2013 Series 7 chronos / Ativ Book 8 15" owner's lounge (NP770Z5E / NP780Z5E / NP870Z5E / NP880Z5E)

WINDOWS 8/8.1 - CLEAN INSTALL TUTORIAL

This tutorial will help those who want to upgrade from Windows 8 (preinstalled on their machine) to Windows 8.1 (or reinstalling Windows 8), by performing a clean install, wiping the old OS, installing and activating the OS using the OEM key that was pre-installed by the manufacturer. This method will preserve those precious Recovery Partitions installed on each machine by Samsung.

NOTE: The following procedure has been tested by me and worked like a charm on my NP770Z5E-S01 which I upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1. However, I must advise you that the procedure might not work and you might encounter different errors/issues during the installation. Since we are touching hard drives and wiping data, you are strongly advised that the whole procedure IS DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK and I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MIGHT BE CAUSED TO YOUR LAPTOP, NOR AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DATA LOSS THAT MAY HAPPEN. You are warned!!

The following tutorial SHOULD work on the following machines:

- 2013 (and newer) Series 7 Chronos / Ativ Book 6/7/8
- Ativ Book 9 SHOULD be supported as well

These laptops are NOT supported:

- Series 7 Chronos earlier than 2013
- Series 5 models that have ExpressCache

What you will need:

- Patience
- Two USB flash drives (I used a 16GB drive for my bootable USB on which I installed the Windows 8/8.1 installation files, and a 32GB stick to perform a Factory Image backup prior to installation)
- An extra flash drive on which you can extract and save the setup files for Windows 8.1 through SW Update prior to formatting, in order to have your drivers and tools ready for offline installation
For this step, you can also use a Memory card, or even a side partition of your main disk. The only critical software needed is the Intel Advanced Centrino N6230/6235 drivers, that would help make your WiFi adapter work. However, these WiFi cards have drivers that are built-in in Windows 8.x, meaning that they should be working straight after formatting, without requiring additional software (this was my case)
- Your Windows 8 OEM key, which can be extracted from your BIOS using tools such as ProduKey
- A Windows 8/8.1 ISO, which you have to retrieve LEGALLY (please do not ask for help on this) - This should match the language and version (Core, Pro, Enterprise, etc) that you originally had installed on your OS, to avoid errors
- A phone that you will use in case the first of the two activation methods do not work
- Windows 8.1 generic keys (for Windows 8 generic keys, please use Google):
Core: 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
Professional: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB

NOTE: THESE KEYS ARE VALID FOR INSTALLATION ONLY, NOT FOR ACTIVATION. YOU MUST OWN A VALID, PURCHASED LICENSE IN ORDER TO FULLY ACTIVATE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM!

To get the installation to work properly, follow these steps

- Download Produkey and run it: it will show your Windows 8 OEM key, take note of it on a piece of paper and keep it handy

Step 1: Creating bootable Windows 8/8.1 install media

NOTE: IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE THE FOLLOWING METHODS TO CREATE THE BOOTABLE MEDIA NEEDED TO INSTALL WINDOWS 8.1 AND AVOID MICROSOFT'S TOOL.
This is due to the fact that Microsoft's USB DVD Tool formats the drives in NTFS mode, and we are required to use a FAT32 formatted flash drive in order to install Windows 8/8.x on UEFI machines.

- Using the 16GB stick (I believe you can also use 6 or 8GB drives) create a bootable USB drive with Windows 8/8.1 installation files, making sure to format it in FAT32 mode (!!!) In order to do so, you can try formatting it with Windows Disk Management, and then assign a drive letter. If you prefer using Windows' Command Prompt, run "cmd.exe" with Admin Privileges and type the following:

Code:

diskpart

This command will open the disk partition utility in your Command Prompt Window

Code:

list disk

This will allow you to see all the disks recognized by your system

Code:

select disk #

where # is the number of your disk in the list. It is usually the last one, but double check to make sure you choose your USB drive!! You don't want to see your primary OS partition formatted

Code:

clean

This commands wipes the data that is present on your USB drive, so make sure you have a backup somewhere prior to formatting it

Code:

create partition primary

This command creates a primary partition on your drive

Code:

active

Makes the partition we created "active"

