Samsung Series 9 - Windows 8

I don't think Windows 8.1 can be uninstalled. But I'm not 100% sure so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I'm yet to test this, but if you want to uninstall 8.1 preview you may try this:
How to Uninstall Windows 8.1
I am going to try it later when I get my windows 8 disc.

 

I just tested Windows 8.1 Preview on my NP700Z3A. Here are my findings so far. A few of them do not apply to Series 9, but I figure some Series 7 or 5 owners might swing by here:

1) Immediately after finishing the 8.1 update, Screen Brightness controls worked correctly, both using Fn-keys and Windows controls. Oddly, the icons normally displayed during adjustment were no longer there when using the Fn keys, but it still worked. My PC has Intel HD3000 and AMD 6490M.

2) Fn-keys for Touchpad and Volume also worked, since they're controlled by Windows anyway. Surprisingly, Fn-F11 for Silent Mode also worked.

3) Fn-keys for Keyboard Backlight control, and Airplane Mode did NOT work.

4) Trying to reproduce the issue others have had with Screen Brightness control (and trying to remedy Keyboard Backlight and Airplane Mode) I re-installed Settings -- both the new 2.0.0.55 and my previous 2.0.0.49. This caused Fn-keys for Screen Brightness to be lost – and Keyboard Backlight and Airplane Mode still didn't work. So far I have NOT been able to get these keys working with 8.1 after re-installing Settings.

5) I am STILL able to control Screen Brightness using Windows controls. However, as always, I had to first disable Adaptive Brightness a few places, as discussed in this post. This is common when Settings is re-installed, because it overwrites the Samsung Optimized power profile, causing Adaptive Brightness to be re-enabled. The new Adaptive Brightness control within Settings (new in 2.0.0.49) did NOT work properly. Just ignore it and use the classic ones.

6) Samsung Fast Start Mode is disabled -- presumably because Settings isn't fully operational. (See description here of the various Fast This and Rapid That features.) This means the PC will NOT automatically wake up from sleep when the lid is opened (as others reported). On mine it also means the Power LED will blink slowly during sleep (which I like). In Win7 Easy Settings would let us enable/disable this mode, but in Win8 Settings always enabled it, with no way to disable it.

7) Several other Settings features were gone, including: Battery Life Extender, Silent Mode/Eco Mode, Keyboard Backlight, and Toupad settings.

8) Also after 8.1 update, my AMD 6490M Display Adapter showed as unsuported in Device Manager. After uninstalling AMD drivers (Using AMD Catalyst Install Manager) and re-installing my AMD drivers (version 9.2.0.0) AMD appears to be working all right again.

9) I had uninstalled ExpressCache before updating (to save excessive and unnecessary caching during this multi-GB process). I re-installed it after finished update, and it works fine.

Conclusion

Obviously we need Samsung to release a new Settings version compatible with 8.1. That's all I can say.

I may play a bit more with this, but not much: This 8.1 Preview is quite a bit slower on my PC than Win8, and since I still have to use a 3rd party Start Menu to make it usable, it is not worth the hassle for me. That said, there ARE a few improvements, such as the well publicized ability to boot to the Desktop (it was an Easter Egg hunt to find: Taskbar properties – Navigation) and the reborn Start button (which just launches the infamous Start Screen).

I made an image backup of my Win8 partition which I will restore. But I notice that the update also created a Windows System Restore Point. I'll test restoring that to see if it undoes the entire update, then post the results. It may be an escape for those who ran the update without having a backup.

I realize this is a rather messy report, I apologize for that. I just wanted to post want I'd found so far before wrapping up for the day.

Update: A bit more testing Sunday only confirmed my findings about Settings: I tried both 2.0.0.49 and 2.0.0.55, and installing in Compatiblity Mode - Windows 8 and As Administrator (both of which I had previously suggested to others). No dice in terms of restoring the missing features or missing Fn-keys.

My impression of the 8.1 preview DID improve a bit, though, as I describe in this post just below.

I eventually restored my Win8 image, but I will give 8.1 another try when it is released -- and Samsung has hopefully updated Settings. Possibly with a clean install (if Microsoft provides an ISO download).

 

Thanks for the comprehensive research.

