Windows 8.1 Update Issues and Discussion

This ebay UK listing is a genuine supplier - one of the Samsung UK authorised repairers and it looks like they are trying to clear some excess stock. The part number is BA92-09009A.

John

 

Thanks vm John and Dannemand,

Very useful links. I guess that ebay posting looks genuine and im considering it..
.
One last question - do you think it would be possible to physically remove or disable the iSSD from the current (faulty) motherboard since it seems that apart from it everything works fine?

Basically apart from the long start-up and shut down times the laptop seems to be lightning fast (once windows up and running there's zero loading time when multitasking apps, office, media..)

I guess one alternative i could consider is not to power it down daily but to use the sleep mode. Windows home screen appears literally the second i open the lid.. but then again this is my main laptop and id prefer it to be working properly.

 

Yes, Digicare is a Samsung UK repairer. I have done business with them.

However, you raise a valid point: minimise restarting the computer. I have been using hibernation for the past 20 years (the Toshiba T4400 had it) and it offers the benefit of having everything that was in use already open. I usually end up restarting about once a week due to software updates. However, I don't trust sleep - occasional problems with computers waking up in bags or waking up to a black screen.

Some people may say that hibernation will wear out your SSD. I don't agree - a few GB per day of writing is negligible in the context of drives which can probably handle 100 TB of writes. Resume from an SSD typically takes less than 20 seconds but depends on how much RAM you have.

John

 

Hello! I'm a newbie here, but I searched around the thread and didn't find an exactly answer to my question.
My notebook is an Samsung Chronos 7 Model NP700Z4A-SD1BR (I believe it's unique to Brazil). Samsung didn't provided an official update to 8.1 for my model, but, according to this post, it's possible to run the update.

Well, my question is: the post is from january. Is it still safe to do the update as Microsoft will release an update for 8.1 starting today? And... There is a new/official compatible graphics driver or the LeeKM is still the only one? How about the other drivers and softwares (like Settings)?

Thanks and sorry for the bad english!

 

I would say yes, it's safe to update. I have all of the latest updates including the BIOS update and my laptop (880Z5E) actually runs better than it did when I bought it. I'm using the LeeKM drivers, but I've heard that the latest graphics drivers from Samsung work fine.

 

Welcome to a great forum! Actually your English is quite good.

 

Hi guys,

I've been following this thread for a while and really appreciate all the info everyone's been adding!

However, since upgrading to Windows 8.1 on my Samsung np770z7e, I'm still not really sure if the graphics drivers are correctly installed or not. Pre-8.1, there was a software item in SW Update called 'AMD Drivers' along with the standard 'Graphics Driver'. Since my upgrade to 8.1, the 'AMD Drivers' item disappeared. When I test with GPU-Z, as far as I can tell, the AMD Radeon HD 8800M is detected and running, but since the item is missing in SW Update I'm not convinced everything is installed/running correctly. I want to buy an SSD drive and do a clean install, but I'm worried that the AMD drivers won't be available for installation via SW Update if I do. I just did the Windows 8.1 Update 1 update today hoping this would whisk my problem away but it didn't.

Does anyone have any advice? Does the absence of the 'AMD Drivers' item in SW Update bode ill for my clean install?

Thanks in advance!

 

Guys, I've been searching for solutions to my problem in vain. :/ I have a Samsung NP350V5C-S08IN and I updated to 8.1 the day it came out. Everything is perfect since then except bluetooth. It doesn't seem to work. The icon, everything is there. Just that it won't connect or anything. Is there any new driver which is compatible with win8.1?

 

Sad to realize I bought a Samsung dud in the form of a NP350 whatever laptop a while ago in ZA (South Africa). All good till I started missing the 's' key after update 8.1. Right now I'm in a loop of trying to install Win7 and if that does not work Linux Mint.
Bootloader seems to be somehow locked onto Win8, will report back once I have tasted success or bricked the damned thing. Faark W8.1!

