Failed SSD Install on g73-JH-A2

Hi guys,

Replaced main HDD with OCZ Vertex 120g, set bios to IDE instead of AHCI, and used the recovery disk software to copy what was on the previous HDD unto the SSD and ....it won't boot up. If I press ESC, I see the SSD and if I select it....Windows 7 (64bits version) starts but I end up with a red stricken ERROR caption across the screen with a hard reset boot necessary. I have been searching this site... but to no avail. Thanks for the input.

 

don't you have to reinstall W7 if changing HDD?
I dunno

 

You should be using AHCI.

I've installed an Intel 160GB SSD in my G71V-Q1. It will be NO different than what you are doing.

The recovery disks should be doing a clean install of Win 7. As you progress thru installation, choose clean install. You'll want to format your SSD in NTFS, it probably already is, but just to be on the safe side.

Once you complete the install, you'll install what drivers/bloatware you want to install.

In general, it is recommended you do a clean install onto an SSD (no, I don't have specific places to back that statement up, but it's in a few places).

Try setting to AHCI and retrying the install as opposed to a "recovery" from the old HDD.

 

Thanks for taking the time. I did revert back to AHCI and got the same result.

As for what you are proposing, I am having difficulty knowing how I can do a clean install. So far, every time I load the six dvd (burned with the AI recovery software loaded on the system) I see windows files loading up and then the copy process start until all six discs are copied onto my drive. Never it asks for a clean install. At the end, I boot up and it doesn't work. What am I missing?

 

AFTER the recovery discs are restored, the systems boot up, windows starts and ends up with a big red ERROR warning across the screen and a message which states that file c:/RECOVERY.DAT. can not open

 

My suggestion is to download the Microsoft Windows Home Premium x64 ISO file and install that (download onto a USB key).

Then, use the "key" on the bottom of the laptop to activate it (you might have to call on the phone to complete).

Good luck.

 

Is it just me or i find difficult to understand that people at ASUS have not foreseen such a problem when they decided to no include a proper DVD of Win7 along with a driver disk for doing a clean install? I have lost way too much time researching the internet...and still waiting for a validated how to in solving this problem....Sorry just venting... Good thing that I love this machine!!!

 

They just don't want people messing with the stock setup...

#1 - They want you to use the ASUS features and also subscribe to their online storage, etc...

#2 - Most "average joe's" have problems and then end up RMAing or calling customer service all day.

By not including the disc, they are increasing the odds that people will just leave the machine untouched.

 

And most of us understant why they do that ^^

If YOU FAIL because of not knowing what you do, get someone who knows what he is doing.
I seriously hate fix pc-s that were fcked up by pc noobs.

 

Sama,

Swapping a hard drive should be a fairly simple task, same as having the right to decide which real estate you want on your unit. If it's not, it needs to be said and solved.

 

got the same exact problem too tried every thing and was at my wits end when i changed out my hhd for an ssd (corsair p128) it would error out just like you mentioned. ended up using acronis true image to make an exact clone of the hhd to my ssd. acronis has the ability to take your 500gig 3 partition drive and shrink it down to fit into your 120 gig ssd. then use diskeeper to keep the performance up to speed. let me know if you need any further info

 

Hi azrail,

Saw your thread the other day but wasn't sure if it worked, or if you had bought another copy of win 7. Good, I'll try Acronis. Thanks

 

Wait, I'm not understanding something. You're installing the OS onto a blank (formatted) SSD and it's not loading properly? Are you using the single recovery disc that came with the machine?

I clean installed Win7 unto my SSD only using my Win7 upgrade disc.

 

Hi Forge,

It wasn't a blank SSD. I used it previously on my desktop and it worked fine with Win7. I formatted it again before installing it on my G73 and used the Asus software to create an image of my primary drive. By the way, Asus is not providing the single recovery disc anymore.

Following, Azrail suggestion I used Acronis to clone my HDD. I downloaded the trial version, replace the secondary drive with my formatted SDD, and....it gets even more complicated...being the noob that I am!

Acronis don't see my SSD even though Windows does.

Then, I tried installing a copy of Win 7 by just keeping the SSD in the G73, thereby removing the two original HDDs. Now, I get a message that no signed device drivers were found. The installation stops during the Collection Information stage of the Win7 install.

 

By now, I am starting to think that having a fast SDD will never make up for the time I lost on trying to solve this problem.

 

Correction,

First, windows install says no drives were found. Then it asks to load drivers to provide a mass storage driver for installation.

 

Yikes! It sounds like you're having a tough time. I purchased my A2 from Xotic PC and had them burn a special recovery and driver/bloatware disc set. The SSD went in cleanly formatted, applied the new firmware (have you done this part already??), then installed from discs. Easy, in and out.

Check that the firmware is properly flashed/updated, that the drive is formatted, that the drive is initialized and try to install from recovery instead of an image. If it still fails, put the original HDD back in.

 

I guessing, but it sounds like you need the Intel Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM) or the hard drive controller drivers. Windows can't provide a generic one that will work.

I suppose you could download the IMSM drivers from ASUS, and burn the unpacked archive to a (CD|DVD)-RW or place the unpacked archive on a USB thumb drive. When it again asks for the mass storage drivers, point to that.

 

Didn't update the software. the vertex came with the latest revision (1.5) and that drive installed fine on my win7 desktop.

 

It read the IMS driver from the thumbdrive but still, it can't find the drive to install Windows.

 

hmm...im at work right now but i will give you a rundown on what i did to get the machine booting from the ssd once i get off today

 

I read in another topic of someone not getting their ssd to show up. They had to go into bios and load defaults. Then the SSD was recognized.