Do you know if those Settings features disappeared on account of the Win 8.1 upgrade or were dropped by Settings 2.0.0.55?

John

 

Thanks, John.

No doubt it's Win 8.1 that caused this. Possibly because it's just a preview so far. It's fair that Samsung needs some time. But still, the fact that Settings was broken by this update indicates (in my opinion) that Settings isn't exactly a very clean implementation - Easy Settings wasn't either, so I guess it shouldn't be a big surprise.

Update: Just to confirm: I replaced my Settings 2.0.0.49 with 2.0.0.55 after restoring my Win8 image. Everything from .49 still there in .55; so definitely an incompatibility between Settings and 8.1 is what caused the loss of features.

 

Quick question about the Settings Utility - is this purely a Windows 8 utility, meaning, if I take my NP900X3E
that came with Windows 8, and put Windows 7, will the Settings Utility work with it and give me updates?
Thanks in advance!

Now, as for the 8.1 "upgrade", I tried it and found it to be not even what I would call a Beta release, I would call
it Alpha. Too many bugs for day-to-day use!

 

LOL (about 8.1)

To be fair, after spending a bit more time on it Sunday, I am slightly more positive: I found the completely re-organized (and expanded) Settings menu (NOT the Samsung one, the Win8 Charms one) to be a big improvement: It allows you to complete more settings tasks without having to flip back and forth between Metro and Desktop control panels. Also, after installing and optimizing ExpressCache, I think performance was about the same as Win8 (which is still better than Win7 for me).

I DID eventually restore my Win8 image. I wanted to try the Windows System Restore Point which the 8.1 update had created, but oddly, it was gone when I went to use it, and there were no Restore Points. I normally have System Restore disabled, maybe that's what confused the poor thing.

Re your question: Don't use Settings in Win7. Instead, install Easy Settings 2.x which you will find by saving ( Export) the Settings package for Win8, then look in the Win7 sub-folder. Models NP780Z5E and NP880Z5E have the latest Settings/Easy Settings packages; maybe X3E does too, I haven't checked that.

You can refer to the Win7 install guide here. Before you start the actual installation, you have some decisions to make regarding UEFI/GPT (which is how your X3E was delivered) vs BIOS/MBR (which is how Win7 laptops were delivered). There is a section at the end of the install guide on how to convert Win8-delivered laptops before starting the installation.

If you proceed with that Win7 install and have question, just post them in that thread. I know the title says Series 7, but we already have Series 9 discussions there as well. It's becoming a general Win7 installation thread.

 

Thanks a lot!!

 

I had meant to ask you about the SW Update program for Windows 8.
Same basic question here:
If you install Windows 7 on the same Series 9 which was intended for Windows 8,
can you use the new SW Update, or do you have to use the old Easy Software Manager,
or whatever it was called?

 

SW Update is the same on both Win7 and 8. It will look for drivers and utilities for the OS on which it is loaded (7 or 8) but you can always use the Find Model feature to lookup ANY Samsung model (including your own) and pick drivers for Win7 or 8, then save them locally (using the Export feature). Se thee screenshot below for example.

View attachment 98368

Samsung Settings is specifically written for Win8. The equivalent package in for Win7 is Easy Settings.

Where it gets confusing, is because Samsung stopped offering updates to Easy Settings (AND Settings) automatically through SW Update if your model is more than a few months old. So you have to go hunt for them by looking up newer models (using that Find Model feature). And the oddest thing is that the latest and greatest Easy Settings (remember: that's for Win7) are hidden in a "Win7" folder inside the Settings packages (supposedly that's for Win8).

So: Easy Settings = WIn7. Settings = Win8. But to get the latest Easy Settings, you look up Settings under Win8 drivers for a recent model (using Find Model), then save it locally (using Export). Inside is a "Win7" folder with the latest Easy Settings.

 

Thanks again, and yes, you are right:
That is as confusing as all hell!

 

It's easy enough once you've done it. But it defies all logic as far as support goes

 

I can confirm that these behaviours are identical on the latest Chronos 7 (NP780Z5E S01UK) also. It's a shame, because Windows 8.1 looks much nicer and feels better to use - just need to have better configured 8.1 drivers & settings apps.