Anything I need to know before reconfiguring the Samsung into a brick? :"-)

 

If Win8.1 has severely messed up your system, and you cannot seem to get it straightened out after a few hours work, the best approach is generally to stop spending more time and perform a factory restore using Samsung Recovery Solution (F4). Backup your data first, if you haven't already. Go to BIOS (F2) and reset to default (particularly if UEFI settings have been modified during the process). Boot SRS (F4) and choose Complete Restore (SRS5) or a factory restore with Partition Settings enabled (SRS6). That will get you back to factory state.

 

Adding to that... if you do the Complete Restore (SRS5) or a factory restore with Partition Settings enabled (SRS6)
DO NOT do the update 8.1 as it has more problems than it fixes.
If your computer is running fine on 8.0 why try fixing what isn't broke?
Usually with Microsoft updates over the years and I have been doing this since 1984, it takes the SECOND update before they get it right.
You think the smart folks at Microsoft would get it right the FIRST time.

 

I have a series 3 notebook that came with windows 8 and for the life of it. I can not get this thing to update to 8.1. I even did a system restore and it still gives me the error. The error I keep getting is 0x80240031. Any ideas what could cause this?

 

See here which suggest you need to have all the Windows 8 updates installed before the 8.1 update will work.

John

 

I got it to update. However it wasn't that the system was not fully updated. Im not really sure what was the cause. But what I did was reset the cache for the Windows store using the windows reset .exe and I then did an sfcnow scan. Which reported it fixed some errors. After that I did the update and it was successful. Thanks for the help about the other thread John it pointed me in the right direction.

 

I have added an update note to the opening post, and changed the thread title, to reflect the fact that updating to Win8.1 is now reasonable safe for most users, as reflected in recent posts here and in other threads.

Please read that update note, make backups, and still proceed with caution when performing the 8.1 update.

 

From what I've been reading, not exactly true. I'm not ever going to do the 8.1 update. I'm going to wait for the next update which will fix most problems. It was like that with XP, Vista & Win7 too. The first update always sucked.

Think is, I may never update because I'm not having any problems at all with the Win 8 version, yet hear all kinds of things about the 8.1

 

You've seen my previous posts on this subject, and I do understand your position.

Maybe I should have been clearer: This is not an endorsement of Win8.1 nor a recommendation for owners to update. You will notice that I specifically phrased my update note in the OP to avoid such language. But lots of people WANT to update, and many have done so -- including many successfully by now.

Our focus the first many months after the original Win8.1 release was to warn members about the very real risks, evidenced by the reports posted here. I am sure there will continue to be update problems for some users -- as there always will be. But at this point, it does not make sense to keep warning users who WANT to update to Win8.1 to stay away. Enough progress has been made both by Samsung and Microsoft, that the risks are no greater than many other Windows updates in history. WinXP SP3 broke compatibility left and right, but that is long since forgotten.

Again, this is evidenced by reports posted here: We used to get dozens of post daily in the Samsung forum about Win8.1 disasters. Nowadays I believe we get more reports of successful Win8.1 updates than broken ones (thought I haven't kept statistics). And that's saying a lot, since far more people normally post about problems than about successes.

Still, as I wrote in my update note in the OP, the usual precautions apply: Make thorough backups; be as close to standard as possible; make sure the system is updated with the latest drivers and BIOS before running the Win8.1 update; and if it fails, roll back or restore to factory, then try running the update again.

 

My long standing policy is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
My notebook is running great... I leaving it as it is.

 

Hi guys, just wondering if any of you guys update the graphics card driver via manufacturer? Ive got an AMD Radeon 8500M on mine and SW update doesn't provide the up-to-date drivers. I'm already on windows 8.1 hmmm

 

Hi Dannemand im still one of those users who WANT to update but feeld insecure about it (i have been following this forum and the official owners for about 4 months) ............

1. Do you think is it safe now, specially the mess with the black screen because of INTEL AMD Drivers? i have the ativ book 8 US Version
2. Is it tru that in w8.1 you have little less baterry ?
3. Whta could be the main advantages of updating from w8 to w8,1?


Thank you very much, i really appreciate if you could help me.
Have a good day.

 

@jasonlingwj and @tvfan2011:

I hear you. Unfortunately how to best make the 8.1 update and which drivers to choose, is one of those questions where the answer depends completely on your model and its components, including, but not limited to, its graphics adapters.

