Help with G74

[Cerealkiller]

Hey everyone.. First off thanks for looking at my post even if you cant/dont help me lol..

Ok so I was watching a movie when my laptop started to shut down all programs.. I honestly just thought that it was a windows update. But then when it started to restart it would get to the Windows loading screen and the freeze for like 1 sec then go to the infamous blue screen.. I would post what the blue screen says but it literally just flashes for 1 sec and i cant even read what it says.. Ive tried multiple things to make it load.. Safe mode, windows repair(which i cant even do.. lol), tried to reformat the HD but couldnt do that either... Any help would be greatly appreciated, Im totally lost on what to do and the last thing I wanna do is take it to a comp store for them to fix it and me pay for it.. Thanks everyone for trying to help..

any questions or ideas just ask and ill answer to the best of my abilities.. Thanks Gents

[dstrakele]

Hi @Cerealkiller! I like that handle...did you put down a bathtub full of Kellog's Crunchy Nut this morning?

Sorry to hear of your bootup issue. You report you were unable to reformat the HDD. How did you attempt to do that and what error(s) did you receive? Inability to format the HDD sounds like your HDD may have died.

Can you boot into the BIOS by pressing F2 at the ASUS splash screen and see if your HDD is recognized? I'd also try opening the back of your G74SX and reseating the HDD and RAM sticks.

I also recommend running memtest86+ (http://rog.asus.com/127362012/overclocking/memtest-user-guide-for-rog-motherboards/) to confirm your memory is sound.

[Cerealkiller]

Thanks for the quick reply Dstrakele.. Ha yea I actually do like that cereal.. ok so im pretty sure I could reformat i but i kinda dont want too.. lol but if thats the only solution then I will do it.. When i put a windows cd in it boots up to the format page.. but havent gone all the way with the reformat... I tried reseating the HDD and ram sticks.. The memtest86 i cant run since i cant use my comp(im using my friends g75 lol).. Should i just go ahead and try reformatting it? also when i press f2 it goes to that page but not sure if it sees my HDD.. lol sorry

any suggestions?

[dstrakele]

I wish I had a bowl of it right now....

I agree wih you. I think it's best to exhaust all options to repair your current Windows 7 installation. Do you see your OS partition as a drive to select when you get to the installation destination or format part of the Windows installation?

I recommend booting with the Windows 7 disk and trying the repair options discussed in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html. Be sure to note the requirements of the Windows installation disk with respect to the Windows installation you're attempting to repair as discussed in that article. You can obtain the Windows version you need from Digital River as a .ISO file and burn it to DVD if your current Windows disk is not the correct one for the repair.

[Cerealkiller]

haha me too...

But when I get to the windows cd page from the boot options.. It doesnt have a repair option and only 1 of my HDD shows.. So im assuming that one of them is dead which would be horrible lol.. The HDD it shows said it has 500GB free lol.. Should i just go and reformat that HDD? sorry if the questions seem retarded lol.. also the windows cd i have is a copy my friend made for me.. i bought the laptop from Craigslist lol..

[dstrakele]

Cerealkiller wrote:
...only 1 of my HDD shows..

That's the key. If you can't get the drive to be recognized, it is likely to have died. As I posted earlier, you can open the back of G74SX and remove and reseat the HDD's to their SATA connectors (and you may as well reseat the memory while you're at it) and see if it changes your bootup behavior.

In the worst case scenario, you can install Windows 7 to your other HDD and then see if it's possible to access any files on the former boot drive. You can choose to install Windows 7 to one of the current partitions or create a new partition by shrinking an existing partition on that drive. I would recommend creating a smaller partition to use as a 'maintenance' instance of Windows 7 as a dual boot setup on your system.

If you are uncomfortable performing these tasks, enlist the aid of one of your computer-knowledgeable friends to help you. You don't want to make the situation worse. It's difficult for me to help without being there to see what's happening...

[Cerealkiller]

ok so i reseated the HDD and the ram.. still didnt work so i just decided to take out the HDD that isnt working and in the process of doing a fresh windows install on the other HDD.. ill let you know what happens. lol also thanks for all the help and assistance.. lol.. probably a stupid question but is there anyway i could take stuff out of the HDD that didnt work?

[dstrakele]

If you put it back in the laptop, you could see if you could access the disk from Windows Explorer on your new Windows installation. You could also try some of the file recovery utilities available on the internet. They typically require you're able to access the drive, however.

There are disk recovery services that can recover files from a dead or even reformatted drive, but they cost mucho $$$, and if you aren't willing to pay for computer repair shop services, there's no way you're gonna be able to afford any of those guys...

[Cerealkiller]

thanks for all the help man.. im gonna try putting it back in and accessing it somehow.. lol... its back and running after the fresh install.. but I have one more question/favor to ask.. haha.. can you paste a link to get my laptop back to like factory settings? like all the drivers and stuff up to date? if you cant or dont want to no worries.. your help this far has been greatly appreciated lol..

[dstrakele]

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?5224-Drivers-Apps-and-How-to-s&country=&status= is a good place to start for G74SX drivers, but even it has fallen somewhat out of date.

Start with the Intel Chipset driver package. http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?19481-Intel-Chipset-Drivers-v9.3.0.1021&country=&status= discusses the latest Intel Chipset release.

After installing the Chipset drivers, I recommend installing the ATK Package driver set to bring back function key functionality. I typically install all drivers except the Intel Chipset driver package from Safe Mode to disable Antivirus and other running drivers that may potentially interfere with driver installations.

The stock WiFi card on G74SX systems varies with model#. It is either Atheros or Intel with WiMAX. If you don't know, you can look at the "Hardware IDs" value in the "Details" tab, of the "Properties" of your Wireless Network Adapter under "Network Adapters" in Device Manager.

The touchpad could most likely be Sentelic, but could possibly be Synaptics. Again, the "Hardware IDs" value may help you differentiate. The specs for your specific G73SX-XXXX model on an internet lookup may also help. Be aware if you install the device driver from the wrong manufacturer, that device will not function correctly.

You can visit the NVIDIA website to get the latest 304.79 BETA video driver, it seems to work well for most folks. Same for the Realtek audio driver, and Fresco Logic USB 3.0 driver. While you're at the Realtek site, you could also download the most recent Ethernet driver for your laptop.

You may need to install the Atheros Bluetooth driver if you have that WiFi card.

You'll need to install the Card Reader driver if you want to use that device. You can get it from the link in the first thread I referenced.

Go slowly and REBOOT after installing each driver.

I'be been using Microsoft Security Essntials and Malwarebytes for virus/malware protection. Any of the ASUS Bloatware apps may be downloaded from the ASUS website.