 

Hi, I hope someone could help me here. I'm running Windows 8 64-bit on a Samsung NPC550P5C laptop. So, I was following the low latency guide posted earlier, but if I install Settings (not Easy Settings), the fn-keys that control the brightness (fn-F2 and F3) do not work. Nothing happens when they are pressed. I've used SW Update to update to the latest display drivers, I've also tried to refresh the windows 8 installation. But no matter what, the brightness fn keys just do nothing.

Alternatively, I was hoping if I tried Easy Settings, the brightness fn keys might work, but it can't even be installed. So, I followed the direction in above post to extract Easy Settings v2 installation file. However, when running the SetupW file, the installation would always terminate halfway with the following error message:



So now I'm stuck with using Settings and having the fn brightness keys not working, which is a minor annoyance. Anybody knows what to do ?

Edit: not sure if this applies to everybody but it seems that with the error message here, we can no longer install Easy Settings on Windows 8 ? In any case, it's probably better to use Settings since it's designed for Windows 8.

 

Hi joewandy,

I took the liberty of moving your post from the latencies thread and merge it with the one you posted here. You're basically asking the same question in two different threads, and this is a better place to answer it.

(BTW, please do not crosspost in the future, as it is a violation of our forum rules and is generally considered bad forum etiquette.)

I can see from your previous posts that you had the same problem in April and was able to solve it by re-installing Win8. Did brightness control then continue working until recently?

If you had it working before, but then it stopped, my best bet is that you re-installed or updated Settings which broke it. Every time you install Settings, it will overwrite and re-enable Adaptive Brightness in the Windows power profile. And as you can read in a thousand posts here, Adaptive Brightness prevents proper manual brightness control -- and has proven stubbornly hard to disable on some Samsung models.

There used to be no less than FOUR different places that Adaptive Brightness has to be disabled in Win8. And with the most recent versions of Settings, there is actually a FIFTH:

- Settings (version 2.0.0.49 and higher)

- Charms - Settings - Change PC Settings - General - Screen - Adjust brightness automatically

- Windows Power Profile Advanced settings: Display - Enable adaptive brightness

- Intel HD4000 graphics control panel

- UEFI firmware settings (see here). You get to this by using Charms - Settings - Change PC Settings - General - Advanced Startup.

Not all models have all these settings. But check all that you have and make sure Adaptive Brightness is disabled.

But before you do that, I want you to thoroughly and properly re-install Settings -- and get rid of Easy Settings, which wasn't designed for Win8. I suggest you completely uninstall any Settings and/or East Settings you may have, using the Programs and Features control panel; then reboot. Now install Settings 2.0.0.55 (see here how to find it) and reboot.

Now disable Adaptive Brightness in all those places listed above, starting with Settings -- and see if that allows you to control brightness manually.

Note that you want to update Advanced settings for all the power profiles you use, which typically includes Samsung Optimized and Power Saver (used in Silent Mode). Some users also use the good old Balanced and High Performance profiles.

Let us know how this works for you

 

My apology for cross-posting in the different threads, I'll be more mindful of the forum rules in the future.

I'm glad to report that following the instruction above: 1) completely getting rid of both Settings and Easy Settings, and 2) installing Settings. Had to hunt for version 2.0.0.49 since SW Update will install the older Settings 2.0.0.30 version by default on my Series 5 notebook, and lastly 3) disabling all the adaptive brightness everywhere ... my brightness fn-keys now work !

For those who might encounter similar problem in the future, I guess those 3 points above are all that need to be checked. Many thanks for all the help !

 

That's great, well done. And thanks a lot for the update and feedback. I am sure it will help other members as well.

 

The missing brightness control is driving me crazy, before I started basically it wasn't working at all, couldn't even adjust manually via power options. I've done the steps.

Done, uninstalled, rebooted, installed v55, rebooted.

Done, disabled.

Done, disabled on all profiles

CANNOT FIND ANY OPTIONS

I guess this is only for UEFI, I don't have that.

I've also disabled the sensor monitoring service, as suggested elsewhere as a way off turning off adaptive brightness. Still FN keys 2/3 are dead, all else work. But hey, at least I can change setting via the gui now.

