Upgrading to Windows 8 on My Series 7 Chronos NP700Z5A-S04US

Hey All,

I just recently acquired a copy of Windows 8 Pro and I want to do a clean install on my Series 7 Chronos (NP700Z5A-S04US), but I'm a bit wary of potential driver issues and such. I tried to search the forums to see if anyone had any problems, and it seems like the biggest potential one that I can see happening, getting ExpressCache to function, has been addressed by yknyong1 here. I'm planning on following the instructions here. If anyone has any suggestions or can let me know whether there will be potential issues (with graphics drivers, display resolution, or whatever), please let me know! Or if things will be significantly better in any way, I'd like to hear about that too!

 

IIRC member Dannemand has put Windows 8 on his Z3A without major problems.

If you are planning to install from a USB device then see this thread.

John

 

Hello phoenixfight,

Yes, as John says I had zero problems installing Win8 on my NP700Z3A -- which is very similar to yours, except for your larger LCD, and faster CPU and GPU.

And yes, I recommend performing a clean install from DVD, since it avoids an issue with Windows Setup mistaking your iSSD (the small on-board SSD used for ExpressCache) as the boot device. If you MUST install from USB (say, because you swapped out your DVD drive) you should follow the advice in hanime's excellent USB installation thread.

I installed on a second partition next to the Win7 partition. If you choose to do that, I advice you to create your new Win8 partition AND mark it active (bootable) before you start Win8 Setup. Otherwise Win8 will update your Win7 boot manager (on the Win7 partition) to its own.

If you want to do a clean install to replace your Win7, you can simply delete your current Win7 partition from Win8 Setup. Choose Advanced on the partition screen, then delete your current Win7 partition AND the small SYSTEM partition, and create a new partition for Win8, format it as NTFS. Setup will add a new SYSTEM partition in front.

All this assumes that your data is on a separate partition. If your data is stored on your Windows partition, of course you need to back it all up first. Actually, before you start I recommend a thorough backup as a precaution EVEN if you have a separate Data partition. Also, I recommend you create a Data partition separate from your new Win8 partition.

In any case, do NOT delete your Recovery Partition (unless you know how to re-create it).

Beyond that, you shouldn't have any problems with drivers or ExpressCache. Don't mess with the ExpressCache partition, it should take care of itself. After Win8 has finished installing, download SW Update from here and let it install the various drivers you want.

There is more details in this post (including which items to let SW Update install and which to skip). Also some in this post.

Let us know how it goes for you. I'll have a little more time to help after tomorrow.

 

Hi! I'm sorry that it's been a while since I've posted, but I've just installed Windows 8 on my laptop. I basically wiped my hard drive, didn't mess with partitions, and then ran SW Update. Everything's working fine except for the AMD Graphics driver. Everything looks fine, but it doesn't seem like I'm able to moderate which apps are run by the Intel driver and which ones are run by AMD. Can someone help me with this? Thanks!

 

What I tried doing was installing the Windows 7 Driver from Samsung's Support Page since my computer would just crash if I tried to install the AMD driver from SW Update. It doesn't seem to help after installing the driver from the Samsung website. I get this message: ""Catalyst Control Center cannot be started. There are currently no settings that can be configured using Catalyst Control Center." Help, anyone?

 

According to the page at SAMSUNG PC Windows 8 Upgrade, your model is supported so the video driver should be in the software update tool referenced on that page.

If you have the latest BIOS and drivers from that page, you should probably contact Samsung Support.

 

@phoenixfight: I think installing that Win7 graphics driver was a mistake. Certainly I would do a thorough AMD uninstall (I believe Catalyst Install Manager can do that) then install the Win8 driver from SW Update. In my case it gave me AMD 9.2.0.0 which has worked flawlessly. Do NOT install any Intel graphics drivers, that AMD driver takes care of everything.

This post describes what I let SW Update install -- no more, no less. Remember, you and I have fairly similar hardware (although your AMD GPU is faster than mine) so it really should work.

 

Thanks for the link to your previous post. I'll follow what you posted more closely this time. Upon the third time trying to install the driver from SW Update, my computer crashed and won't boot up so I'm just going to do another clean install. Hopefully I'll have more luck with SW Update installing the AMD driver this time..

 

I just did a clean install and when I ran SW Update and tried to install the AMD Graphics, it downloaded, then installed for a bit, played a musical tone, and then crashed. Luckily I can still boot into Windows, but do you guys have suggestions on what I should do? Should I maybe go into the device manager and uninstall the drivers that Microsoft installed on the system for me?

Upon boot up, SW Update automatically ran, and skipped over the AMD driver and started to work on installing the other drivers, here's an image of it.