I'll give you my best advice, but I only have firsthand experience with my own NP700Z3A -- an older Sandy Bridge Series 7 with AMD PowerXpress, which is NOT officially supported by Samsung for Win8.1. For other models I only know what I've read here in reports from other members.

1) On my Sammy I uninstalled all graphics drivers using the Programs and Features control panel (Intel and AMD Catalyst), and after reboot I accepted the drivers offered by Windows Update (Intel HD 3000 v9.17.10.3347 dated 1/29/2014, and AMD Radeon HD 7400M Series v13.251.0.0 dated 12/6/2013). To my surprise they worked right away, including Catalyst Control Center and Switchable Graphics. I used HWiNFO 4.36 to verify switchable graphics (it wakes up dormant GPUs as described here) and also tried loading Tomb Raider Underworld (the newest game I own). I don't game, so I cannot speak to framerates or performance of this AMD driver. My model is Sandy Bridge with AMD 6490M PowerXpress, a different generation from that of newer Ivy Bridge or Haswell models with AMD Enduro or Nvidia Optimus GPUs and switching mechanisms. Again, my Sammy is NOT officially supported by Samsung for Win8.1, but Microsoft is is picking that up nicely.

2) For models with newer AMD or Nvidia GPUs, that are officially supported by Samsung for Win8.1, I would look for reports from other owners, both in this thread and in the Owners Lounge for each model. Scan backwards from the last post in each thread -- or use the Google search I describe in my update in the opening post. If you can find fairly recent drivers in SW Update (certainly dated after Win8.1 release 17 Oct 2013) I would give those a try. But I would also consider if Windows Update offers a newer AMD/Nvidia driver. In any case would I always uninstall existing drivers using the Programs and Features control panel, and reboot, before installing a new driver.

3) For models with only Intel integrated graphics (no discrete GPUs, Series 9 / Ativ Book 9) I would try drivers from Windows Update first. Again, uninstall Samsung provided drivers and reboot first.

4) The Intel Graphics driver controls brightness, and you want to test that it works using the slider in Windows Power options before testing the brightness Fn-keys (which are controlled by Settings). But first, disable Adaptive Brightness in the multiple places described here. In Win8.1 make sure you disable Adaptive Brightness in Charms-Settings-PC Settings-PC and Devices-Power and sleep.

5) Once you have a working setup, and AFTER making a backup or restore point of that working installation, you can start playing with 3rd party OEM drivers from the Intel, AMD or Nvidia websites -- if you feel so compelled. If neither Samsung SW Update nor Windows Update have working drivers AND if your model is officially supported by Samsung for Win8.1, you really should get on the phone with Samsung and insist that they help you.

 

Thank you very much for your time and detailed explanation on your suggestions, in my case i have the ativ book 8 us model, which a a summer 2013 model that officialy supports w8 ... but with that much trouble with drivers i guess that as u say i have to base on others user with the same model .......

just yerterday i tried with OEM dirvers from amd but totally lost switchable gc option, so i went back to restore point,,,,,,,,,,,, guess since im not an advance user i gotta to wait for samsung to uodat thse drivers (hopefully) !!

once again thankk you very much, i ll keep on visiting the post just to check any news.

 

Hi attached is a question I submitted to Samsung Support last week and their answer to me.

I have to say since returning to Windows 8, my laptop (RV520 ), is much more stable than when I upgraded to 8.1. So I'm thinking I should stay with 8 and not re-upgrade tp 8.1. I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

Thoughts please...
Philip

Your question
Hi,
When I purchased this laptop in came with Windows 7 pre-installed. In 2012 I upgraded to Windows 8 and a few months later to 8.1. After this update I was unable to use Samsung Support Centre as it wasn't compatible with 8.1. Last week some of my registry became corruptedand I found it necessary to reinstall Windows 8 and I find I now have the use of Support Centre once more.
I'd like to upgrade to 8.1 again but am reluctant because I'm not sure If my laptop will be supported by Samsung.

Can you advise please?

Thanks

P.R Burt


Counselor answer
Customer reference number: 2115454223
Please quote your customer reference number when contacting Samsung
Email response ID: 2122061430

Dear Philip,

Not all notebooks are compatible with Windows 8.1, we can't offer you any assistance with this issue. if you installed a retail Windows operating system and removed the Samsung factory installed software, support for software will be from Microsoft not Samsung.

