Clean install of Windows 7,8 on Samsung 7 Series Chronos Laptops with ExpressCache

First, some background. This laptop comes with a 1TB HDD and an 8GB iSSD, which is used as a cache to speed up
Windows and apps. Samsung uses Diskeeper's ExpressCache software for that purpose. This SSD causes a rather large
problem to the Windows installer. For whatever reason, Windows refuses to install its "System Reserved" partition
on the HDD, downright refusing to proceed with the installation if the SSD is already partitioned for ExpressCache.
But, repartioning the SSD and just letting Windows install itself, doesn't make things easier. In fact, it causes
major troubles. It appears that the BIOS really doesn't want to boot off the SSD, which is where Windows decided
to install its boot partition. So, here's the thing- how to get the HDD into a state where both Windows and
Samsung's BIOS were happy, and the SSD free for ExpressCache use.

Before installing Windows and things to keep in mind

1. For your convenience, you might need to print this guide and read once before proceeding.

2. Backup your drivers to an External Flash Drive or DVD, using Samsung Recovery Solution. (Bear in mind that you
don't have any network connection after a clean install and neither a backup partition at your pc)

3. Make sure your BIOS are set to boot from DVD or USB Drive, by changing priority. If you choose to use a USB,
you have to disable "Fast BIOS Boot" as well.

4. In case of using a bootable USB for the installation, a message might emerge, implying that drivers are not
installed and cannot proceed further. Just click "Cancel". Then, you will be brought back to the welcome screen.
At that moment, remove the USB drive and plug it back in, to a different USB port this time. Click "Install Now"
again. The installation should proceed as usual.

Installing Windows

1. Insert the istallation media on your laptop.

2. At the Windows Setup Wizard, select "Custom Install" to view all disks.

3. At the "Advanced" option, choose to format all disks and delete the SSD.

4. Press "Shift+F10" to launch cmd. Otherwise, reboot into the Windows Setup wizard and choose the "Repair" option,
in the bottom left corner, and in the tools menu choose cmd.

5. Type in diskpart to get into the partition tool.

6. Use the commands list disk and list part to determine which disk is what (check size parameters). For me, Disk 0 was the HDD and Disk 1 was the SSD. The following instructions assume this.

7. Select the HDD: sel disk 0

8. Delete all partitions on it: clean

9. Create a 100MB partition for Windows 7 (or 350MB for Windows 8): create part primary size=100 (or size=350 )

10. Format it: format fs=ntfs quick

11. Assign it a letter: assign letter=f (if F: is in use, pick another one. Use the list vol command to see all volumes and their letters)

12. Create a partition that fills the rest of the disk: create part primary

13. Format the large partition: format fs=ntfs quick

14. Assign it the letter C: assign letter=c

15. Exit both Diskpart and cmd.

16. Reboot back to Windows Setup Wizard to install Windows into the large partition that was just created.
!!CAUTION!! When Windows restarts your machine to complete the installation, do NOT change priority at the BIOS
menu as usual, but instead boot from the installation media, once more, and choose the "Custom Install" option.

17. There is a great chance that Windows installed its System Reserved partition on the SSD, so choose the
"Advanced" option and delete the SSD. Launch cmd (Shift+F10) and type diskpart.

18. Use the commands list vol and assign to ensure that both the system ( F: ) and the boot partition ( C: ) still have drive letters.

19. Select the system partition ( sel vol f) and mark it as active: active

20. Exit diskpart and at cmd type the command: bcdboot c:\windows /s f:

21. Reboot and you're good to go.

After the installation

1. The easiest way to have Samsung's Easy Settings and ExpressCache installed to your machine is through the backup
created by Samsung Recovery Solution, since you don't have an internet connection after the clean install.
(Even when you get to have one, do not connect during this proccess (because of Windows Update interference) and
wait till it finishes)

-->a. Browse the DVD or External USB Drive to find the "SystemSoftware" file and launch the "SecSWMgrGuide.exe".

-->b. Install "Easy Software Manager".

-->c. Install everything from the "Drivers" tab.

-->d. From the "Miscellaneous" tab, install "Windows 7 SP1 Critical Updates" and "Windows 7 SP1 common patches".