 

I apologize if the link I gave you was just a repeat of what I'd given you before. I have a lot of conversations going in many threads, and my memory isn't what it used to be

I am puzzled why you would get such different results from me, given that our hardware is so alike. Which Graphics driver does SW Update give you (name and version)?

Try this: After a clean install, run SW Update, but this time, only let it install the following:

Chipset
Intel Rapid Storage
Sound
LAN
Touchpad
Airplane Mode

Do NOT let it install the Graphics driver until it has finished installing the other items. In particular do I want to make sure the Chipset driver is installed. Close SW Update and reboot after this.

Now run SW Update again, this time to install the Graphics driver and Color Profile. Close SW Update and reboot again, and see if it works.

Finally run SW Update a last time to install Settings -- and anything else you want from that buffet.

You can also choose the Save (or Export) function in SW Update to save selected items locally. That way it doesn't have to download them again each time you try this.

I really hope it works this time. Keep us posted

Update: Thor's post just reminded me: What BIOS version are you on? Mine is 15FD. Download the Firmware Updater Utility from Samsung's support page for your model. If it shows a newer version than your current BIOS, Download and run it separately. Don't Update directly from within the updater utility. John Ratsey taught me that precautionary advice.

 

My BIOS is 15FD. I wish that were the issue. This is what happened when I tried to install the Graphics Driver at the end. You should I should just do a clean install again with your new suggestions?



Edit: I took a picture of the Device Manager and some preinstalled AMD driver details. Do you guys know why the AMD graphics has a yellow yield sign?

 

Yeah, that would have been nice if it was just the BIOS version. Don't worry, we'll figure it out, one way or the other.

If you're OK with another clean install, I think that's what I would suggest. OR you could try Windows System Restore and go back to the earliest Restore Point you have.

Something else: Try and save that AMD Graphics Driver locally in SW Update. Both so that SW Update doesn't have to download 900MB each time, but also so that you can run the AMD installer yourself -- after SW Update has installed all the basic drivers (Chipset etc) AND rebooted. The AMD installer may show us more error details than SW Update.

Again, what is the AMD Graphics Driver version offered by SW Update? I cannot see that from the screens you posted. I have 9.2.0.0, and I would think it should be the same on yours.

If you're getting a different version, use Find Model in SW Update and look up my model NP700Z3A-S03US, that should give you 9.2.0.0 -- which you can Export and Save locally.

I am leaving now for the day. It may only be tomorrow (Fri) afternoon/evening (US EDT) before I can respond again. But I WILL look for any updates you post here.

 

Yes, the AMD Graphics Driver version is the same as yours, except there are more zeros. It's 9.002.0.0000. I exported the driver and I'm going to try this a few more times before trying another clean install. I'll edit the post with updates

Edit 1 (5/2/2013 8:20pm PST): I tried to install it after exporting the driver and received an error right after the license agreement page that shows up right after you confirm which items you want to install.



Here's a screenshot of the files in the folder that I exported.



After I clicked okay on the Error, the program proceeded to Install the AMD Display Driver. Shortly after, the screen blacked out, and then the laptop crashed.

Now that my laptop won't boot up again, I guess I'll do another clean install and follow those previous instructions

 

LOL . You're taking this very well!

That's really a dramatic error from just a graphics driver. Why don't you try and lookup my model after all and download that driver instead. I think something must be wrong with that driver it's giving you.

 

Hahah I've learned to be patient with technology. It also helps a lot that you're helping me out I downloaded the driver for your device and I got the same issue. Crashed.

 

Got it. Well again, good job on being so persistent.

I noticed the Device Manager screen you included above. I honestly don't remember if that was the same on mine before installing the AMD driver or whether it was running normally on the built-in Win8 driver. I think it may have been the same on mine.

I have a suspicion that it's the Intel GFX part that fails, not the AMD part. I looked up your model in SW Update, and I notice (oddly) that it contains an Intel Ivy Bridge GFX driver (Graphics Driver 9.17.10.28). Don't know what that is about, since we have Sandy Bridge, and the GFX driver is part of the AMD driver package. Do you know if that Ivy Bridge GFX driver was or was or wasn't installed in your attempts? Maybe SW Update quietly installed it before the AMD Driver.

But clearly there is more difference between our two models than I thought. So here is an idea: Forget the advice I gave in my earlier post and simply let SW Update do what it wants: From a clean install, choose Essential in SW Update and let it run.

If that fails tool, I can probably still think of some things to try. But Thor's advice to contact Samsung is a good one at this stage. Your PC is officially supported for Win8, and you tried the cleanest and most standard route imaginable (letting SW Update do its thing). Samsung really has to back that up.

