10 drivers against win 7 to see what "might" be missing?

For example, there is no express cache driver and that is ok as I don't want to use it.

Win 7 drivers includes a "chipset driver" but doesn't appear to be one in Win 10 - a problem or worrying about nothing?

[Edit: Did a manual search rather than the "best match" shown and entered NP530u4c-a01uk, it also found windows 10 drivers but they look identical to np530u3c-a01uk and there is the same no. of them - 22, at 3.09Gb.]

Many thanks

 

I thought I had triple-checked the model number but still got it wrong. Anyway, as you note, there is little difference in the basic bardware. The optical drive uses a standard Windows driver and the chipset driver is most likely built into the Windows 10 installer. I remember that putting Windows 10 on my NP900X4C was less traumatic than I expected. Since then there have been innumerable updates and one which was more like as service pack.

There's still the risk that something will trip up but it's very probable that Windows 10 will install smoothly. Anyway, it's prucent to have the new drivers available in case the WiFi driver trips up and Windows 10 can't automatically get the drivers it wants (although most are built into the installer package).

John

 

Excellent, thanks John.

I've started to look at this UEFI aspect. Like you said, it would be upgrade from Win7, at least in the first instance, so based on your comment, I'm thinking it won't mess things up. Is there a way to prevent this UEFI boot thing like being selectable at installation or only sort out after it has happened and make it revert?

Still feeling a little nervous as Win7 with this notebook is working really nicely now with a fresh install and the new SSD. My hands will be shaking when / if I press the button. Then again, I suppose I can't live in 2009 forever.... Think I will give it a couple of days to "think" about it...

 

The switch for whether or not to use UEFI is in the BIOS. If your notebook is currently Windows 7 and the BIOS is P??AA? then UEFI would not have been enabled so you don't need to worry. Samsung notebook users had big problems when Windows 8 arrived and UEFI was enabled by default and it was found out the hard way that the BIOS (family P??AB?) was a little fragile. Since then there have been various BIOS updates which have largely fixed the inherent deficiencies.

John

 

Yes, indeed Win7. Bios P15AAJ here.

 

Everything is looking favourable for a good outcome although Windows 10 isn't perfect.

John

 

I am having NP530U4C-S01IN and I did manage to upgrade to Windows 10 on the launch day. Had it for some months and now I am back to Windows 8.1



I of course seen Windows 10 drivers for NP530U4C-S01IN in SW update. I don't know what differences are there my model and yours as I can see it's country specific

I hope to upgrade to Windows 10 someday with the updated drivers from Samsung.

 

Why did you go back to Win 8.1?

Why didn't you use the Win10 drivers available from Samsung?

The spec is similar. Yours may have a larger hard drive maybe 1TB. And perhaps dedicated graphics card but otherwise comparable.

 

Yes I have 1TB RAM and even upgraded RAM to 12 GB from 6GB

I was on Fast ring of Windows 10 and was getting updates constantly

I went back to Windows 8.1 for 2 reasons
- WiFi drop started for me and started getting on my nerves
- There were lot of issues with the SW I use

Unfortunately the WiFi drop even exists in Window 8.1 even after changing my router. I never had this issue before and can't understand why this is happening only on the laptop

At the time of installation there wren't any Win 10 drivers (I installed on the day of release). Upgraded mine from Windows 8.1 to 10

Last week I update the Bios which and I am thinking of going back to Win 10 again now that
- Win 10 drivers exists for laptop
- I learnt to live with the Wifi drop ;(

 

OK Went ahead and installed Windows 10 now. So far no major issues except that the laptop does not go to sleep :-/ Need to shutdown all the time

 

Alternatively, use hibernation. In my experience, it's a more reliable than sleep and gives the advantage of returning the user to where they were (eg work in progress already open).

John

 

OK, thanks for the other reply and the current update on your Win 10 installation.

 

Hi, Left it until the "last day" of the free upgrade and finally took the plunge. I copied the samsung Win 10 drivers to a stick before hand but to be honest, I haven't needed to install any yet and samsung update installed a few items when first loading.

Win 10 upgrade process made me uninstall easy settings. Then after win 10 installed samsung update re-installed another version but it doesn't appear to load or work.

Is there any way of getting the functionality back especially fn keys for brightness, silent mode etc.... Also the brightness set within the power modes doesn't seem to be followed which is probably tied to the same issue?

Edit: just to clarify, volume and touchpad lock do work on function keys. Everything else doesn't.

Thanks

 

Windows 10 is probably using the most recent version of Samsung Settings which has lost the functions needed for some of the older notebooks. You can use the Find Model feature in Samsung's SW Update to look through Samsung's database. I would start with the NP530U4C and see if there is a version (not necessarily in the UK) for which Samsung has released Windows 10 drivers / software. Then try the settings published for Windows 8 / 8.1. If that gets you nowhere then try other notebooks of similar age (ie model number ending with C or D).

To get the brightness working properly you may need Samsung's version of the graphics driver (Windows 8/8.1 should work if a Samsung Win 10 driver is not available), in which case uninstall the Intel driver, reboot and then install the Samsung driver.