Any more suggestings for the FN keys ?

On my first install where I went from win7->win8 it was working, but then I repartition and reinstall and update/install with SW update and it has never worked since.

 

Hi kayrune, sorry it took a while to get back to you.

I agree this sounds puzzling. If you say that now you can adjust brightness through the GUI, at least we know it's working, and Adaptive Brightness isn't preventing adjustment. The fact that the Fn keys don't work points back to Settings. Personally I would try to re-install Settings one more time -- although I can understand if you don't want to risk jeopardizing what you have now.

Did you have Easy Settings installed in this Win8 installation at any point? If so, you need to get rid of it. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to remove all remnants of Easy Settings if some have been left behind. Check the thread linked below for some advice:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/715980-help-how-remove-easy-settings-np550p5c.html

Once Easy Settings is gone (if it was ever there) uninstall Settings one more time and reboot. BEFORE you re-install, make sure that you can still adjust brightness through the Windows controls. Then install 2.0.0.55 again and reboot. After this make sure to disable Adaptive Brightness again, particularly in the power profiles, since Settings overwrites them when it is installed.

Edit: One more thing: I understand that your laptop had Win7 pre-installed and you upgraded to Win8, correct? Did you change the UEFI settings? We've had a couple cases now where members disabled UEFI before re-installing, which lost access to the Adaptive Brightness UEFI firmware setting. But that was on Win8-delivered models. Your shouldn't have that at all if it came with Win7.

Edit 2: Another thing: When you reboot, make sure you Restart, not shutdown and power up (which won't fully reboot in Win8).

 

This may be slightly off the current topic, but I would note that my new X4C that came with Windows 8 pre-installed does not appear to have a full UEFI implementation. The only significant change from my old Win 7 X4C that I can see is that there is a SecureBoot section in the BIOS. Also, the Windows 8 Charms PC Settings does not seem to have the full range of options that I have seen discussed. I'm using the latest (2.0.0.43) Settings that is offered for my computer. And adaptive brightness isn't causing me any headaches.

John

 

Thank you, John. I've been wondering about that: If the original Win7 models received the full UEFI treatment (like the 2013 models) or just a patch to make them Win8 compliant. Yours would seem to be one of those tweeners.

Great to hear you're not having brightness problems. But strange that you wouldn't have a full Settings suite.

Win8's Charms PC Settings is completely separate from Samsung Settings (Fn-F1) which looks very similar to good old Easy Settings. At least on mine, there is no access to Samsung features from Charms PC Settings.

 

My Settings is alive and well and opens very quickly (unlike on Win 7).

However, it is short of some of the features that were on the old version. I can no longer, for example, switch Fast Boot on or off in Settings. But perhaps that's on account of SecureBoot.

John

 

Fast Boot in my Win7 Easy Settings is the infamous Boot Optimization feature, which I have whined about elsewhere because it can cause a terrible mess by delaying other startup tasks -- and sometimes getting it very wrong. That feature didn't make it to Win8. It probably wasn't compatible; heck, it was barely even compatible with Win7

I've seen Fast Boot in Easy Settings mentioned as a way to change BIOS Fast Boot - but at least on mine, those are unrelated.

Edit: I first posted this on my phone (in bed), then changed Fast Boot to Fast Start because I thought I remembered it wrong -- and finally had to get up and check, because I can never remember Samsung's Fast This and Rapid That features from one another.

Edit2: These are the tabs in my Settings. I can only attach six images (and I'm too tired to merge them at 2am). The last one (Input) just contains an ON/OFF switch for the Touchpad.

 

The user interface on my NP900X4C Settings is the same except:

(i) There is no Boot Management page
(ii) I have 4 tabs on the nNetwork page: WiFi; Wireless; Wired and Mobile AP. The WiFi tab has a single WiFi on-off switch while the Wireless tab has separate Bluetooth and Wireless WAN on-off switches.
(iii) My display page has only a Display Color tab and does not have a Brightness tab.

John

 

Yeah, Boot management only contains ExpressCache -- which Series 9 doesn't have.

