Samsung laptop wont start after Windows 8 image recover

[jammy]

I have two laptops, both Samsung, one mine and one my sisters.
My one is Windows 8 and her one is a slightly older model so Windows 7
Now both are are very similar in spec, being 4GB and Intel Pentium 2.3GHz models.
She recently asked me if i could sort out her laptop with Windows 8, so I said yep should be no problem.
I went and bought a Windows 8 Pro 64bit and was at first going to just do a plain install. But then had a bright idea and thought why not do an image of mine and recover it to hers, and then when started up just enter the key of the new one. that way she gets a full original Samsung install along with all the apps and everything.
At first i tried the samsung built in Recovery software but had no luck as it was just a complete nightmare. Not booting the USB I put it on for the first few times, then eventually after changing the BIOS setting to UEFI and formatting her Disk to GPT it started but then said no image found. In end I tried the old way by using the Windows built in File Recovery Image tool which made me a repair disc and 3 discs for the image itself.
This booted first go and went all way through the recovery, and then did the usual "restarting in X seconds ..."
But after it rebooted to my horror the Samsung Logo screen appears and then after that it just stays blank.
It does every few seconds momentarily flicker on the screen but then just goes bank again. I cant even get into the BIOS anymore or boot from anything.
I have never seen a system recover do such a thing and am panicking what do to before my sister find out and beheads me
Anyone please help ?

 

[bassfisher6522]

First off, from what I've read, you can't use a system image of one system and put it on another because that image it tied to your PC and hardware. PC and hardware on PC 2 is different and as you found out the hard-way.

These links my be of some help to for your UEFI boot issues.

How can I repair the Windows 8 EFI Bootloader? - Super User

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...are-interface-install-windows-8-a.html?filter

http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/13400-cannot-boot-uefi-install.html

This one is for windows 7.......

Repair Windows 7 boot menu on UEFI Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[DavidY]

Which Samsung model is it?

Some of them have a problem whereby they can be "bricked" by using UEFI.

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...laptops-bricked-booting-linux-using-uefi.html

Although the original problem was found with Linux, subsequent analysis showed it can affect Windows too, because of a bug in the Samsung firmware. mjg59 | Samsung laptop bug is not Linux specific

However I don't know if these are the same symptoms as you have... there may be hope if you at least get some life from it with a logo flashing up.

 

[theog]

I have two laptops, both Samsung, one mine and one my sisters.
My one is Windows 8 and her one is a slightly older model so Windows 7

Your Windows 8 notebook be install in UEFI mode, your sisters Windows 7 is most like install Legacy mode.

 

[jammy]

The model is NP-S3520, wow I cant believe Samsung did that. That's such a bad booboo.
Im just about to try reading through bassfisher6522 links and see if any of those things work for m.
Will report back my findings ... wish me luck *gulp*

 

[jammy]

Ok I could not try most of the suggestions, as the system wont even boot of a CD or USB =(
So I tried the only other option open to me, which was remove the CMOS battery.
But that did not work either, it is still just going round in an endless loop.
Going to have to hassle Samsung and see what they do ... am guessing I should be covered right, since its a bug in there setup ?

On a side note, so that I know what went wrong here and also if I did anything which is a strict don do.
My general idea about using a Windows 8 image from one laptop and putting it on another one from the same manufacturer and / or spec. Is this not really possible ? I mean did my thing just go wrong due to Samsung buggy implementation. Or was it a flawed idea in the first place. Or may be both ?

 

[DavidY]

On a side note, so that I know what went wrong here and also if I did anything which is a strict don do.
My general idea about using a Windows 8 image from one laptop and putting it on another one from the same manufacturer and / or spec. Is this not really possible ? I mean did my thing just go wrong due to Samsung buggy implementation. Or was it a flawed idea in the first place. Or may be both ?

I wasn't sure how you took the original image - was it just a "System Image" from within the Backup tool?

I'm pretty certain you can't just take a backup from one computer and install it to another.

There are techniques which corporate folk use, to create a "standard corporate build" on one computer and deploy it to loads of others across the organisation. However in my (very limited) understanding, they do this by using tools to create a modified installer which is based on a combination of an image from one computer and the install files from an install DVD or whatever.

I don't claim to fully understand how it all works, but I strongly suspect that for one computer, it will be much simpler and quicker just to install it from the normal installer.

Good Luck with Samsung!

 

[my2cents]

On a side note, so that I know what went wrong here and also if I did anything which is a strict don do.
My general idea about using a Windows 8 image from one laptop and putting it on another one from the same manufacturer and / or spec. Is this not really possible ? I mean did my thing just go wrong due to Samsung buggy implementation. Or was it a flawed idea in the first place. Or may be both ?

I wasn't sure how you took the original image - was it just a "System Image" from within the Backup tool?

I'm pretty certain you can't just take a backup from one computer and install it to another.

There are techniques which corporate folk use, to create a "standard corporate build" on one computer and deploy it to loads of others across the organisation. However in my (very limited) understanding, they do this by using tools to create a modified installer which is based on a combination of an image from one computer and the install files from an install DVD or whatever.

I don't claim to fully understand how it all works, but I strongly suspect that for one computer, it will be much simpler and quicker just to install it from the normal installer.

Good Luck with Samsung!

I agree with everything DavidY has said so I will just throw out this alternate suggestion as "food for thought" because it looks like you don't have too much to lose right now. So, why not try to "clone" your hard drive to you sister's machine and see if that works? I know that there are several free programs that have that capability and Macrium Reflect Free claims to be one of them. Here's some links for your consideration:

How to Clone a Laptop Hard Drive Using Macrium Reflect Free

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

However, after cloning, I can only assume you would have to do a reactivation using your own key.

 

[theog]

On a side note, so that I know what went wrong here and also if I did anything which is a strict don do.
My general idea about using a Windows 8 image from one laptop and putting it on another one from the same manufacturer and / or spec. Is this not really possible ? I mean did my thing just go wrong due to Samsung buggy implementation. Or was it a flawed idea in the first place. Or may be both ?

To clean install:
1) Clean the HD Drive, using Step one in this tutorial:
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation - Windows 7 Help Forums
than
[DEL]2a) Clean install with the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disk.[/DEL]

2b) http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2299-clean-install-windows-8-a.html

2c) http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-8-a.html