-->e. From the "Utility" tab, install "Easy Settings" and ExpressCache".

-->f. Finally, choose any other software you might need.

-->g. You are ready to connect the internet and install Windows Updates.

2. In case you didn't backup your drivers using Samsung Recovery Solution, you need to manually download and
install these drivers from the Samsung's website.

3. To find out if ExpressCache is working, run cmd as administrator and type ECCmd -INFO. If it's marked as
mounted and gives you the application's information then you're fine.

Note: The above instructions are not 100% mine . This information comes from various sources and it's what worked for me!
I do not seek for credit; I am just trying to help!!!

 

Very nice guide, thanks for sharing!

I would add three comments:

1) If you install from DVD, you don't need the command prompt and DISKPART. Windows Setup does everything correctly. It's only when you install from USB it gets confused by the iSSD (ExpressCache).

2) The changing of USB ports midway through installation can be avoided by choosing a black USB2 port (as opposed to blue USB3 port). It'll be a little slower copying the files, but saves some hassles. If you absolutely want to install from USB3, placing the USB3 drivers on an SD card is an easy solution.

3) Guides like this also apply to Series 5 owners -- even more so because many don't have DVD drives at all. The thread linked here is a recent example, and elaborates on ways to avoid hassles with the SYSTEM partition and USB2 vs USB3.

About a month ago, hanime created a USB Installation thread (that was a link) where she gathered various guides from different members. I'd hope she will add this one.

Again, great job posting these steps.

Update: One more comment I forgot: Even if you didn't make a System Software backup to a DVD or USB, you don't have to download and install drivers manually. Just install Easy Software Manager (or SW Update) as the first thing after Windows Setup completes. It will detect your Recovery Partition and install drivers from there.

 

Thank you Dannemand for your reply!

I find your remark very accurate, but i feel that you can't use Easy Software Manager (if following my approach),
since you delete all partitions in the HDD (Installing Windows- Step 8). There is also a reference in the
"things to keep in mind" (statement 2).

For those who prefer USB installations like me, here is a guide on How to create a Bootable Windows 7 or 8 USB Flash Drive manually

Thanks again and i hope i could be of help as much as you helped me with your advice and guides!!!

 

You're absolutely right: Making that System Software Backup in SRS is highly recommended. And you're also right that running Easy Software Manager (before network drivers) won't work if you deleted the Recovery Partition. I should have made that more clear.

Since we're touching on it now, I have a slightly different take on deleting those partitions:

1) In the past, I've always been a clean install-kind of guy: Get a new PC, backup the recovery (just in case), then wipe the disk and start over. With this Sammy I am a little different, because I know how difficult it is to fully restore that Recovery Partition (though it can be done). Usually it won't matter, you'll never need it. But if you want to have the option of fully restoring the PC to factory state some day (say you want to sell it) having an intact Recovery Partition makes everything a lot easier.

So even if I delete the Recovery Partition on my own PC, I don't always recommend it to others. It only takes 2-3% of space on these big disks, so if you can spare that, I say leave it alone. Just in case.

2) With the 100MB System Reserved partition (350MB in Win8) I ALSO now recommend leaving that one alone, paticularly when installing from USB. Even if Windows Setup gets confused and creates a new 100MB SYSTEM partition on the iSSD, the original one on the HDD is still there (AND still flagged Active) so you shouldn't have to use DISKPART at all, essentially saving steps 4-15 and 17-20 in the guide under Installing Windows.

But there are many ways to skin a cat, none of them more correct than the other. Your guide works and provides clear and concise steps (something often missing from my highly verbose posts ) and it will help a lot of people!

So once again, great job on that!

 

Hello,

i have the samsung version with the 750 GB Sata disk and the 64GB mSata SSD.
I formated the SSD to install a clean Win7 setup. But, i deleted also the recovery partition on the SSD (without making a backup)
Is there a way to re-install the recovery partition on the system drive?
The F4 - function on bootup is now not woking anymore.
Where can i find (download) the recovery solution dvd?

Thanks a lot, astragart

 

Hi astragart,

Are you certain you deleted the recovery partition during the installation?
Unfortunately, if that's the case, there is little you can do about it...