I didn't install the Samsung Bluetooth driver, that's why I don't have that Wireless tab. It also means I don't have a Bluetooth disable feature in Charms - PC Settings. I discovered that it didn't actually power off my Bluetooth as it does in Win7 (making the hardware device invisible) but rather just disables it in Device Manager. I can do that myself, no need for all that bloat. In fact, I keep the Bluetooth device enabled so that Windows Power Management can let it go dormant (I rarely use it).

You can check this post for my suggested Win8 driver list (including which SW Update offerings to forgo). I am sorry if I posted it to you already. I forget

Edit: Why are my screenshots now scaled to full width (using vB4 Default Style)? ATTACH images normally just show as thumbnails -- and did so when I posted these last night

 

Dannemand,

thank you for your suggestions. Unfortunatly no help, easy settings was newer installed, this is a clean win8 install and only using samsung software update to get drivers etc. UEFI is not enabled and newer has been. I came shipped with Win7, when I first update to win8 it was working. But I deleted the extra partitions and did a clean install and newer been able to get it working again

 

Thank you for the update. Something went wrong in that second install for sure. But if UEFI is not involved, and never was, I cannot imagine any scenario where deleting partitions could have the effect of preventing Fn keys after a re-install.

I bet if you were to do another clean install with only the drivers described in this post, it will work like the first time. In particular, make sure you install Samsung provided HD4000 as well as AMD drivers. As for Settings, make sure you get the latest version -- as we discussed.

But first, do try that extra uninstall/re-install of Settings I suggested in my last post. We may be in luck and it fixes it.

 

Yes, I tried uninstall, reboot, install, reboot. Adjust settings. No help. Fn keys newer worked.

I don't have amd hardware, only hd4000.

 

Sorry, my mistake (about no AMD), I forgot which thread we were in. And thanks again for the update.

When Settings was uninstalled, did you check that brightness could still be adjusted through GUI? Also, do Fn-F11 and F12 work to toggle Silent Mode and Airplane Mode? If no, that should confirm that this is an Fn keys issue (Settings), not a brightness issue (HD4000).

Again, I think if you do another clean install, I bet it will work like the first time and using that post I linked to select drivers. Depending on how much you have installed, this may be faster than keep fighting this one. If it DOESN'T work after a clean install, we know something more fundamental is wrong.

 

Current status:
F1 - working
F2 - dead
F3 - dead
F4 - cannot check
F5 - working
F6 - working
F7 - working
F8 - working
F9 - working
F10 - working
F11 - not sure, screen brightness is changed when using
F12 - no change, light stays on.

gui brightness was working throughout the process.

Not looking forward to reinstall, I'm a little frustrated at Samsung since this isn't working on a fresh install where I used their software to install all drivers. I'm actually considering trying 8.1 or even going back to 7, only reason I upgrade to win8 was because of better battery, this ofcourse was a hoax.

I've even tested ubuntu, suse and fedora, but again, the promise of linux working great on this laptop was not true. Now that I've wiped my recovery, is there any way to get win7 back (where can I find my install key, or is it build in?)

Also if I reinstall win8 should I stick with classic bios or use uefi ?

 

Thank you for the update.

Based on my own experience (and that of others too) I absolutely would NOT expect Win8.1 to solve your problems. If anything you will lose even more features until we get an updated Settings from Samsung that is compatible with 8.1. See earlier in this thread (and elsewhere) for details.

If you do a new install of Win8, I would keep UEFI disabled: It's how your laptop was originally delivered (and most thoroughly tested by Samsung); it's generally simpler and has less potential for problems or complications; and my personal experience with clean install of Win8 in BIOS/MBR mode (UEFI disabled) on my NP700Z3A has worked flawlessly, including Fn-keys and Settings.

If you want to go back to Win7, just find the Product Key under the bottom cover or on your power adapter, download an ISO matching your Win7 key from Digital River (see link below), burn the ISO to a DVD, then follow this Win7 install guide -- which includes drivers and Easy Settings.

http://www.w7forums.com/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads-t12325.html

I remain puzzled why those Fn-keys are not working despite all your efforts. Whatever you choose, I really hope you get it working this time. Please keep us posted.

 

That is odd...I agree that I have not seen any problems with settings/function keys and Windows 8.