Our Customer Support Team love feedback! Share your thoughts on this response by completing the survey at the bottom of this page.

Kind regards,

Jim
Online Support Team
SAMSUNG Customer Support Centre

 

Bump?! anyone?

 

Which Bluetooth driver do you have? From Samsung (SW Update) or from Intel or Windows' built-in?

For models that are officially supported by Samsung for Win8.1 (which I notice yours is, see the link in the opening post) one would expect a working driver from SW Update.

But in the case of Bluetooth, I have always preferred Windows' built-in driver because the Samsung/Intel drivers come with so much bloat. Certainly that would be true for models that do NOT have official Samsung Win8.1 support.

I would try an uninstall any Bluetooth drivers listed in the Programs and Features control panel, reboot, then see what Windows detects and if it works. You can even try and delete the Bluetooth Adapter in Device Manager and reboot (or Scan for hardware changes) to have it completely re-detect it.

Beyond that, do you have a Bluetooth toggle in Charms-Settings-Change PC Settings-PC and Devices menu?

 

Hi Philip,

Thank you for sharing that, and welcome to the Samsung forum (though I do see you've been here for some time).

Referring again to that same Samsung page linked in the Opening Post, it appears that the RV520 is indeed NOT supported for Win8.1. Clearly that is why Samsung will not help you. It is possible there are technical reasons why they chose not to support your model, even though RV420 is supported. Win8.1 broke hardware compatibility for several types of components and firmware, possibly making it very difficult for Samsung to support some models.

My NP700Z3A isn't supported either. As I described a few posts above yours, I was able to get it working after all, mostly by relying on new drivers from Windows Update where old Samsung drivers no longer worked. Since there is no guaranteed procedure, owners of such models will have to just experiment: Of course make backups and/or Restore Points first, so you can roll back (as you did) and try again with new combinations of drivers. If all fails, restore to factory using Samsung Recovery (F4).

I should add that Win8.1 is much more compatible now than when it first came out. For example, I had USB3 instability on the original Win8.1: The device would suddenly quit working in the middle of heavy USB3 disk traffic. But this problem went away after a Windows Update (NOT the Spring Update, one before that).

I think your conclusion that Win8 is more stable could very well be true for many users. Whereas Microsoft demands that all Win8.1 users get the Spring Update (otherwise they'll stop receiving Security Updates) I believe Win8 users are allowed to continue without repercussions. Although I have gotten Win8.1 working on my Sammy (and I use it as my primary OS) there is nothing in it that I consider must-have -- in fact, I think it burns more battery due to increased background activity.

 

Thanks Dannemand,

I decided to go ahead and re-upgrade to 8.1 yesterday. Mainly because I was concerned about not getting Security Updates after the Spring update. Time will tell if I did the right thing.

Philip

 

Cool, thank you for the update. Keep us posted if you discover anything.

With good backups, testing a new Windows version -- and rolling back if necessary -- isn't such a big and consequential action. Without backups, of course it can be disastrous...

 

I have my Ultra for 6 weeks now and it is still purring and running like a top on 8.0
Nothing said here is going to give me a reason to upgrade to 8.1.
Why fix something that is running good? Just because everyone else is?
I might on the next update when that one fixes all the problems they had on the first update.

 

I rollbacked to Windows 8, with a clean format. Graphics still weren't switching! So I disabled Intel's GFX and noticed, after rebooting and all that, that I wasn't running any GFX card... The Radeon was giving me error 43. Does that mean it's faulty?

 

Disabling the Intel adapter in Device Manager (assuming that's what you meant) is not going to work. You have to leave both adapters enabled and find working drivers. I suggest using the Intel driver from Windows Update. Then scan backwards in the AB8 Owners Lounge for suggested drivers for your AMD card (assuming that is what you have).

 

Like Dannemand, I also have a older Samsung Series 7. This time it's a 700Z5B-W01UB. (Shipped with Wimax, having problems ever since trying to get intel cards with bluetooth to work but that's another story).