On the other hand, if you just "broke" the F4 command on startup and you still have the partition untouched, there is no need to worry!
There is really great information out there that can help you out. Go ahead and check this one (#9).

But, first, be sure that you still have it. To find out:

Right-click on Computer and select Manage. Under Storage, select Disk Management.
Now browse the listed disks and their partitions, to check if there is any hidden one.
If there is, the above link will serve you well!

PS: Did you, by any chance, happen to get a Window Installation Disk with your purchase?
Υou can always download everything you need from the official Samsung website.

 

@asprobourboulis: That is great advice. (Rep'ed). Installing SRS5 does indeed repair the F4 link in some cases. I found it ONLY works if the original Recovery Partition is still there (as you also pointed out).

In cases where you re-create a Recovery Partition (say from an image backup) I found that installing SRS does NOT fix F4. The only way I know to re-create a Recovery Partition with full F4 functionality is by using the USB Admin Tool, as described in this post.

It happens regularly, that somebody who lost their recovery asks for a download. I don't think that is a realistic option, both because it's BIG (23GB on my older Z3A, probably bigger on some models) and because it has to match that specific model and submodel. At one point I even wondered if the factory image contains the product key for that user's Windows -- which would make the Recovery Partition unique to each PC. But John and others assured me that the product key is pulled from somewhere else.

So astragart, if you DID lose your Recovery Partition and don't have a backup, I think your time is better spent getting a new installation working well and backing that up.

 

Hi @all.

Yes i wiped the whole system disk and installed win7 instead of win8. BUT, the real, big, recovery partition (about 23 GB) is not stored on system disk (because the 64GB mSata SSD is too small). Is stored on the "data" disk. My problem is, that the first recovery partition is deleted (with the recovery app), not the big recovery part an the second drive. How can i get the recovery application to install it again on my system drive? I think the application isn't so big? Cheers, astragart

 

@astragart: I am not familiar with that setup where the Recovery is split across two drives. But based on what you are saying, I think I understand now: The factory image is on the big Recovery Partition (on the big drive) and the the SRS software is on the small Recovery Partition (on the system drive).

I would assume that the only way to re-create that missing Recovery Partition would be with a so-called USB Admin Tool -- which had to be created using a working Recovery. See this post for details (including a screendump showing the contents of my Recovery Partition).

It's chicken and eggs: You need a working Recovery in order to make the tool that allows you to re-create a working Recovery Partition. I realize it's little help to you now, but that's why I've posted countless times advising NOT do delete recovery partitions -- at least not without making backups first, including that USB Admin Tool. I wish Samsung would display this warning too, because people often delete their Recovery Partitions before doing clean installs, thinking they will never need them.

Even if I were to make an ISO of my USB Admin Tool, I am not sure it would be legal for me to upload (I need to look into that). And it would probably have to be the EXACT same version as yours in order to work with your big Recovery Partition on the second drive. Mine is SRS 5.x, I suspect yours is 6.x.

Have you tried what asprobourboulis mentioned? Installing Samsung Recovery Solution (downloaded or using SW Update)? As described in the post he links, SRS will sometimes re-build the F4 link if it finds an existing Recovery Partition. Maybe it will have tools to re-create the software-only partition once it sees the factory image on the big Recovery Partition. I am almost certain SRS5 doesn't have this, but maybe SRS6 does.

Or here is a thought: Maybe (with a little luck) your big Recovery Partition contains everything, both the factory image and the software. If that is the case, installing SRS may work just fine both for restoring the factory image and the various backup tasks.

IF that should prove to be the case, you may be able to use Step 4 in this post to boot that big Recovery Partition (using Grub4Dos). If you succeed at that, you can proceed to create a USB Admin Tool as described previously.

In any case should you consider whether it is worth the effort. You could go ahead and just clean install Windows now and get your PC running. Maybe you will never need your Recovery. After all, I assume that was your assumption when you deleted the partition in the first place

I am afraid that's the best I can think of now. Hope some of this is useful

 

@Dannemand: How can i get the SRS 5 or 6 software? I think its not available directly by samsung? Is there another way to download this SRS app? Maybe from the forum side?

Thanks a lot, astragart

 

One you have downloaded and installed SW Update (link near bottom left of this page if you don't have it) and it has identified your computer then it will offer you all the relevant software / drivers. However, it is a bit erratic: You may have to tell it to search for your model.

