Samsung Update, Update Plus, and Support Centre - request for explanation

[br1anst0rm]

I have a Samsung RF511 which came with various Samsung software programs as OEM installs.

These included Samsung Support Centre, Samsung Recovery, Samsung Update Plus, and at least seven other Samsung "Easy"programs: Easy Battery Manager, Easy Content Share, Easy Display Manager, Easy File Share, Easy Network Manager, Easy SpeedUpManager.

I have never knowingly used any of the "Easy" programs.

I have just upgraded the OEM Windows 7 to Windows 10.  The installer warned that the Samsung recovery program would not work under Win10, and removed it.

I now have some questions:

• can I safely delete the Samsung Recovery partition, since the program associated with it has been removed?
• is there any risk in uninstalling the various "Easy" programs, and any reason not to do so?  Do they have any links or dependencies upon which the laptop relies in order to operate?
• What is the position on the Samsung Support Centre?  It seems not to function:  it simply displays a popup message saying that this program  only deals with electronic products from Samsung Corporation (Yeah, right!) but does nothing else.  Is that program still functioning or has it been abandoned (the Samsung support website still offers it as a download)?
• Similarly, what is the position on the Samsung Update Plus program?  I have v.3.0.0.17.  It opens, but "cannot connect to the server".  Various online software download sites offer either Samsung Update (v.2.2.9.50 dated April 2020) or Samsung Update Plus (v.3.0.1.17 dated March 2015).
• to add further complication, the Microsoft Store offers a Samsung Update "app" for systems running Windows 10.  But all the reviews suggest that it will not install, or does not work, or even crashes the computer. 

The Samsung Support website offers no direct downloads of updated drivers for the RF511 laptop, only the original (2011) software.  Is someone from Samsung, or a knowledgeable user, able to clarify and explain these various different programs and support options and advise which are actually still operational and reliable as sources of updates?

[antikythera]

Don't bother with any of the Samsung utilities because you won't need them. If you can do so uninstall all of them. Windows 10 offers all the same features built in. Windows Update now delivers all driver updates

[antikythera]

If you signed into a Microsoft account during install of the upgrade and have activated it, you could take this a step further and do a clean install. With the W10 ISO boot it and choose Custom. Delete all the existing partitions and allow then select the empty space and allow W10 to create new ones. This will of course remove all programs and documents etc. so save the important stuff first to an external drive.

[br1anst0rm]

Thanks Antikythera....

I'm still looking at the option of a clean install of W10.  But (as you recognise) this requires saving all important data and then reinstalling programs and apps.  Not a task to be tackled lightly.  I did of course take an image backup before upgrading.  But I regard a clean install as a fallback, failsafe or "nuclear option".

I have deliberately not created a Microsoft account and have no plans to do so.  Win10 is digitally activated;  but I don't like the pervasive sync-ing, linking and data-harvesting that MS does.  I have likewise opted out on all the Win10 privacy settings.

It's been said by many that Windows Update in Win10 delivers all the necessary driver updates.  Sorry, not true - in my experience.  The touchpad problem I had, and possibly the wifi issue, were due to obsolete or incompatible drivers.  But Windows Update offered nothing, not even under the 'optional' tab. 

That's one reason why I wondered  if the Samsung Update program still functioned properly.  The Lenovo Update software on a ThinkPad 430 of similar age does the job well on that machine.  So the original question - does the Samsung Updater still operate, and if so which version? - still needs an answer. 

I'd also be interested in any comment on the badly-reviewed Samsung Update app in the MS Store.  If Windows takes care of updates, why is it offered at all?

[antikythera]

There is of course a limit. The drivers supplied by Windows Update have to be submitted by the manufacturers an depending on the age of the device you may as you have found come unstuck. I had an old laptop with an Intel wireless card that wasn't supported for W10 by Intel. Therefore Microsoft couldn't supply a driver either. You have the option of using a USB wireless adaptor or consider switching to Linux.

[br1anst0rm]

From browsing elsewhere in search of answers regarding Samsung laptops, the general impression seems to be that because Samsung has effectively ceased manufacturing and marketing laptops, they are not supporting those which they did produce.  Not impressive:  imagine what life would be like if makers of other products all took a similar approach!

But that still does not explain the mystery of why a Samsung Update app is offered in the MS Store as being appropriate for Win10, nor whether it actually provides a reliable update service.  Nor does it excuse the dismal lack of information on the Samsung Support website. 

Strangely, the wifi adapter in my Samsung RF511 seems now to be working under Win10 - so no plans to use a USB adapter.

And as to the point about Linux:  I'm already there, and have been for 5 years or more.  But it suits me to have Windows available - and with Win7 now at EoL, it made sense to move to Win10.