I did a straight upgrade to Win8 from Win7, then an update from win8 to 8.1. Leshcat drivers for the AMD 6490M have been pretty good to me, so I've not encountered graphical issues.

 

Cool, thank you for that report.

My NP700Z3A also has AMD 6490M and Intel HD 3000. I am using the drivers from Windows Update, and was surprised to find that everything worked, switchable graphics and all. When I first tested Win8.1 (well, after its release, I tested Consumer Preview before that) I used LeeKM's drivers as described here -- which worked, but they required me to disable Signature Enforcement.

It's nice to see that we still have options with these older models that are no longer supported by Samsung.

 

After almost 1 year of using Windows 8.1 on my 900XC3-A02DE (shipped with Windows 7), i became more and more annoyed by the fan's noise. It initially may have started with the Windows 8.1 update (cannot remember in detail).

With it's charger plugged in, everything is fine, but once on battery, the fans always enter some kind of cycle, where they always spin up, then down and up again. Annoying.

During the last year, i did various clean installations and of course i applied the latest UEFI updates, but the problem was not fixed.

It seems to be one issue, that Samsung does only provide Drivers for Windows 8 with the 900X3C.

Do you have any ideas? Shall i just use chipset, ME Engine etc. Drivers from a 900X3C model that has Windows 8.1 drivers? I doubt that i am the only one with this problems, so how did you guys solve it?

Thank you!

Gesendet von meinem LG-D802 mit Tapatalk

 

634 posts! this really is poor. I am ready to go to the dark side and buy a Mac book pro. So to conclude this long list of problem brought on by MSFT.. Nothing is really fixed? most likely never will be.they will hold out long enough to 1. send us to Macintosh out of fustration 2. never fix the problem and let us find a solution 3. hope we get pissed off enough to buy a new windows 9.0 version when and if it ever comes out. or should we just stay with Win 8? personal pref. this opens a hole to get Linux main stream. out to the masses. I really now hate my Samsung experance. this problem and my 10.1 2014 edition tablet going dark. it really makes me wonder about Samsung.

 

You are concluding on the wrong basis -- although there is no doubt that the update process has been slow and painful for many.

I recently summed up the status on Win8.1 updating in the opening post, so you don't have to read all 600 posts (if you read the OP). But do read the last few pages, which contain additional update advice.

Oh, and welcome to NBR

 

I think all the replies you read here is in the minority out of all the Samsungs out there. You don't hear complaints from the ones that don't have problems... they don't need to post I've had ZERO problems (other than a browser hacker) since I've had mine. Fantastic notebook. Blows away the Mac notebook my wife has.

 

The number of posts in this thread (the first 500 posts or so) reflect the fact that there really WERE serious issues when 8.1 first came out, and for several months after. As I have opined frequently, I think both Microsoft and Samsung are to blame for this.

But the size of the thread does not reflect the current state of affairs: The traffic here dropped off dramatically, and it has been very quiet in recent months; Microsoft solved some of Win8.1's backwards compatibility issues with later updates; AND Samsung has released updated drivers for many models where incompatibilities still existed.

In some cases there are no new drivers from Samsung, simply because the updates to Win8.1 restored compatibility with previous drivers. In other cases, Microsoft took over and now provide the best drivers through Windows Update.

But of course there is no denying that this was largely a botched update on the part of both companies. Lets hope they learned something (though that may be naive). As users we can learn not to rush into an update AND to be well prepared when we DO update, so that we can easily roll back if something fails.

You and some others have been great at pushing that message, probably saving a few lives on the battlefield

 

Hi there!
I’d like to report what I’ve experienced so far about the unpleasant update from Windows 8 to 8.1. I have a Samsung series 7 chronos NT770Z5E-S78, and like everybody else when I first tried to update in 2013, all I was getting was a black screen… Not a big problem as I restored a Win 8 image and that was that. Fast forward on April 22nd, and after reading the excellent update by Dannemand on this thread, I thought I might give it another go.
Well, everything was fine except for one thing, the “Catalyst Control Centre” by AMD Radeon Graphics could not be started. I googled it and apparently solutions might be available, but I think these things should be automatically solved by MS, AMD, or Samsung. I could live with it waiting for a fix, but I’m quite certain that my display was not as sharp as with Win 8, and therefore I reverted once again to Win 8. Incidentally I couldn’t see any change with the update with the exception of a start tab and for the power protocol on the Metro window.