 

this is a known issue with some pm55 and some hm55 chipsets from asus. Do the following
1. intitialize the ssd on your desktop.
2. format and make 1 partition on this drive on your desktop
3. now put it into your laptop and proceed with windows. this should work

 

update on kingston ssd drives and possibly others. If your g73 is not recognizing a newly installed ssd drive the issue is addressed here in the 2nd post http://btoforums.com/showthread.php?t=2669

 

alright this is what i did and it took me a couple of days (i even almost RMA'ed the SSD) first thing i noticed was the ssd was recognized in the bios so at least i knew the ssd was alive. but heres the kicker the laptop would not go into the bios with just the ssd installed. i would have to have both the hhd and the ssd installed to get the laptop to boot into the bios. once i figured that out i keeped the hhd with windows installed on the Right drive bay and the ssd on the Left drive bay. at this point i was booting into windows with the hhd. windows recognized the ssd, it let me write and read from it. i formatted the ssd using the windows drive manager and wiped the drive clean (ntfs, no partitions,)i restarted the computer and made the hhd the primary and the ssd the secondary once windows loged in again i then started acronis and had it clone the hhd to my ssd (great product im pretty sure you can find the full version for close to NOTHING) acronis has the option to scale down the 500 gig and all its partions (win7 makes 3) and all the info in said partions to fit inside the 120 gig ssd (most imaging apps only image drives to an equal or greater size drive and usually have problems tring to shrink the data into a smaller drive). acronis does the cloning before win7 boots up. if its just a fresh windows install it shouldnt take long for the cloning to finish. once done restart the computer and get into the bios. make the ssd your primary drive and disable your hhd. restart and windows should load from your ssd. open up My Computer and you should see 2 OS drives. right click and check the properties to find out wich one is the ssd. when you find your hhd use the windows disk manager to format it. and thats how i did it. like i said i took me 2 frustrating days to figure it out but i got it and now im a happy camper. hope this helps. let me know if you hit any bumps in the process

 

Thanks Gear, I did what you suggested in your posts but it still doesn't work. FYI, the drive is a OCZ Vertex 120G with firmware 1.5 in case you are wondering. A and it didn't have a problem with a sticker.

 

AZ,

great post and thanks for taking the time. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I formatted the drive with desktop than with the laptop like you suggested. So windows can see the disk. But after booting up, I started Acronis, press the clone disk tab and it said the process can only work with a second drive. In other words, even Acronis can't read the drive. Maybe, I missed something. Anyway, I just filed and RMA ticket with OCZ after speaking with a representative. They were gracious enough to have me send back the drive but that is going to take some time and I am not even sure that will be the end of it...More to follow. Again, if someone has suggestions....

 

sorry to hear that it didnt work. does the bios see the drive? do you have achi enabled in the bios? from what ive seen/read the ocz forums are pretty helpful. ive mainly used the corsair forums and thats were i got my start in troubleshooting my drive. but dont give up, the g73 is a beast with an ssd installed.

 

Either your drive is broken (unlikely) or you did not try both aproaches we had listed. i went through 3 different brands and over a dozen different drives. The instructions i linked you to covered all the bases. try it again

 

Again, thanks for all the input.

Az, as you suggested I went to the OCZ forum and posted my problem. It turns out Windows 7 creates a small partition....and to make it quick we need to delete this with an OCZ tool called sanitary erase. I did just that, cleared CMOS or rather reset the bios to default, used Acronis to copy the primary unto the SSD in secondary drive. I replaced the primary disk with the SSD. From there it went like a charm. Now running flawlessly.

Geared, put that into your arsenal since you seem to be a rigorous hack at this game. Thank Az for the suggestion concerning Acronis.

I feel a little less of a noob now...

 

Thanks! i think?? That was a compliment right?

 

no problem bud. enjoy

 

Just to clarify
You need to use ahci. ahci works just fine with all ssd drives. I know kingston and some other manufs are telling people to use ide (kingston told me so but i refused). I guess you can use ide however that should not be your solution to any issues. also macrozian i was reading the entire thead here. My reply to you should have been to another poster above. You are not affected by the issues i experienced. My mistake

 

sure was. Thanks again.

 

I just received the Asus G73JH-A2 in the mail and tried to pair it with a 120gb OCZ Solid 2 SSD. I can confirm that I'm having the same problems Macrozian was experiencing (i.e., I can see the SSD in the bios but Windows 7 will not detect the drive).

I have tried several troubleshooting steps and spent about 3 hours last night trying to get Windows 7 to install until I found this thread. Basically, I am now at this point:

I have formatted the SSD w/ NTFS by plugging the drive into a USB enclosure. The SSD is currently installed in the right hard drive bay by itself. I have downloaded and prepared a bootable USB drive with Windows 7 Home Premium. However, Windows 7 will still not see the drive.

From what I can conclude, it seems like I need to run the Sanitary Erase application on the SSD before Windows 7 will detect the drive. I am hoping this is the true fix and that I won't have to actually install Windows 7 first on one of the stock 500gb drives and then use Acronis to image the clean install of windows onto the SSD.

Anyone have any thoughts before I proceed?

Thanks!

 

there is nothing that needs to be done other then remove the 2x rubber stoppers near the port.

 

Huh? Can you elaborate?

 

Just wanted to let everyone know that running Sanitary Erase on the SSD fixed the problem. Thanks Macrozian for pointing it out!

 

I thought it was Secure Erase =/

And yes that clears the mapping tables on SSDs

 

I believe you can also use DiskPart to clear the MBR.