After having successfully installed Windows 7 on my test PC I thought I would try another machine, after some encouragement via followers on Twitter I decided to give it a try on my old Samsung Q1 UMPC. This is the original Q1 with 1GB of RAM and a Celeron M processor and I have had it running Windows Vista, at first after installation the performance was ok but after a while it has become unusable so I was interested to see if Microsoft’s claims about Windows 7 running well on Netbooks was true (I know the Q1 is not a Netbook but the spec is similar)
First of all I should say that getting Vista to run on the Q1 was a challenge, the touch drivers, sound, bluetooth and video drivers were all hard to find, but I did find this very useful guide. So I was expecting similar pain with Windows 7…
My first problem was for some reason my external DVD drive would not work, this is not a Windows 7 problem just a dodgy DVD drive. So I had to install Windows 7 over the network, once I got it started it was very much like the Windows Vista installation, the whole process took about two hours including copying the image over the network.
One the system had started up I found that the wireless network, bluetooth and wired network drivers had all be found which was better situation than when I installled Vista. However the touchscren and video drivers had not been detected. To get the video drivers working I used the video drivers from Samsung’s download page which worked ok. To get the touchscreen working I used the brilliant guide which worked a treat. I couldn’t (and still can’t) get the sound drivers working but I will keep working on that. First Windows used its own drivers which would not playback audio so I then tried the drivers that I used with the Vista installtion but Windows 7 said it had disabled the driver for compatibly reasons, I have tried XP drivers and other version but with no luck.
Once I had it up and running I found the performance to be very good, faster than Vista so I will be interested to see how it performances is with continued use. The PDC build contains the updated version of Windows Media Center which also worked ok on the Q1 but a video problem seems to stop it working in full screen
The improved touchscreen features make Windows 7 better to use on the Q1 so if I can get the sound working I think my Q1 will be coming me rather than being stuck in my draw.
I will have a video of it working up later and if you have any questions fire away
A extra long show for you this week as Garry ... 
I recorded this quick chat with Boxee at CES ... 
Samsung Smart TVs have a range of apps and one ... 
Welcome to Show 100!
Well, we made it! We got together ...
hey – nice review – I have a Q1Ultra – and was thinking of putting win7 on there.
Do you know if the Q1 hw is capable of multi-touch – this is what Im really interested in trying out?
no I don’t think it it. HP’s touchsmart is I think
damm – i thought my UMPC was finally going to be useful for something (my iPhone gets all the love now – and the UMPC is collecting dust)…
Thanks for putting some time into verifying the claim that it works well on lower powered devices! Glad to hear they’re moving in the correct direction
Ian Dixon (Media Centre MVP, UK) has been playing with Windows 7 a bit and has successfully installed
I commented over on the greenbutton, but I thought I would post here as well. I can’t believe how much better my Samsung Q1 ultra runs with Windows 7 build 6801.
As I said over on the greenbutton, I have a Samsung Q1 ultra with 1 gig of ram. Everything worked out of the box. I updated the video and touch drivers however that was just to try them.
After the initial update that was pushed out my machine took 10 minutes to reboot the next 3 times. But after that all is well again. I
It’s insane that a beta version runs so much better. It’s still a resource pig using just a tad over 550 megs with no other apps running, but you wouldn’t know it when using the computer.
Thank you Ian for giving it a try and letting everyone know. Sorry for not being able to offer alot of help inregards to your sound problem.
I hope your enjoying the site redesign, don’t forget to add me as a friend on the site. All blog readers…
Is H.264 implemented for Media Center into this build?
Yes ben it has
Nice. Did you (or anyone) tried using the Hauppauge HD-PVR for viewing/recording ? I guess a new driver would be needed for MC to work with the HD-PVR…
I just finished installing windows 7 as well on the same device and I got stuck on the same issue. The soundmax audio driver just does not work with this OS yet. One go around that you might be interested in is that i got the motorolla s9 bluetooth headset to work so at least i can listen to audio that way. Annother (lame) solutition would be using a usb audio card, which would hog a slot but at least it would work untill new drivers are released.
-Good luck
Pingback from Windows 7 hope for UMPCs. Worry for Linux. Not for MIDs. | UMPCPortal – The Ultra Mobile Computing reference site
Pingback from Windows 7 en un Q1P | Mobility Site
Pingback from Samsung Q1 UMPC runs Windows 7 on Celeron-M better than Vista ever could – SlashGear
Congratulations on getting this up and running. I’m trying to do the same with my Q1 Ultra but I’m struggling a bit and could do with some pointers.
I don’t have a CD drive so I’m trying to boot from the network. I can boot a network boot disk (thanks to this article http://www.freewarereview.info/2007-06/tftpd32_for_windows_-_unleash_the_pxe_bios_network_boot_feature_within.html) but the Broadcom 440x NIC drivers won’t load so I can’t get any further.
Do you have any tips or resources that might help me?
Thanks!
ps. I’m PXE booting from Bart’s Network Boot Disk (http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/)
I got it installed by running the install over a network share from while Vista was still installed on it
could you boot from a USB stick?
I’m going to try booting from USB. I’m interested in your network method – can you elaborate?
Thanks.
I had Vista already installed on the Q1 so it was easy to to to share out the cd from another machine
So you did an upgrade?
no it was a full install and it keeps a copy of the old install in windows.old
Up and running now, thanks.
Everything seems to be working well with the exception of Aero. It won’t even let me have Aero basic!
have a search for the bluebadge tool for Windows 7 and give it a try
I’ve already tried that – no luck!