 

Hello Osaban, welcome to NBR. And thank you for posting your experience here.

I agree that all three companies have made the update process way too treacherous. Owners of the NP770/780/870/880 models seem to have been particularly unfortunate. While this is an otherwise excellent machine with many enthusiastic owners, it's implementation of AMD Switchable Graphics seems to have been orphaned by both Samsung and AMD. You have probably seen our Owners Lounge thread which contains much discussion about that.

I don't have this model myself, but my impression from discussion in that Owners Lounge is that recent drivers directly from AMD works correctly, including Win8.1. In your situation, I would try the complete graphics driver cleanout I describe here, reverting to Microsoft's drivers for both Intel and AMD.

Assuming that works stably (including Catalyst Control Center), save an image or restore point (great to hear you keep those) and then try the latest drivers directly from AMD (if you want to pursue higher framerates etc).

If you have brightness control problems after this, I suggest you re-install Settings: Uninstall current version first, reboot, install version 2.3.0.17 (found in SW Update under model NP940X5J-S01US), reboot twice (seriously) and let it finish its housekeeping both times. Then adjust your power settings and brightness options as described in this post. Member Shinji_U also posted a registry hack in the Owners Lounge (linked above) which is reported to help with brightness issues.

I think even your model can be brought to work smoothly with Win8.1 -- but no doubt it has been a painful process getting there.

Personally I am considering switching back to Win8. Not because of any Samsung issues (I managed to work those out, as described a few posts back) but because Win8.1 works too hard in the background and gives me less battery life. I haven't had time to investigate if there is a way to improve that.

 

Hi Dannemand, thanks a lot for your meticulous and articulated support! I will keep this thread bookmarked and will try in the near future to update again using your suggestions and links.

Even though I believe that any major update by MS should bring some definite improvements, I have the feeling that Win 8.1 was more of a half-baked solution to the controversy surrounding the Metro UI.
I’m sure there is more to 8.1 than just adding a start tab, but after using it for three days I really couldn’t see any significant change… Is it really necessary to update to 8.1? I also agree with your point about battery life which is probably one of the best features of the recent Samsung machines.

 

Hey guys! So I'm sending my Chronos 7 NP708Z5E for repairs this week and I will reset it back to factory settings before I mail it.

My question is how I can create a backup of my 555GB of files on my laptop? I have Windows 8.1 and a 1TB external hard drive. May I ask the procedures on how to back it up? Sorry, I'm quite new to this!

 

I am very dissapointed in Windows 8.1 and I regret upgrading to it. After finally having my performance issues with Windows 8 solved with the last BIOS update, as soon as I went to 8.1 the occasional pauses due to the slow hard drive happened again and again. Is there a way to revert back to Windows 8? I don't want to lose my files, I just want to go back to a not so crappy OS. The "improved" Windows store has basically nothing I need and the Start button is just poorly implemented. Sorry for whining but I'm just frustrated.

 

You can use any number of backup tools for this, including the ones built into Windows. Or (for data files) you can simply drag folders to the external drive using Windows Explorer (file window).

If you use a backup utility, it will pack and compress the backed up files so they take up less space, but the individual files are not directly accessible (except through the backup utility). One benefit is it will verify the integrity of the backup.

For backing up data, I actually use a Sync utility (FreeFileSync) since I share the same backup drive among multiple computers, and this way the backup drive is really just a a combined mirror of my Data drives on those computers.

Samsung Recovery Solution (SRS, F4 or the Windows app) will also let you backup to an external drive, where it creates an image. I would use that for a Windows partition, but I would still make sure to have a separate backup of my data. I am not sure how (or if) SRS recognizes that external backup if the computer comes back from Samsung with a new or re-imaged disk.

Edit: BTW, this discussion is off topic for the thread. If you have more questions about it, create a new thread and I will move the posts.

 

If you created a backup or restore point before updating, you can restore that. Many who updated to Win8.1 originally found that it broke Windows System Restore Points created before, so that you could not roll back. I saw the same when I tested Win8.1 last year. But Microsoft may have fixed that in later 8.1 updates.

