[Resolved] My Asus laptop is being stupid

[hpluls]

I have an Asus K50IJ laptop which was purchased at the end of 2009. Three weeks ago, I went on a trip and took the laptop with me. The place where I stayed at turned out to have no WiFi, so the laptop spent three weeks lying basically unused on the shelf (I did turn it on once to check if I could find any wireless network, and it worked perfectly fine at that time). Today, I came back home and attempted to turn the laptop on. The first thing that welcomed me was the "This copy of Windows 7 may not be original" (while I run a fully legal copy of Win 7 Home Premium, upgraded from Vista). A window came up offering me to "purchase a legal copy of Windows 7", but having done that half a year ago, I clicked Cancel. The loading seemed to take a little bit longer than it usually does, but in the end, Windows loaded. I tried to open my browser, but it froze the system, so I turned it off by holding the power button for 6 seconds. When I turned the laptop on again, it showed nothing but a black screen saying "A disk read error occured. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart". I tried doing that, but it just shows up the same message. Same when I tried turning it off with the power button and turning it back on. What should I do?

[Sponge]

Sounds like the update Microsoft released screwed over your computer. Same happened to Jazz' laptop. If you can get into safe mode (Start the computer up and then mash the F8 key) uninstall the latest updates and try that again.

 

If the "Disk Read Error" error message comes up even before you can select safe mode, contact Asus about it and get them to fix it (If it's in warranty!) If it's not under warranty no more, unscrew the back of the HDD enclosure and take the HDD out (Should just be able to slide it out with ease) Then blow on the Data and Power connectors on both the motherboard and the hard drive itself. That should clear any dust out of the way

 

Put the HDD back in and try again. If you still get the error, 'Tis a Windows Reinstall, I'm afraid.

 

If you can't even install windows without the DRE, your HDD is kaputt :(

 

Good luck

[Robban93]

Virus! jk

 

Had sort of the same problem here on my Asus G71gx. I had that WiFi problem, but i resolved it by pressing the Fn button and F2(Fn+F2). That disk error, im sorry but i am afraid you have to formate your HDD mate. You should NEVER hold down the power button if Windows frizzes. I had to i formate my system like four times,because of that. Until i found about it.. (usually happens when im using (of used)Firefox)

 

For that legal win 7 thing, i dunno. If you have used the same key on a different computer, that may be the reason for that message to appear.

 

hope that helps ya;)

[hpluls]

Thanks for the help ;) Yeah, the error apears before I can even enter safe mode, so mashing F8 just produces a bunch of weird PC Speaker noises. I think it's still on warranty, so I guess I gotta send it to Asus.

 

I really hope my stuff didn't get wiped out, as I never made a spare copy of Windows due to not having any clean DVDs at hand... so I'm pretty much screwed if my HDD did go belly up >.<

[Robban93]

two HDD spaces saved me from sending my top-lap to Asus:snack:

[Sponge]

If you send it to Asus, your HDD will be wiped by company policy. If it can be fixed, that is. If the HDD can't be fixed, then it's a simple swap over to a working HDD. Unless you can convince Asus to send you the broken drive for salvaging reasons, Say goodbye to your data :(

 

Sorry mate

[Camel]

Basically what Sponge said, the hard drive has failed. When/if you ring Asus up about it, you could try asking them if they offer a data recovery service so that you don't lose most of your data.

[hpluls]

Thanks for the replies ;)

 

I just remembered that I have the "Vista to 7" upgrade disc that I got from Asus as a part of a free upgrade program. I'm currently trying to install that, probably a stupid move seeing as the HDD is (probably) dead, but worth trying. If it doesn't work, I'll take it to the computer store tomorrow to have it repaired. I can live without my data, most of it was just Photoshop crap that I made, plus I stuck most of it on the net anyway so it can be recovered. Good thing I found that Windows disc.

[Sponge]

Tell Asus about it, if it's still in warranty. That'll be free for you. If you take it to a store (unless that's where you got the laptop from) then you'll most probably have to pay for it yourself.

[hpluls]

I bought the computer online. I'm pretty sure the store I'm taking it to honors warranty papers. If not, then I'll send it to Asus...

 

Installing Windows obviously failed, the hard drive is most definitely dead.

[killalldude]

As everyone else said, something went wrong with the hard drive. Does the hard drive at least power on? If so, I have this great program that can recover most of the lost information. Thing is, you should be able to use the command prompt ;).

[hpluls]

The HDD light does blink, so I guess it powers on...

[Robban93]

i also had that exact same message, but as i had 2 HDD spaces, i also had 2 HDD's.

That made me opening my laptop, switch those HDD's with each other, install vista on my second HDD(as now where primary). But when i tried to see if i could recover my data, it say'd that i had to format it.

So i did.

Turns out that i wasn't dead, but just corrupted and got fix'd.

 

well.. thats what happend to me..

so, don't be 100% shure that its dead;)

 

if you send it in, they will most likely ask if you want to save your files, and after some days(maybe a week), they'll send you a brand new HDD;)

[Ryzza5]

Sounds like the HDD got damaged during your travels.

 

Since the HDD was damaged, Windows couldn't read the files that confirm that your software is legit - so it said that it may not be genuine. The next time you booted up it couldn't even read the files needed to boot Windows.

