How do I update all the drivers to a Samsung Series 7 Ultra? (model NP740U3E-S04UK)

Hello

I have reinstalled Windows 10 Pro x64 onto my Samsung Series 7 Ultra Notebook (model NP740U3E-S04UK) using a Windows Recovery DVD created using MediaCreationTool.exe.

A) Is there any merit in trying to get the Samsung software back?
e.g. I'm hoping it might update and drivers and even the BIOS for me.
If so how would I download it, because Samsung do not appear to offer ANY download for my computer.
(See http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/NP740U3E-S04UK )

It will take me a VERY long time to forgive Samsung for that.

B) How do I update the BIOS and any other drivers (particularly on the motherboard)

Background
I am trying to reinstall Windows 10 on my 512GB SSD, but Windows Recovery is failing to see it. As a last restort I have managed to put my original 128GB SSD back into the computer and have re-installed Window 10 on it using that Recovery DVD. The problem is that none of the Samsung utilities are now present.

With thanks

J

 

This should be easy: Use Samsung's SW Update. Note, however, that it doesn't offer 3rd party software.

John

 

That's the one! Thanks.
While I'm here do we think it will do things like updating the BIOS & firmware?
(i.e. anything that is not stored in the SSD)

 

It won't do the BIOS updates. Samsung provide another software for that.

John

 

Drat! Just seen your message. Too late - I'm out of time, and can't quite face opening up the laptop to put the 128GB SSD in just to try harder to update the BIOS on the off-chance that it might help bring my 512GB SSD back to life.

Meanwhile I have managed to install Samsung Update on the 128GB SSD. The guy from Samsung told me that it updates the BIOS if needed. (But I see from your link that that may/may not be true.)

The overall impression is that Samsung really don't like supporting products - they would much prefer that we go and buy their next shiny bit of hardware. In effect the much hated Apple model.

Worse, apparently the 512GB SSD that I have is an "OEM model" and therefore there is no telephone or webchat support - just email. And as a result it sounds like it won't have any "5 or 10 year" warranty either.

I updated various things on using Samsung Update and on a whim tried to install Windows 10 on the 512GB SSD. Unsurprisingly the SSD was till not properly recognised. And the chances are 99% that it has failed, although I shall await my mSATA to USB caddy which should arrive tomorrow, to confirm this.

OK I think I'm pretty well done here.

I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new 512GB SSD. Any recommendations? Is there much to choose between them? I don't think I'm going to buy Samsung again!

J

 

mSATA SSDs are getting rare (Samsung seems to be the most common among those remaining) and the price is going upwards so you may not have much choice. There isn't much difference in the performance among those issued in the past three years or so.

John

 

Can you explain one thing about SSDs - some of them seem to have cases on them. Does this matter? I will need to remove any case in order to fit it inside the laptop. Or should I buy something that doesn't come in a case?

It seems the M.2 is the new form factor, so I need to avoid buying one of those because presumably it wouldn't fit.

Annoyingly Samsung seem to be very popular and seem to get the best consumer reviews.

e.g. This Samsung 1TB 850 EVO mSATA SSD
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-1T...22&sr=1-3&keywords=Samsung+mSATA+Internal+SSD

I only need 512GB but maybe I'd use the extra space if it was there, I'm not sure.

The 512GB is well reviewed too (on Amazon), but out of stock on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_size_browse-bin_2?fst=asff&rh=n:340831031,k:Samsung+mSATA+Internal+SSD,p_n_size_browse-bin:10625606031&keywords=Samsung+mSATA+Internal+SSD&ie=UTF8&qid=1491332722&rnid=187137031

Where would you recommend
A) looking for credible reviews
B) buying (I do rather hate the all-conquering Amazon!)

Cheers

J

 

You need the mSATA format (I found this photo
and nothing else. M.2 or 2.5" won't fit.

There is a website called SSDreview although I haven't been there recently. Samsung have above-average reliability. Crucial have now stopped selling the mSATA format. Brands such as Liteon are OK but normally only sold to notebook manufacturers. The 512GB Samsung is here or here.

If you are willing to buy second hand then check ebay. Most SSDs can survive plenty of years or consumer usage where there won't be large quantities of data writing.

John

 

Yes that's exactly what mine looks like.

Re reviews, what's annoying about Amazon reviews is that they have started aggregating/(conflating?!) the reviews of what are actually completely different products into the same overall review ratings.

Quick question: Once I manage to get my 512GB SSD loaded into a USB caddy, assuming it works at all what is the best way to test it? I mean I guess I will just attach it to my desktop PC's USB port and see if it runs, yes?

 

Step 1 is to see if it is recognised and see if you can copy any files to/from.

Step 2 is to see if you can read the properties. CrystalDiskInfo or HWiNFO should be able to do this although sometimes the ability to interrogate the properties is limited by the capability of the interface chip.

If step 1 is OK then you should be able to run Minitools Partition Wizard to format the SSD to GPT which is what Windows 10 would prefer.

However, none of these explain why the computer BIOS couldn't identify the SSD (at this stage the partition structure is irrelevant - the BIOS is just talking to the controller).

John

 

What is it that the medic say "Dead on arrival" "Do Not Resuscitate".

And by way of proof the 128GB SSD works fine in the caddy.

Right I'll have to buy that new SSD then. Emotionally I'd LOVE not to give Samsung the business but with good reviews plus a 5 year warranty this time (last time it was only 3 years), annoyingly the Samsung are the rational choice. Probably the Samsung 500GB 850 EVO mSATA.

When it arrives should I format it using the external USB caddy to GPT too?

Plus in 5 years time I assume I will want to scrap my laptop for reasons of technological progress - even though I notice Moore's Law seem to have come off the rails dramatically in the last few years, if CPU speeds are anything to go by!

