Help with a system image for NP700Z5C-S01UB

Hello All,

This is my first post. I have been a lurker for a while but only just this week ran into a problem where I need some help. I had to reformat my NP700Z5C-S01UB because of some corruption with my HDD. I re-installed Windows 7 using a copy I had around. My problem is that I need to revert back to the factory default since I am having some driver and software issues, I cant access the bios since it doesn't register my F2 button presses, and express cache is no longer being used. I was hoping somebody had a factory image I could download and install on mine. I contacted Samsung and they will be sending me a recovery image via mail and they say it may take a week or more. I am a student and need to get my laptop back to normal ASAP. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,

 

F2 will work unless the keyboard is broken but there is a very short time period during which it is effective.

John

 

I understand that it should work. The thing is that I use it all the time to dim the display so I know it works.

 

Then keep repeatedly tapping the F2 key just as the computer is booting (note: just F2, not Fn+F2 or any other combination).

John

 

I have tried that but I have found that if I spam the F2 button right as I power on the laptop the screen will stay black, the hdd activity light stops, and the power stays on. I dont think this is hardware related because if it were I would not be able to dim my display at night. I am trying to figure out what caused this since it should not be possible for an OS re-install to affect the bootup process.

 

I agree there's something strange happening. Just after turning on there should be a message on the bottom left of the screen about pressing F2 for setup (also F4 for recovery). Also F10 should give a one-time boot menu but that isn't documented by Samsung.

John

 

^^So much is hidden in this machine. It's a beast once you get it down.

Sorry to hear about the problem, Indecision. This sounds like a possible BIOS/boot issue because you are not able to press the F2 button. It cannot be a Windows problem because Windows load after the BIOS. I am not sure if this works, but try an external USB keyboard and see what happens.

 

I tried an external mouse and keyboard. I made sure the keyboard loaded its drivers first in windows then tried to boot up but it didnt work. I too know its not windows being the problem but all of this happened the moment I wiped the drive and installed windows which is why I was leaning towards it. I will try the F10 thing and report back.

 

I see the bios splash screen with the Samsung logo. I will try again with a different keyboard and an external monitor in case the display is off.

 

So nothing works, seems like the keyboard isnt being recognized fast enough. I am going to wait until the recovery disc arrives and try to get it back to normal though I doubt that will fix the problem. I may need to send it in and have samsung take a look at it and see what they say. Either way, thanks for all the help and I will make sure to update the thread as progress is made.

 

I may have misunderstood what you are saying but if you are trying to get into the BIOS using an external keyboard then you will probably never succeed. The BIOS will detect the internal keyboard but the timing is quite critical. Don't hold the key down but keep tapping it quickly once the computer has (re)started. if you can't get into the BIOS to set the boot order (or use the F10 key) then you won't be able to get the computer to boot off the recovery disc (you may also need to get into the BIOS to disable the Fast BIOS mode before the computer is willing to boot off a USB device).

John

 

My thoughts exactly, I have a feeling that I am going to end up needing to send it in to Samsung.

Edit: I have tried using F2 and F10 but nothing works. Seems like the Keyboard isnt being detected fast enough for it to be of any use when the Bios option is visible.

Seems like someone on the samsung website is having a similar problem. Looks like im not the only one having the problem after upgrading the BIOS and going to Windows 8 after wiping the HDD clean of the partitions.

 

What is your current BIOS version?

 

I emailed Samsung QA support, below is their response. Seems likes its a bios update issue.

My Email to Samsung QA:

I had to reformat my NP700Z5C-S01UB because of some corruption with my HDD. I re-installed Windows 7 using a copy I had around. I had to wipe the entire drive including the recovery partition. I am having problems with the computer rebooting and the screen coming up black and the HDD activity light stopping even though the power light stays on. I need to reboot the laptop 5-6 times before I finally can boot into the OS. I cannot press the F2 or F10 keys to access the BIOS or the boot up option. I am using the latest firmware and drivers on my machine. The BIOS was updated as well and is on the most current version.


HI Indecision,

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. The BIOS is accessible by pressing F8 if you have Windows 7. If you’ve upgraded to Windows 8, however, the BIOS is no longer accessible after you complete the BIOS update, as that update to extend compatibility to UEFI in Windows 8. To learn more about UEFI, read the white paper produced by Microsoft here: UEFI and Windows

Unfortunately,, the only solution we have is to re-image your device, as the restore partition was overwritten. If you’d like for me to setup a service request for you to do so, please let me know.

 

I am still in communication with Samsung. I will be updating this case once my issue is resolved as well as including the information Samsung provided to me to help any future problems others may experience.

 

I await further further reports with interest.

John

 

Some Q and A from samsung and myself, my answers are below the question.