FYI, the official Win7 beta build works great on the Q1. I’ve got Ultimate up and running using only drivers from Samsung’s site. The Vista Soundmax drivers work for audio and the XP touch screen drivers work for the touch screen. You’ll have to set two registry values to keep the touch screen from stopping to work when the screen times out for sleep (see http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2006/10/vistagami_part__1.html)
that is good news, i am going to give it a try
I’ve still got the original XP installation on my Q1, and I cannot get any sound out of the loudspeakers in normal mode. (No, the speakers aren’t muted, and yes the volume is switched up.)
If I plug in earphones, that works, and if I boot into AV station that works. Installing the latest XP drivers from the Samsung site does not help.
Any ideas
I was able to get Windows 7 installed on my Q1P. Everything works except for a small problem with the touch screen. I can select/tap/click on the right most section of the screen. If I have a mouse attached, the cursor will move right up to the bezel. I am using the Vista video drivers.
I can also confirm, almost all works in Q1 well with Windows 7, with above “Fu” drivers selection. Even without registry manuall settings.
Media Center freezes Q1 completely (I couldn’t access Task Manager by hardware reset button, access nothing, only remove battery and reboot) some time, when some video codec (I think: not installed) try to open.
On-screen keyboard I have to active after every boot. (why it’s not recognized with TabletPC automatically?) It’s not hard, but takes several loooong seconds. Just wonder: activating on-screen keyboard should take several seconds?
I installed from second partition directly. Unpacked .iso to the second partition and run setup.exe to begin Windows7 installation. no problems at all. only you can manually activate on-screen keyboard to write installation serial.
JGUI, can you tap on the right most part of your screen?
i can’t then is a a gap where I can’t get the touchscreen to work
whew…then it’s not just me. if i find a solution, i’ll post it here.
Victor, I don’t know what do you mena :right part”? I can tap in any place on the screen. the small button beside the clock too (to show clear desktop).
well, I observed that the touch driver stopped to work after a while of inactivity. So I decide to manuall change some registry keys.
one irritates me: when I start the system, or back from hibernate mode, I have to write password every time. initially there is no on-screen kayeboard. I have to tap small icon on the bottom-left part of welcome screen, it displays Easy of Access dialog, I have to select the feature, to activate on-screen keyboard every time. I tried to mark it on control panel but it lost.
JGUI, I can’t tap on the show desktop button. What version of the driver are you using? I’m using the “Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family” for Vista, version 6.14.10.4764.
sound works well for me on q1 with windows 7 beta and winxp drivers from samsung site. don’t know why you couldn’t get it working. so now all devices work.
tried the xp drivers and it didn’t help. i still can’t select the last 1/4 of a inch of the right hand of my touchscreen before the bezel. i am working around it when i increased the width of the vertical scroll bar to 20.
figured it out! using information from this post (http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=4766&forum=17&post_id=25111#forumpost25110), i installed the tsp calibration utility. once i ran it and rebooted, i can get right up to the edge of the bezel.
Hi All,
Juat installed windows 7 beta on my Q1 most things are fine apart from a couple of things. Has anyone got the different screen resoloutions to work? Also is there anyway of calibrating the touch screen?
Thanks Mick.
Hi,
My Q1 is the original version 900mhz celeron prossesor 40gig hd and 1gb of ram, can anyome tell me if i will i be able to upgrade the ram to 2gb now that i have windows 7 running on it?
Also on samsung update site there’s a firmware bios update for vista here,
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/download/supportDown.do?group=&type=&subtype=&model_nm=NP-Q1&disp_nm=NP-Q1&language=&cate_type=all&dType=D&mType=FM&vType=L&prd_ia_cd=
Do i need to install that?
Thanks in advance for any help, Mick
Mick, I haven’t tried it but I have read you can install 2gb of ram without any problems.
Has anybody found there Q1 locks up? on the m3 build mine does so I am going to try the beta and see that that does
Not sure annybody is still active here.
I installed 2 gig just fine on my samsung NP-Q1/m01/suk..
No problem!
Do the hardware buttons work with windows 7? that’s still a hold back for me.
Does anybody use windows 7 as their main OS on this device or is everybody just playing?
I didn’t get the hardware buttons working and I didn’t get the sound working either
I am using Windows 7 on some other devices and its working great
I have one of the original Samsung Q1s. It became faulty through I think a registry cleanup that went wrong. The screen did not react to the stylus. I have tried to re-install the operating system from the recovery disc. Now it gets half way through this operation and freezes because the USB keyboard is not being recognised. I have a copy of Windows 7 build 7057 X86 and i am wondering if I try and install this whether i might solve the problem. When I start with the AVS it works perfectly including the touchscreen.
Any ideas would be very gratefully received.
Rob I would recommend doing a clean install of Windows 7
Sorry to be a nuisance. Do I try and format the q1 or just run a Windows 7 installation disc through the USB port?
you can try that or put the disk in another machine on the network and try running it via the network
Hello, I just calibrate the Touchscreen of my Q1 Celeron 900 using this eGalax Windows 7 beta driver http://home.eeti.com.tw/web20/eGalaxTouchDriver/W7Driver.htm
Hello, I made the windows 7 on Q1 too. But I wondered is it bettter to upgrade the memory to 2GB. Can anybody comment? Thanks.
How are folks getting on with windows 7 on there q1′s thinking of doing this myself..
Better TV, Faster Internet and Smarter Phone. Lightning-fast Internet speeds, best HD picture quality, more HD On Demand choices and the ability to check….>>>>>>>>>>
Verizon FIOS TV
Verizon FIOS TV Deals
u can ttly get the sound drivers from the samsung download page