John

 

Yep, sRecovery 6.x is downloaded
But ii cannot be installed and the setup aborts -> warning / error msg: recovery partition does not exist!
I created a recovery partition on the system disk. But maybe one or more needed files on that partition are missing?

 

Did you create the recovery partition using the method explained here?

John

 

(Thank you, John )

@astragart: If you mean you manually created a Recovery Partition (using Disk Management) I'd say that probably won't work. SRS has to make it's own partition to make sure it has the right properties. Delete that partition (the one you manually created) and try installing/running SRS again.

Most likely, though, it isn't going to work anyway because SRS really does need that original Recovery Partition you deleted from the system disk.

Our only chance is if the big Recovery Partition on your data disk contains everything (including the software) and can be used to recreate the missing one. Once again, I have never seen this setup myself (two Recovery Partitions on two different drives) so this is all speculation on my part.

IF we're lucky and the big Recovery Partition contains everything, I can think of two things you can try.

Before we start messing around, make sure you have backups of that Recovery Partition; both an image backup (using Acronis, Paragon, Terabyte, Ghost, or similar imaging tool) and a file and folder contents backup.

Needless to say, you also need to backup anything else valuable on your PC!

For the file and folder backup of the Recovery Partition, I suggest to boot your Windows Setup DVD and open a command prompt there (Shift-F10 in Win Setup). Then use XCOPY <recovery-drive-root> <destination> /E /H to copy the files and folders from the Recovery Partition to an external drive or memory card. Use DIR <drive-letter> commands first to determine the drive letter of your Recovery Partition.

See this post for more details.

While you're in that command prompt, compare the contents of that Recovery Partition to the screendump in the post linked above. If your Recovery Partition does NOT contain folders called boot, EFI, Sources then it probably does NOT contain the SRS software, and getting back full F4 functionality is unlikely. (There may still be other ways to use the Factory Image on that Recovery Partition).

If it DOES contain those boot, EFI, Sources folders, you should try the two steps below.

1) Download Grub4DOS and create a bootable USB flash drive (Google it). Then try and use the Grub4DOS steps in this post to boot the big Recovery Partition on the data disk (start at Step 4).

You have to adjust the root and chainloader commands so they point to your HDD and Recovery partition. Probably root hd(2,1) if your data disk only contains one partition before the Recovery Partition. But you may have to experiment.

If that succeeds, you are in luck, and can go ahead and create your USB Admin Tool (described in the same post linked above, just below the Grub4DOS steps).

2) Alternatively, make an image copy of the big Recovery Partition from your data disk to the system disk (or restore the image backup you made), then try and install SRS again. I realize you don't want to waste 23GB on that 64GB SSD, but this is only temporary so that SRS will see a valid Recovery Partition on the system disk. You may have to shrink the size of your Windows partition (again, temporarily) to make room for it at the end of the disk.

If you succeed installing and running SRS, it might restore the F4 link so that you can boot into the Recovery and create your USB Admin Tool.

IF you get this far, and manage to create a USB Admin Tool, go from Step 4 in this post (the same post linked by John). You want to use STEP 1: Disk Partitioning in Admin Tool which will completely wipe and re-partition your system disk and create a new Recovery Partition on it with working F4.

Note that things may be a little different from the descriptions in that post since you are using SRS 6.x AND a two-partition Recovery approach. I just don't know what it will do. There is a risk that it wipes your big Recovery Partition in the process -- and maybe even the entire data disk. That's why I wanted to make sure you have backups. If this happens, I'll help you restore the necessary files from your Recovery backup.

Making posts like this takes quite a bit of time for me. I do it BOTH to help you, because you seemed intent on getting this Recovery working again; but ALSO because we might learn something about SRS6 and this two-partition Recovery that can be valuable to other members. So please try the suggestions I mention and report back what you find. It could be very valuable to us all. And with a little luck (and hard work) you may get your Recovery back

Update: There is actually a very simple test I forgot to mention: What if you set your HDD (data disk) as the primary boot drive in BIOS and try F4 again? It's a long shot indeed, and it probably won't work; but it's so ridiculously simple, it's definitely worth trying