1) You had a version of Windows installed on your machine; whether it was Windows 7 or 8 is unclear.
I was using the factory image in my system (Windows 7 Home), needed to reformat because of HDD corruption, HDD corruption was caused by an unknown issue that I wasn't able to troubleshoot for obvious reasons

2) It became corrupted somehow, so you formatted your hard drive.
Correct, because of the corruption It would not let me install the OS without wiping all the partitions including the recovery one. Even though I tried to install it on the OS partition (The 931GB partition)

3) You installed Windows 7.
Correct, after a few hours (5-6) I noticed that my laptop was capable of upgrading to Windows 8 so I did a clean install of the OS again by using the setup.exe file in the windows 8 disc.

A) Have you installed Windows 8 at all on this system? At what point in this timeline did you do so?
Yes, I am currently running Windows 8, It was installed about 5-7 hours after my initial wipe of the HDD and reinstall of Windows 7 since I saw my laptop was on the Samsung compatibility list for windows 8.

B) Did you complete the BIOS update? At what point in this timeline did you do so?
The Bios was updated long before I did anything. The BIOS update was available since March and I remember doing a BIOS update shortly after first getting my computer in July.

C) Have you tried pressing F8 to get into the BIOS?
No F key registers when the Samsung/BIOS splash screen appear. If I press the F2/F8 keys as soon as I power on the laptop the screen goes black, HDD activity light turns off, and the laptops stays powered on until I do a hard shutdown. I usually have to do a hard shutdown 6-7 times before it boots up properly into the OS portion.


Quick update on something samsung said that surprised me after our Q and A

"When you’re running Windows 8, the OS prevents you from entering the BIOS, as the UEFI is now the new way of accessing what previously was the BIOS. I realize this presents a problem for people who are having a hard time booting into Windows 8, but this is how Windows 8 works.

If you revert back to Windows 7, it will work like it always has worked with being able to access the BIOS from the POST screen."

This is not correct. I installed a copy of Windows 7 again and with no success.

More

"the only solution I have is to setup your laptop for service to at least re-image your hard drive. I know that you said that you have a recovery disc coming, but a recovery disc will not restore the recovery partition, and it is likely that wiping this partition has something to do with this behavior, but it’s hard to tell from where I’m sitting. Of course, there may be some other underlying hardware problem because it’s having these errors regardless of the OS you’re on. So if you’d like for me to setup a service request for you to do so, please let me know."

So now Samsung is telling me that the recovery partition may play a part in booting up...

 

I'm sorry I can't help with your problem, it sounds like it may need to be returned. However, I fail to understand why Samsung support would state Windows 8 prevents you entering the BIOS, it simply isn't true. I have W8 installed and F2 enters the BIOS, it did so with BIOS P03AAG and now also does with P04AAG since I updated it and I have UEFI enabled.

You can lose faith in their ability to help diagnose your problem when told things that display a total lack of understanding of the basics. To be clear, Windows 8 does not prevent anyone on any PC entering the BIOS, whether UEFI is enabled or not.

 

Have you tried downloading in samsung support website for you laptop the BIOS update tool, and update de BIOS...?
Even if it says that you have the latest BIOS, I think you can always reflash it... If even that doesn't work, I suggest you take it where you bought it because it's definitevely defective... Trust me: the system image won't help you at all with the BIOS problem...

 

I agree completely with user btb32. When they say that with windows 8 you cant enter BIOS, they only know how to turn on and shutdown a computer, no more than that. F8 was used (W7 and priors) to enter the safe mode menu, for example. In W8 that's not true anymore. The easiest way to enter that menu and with more options, is to enter windows, and while you press "Reboot", keep Shift pressed, and when it reboots it will enter that menu.
BIOS is accessible via F2 menu, and has absolutely nothing to do with the operative system!! You can even take out all of the disks and you can still enter BIOS...

Don't trust them! Reflash your BIOS.

 

System has already been sent to samsung. I hope they return a functioning system. I know windows 8 will have an UEFI option in the advanced option for troubleshooting.

How To Access The BIOS On A Windows 8 Computer

I tried to do this but the UEFI option is not available even though my laptops bios was set to use UEFI.

 

Yes, I tried updating the BIOS but it told me I was already using the latest version. I knew the problem wasnt with the OS but I wanted to cover all my bases. At this point its upto Samsung to repair/fix the laptop.

 

I had tried to flash the bios again afterwards but it didnt let me.

 

It really looks like a BIOS failed flash or BIOS corrupted... Return it while its still in warranty.

Sent from my U20i using Tapatalk

 

Already shipped out to Samsung repair center. I will update this thread once I get it back to let people know if they were able to fix it.

 

I think your only option was to sent it back for repair, and I'm sure it will be fixed whilst away.

