Asus G73JH-RBBX05 from Cowboom Refurb Recovery Disk

Ok so I got this refurb G73JH in the mail from Cowboom.com today and I love it. I wasn't surprised to find that it came with no recovery media, so the first thing I tried to do was make some recovery DVD's when I booted up. Unfortunately, the Asus AI Recovery Burner couldn't detect a recovery partition.
First I called Asus support. They told me to use Windows Backup and Restore Center (no thanks). I pressed the service representative for recovery disks, only to be told that Asus can't ship them to end users. He told me to contact Cowboom instead.
So I called Cowboom. They told me that when they recieve refurbished laptops for resale, they wipe them clean. In their process they must wipe the whole hard drive (DBAN maybe?) instead of just wiping the Windows partition. They don't have recovery DVD's in their possesion. I asked them if they can get them, to which they replied I would have to email Cowboom Support to make that request. Here is the email I sent:

I am writing after speaking to Lauren at customer service to inquire if you can request recovery DVD's from Asus for the refurbished laptop I purchased from Cowboom.com. My invoice number is 3xxxxxx and the laptop model number is Asus G73JH-RBBX05. I already contacted Asus directly and they said they can't ship recovery DVD's directly to end users. To me this implied that resellers such as Best Buy or Cowboom.com may have them sent instead, then send them to customers such as myself.
I appreciate your support and I'm sure I'm not the only customer who could benefit from finding out this information. I'm a member of notebookreview.com and I'll be informing the community there of my progress with this issue as I've seen others who also need recovery DVD's.
I didn't get the last name of my customer service representative, Lauren, but she did a superb job of taking care of my complaint and I'd recommend her to any other Cowboom.com customers in need of customer service. Thanks and good luck contacting Asus.

Whenever I hear back from them I'll update the thread.

 

I have the ISO images if you care for them.

 

An almost immediate response from support:

Dear Mic Man,

Thank you for contacting us. We do list on the individual items what is or isn't included. If recovery disks were not included then that would have been listed. Are you stating that the applications driver disks were stated as included?

INVOICE: 3xxxxxx

Thank you,
Luis

Cowboom Customer Support

And my just as quick reply:

I'm not stating that disks were included. I was assuming they wouldn't be. However, when laptops aren't shipped with recovery disks, customers always have the option to make them or restore to factory settings with a hidden recovery partition. This hidden recovery partition must have been deleted during the refurbishing process. My guess is that when the technician wiped the hard drive, they wiped all of it instead of only wiping the partition with Windows on it. This would have erased the recovery partition and any chance at making recovery disks. So since the recovery partition is obviously not recoverable at this point, I thought the best option would be to ask Asus for recovery DVD's. When I asked they said they can't send recovery disks to end users so it's up to you guys. Thanks for your quick response.

 

If it comes to that I might take you up. Thanks for offering.

 

The conclusion from Cowboom:

Dear,

Thank you for contacting us. We delete the hard drives of all data for security purposes to make sure that there is no user data on them. That is why a unit will include the license key but not the partition. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I knew from the beginning this might be a fantasy, but I had to try. Chastity, I'd love the iso files but I think your product key is probably programmed in right? Maybe I can just get the drivers and apps iso from you? Thanks a bunch.

 

Check your PM

 

I have a G73JH-RBBX05 from Best Buy. Those didn't come with recovery discs or drivers either. May I get a copy of them also please?

 

You might want to try running the AI recovery burner first if you can. It's under Asus Utilities in the start menu. If that doesn't work for some reason, beg Best Buy to give them to you, and if that doesn't work... you're right where I found myself Yesterday afternoon.

 

Here. Seems I can't PM you. I was never here.

 

Thank you, thank you!

 

I am in the exact same boat. I bought a refurbed G73 & it appears the Recovery Partition has been deleted making it impossible to make recovery DVD's. Hopefully the disk I burned from Windows Backup & Restore will be adequate if I need it.

*edit* Ok, so I found out the disk from Windows Backup & Restore is useless. Anyone know how to re-install the recovery partition? I really would like to do a clean install of Windows.

 

THANKS! Bought a G73JH-RBBX05 from an armed forces member yesterday off CL, but because of limited moving weight, etc. he did not retain the original discs. The up is much appreciated.

 

Guess Im in the same boat with a U50F ...
I was surprised to find no recovery partition. We have purchased refurbs from other manufacturers and they were always brought back to factory spec including the recovery partition. And that includes a couple of brands that nobody has any respect for any more.

Asus customer service stinks but I actually got them to agree to wipe the HD, and add recovery partition when they reinstalled the system.
The recovery software was still present on the machine and I used that fact as the basis for getting them to agree to send me an RMA and do the reinstall. My argument was that the refurb is supposed to be back to factory spec and if there is no possible way for me to use the included software because of the lack of the partition, then it was NOT returned to factory spec.
By the way, the express gate or whatever the mini operating system is called also was not loaded when the refurbed the machine.

Unfortunately, there are other issues with the machine and I will be returning it to the seller rather than counting on ASUS to actually fix everything. It took me almost an hour on the phone with them to convince them to format the HD and reinstall the OS and partition. I dont want to have to deal with them again when the Laptop is returned with any or all of the other problems still present.

My first post and it ends up being a book. Sorry. Maybe it will help someone else though.

Wish I knew about this stuff before I bought the Notebook. I wouldnt have bothered if I knew that this was the way ASUS did things.

 

FYI: My 3rd sig link has a whole CowBoom section

 

I thought that we didn't see you. Props on providing the Iso for those that need it.

 

What CowBoom did with the total lack of recovery options was totally uncool, so I felt it needed to be addressed. On the upside, Asus' G73JH driver page is improving. They even have the Creative software on there now.

 

There's refurbished G73 already?
They must be GSOD units that were returned, how are theyfunctioning right now? Did Asus actually fix the GSOD for good?
If so, this could be quite a bargain, $1000 for an almost new G73 with GSOD fixed preemptively. I may just retire my g50 and get one.

 

Hello Chastity,
I have a ASUS G73jh-A1 and it didn't come with system or driver disks. My blue keys and overclocking software stoped working. Can you please send me a copy of the factory disks too?

Thanks so much
[email protected]

 

Well so far anyway whatever used to be wrong with my cowboom G73, its fine now. I've already put it through 2 fresh installs, and I did a fresh install on a friend's cowboom G73 too. No problems for either of us. I've always known getting a refurb is risky, but at least I knew about the risk ahead of time instead of buying a brand new laptop only to find it crashes all the time. If this one ever starts having issues, the money I saved buying it refurb should cover replacement parts.

 

Do you still have those ISO files?, Because if you do I would appreciate them greatly.

 

Try to look at this page. http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/428068-legal-windows-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html#post5437866 Then just use the key at the bottom of your g73. A fresh install has always been better. And this is for the drivers, http://pcaudio.org/stuff/DRIVER_CD_WIN7_10_AsusG73JH.rar Chastity gave this link earlier.

 

hey do you still have an copy of that ISO for the G73JH? i really really need one right now.

 

Shh it''s hiding .. G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH! ive been spending the last 48 hours looking for this. hope this fixes it

 

Can u Send me those iso images please. Ive been tryin to get my driver right on my g73jh-bst7 for a week and still no luck. I just signed up to ask you this but I will keep an eye out. thank you

 

Dodds won't have been on the forum for 3 years, they won't respond which is why a necro thread is a bad thing to raise.