Otherwise you will have to perform a factory restore using Samsung Recovery Solution (boot F4) as described on this Samsung page or in the manual. There is an option to Maintain user data, but I would definitely still make a data backup before restoring, in case something goes wrong.

It is a peculiar aspect of life and the universe, that when you plan for contingencies (in this context make backups) you rarely need them because everything goes according to plan. But the one time you DON'T make a backup, thinking it won't be necessary because it usually goes according to plan, disaster is almost certain to strike. Books have been written about this universal phenomenon, both serious and satirical. And it has made short work of many who practice the notion that "real men don't make backups" (Google it).

I may be on the overly cautious side myself, having learned some hard lessons about it early in my professional life.

 

hi
Guys here is the switchable graphic AMD radeon user's stable driver and update for windows 7 8 & 8.1 x64bit working good Modded Catalyst 14.4 WHQL (switchable graphics fix) Modded Catalyst 14.4 WHQL (switchable graphics fix) - Guru3D.com Forums

 

I finally decided to try updating my Series 7 Chronos (NPZ80Z5E) to Windows 8.1 again, and just about everything worked out! However, I tried updating the Sound Driver (6.0.1.7055) through SW Update multiple times, and it continues to fail during the installation. I've also tried downloading the setup files manually and installing it, but it still failed. Is there another way to get the proper sound drivers? I know I used to have something installed called "SRS Premium Sound." Could I reinstall that or download Realtek drivers from somewhere? Any help would be appreciated!

 

That seems to be the same problem as we discussed here and couldn't resolve.

John

 

Hi guys, I have a question about Windows 8.1 . Is it good for me to update now because I have been using Windows 8 for a long time when I bought my notebook NP700Z5C-S02US. Is everything working fine on Windows 8.1? My notebook is kinda slow right now and I just want to have the lastest Windows version. Thank you

 

Owners in the 2013 Series 7 / Ativ Book 8 (NP770/780/870/880) Owners Lounge thread seem to generally prefer the latest drivers directly from AMD. There was a time when they did not work with switchable graphics, but that seems to have been solved. Many still report issues, but it could be from collision with other drivers (Intel HD drivers in particular).

As I have mentioned repeatedly in this thread, my recommendation is to completely uninstall existing graphics drivers for both AMD and Intel HD (using Windows Programs and Features control panel), reboot, then let Win8.1 install its own drivers, including any drivers from Windows Update. Assuming that works and is stable, make a backup (or restore point) before testing newer and fancier AMD drivers from other sources. For those who don't game, the stability of Microsoft's drivers is probably more important than any performance benefits from newer AMD drivers.

My Win8.1 installation is still using the Samsung provided Realtek driver version 6.0.1.6748 from my previous Win8 installation, and I have not seen any issues. But I have a different model (NP700Z3A-S03US), probably with an older Realtek chip, so it may or may not work for you.

I would recommend trying to uninstall your current Realtek driver using Windows Programs and Features control panel AND roll back any other drivers that may have been added over time, by deleting the Realtek device in Device Manager and selecting Delete the driver software for this device, then Scan for hardware changes to re-detect it. Keep doing this until Delete the driver software for this device no longer shows, at which point you're back to Windows' built-in driver. After a reboot, accept the driver updates offered by Windows Update.

All I can say is that owners of the Nvidia-based NP700Z5C have reported far fewer Win8.1 update problems here than owners of later AMD-based models (although member oct4v3 is currently having a hard time here clean installing Win8.1 Enterprise on his NP700Z5C).

In addition to this thread (where you want to read the opening post and scan the last few pages) you should check the NP700Z5C Owner's Lounge (scan the pages since last fall, it's not a lot).

Whether updating is a good idea when Win8 works well for you, is a matter of opinion. I have both Win8.1 and and Win8 installed (earlier Series 7 Chronos model), and use 8.1 because it makes it easier to answer questions here. But I actually find that Win8.1 is a bit slower and has poorer battery life because it has more background tasks churning.

In any case do I highly recommend that you make a backup of your current Windows installation so that you can roll back if 8.1 gives you any problems.