The article you link to is correct, though I think is a little misleading. We are are all new to UEFI BIOS and especially Windows 8 and the way it integrates with the BIOS, so still very much learning, though we can in practice continue to enter the BIOS settings by pressing F2.

With W8 installed in full EFI mode, and fast boot on, F2 still gets us into the BIOS. On a reboot granted you have to be quick, but the option to press F2 is there, after a full shutdown and restart the option is there for several seconds.

It was only because you were having problems that this came up, but just to be correct about this Samsung support were misleading you, on our laptops, even with W8 installed in EFI mode on a GPT partitioned disk F2 still enters the BIOS.

Hope your laptop isn't away for too long.

 

I plan to upgrade my laptop to Windows 8 when I get it back, I genuinely enjoyed it when it worked. I think the problem I had was caused to the system wide corruption I experienced. Do you have any tips/guide for upgrading to windows 8? I want to make sure I do it right. I would assume I can just install it like normal but select the 900+GB partition as the installation partition and leave the recovery partition alone.

 

Actually I should just add to what I said above first, which is because of the close integration of Windows 8 and the UEFI BIOS it can be possible for the OS to corrupt or otherwise lock you out of getting to the settings. If you prepare a GPT disk and install W8 in full EFI mode, and if then at some point the disk has errors you could well be locked out, and even removing the disk won't help.

I would say for now install Windows 8 in legacy mode, on a traditional MBR type disk layout. Our latops as yet don't support secure boot anyway even in EFI, so not much to be gained by going full EFI. Maybe when the BIOS is more mature or resilient in the future that might change.

Well that would be my suggestion, of course whatever we do can go wrong, though for now staying with legacy would seem best.

 

So...Samsung needed to replace the HDD and the Motherboard. I just got it back today and all is back to normal. I think I am going to stick to Window 7 for now. Thanks for all the help.

 

Was this done for free and how long did it take? I am about to send mine out.

I just updated to win8 and was updating bios when everything froze. I ended up pressing the power button after a while. Now all i see is a black screen, a power button the lights up, battery light and a HDD lights up.

After failing to find a way to flash bios through a usb i am sending it in to samsung to have them flash the bios. Apparently this will cost $40.

 

Yes it was done for free since I was under warranty, All I told them when I sent it in was that I had system corruption and managed to restore, then upgraded to windows 8 all while having the problems indicated in previous post since the corruption. I sent it in mid November and received it early December.

 

Indecision,
I have the very same model as your laptop, but it came with win 8 which I'm planning to remove and downgrade to win 7. but I was wondering if it's possible to take a copy of your recovery disc that you received to use it to setup my laptop? if I request a recovery CD it will come with windows 8 only.

 

Hello hafey, Welcome to the forum

You can legally download ISO files for various Win7 versions from Digital River using the link below. Just burn the ISO to a DVD and boot that to install Win7. Of course you need to have a legal Win7 product key.

Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO Image Downloads

Downgrading to Win7 is a common subject on this forum -- and sometimes a source of trouble. It is not as trivial as one might think, because of UEFI & GPT, which is a new BIOS mode and disk partition style used on Win8-delivered PCs. Even people who have done lots of Windows installing in the past can be caught off guard.

I suggest you read a bit before taking the plunge. If you start reading here and click some of the links in that post, you should be on your way.

Also, for a ton of discussion, info and helpful advice on your specific model, I suggest you check the Z5C Lover's thread.

Let us know how it goes

 

Hey Dann,

Lol.. I have just seen your post after I have removed the win8 and guess what, I'm stuck
Thanks for the links, I will definitely need to take a look at them

I already have win7 disc, but I was looking for Samsung recovery disc but after giving it a second thought, I will use my retail windows and install only the SW that I need.

Thanks again

 

Yeah, it happens

Samsung doesn't provide actual Recovery disks, just a Recovery partition on the HDD and (in some cases) a retail Windows DVD (mine came with a Win7 Home Premium DVD).

If you didn't wipe your Recovery yet, and can still boot it using F4, I strongly advice that you take some backups while you can. Specifically: Factory Image Backup and USB Admin Tool. The latter requires you to enter Management Mode (Ctrl-Alt-F1, passworrd secclx).

If you Google site:notebookreview.com Samsung Recovery Backup Admin Tool you should find several posts about it. Let me know if you cannot find it and I'll post a link later.

After this, you may want to consider converting your disk from GPT to MBR (use DISKPART from the Windows Setup) and disable SecureBoot and UEFI in BIOS (choose CSM mode). You don't have to do to this, but it may ensure a smoother Win7 experience. You can still install Win8 from a disc after converting, but you CANNOT restore your Samsung Win8 without going back to UEFI/GPT.

Again, let me know if you need more info. There is a wealth of experience posted in this forum and many helpful people