Another thing to try first: If you restore your Win7 Factory installation (using F4 Recovery) does the the AMD work all right? Including switchable graphics config? What if you then let SW Update do all it's updates (in Win7), does it still work? This might be good evidence for when you call Samsung.

Keep me posted. I am not giving up on this. At least not yet

 

If you save the video driver package locally on the machine, have you tried running it from an elevated cmd console?

As a last resort, you also might try to install using the RID 500 account. The RID 500 account is the default Administrator account that is disabled by default. To use it, obviously you need to enable it and login with that account.

If neither of those options work, it is definitely something Samsung needs to address.

 

(This is in response to a discussion that began here about another failed attempt to install AMD driver on NP700Z5A after update to Win8.)

When you say you cannot install that update, do you mean the one suggested by Driver Genius? I wouldn't expect a generic AMD driver to work with switchable graphics on these laptops. Though admittedly, if Samsung's driver doesn't work, it's worth a try.

I continue to be puzzled why now two different NP700Z5A owners would have problems installing and using the AMD 9.2.0.0 driver for Win8, when it installs and runs so smoothly on my NP700Z3A -- which is very similar hardware. Is it just the faster GPU (doubtful) or are there other hardware differences that are not apparent?

As I said to phoenixfight, and as mentioned by Thors.Hammer, I definitely think this warrants a call to Samsung. Your laptops ARE fully supported for Win8. They need to know about this.

 

Hi, sorry for being MIA, but I needed a break from reinstalling Windows because it got a bit frustrating after a while. So, okay. I tried what Dannemand said and tried to restore to Windows 7 and it didn't work.

Truthfully, the reason why I upgraded to Windows 8 was because one morning several weeks ago, my laptop would just stop booting up. I had turned it off like I normally did, but when I started up my computer the next morning, the PC would get to the "Starting Windows" part of the bootup (with the big glowing Windows logo) and just hang there for a little while, then shut down.

Though my laptop is out of the original manufacturer's warranty, I purchased the laptop using an AmEx Card and apparently they will reimburse for repairs for up to a year after the original warranty ends. So, I decided to take my laptop to the Microsoft Store in SF, where after running some tests, they told me that there weren't any hardware issues and that all I needed to do was reinstall Windows. (They kindly offered to reinstall it for me for $100, but I politely declined.)

So, I took my laptop home and decided to install Windows 8 since I got a copy from school. And then I started running into issues installing the AMD driver.

Is it possible that my AMD graphics card stopped working due to overheating, etc. and as a result, I'm unable to install the driver? Could it be that somehow since the AMD card stopped working, Windows 7 was unable to boot up? These are all just guesses of mine and the guesses are based on the fact that when my laptop runs Windows 8, it just totally ignores the AMD driver and solely uses the Intel HD 3000. The device driver said that the AMD Driver was being disable due to an issue. I wish I could provide a screenshot, but I can't right now since I'm reinstalling Windows 8 again.

I just installed Windows 8 again and tried to let SW Update install everything. It was proceeding smoothly, until SW Update had to install the AMD Driver. It hadn't even gotten to the Intel Driver yet. What happened was what usually happened -- The screen would flash black once (which I get is normal when installing graphics drivers) and then the regular screen would pop up. Then the screen would turn black, my computer would make the sounds as if a device was being removed (like when you pull out a USB drive), and then my laptop would crash. Sometimes, upon bootup, my computer would encounter the same issue as when the laptop had Windows 7 -- it would hang on the Windows logo screen, then shut down. Other times, my laptop would boot normally into Windows 8. Then SW Update would continue the driver installs while skipping over the AMD. This time, my laptop wouldnt boot up, so I'm currently doing another clean install. I'm planning on just installing everything except bloatware, and the AMD driver this time.

What do you guys think I should do? I'm okay with just installing all the drivers except the AMD and live without being able to game on my laptop, but it'd be nice if my problem could get fixed :/

 

@phoenixflight: Sorry I didn't get to respond yesterday. I think it was a wise choice for you to take a break from this. It can be very frustrating to hammer away at the same problem for days.

I wouldn't necessarily trust an MS Store to be the authority on whether your Samsung PC has a hardware defect or not. Were they able to load Win7 or 8 and show the AMD working?

If you restored the factory Win7 installation and the AMD still doesn't work, there may well be a hardware problem. I am not saying there IS, just that there could be.

As I and others have suggested before, I would definitely contact Samsung in this case. Tell them you tried to follow their guidelines for installing Win8 and the AMD driver didn't install. Then you restored the factory Win7 installation, and that one isn't working either. They will probably want you to send in the machine for service; you get a price estimate from them and have Amex confirm they will cover that under their extended warranty.

That's what I would do. If there IS a hardware issue, we could mess with this thing forever and not find a solution.

Again, please keep us posted, regardless of what you choose.