However, lots of them with the 8.1 Preview/Upgrade.
My understanding is that Microsoft is aware of issues with function keys and 8.1 Preview on Samsung and other manufacturer's laptops,
so, it could be that we will see a fix in the form of a Windows Update, rather than a new Settings utility from Samsung - we shall see.

Meanwhile, has anyone tried to do a clean install of 8.1 Preview from the .ISO, instead of doing an upgrade from 8?
If so, was everything broken just the same?

 

Thanks for your suggestions and help, this is just my luck though. My laptop came with the straight power-plug, so ofcourse it got bent and broken, it's in the garbage.

 

How old is it? I thought the Samsung adapters changed to the L-shaped plug over a year ago.

Anyway, salvation is at hand. See my post here for a reasonably priced 3rd party PSU with an L-shaped plug.

John

 

I think I got one of the first X3C in Norway, more than a year ago. First I ordered a "replacement" through amazon, but that went all wrong. So I got the original samsung, and lucky I got the L-shape, even though the picture on the box was of a straight.

I knew as soon as I unpacked the original straight that this would go wrong, I think it lasted 7-8 months though, I have no idea how it got bent, when I try to straight it again it just broke.

My only hope now is I think I took a picture of the power adapter to know the stats, maybe I can read the windows key.

 

Oops! I misread your previous post. I think I remember the issue of the broken PSU plug.

Did you delete the recovery partition on the SSD? If not, the factory installation of Windows 7 is pre-activated and you can reload it by pressing F4 at the BIOS screen. Or did you receive a system recovery disc with the computer? My UK X3B and X4C both came with these. IIRC the Windows is pre-activated to install on a Samsung computer.

You could also try running one of the keyfinder programs in case it is backed up somewhere on the SSD.

Otherwise you could explain your problem to Samsung support and see if they can supply you with a system recovery media disc (if my theory about pre-activation is correct).

John

 

I believe that's right.

 

Actually, while restoring the factory installation should not require new activation (or entering a Product Key) you WILL have to enter a Product Key after a clean Win7 install. I am 99% certain that that is true EVEN if you use the Win7 Recovery Media included with previous models, since those discs are merely Win7 OEM DVDs.

If you lost the original Product Key, you should try to either extract it from the current Windows installation (try Googling extract windows 7 product key registry) or from the BIOS, as John posted (check this post).

 

Thanks guys, my computer came with a recovery dvd I had forgotten. I guess I will go back to win7, dont think there is anything I will miss from win8.

 

Just a heads up, the recovery CD is not at all what I would assume from a recovery CD. It installs a clean install of windows7, no samsung drivers, no software. WiFi is not working. 100% clean windows. (some might see this as a good thing, but the missing wifi was somewhat pain)

Also don't make the misstake I did and try to install from the USB3 port, it stops working halfway through the install and install fail prompting for drivers.

Samsung site is ofcourse listing just old stuff, I download and install easy software manager, upon start it tells me it's a old version and want to upgrade. It upgrades to SW update, and then starting SW update, it complain it's an old version and needs to upgrade On webiste it lists SW update as win8 software :/

 

@kayrune: Ahem... yes, that's what I mentioned in my last post

This Win7 install guide (also linked above) pretty much covers it all step by step -- including WiFi drivers and USB2 vs USB3. You CAN install from USB3, but you must have USB3 drivers handy on an SD card (or on the SSD/HDD) and load them during Setup.

Forget the Samsung web site for drivers, all updates have been through SW Update for a long time now -- and before that Easy Software Manager. But as you found, it updates itself, then finally offers the drivers for your model.

I recommend you install SOME drivers with SW Update, a few drivers manually -- and some not at all. Again, it's covered in that install guide.

 

yeah, my bad, installing win7 didn't seem like an option until I found the recovery dvd that I had forgotten. And then I just went for it. I was hoping it would revert my computer to factory default, but unfortunatly it didn't.

The guide is excellent, and ofcourse prepare you for the issues I've encountered

 

Has there been any update on this? Anyone got 8.1 working properly?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

 

If you use Find Model in SW Update to lookup model NP940X3G, you will find a new Settings V2.1.x. From the discussion in this thread it appears to be working with Win 8.1 -- which makes sense, as this is the first Haswell model.