 

You could purchase a external 2.5" HDD box (i.e. like buying an external HDD, but with no HDD included - you only want the case and cables) so that you can remove the HDD from your laptop, and connect it via USB to another PC. That way you can try to retrieve data from it.

 

Once completed, if the laptop is under warranty, get your supplier or ASUS to replace the HDD. Otherwise, you will have to buy your own new HDD and will need to reinstall Windows and all your other software.

[hpluls]

Sounds like the HDD got damaged during your travels.

 

Since the HDD was damaged, Windows couldn't read the files that confirm that your software is legit - so it said that it may not be genuine. The next time you booted up it couldn't even read the files needed to boot Windows.

 

Hmm, that's what I initially thought... Guess lying on the back seat of the car wrapped in a plastic bag over hundreds of kilometers of bumpy roads didn't do it good (I need to get a case :fp:).

 

Since the majority of things I kept on it were my photos (which I have backups of) and Photoshop stuff (which can be retrieved from the Internet), I'm now considering formatting the disc myself and reinstalling Windows. Since the drive powers on (the HDD light blinks and I can hear it spinning inside), there's a possibility it just got corrupted or something (as BMW_Robert said). The thing is, do you have to put the HDD into another PC, or can it be done using BIOS? If so, how? (The BIOS is American Megatrends something, if that helps). Thanks in advance.

[Sponge]

You can use an XP disk. The disk has a formatting tool on it by default (it asks you to select a partition then if you want to format the drive, or leave it intact)

 

If not, you can easily find a free tool on t'internet to burn to a CD. That'd do it for you. But if you do format, your Win7 upgrade disk won't work, as it's an upgrade disk. You'll need a full install version of Win7, or somehow find a genuine copy of Vista, then upgrade it.

 

If you send it back to the store, you should get a new HDD to the exact specification of your current one (IE same size, vista pre-installed)

[hpluls]

Hmm... Yesterday I tried putting the upgrade disc in the PC and changing the booting priority so that it would boot the DVD first (I forgot to mention that I found out how to enter my BIOS - it's F2, not F8. That's why I couldn't get into it at first). It loaded the installer screen (the one with the language selector), I even tried to install Windows to see what would happen, but because the drive was corrupted, it just stayed at the "initiating installer, please wait" screen. Not sure which of the following was the cause: the malfunctioning drive, or the fact it was an upgrade disc.

 

I also found something called an "ASUS Recovery Disc", which came with the laptop. It supposedly has all the stuff that was preinstalled on the HDD in the factory. I highly doubt it has Vista itself on it, but I might try running the disc now and see what's on it. Maybe it has the stuff I need...

[Rebuilda]

I repair laptops and PC's for a living, including forensic data recovery.

One of the first steps we use is a program called the hard drive regenerator. This ignores all types of file systems and works on the surface of the disk byte for byte.

I assume you have access to another PC or laptop as you have been on here.

Google 'hirens', download the ISO file for the latest version. Make sure you check it for viruses before trying to burn it onto a CD. This will create a bootable CD on which the program is stored (along with loads of other useful stuff) load the 'hirens boot disk' choice from the menu, select hard drive tools, HDD regenerator from the dos style menu system. This program can recover bad sectors on the hard drive. Its easy to work with and a good place to start when trying data recovery.

If this doesn't work post back here and there are other tools that can be tried.

The most important thing is that the bios of the computer can see the hard drive and identify it correctly. Normally if this is ok the the HDD can be recovered.

[hpluls]

Thanks for the help, will definitely try it.

 

I tried inserting the Asus Recovery Disc thing, and it seems like it does have Vista on it, seeing as it showed the "Windows is loading files" bar, followed by the Vista loading bar (just like the Win 7 upgrade disc did). The thing is, I inserted the disc about half an hour ago and as of now it shows nothing but the Windows cursor on a black screen. I also can't hear the disc spinning or anything. Guess I'll have to try the hirens program.

 

EDIT: I downloaded Hiren's BootCD, but I'm confused as to which file to burn on the CD... There is a file called "Hiren's.BootCD.10.6.iso" (probably the ISO file you're talking about), but it's actually a RAR file... Here's a screenshot from the archive I downloaded, you can see the file on it.

 

 

And here's what the "iso" file contains:

 

 

Which one should I burn? :confused:

[Ryzza5]

ISO files are a snapshot of the contents of the disc. Since this is a bootable disc, you do not want to simply extract the files from the ISO and burn them, as it more than likely won't be bootable this way.

 

If you are using Nero Burning ROM, you can click File - Open, select the ISO file, and burn it. You could also use Freeware such as CD Burn XP to burn it.

 

Still not sure? - http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/burnisofile.htm

 

Is the laptop still under warranty?

[Sponge]

The ISO burning utility that I always swear by is PowerISO. Free to use (Unless you're making an ISO..) And is very easy to use. Give that a try if you can't get anything else to work.

[Ryzza5]

Hehe, I use PowerISO mainly for mounting and creating my own bootable discs from scratch.

[hpluls]

I rang the Asus tech support today and got it sorted out. The hard drive works perfectly fine now, restored Vista on it, currently installing Win 7. Thanks to everyone who helped ;)

[Rebuilda]

Glad you got it sorted.

May I suggest making one of those hirens discs and keeping it safe 'just in case'.

[Immelmann]

I run a copy of Win 7

 

 

'nuff said.