I managed to get everything working OK with Win 10 on my NP900X3C but I did that the better part of a year ago and can remember the details. Also check the advice in this thread which is where the general fixes for Samsung + Windows 10 are discussed.

John

 

Ok, I will try those options. many thanks. searching web on another thread somewhere it was suggested some samsung control centre software worked which is another option if your ideas don't work I suppose. Many thanks

 

I should of also explained a bit more fully that although samsung update loaded edit: installed easy settings and the item appears in the apps programs list when clicked it or even running as administrator it doesn;t appear to execute and nothing appears on screen. I will try and uninstall and load a version from model specific listings as you suggest.

 

OK, downloaded "samsung setting" program uninstalled what samsung update had installed and re-installed.

Exactly the same version of "v2.0.0.106 samsung settings".

Although, I downladed it under the windows 10 area it is in a windows 8 subfloder folder so presumably is windows 8. And Windows compatability mode says it is windows 8. When clicking it from the shortcut or the apps menu nothing happens it doesn't appear to work on this PC.

 

Also tried the samsung control centre and same result, software appears to install without error but when executed / clicked on nothing seems to happen. Tried running as administrator but still nothing on screen. And nothing running in task manager. Out of ideas now.

 

Is Windows 10 blocking the software from running because it accesses the system at a low level? Did you run the installer as Administrator then run the installed program as Administrator? Compatibility settings or maybe somewhere else. I'm sure I came across this problem some time ago. The fix is simple once figured out but I can't remember it.

John

 

Thanks for replying. Had another play - re-installed yet again. Still not working. Tried running the repair option under the installed program. It runs through the installation again and now working! Bizarre. Thanks for the help and responses.

 

Thanks for the update. I blame Windows 10 which is why I have refused to let it take over my NP900X3B (previous generation to your U4C and hence even more vulnerable to these compatibility problems).

John

 

Help please!

I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of solving this. I'm suspecting it is related to windows 10 upgrade issue but I suppose it could be hardware failure.

I'm trying to create a Windows 10 installation DVD Disc from the Windows 10 media creation tool. The iso downloads ok, have done it twice and the file size is identical. When the creation tool program gets to the end, you are left with option to burn dvd. When this is selected, I just get a window popup that lists the syntax isoburn.exe. /q ........ The is no other option at that point but to Finish. The same message is displayed if I type isoburn rather than isoburn.exe in the search box.

So after the media creation tool "finishes", if I type isoburn.exe i get the windows burning window pop up and select the source and destination. It runs through the process and appears to work. It ejects the disc at the end but there is nothing on the disc apart from desktop.ini file and it is incomplete. If I select verify and burn the disk it comes up with an error code which didn't return much on the web.

Following the lack of success using isoburn.exe I tried imgburn. Tried to burn the iso image and also copy a folder of files. All the same. It appears to work and the log says finish (although again it ejects disc at completion even though that option was not ticked).

The optical drive is reading as I ripped a disk yesterday.

I removed the driver and let windows re-install. There is no ! mark in device manager and it says "working properly".

I'm using the same Sony DVD-R media I used to make a Win 7 recovery disc before upgrading to Win 10 a few months ago. Have wasted 6 discs so far and don't know what to try now!! This is the first attempt to burn a DVD with Windows 10.

Where do I go next?

Edit. DVD drive is TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208AB

 

I presume that you have followed a guide such as this.

How about trying to make a bootable flash drive (8GB or greater capacity)? If this works then it is possible that the optical drive has a problem. Device Manager may think that the ODD is OK but that is based on being able to talk to the hardware and is no indication that the ODD can function correctly.

John

 

Yes, exactly. Followed those instructions trying the windows image burner and imgbrn. Neither works for me, there is nothing visible on the dvd except for desktop.ini.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will dig out a usb and see if that works.for the windows installation. I reckon the DVD burner has only written about 4 dvds in its life annoying it could could be kaput coincidental with the win 10 upgrade timing too!

 

OK, tried creating the USB for Windows 10 bootable image using rufus. It seemed to work. I changed the boot priority in Bios to USB HDD (not sure of the difference for USB FDD?), it booted up with some message about it looked like I had started an upgrade, to continue remove the USB, or to perform clean install click "No". I clicked "No" and then it came up with the installation version, language etc. to install. I didn't want to go further, so stopped.

So, it seems my DVD burning drive became faulty at more or less the same time as moving to windows 10 even though it has written less than 10 discs! ....Might try a different brand of DVDs.

Main reason I wanted to create a DVD is that I thought there are often issues with using USB for windows installation on Notebooks and DVD is often a safer bet. Is that still true or no longer the case?

Thanks.

 

I used to consider that installation from a DVD should be easier than USB but maybe this is no longer the case with Windows 10. But why it is creating a problem burning a DVD is a separate issue. Were your other DVDs simple data discs?

John

 

Yes, separate issues. I just thought that I had read about issues getting a laptop to install / recover off a bootable usb. I suppose it depends on the particular laptop spec / brand, bios, set up, dare i say iSSD...!

I have burned one or two data discs in the past but most recently, just before doing the upgrade to win 10, burned a Win 7 install disc. I tested it and it was fine!