maandag 21 december 2015

Samsung 850 EVO SSD Windows 10 flickering redraw issue

So I got myself a brand new SSD to upgrade my ASUS x750 Laptop. I cloned the HDD using the samsung Data Migration App, all fine and dandy.

Asus x750 headaches

Unfortunatly this laptop is the most impractical laptop to upgrade I have ever seen. After removing all the bottom screws, it actually opens from the top and practically nothing is accessible without removing 40+ screws and disconnecting every cable to the motherboard. And then removing the motherboard. Check youtube for a detailed opening video, you need it. Then when finally the SSD is fully seated and the other HDD plugged in the secondary HDD slot. The ordeal is over right? No, it never is that easy...

Loading from the SSD the first

Restructered the boot options in the Bios, SSD shows up, yes, check

so far so good

user logon, check yes enter credentials, logging in here we go...

hmmm why is my screen constantly redrawing? arg it keeps flickering. what is up with windows 10!

rebooted from the HDD, all is well. So that rules out any other hardware issue, it must be the ssd...

After a long fruitless internet search decided to clone the disk again and this time first disable the HDD in the Bios, and what do you know it started with no flickering. Restarted and enabled the disk again and... no flickering! I am a genius.

Summary

- Clone disk
- Make sure SSD is the only visible disk for the laptop
- Boot up from SSD
- Enable/mount old HDD
- Enjoy high speed OS on SSD steroids

(As far as I could deduce the flickering issue came from loading up both the original HDD and cloned SSD. The old HDD got the adress C:\ and SSD something like H:\, then some conflict with the user information data (C:\users) caused the information to redrawn constantly on screen. This was impossible to change easily in the current configuration so I had to reclone the disk afresh)

zondag 16 augustus 2015

Upgrading to windows 10 from 8.1 on an Asus R750 and X750

Introduction 

So I installed Windows 10 on my Asus R750/X750 after cautiously waiting a few weeks and keeping an eye out for bad experiences from other users. This Saturday I decided to take the plunge and click "upgrade" and my laptop did not explode... yet.

The Upgrade

Starting the upgrade from windows 8.1 to windows 10 was a pain-free experience. The update wizzard was quite brief and seemed to know what it was doing. I don't exactly know how long it took as it ran overnight and in the morning I had a nice Windows 10 login screen to greet me. So far so good.

Then I noticed something strange, the touch pad was not working. Apparetly this has got something to do with the Asus Smart Gesture application and the "Elan Touchpad driver" that windows update automatically installs. Check out this link for the solution that worked for me:
http://ivanrf.com/en/asus-smart-gesture-and-windows-10/
 After following the steps and rebooting a couple of times, Win 10 plays nice with my touchpad is ready to go.

The first impression 

My first impression of Windows 10 is generally positive. All my apps from windows 8.1 got transferred well, my files are where I left them and even my Desktop is just as clutery as I left it. It felt a bit like repainting the house, it feels new but the stuff shows you it is the same place.

Small irritations popped up with dealing with the settings as they are still in two places, the control panel and the "settings". At least it is not as hidden as in windows 8 but still, why?

Another irritation is that the touchpad does not play nice with all windows 10 features. Take the new Edge browser, two finger scrolling? no that's not allowed, oh well, back to FireFox.

All in all I think Win 10 is step in the right direction, but I would'nt be surprised by a Win 10.1 in a few months...