I don't know about other Samsung utilities, but Settings is all you need anyway -- and was the biggest obstacle is using 8.1

Settings v2.1.x does have some differences compared to previous versions, and a few features were taken out, as described here.

 

Hi!

I buy a Samsung NP900X4C with windows 7 in the begin of this year. And then i installed Windows 8 Pro (Buy it from Microsoft) with swupdate from Samsung to install all the drivers and everything works well.

Can someone tell to me if is possible to access "Samsung Picks" in Windows Store to download the aplications from Samsung? If yes, how can do this?

Thanks in advance

Carlos

 

My NP700Z3A came with Win7. I used the upgrade offer to buy Win8 Pro from Microsoft, and clean installed it after downloading the ISO that Microsoft provided during the upgrade purchase.

But I am afraid I don't know exactly what the "Samsung Picks" are that you're referring to. I can search for Samsung in the Microsoft Store, and a bunch of apps show up from Samsung and others (see screenshot below). But I have a feeling it is something specific you are looking for; since I never use Metro, maybe there is something here to which I am completely oblivious.

 

Hi!

Samsung Pics is a Samsung Store that lives in the Windows Store. It´s have aplications from Samsung, like S Note, S Camera, S Player and others. Seems to me that those who made a upgrade to system ou installed un pack, loose this and they can't access these applications.

I think the solution is to return the laptop to factory settings if you, and i have the windows 8 Pro OEM. But my laptop come with windows 7 and the Windows 8 PRo comes from Microsoft and is no OEM.

Conclusion, when works you see a word Samsung Pics in Windows Store

Best regards

Merged bump:

Anyone know how i can configure my laptop that came with Windows 7 Pro manufactures, and configure again with Windows 8 Pro as if it came from the factory without having the image of this system from Samsung? I have a license of Windows 8 Pro, but that came from Microsoft and not from Samsung.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

I need a factory image with all partitions, with Windows 8 PRO (OEM) and for one disk with 256GB SSD (Samsung NP900X4C), preferably made ​​by Clonezilla.

Its more or less, 40 GBytes. Anyone can provide?

Thanks!!!

 

We get requests like this frequently, and we simply cannot permit them on the forum: You are asking other members to share a copy of their Win8 source, something that our forum rules strictly forbid. Specifically, it says:

You will probably say that it shouldn't matter because you have a legal Product Key. But Microsoft does not make Win8 broadly available for download (as they do Win7). So it doesn't matter what you or I think about that policy, NBR cannot be a party in facilitating members bypassing it.

Besides, such a Clonezilla image very likely would not work on your PC. Even if you were able to restore it and preserve F4 (which you may or may not -- and I realize that is why you ask for a full disk image, not just the recovery partition) it is doubtful that SRS6 will run and restore the Win8 image correctly on your model: It is designed for SecureBoot/UEFI/GPT installation, which your PC doesn't have (you have a much more limited UEFI implementation).

Your best chance would be to borrow a bootable factory image backup on a USB stick from someone. Or get a Clonezilla image of such a USB stick. That would still require that you restore in UEFI mode (and it would re-partition your drive as GPT) which may or may not work on your machine.

Many members here would love to do a clean install of Win8 instead of using the factory image, but they cannot do so, because they don't have Win8 install media (other than their Recovery backup). You have clean Win8 install media and (as I understand) a functioning clean install.

If your primary goal with this is to get those Samsung Picks Metro apps, I would contact Samsung about that. They must have added these to Win8's Store somehow, and I imagine you should be able to add them as well. You can refer to the fact that your model is officially supported for WIn8 upgrade, according to this Samsung web page.

But please, do not discuss downloads or requests for software copies on the forum.

 

I'm sorry but my ideia is to test, to obtain the Samsung Picks because i have no answers, from Microsoft, from Samsung and i don´t known how to do. I have a legal Product key and my intention is not illegal activities.

Many people in Internet has this problem, from Samsung, Lenovo and not exists solutions.

I thinks that the original system from provider (OEM) has something that possible aprove me to enter in Windows Store and see and download the Samsung Picks. Is not the legal product key that i have, i think.

Thanks