On up-side of all this is that I now have an external 128GB SSD (albeit running at up to USB 3.0 speeds, which I am assuming is slower than mSATA). As an external SSD is it worth formatting it to GPT or doesnt it make any difference? [I won't format it just yet in any case in case I need to use it in the laptop in the medium run]

 

There's no need to format externl drives to GPT. In fact, it's not a good idea as you might want to read the drive in a computer which is not GPT-aware. However, formatting the new drive to GPT before putting it in the notebook leaves, I think, Windows 10 with one fewer task to do and trip up on.

In theory, USB 3.0 can run at up to 5 gigabits/sec which is in the same range as SATA 3 and the upper limit of an SATA SSD. In reality USB 3.0 is slower but I've seen very good speed where the external SSD's adapter and the computer both support UASP. If you haven't bought a UASP capable adapter then consider getting one for the day when the new mSATA SSD outlives the computer. You can then use it as fast external storage.

I agree that the rate of raw CPU performance increase has reduced in recent years. The improvements have been in graphics, memory and storage access which give significant overall improvements in productivity benchmarks such as PCMark 8. I recently bought a Dell Latitude 7370 to replace my 5 year old Samsung NP900x3B. The 7370 has a nominal 4.5W Core m5-6Y54 which is slightly faster than the 17W i5-2467M in the X3B but the overall 7370 system is around 40% faster according to PCMark 8. Having 8GB RAM instead of 4GB must also help.

John

 

OK I have now bought and received my 500GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO. I have installed it in my laptop and the good news is that Windows 10 Recovery did recognise it. I am running the Windows 10 update as I write this.

In truth I rather forgot about the formatting issue. The SSD arrived in NTFS format. Are you completely sure that there is no advantage in converting it to GPT? Or does that only apply to EXTERNAL SSDS?
If not what is the point of GPT?! And if so now it the moment to do so before I get much further with my installation. Wait,

If I do need to format my new SSD to GPT what is the best way to do it?

On a different note the Microsoft Support guy told me that there is a major "upgrade not update" to Windows 10 itself called 1703 (rather than 1607), which is supposed to make a big improvement to speed. He said the roll-out had already started in the US but here in the UK it would be another couple of days yet. The support guy rather implied that I should go ahead with my installation and run all the updates in any case.

 

If Windows 10 is happily installed then leave it be. It might have changed the partitioning to GPT without publicising the activity but doesn't bring any major benefits to your system.

The Windows 10 Creators Update is round the corner. I won't be near the front of the queue to install it as it's better to let others get the bugs out of it first. It's likely to be one of these massive updates. The Anniversary update took several hours to install on a Windows 10 tablet which I have.

John

 

@ship69: Since your laptop runs in UEFI mode (as we discussed in your other thread) your new SSD is almost certainly already partitioned using GPT style -- either from the factory or during the Win10 recovery process.

GPT is a partition layout style applying to the entire disk (the alternative being MBR). NTFS is a file format applying to just one partition (the most common alternative being FAT16/FAT32). A disk using either of these partition layout styles can have several partitions, which can each be FAT16/FAT32 or NTFS or some other file format (such as HFS used by MacOS).

MBR dates back to the early 1980s and has several limitations: Max 2TB disk size, max 4 primary partitions. Intel introduced GPT some 20 years ago to address these limitations, but it only became more widespread when Microsoft made it the default with Win8.

All Windows versions since WinXP 64-bit (including Vista, Win7, Win8, Win8.1 and Win10) can read and write GPT disks as data disks, regardless of whether they are internal or external disks. At issue here is only being able to boot.

All past and current Windows versions (including Win10) can boot from MBR disks, either from a FAT16/FAT32 partition or (starting with WinNT in 1993) from an NTFS partition.

But only 64-bit editions of Vista and newer Windows versions can boot from GPT disks. And in order to do that, they must be installed and run in UEFI mode.

Intel brought UEFI along with GPT as an alternative to the good old BIOS, which also has been around since the early 1980s. UEFI brings some benefits over legacy BIOS, including slightly faster boot time, improved protection against rootkits (SecureBoot) and the ability to boot from disks larger than 2TB.

The rules of UEFI are simple, but strict:

1) The computer's BIOS must have UEFI support, which most computers have since around Win7.

2) Once UEFI mode is enabled in BIOS, the computer can ONLY boot from a FAT32 partition on a GPT disk. Let's repeat that: UEFI can ONLY boot from a GPT disk, and ONLY from a FAT32 partition on a GPT disk. The small EFI System partition (ESP) serves this and provides boot management for various operating systems -- which can themselves be stored on any kind of disk (even separate MBR disks) and any kind of partition (including NTFS partitions) as long as the boot partition is FAT32 on a GPT disk.

3) BIOSes with full UEFI implementation also have a so-called Compatibility Support Module (CSM) which allows running in legacy BIOS mode. As always with legacy BIOS, CSM requires booting from an MBR disk.

4) Switching between UEFI and CSM mode requires changing the partition layout style of the boot disk to match the new mode: Switching to UEFI mode requires converting to GPT. Switching to CSM mode (legacy BIOS) requires switching to MBR. This switch generally wipes the disk content. Also, Windows must be re-installed to match the current mode.

This has added a new complexity to Windows installations and confused a lot of users. Microsoft and manufacturers have tried to address this with various defaults and hybrid modes and other band-aids. But the fact is that users nowadays need to understand these rules in order avoid pitfalls and trapdoors.

The post here contains more background, including links to read-worthy articles.

Edit: Oh, and BTW glad to hear you got it all worked out. Well done! Sorry to hear that your old SSD turned out to be defect, and the one causing all that frustration and wasted time.