Code:

format fs=FAT32 quick

This code formats the drive in FAT32 mode, which is needed in order to be able to install Windows 8.x versions

Code:

assign

This last command assigns a letter to the newly created bootable drive
Now your flash drive will open in a new explorer window, and you can copy-paste the contents of your Win 8/8.1 ISO
Safely remove the USB drive and keep it handy for the OS installation

Step 2: Create a factory image backup

- Reboot and quickly press F4 when the Samsung logo is shown. This will access Recovery. Make sure your second USB drive (32GB at least) is plugged in. Unlike bel90's post here, I was able to use a Sandisk flash drive to perform the backup. Still, I haven't tested restoring a backup with it, so if you can avoid using a Sandisk drive, please do.
- On the left side of the Recovery tool's window, click on "Factory Image Backup", check that the right drive is selected on the drop-down menu, select "create boot disk" option, and start the backup
- Once the backup is done, remove your USB drive and store it in a safe place. This will be needed in case something went wrong and you had to recover your original system image WITH THE RECOVERY PARTITIONS (which are really important and hard to "recover" in case you messed up your system and partitions).
- You can either select "Restart System" or "Shutdown System"

Step 3: BIOS settings

- Reboot/Start your machine and access your BIOS, as there are a few settings to change in it
- Switch "Fast BIOS mode" to "Disabled"
- Make sure "OS Mode Selection" is set to "UEFI". If not, change it to that setting. If you notice OS Mode Selection is set to "CSM", please ask before proceeding, as this may cause Windows Installer to completely wipe your drive (and this would potentially erase any present Recovery partition)
- Secure Boot must be "Disabled"
- Under "Boot device priority", you will see your USB drive named in two slightly different ways: one of them has the "UEFI" prefix. Choose this option as the first boot device.

Step 4: Partitioning and Windows installation

- Now save changes and reboot: your Windows 8/8.1 installation window should show up, allowing you to select the installation language and continue. Please keep in mind that the language of the Windows version you are going to install should match the one that was pre-installed in your machine (eg English)
- Use a Generic Windows 8/8.1 key to install the OS (Google is your best friend now, not sure if I am allowed to post these here). Remember that this is not a permanent activation, you will have to use your own OEM key provided with your laptop at the time of purchase (shown later on in the tutorial)
- Your drive's partitions will be shown: find the right partition on which you already have your OS installed (it is USUALLY the biggest one, be sure to choose the right one), carefully avoiding the Recovery partitions and all the other small ones. Now format the partition you want your OS installed on, then select "Next"
- Installation will start
- Once the process is complete, go back to your BIOS and set everything back to "normal" (Fast BIOS Mode, Secure Boot and Boot Device Priority)
- Reboot your laptop and Windows 8/8.1 should boot, allowing you to finalize the setup and start using your brand new OS!

Step 5: Activation

- We still need to activate our Windows 8/8.1. To do so, we will try a few steps! In my case, I had to try both in order to see my license key installed.
- First step is to head to "System" (Start -> type "System") and, at the bottom of the page displayed, select "Change Product Key", then paste your OEM product key.
- Now go to back to System Overview and check at the bottom of the page. Is Windows activated? If yes, happy days! You are done and just need to install the right drivers for your new OS! If not, go to the next step
- If Windows is still not activated, you might want to try the phone activation. My activation was successfull through the phone.

During phone activation, the recorded voice will guide you through the process. You just need to provide a unique ID for your Windows Installation, and you will be given a confirmation ID once your copy has been validated. Once you're done, hang up the phone and reboot your laptop. Go back to system and check, your copy is now active

- Congratulations! You now have your brand new Windows 8/8.1 installed on your laptop, legally activated.

Troubleshooting

Issue: SWUpdate crashes at startup

Solution: Uninstall your current version of the tool from Control Panel, then download the new version here

Credits:
Obyboby (myself) for the tutorial and testing
Dannemand for the precious help and tips

This tutorial will be updated in the following days. Please ask if you have ANY doubt before proceeding!!!!!!!!!!

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2013 Series 7 chronos / Ativ Book 8 15" owner's lounge (NP770Z5E / NP780Z5E / NP870Z5E / NP880Z5E)