Samsung 530U3C clean system installation

Question

I bought a Samsung 530U3C notebook with i5-3317/12 GB RAM/500 GB HDD/24 GB ExpressCache / Windows 8 preinstalled. I would like to install my own clean version of Windows 8. But I would like to preserve the recovery partition. I will sell this laptop in probably 1-1.5 years and I would like to be able to restore the settings to factory ones.

What is more, in the future I would like to install Ubuntu as well, but Windows goes first.

At the moment discs and partitions look like below (sorry for non English screen):

DISC 0:

• 500 MB – recovery partition
• 300 MB – system partition
• 442.22 GB – Drive C: – Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary partition
• 21.64 GB – recovery partition
• 1.00 GB – recovery partition

DISC 1:

• 9.00 GB – primary partition
• 13.24 GB – primary partition

Which partitions can I format and which of them should I preserve?

Can I format and merge partitions from that 24 GB ExpressCache and install Windows on it?

Answer 1

I have the same laptop.

You can format the 24GB ExpressCache without a problem, though it may not be a good idea to format the recovery partition without backing it up first—it will run fine, but if something happens to Windows you can't reinstall without paying Samsung for a new image.

Dual booting is a problem on a UEFI system. You can Live boot from a USB with no problem, as long as you turn off 'Secure Boot' or whatever it's called in the BIOS settings. I've tried installing various Linux systems on the 24GB SSD, I can't figure out how to boot into them.

Answer 2

if you wanne use the express cache ssd you could try following at 1st.

1) backup/clone/image of your express cache partition (just for a later recover in case u need it or wanne sale ur book). Reason .. the partition is used for MBR and stores the Win recovery files.

2) format the express cache and asign a usual drive letter (C:D .. your choice) Reboot and check your bios setup. Now you should see the SSD and the express cache as regular drives.

in case you have some issues regarding installation play a bit with the settings (AHCI manual mode and so on)

Rest refers to Linux & Win dual boot you can find by google. key words "dual boot linux windows". there are some "how to" what you should consider and how its done by best practice.

hopefully my comment brings you forward.

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