G73JH-A2 constant reboot

Hey, guys... got a boot issue with my G73JH-A2, and I was wondering if you had any ideas.

I turned the comp on the other day, and it had just about finished booting into Windows when it spontaneously shut off. If I try to turn it on now, it gets past the "Starting Windows" screen, and gets to the point right before it would start showing the desktop, and then it shuts down and restarts the boot sequence.

I tried all the Windows "repair" utilities, and all of them said that the application couldn't find anything to repair. I ran chkdsk on both drives, and even pulled the drives and tried them in an external dock. No problems there-- no errors, no viruses, etc.

I've even tried to boot the comp from an "Ultimate Boot Disc," (in an attempt to completely circumvent the HDDs and that install of Windows), but even that gets to a certain point and then tells me that there's a problem (and not specific about it, except to say that it might be a hardware or software update problem) and Windows won't start. The last updates I did were just the "critical" updates from Windows, plus an update for my Microsoft mouse driver, also done right through Windows update-- nothing major or unusual.

I'm at a loss. I didn't see anything exactly like this here on the forums (if I missed it, I apologize), so I thought I'd throw it out there for you. Any ideas? Many thanks for any help!

 

Hmm. Constant reboot like BSOD or hard reboot like reset switch got hit?

Might be a power issue. Tried with only the battery or with just AC?

 

Thanks, IM0001!

It's a constant reboot like the reset switch got hit. If I don't stop it, it'll probably reboot all day! And yes, I tried it on battery alone, AC alone, and AC with battery in. No difference.

 

That is freakin weird. I can only feel it may be at best case bad ram, or at worst case a bad motherboard.. In between would be a uncooled CPU (So every time it gets into windows where some more CPU usage from the bootup hits, it overheats till shutdown. Any way that ultimate boot cd can show cpu temp (or does the G73 show CPU temp in the bios? Can't recall.)

Just on a whimsical chance in heck. Try removing the optical drive.. I remember a HP drive I got caused a similar problem to a desktop I built a long time ago. Worth a shot and its only like 4 screws.

 

I pulled all the RAM except for the one chip that's hidden way under everything (I wasn't adventurous enough to try to get that one), and it had no effect. And I couldn't even get the Ultimate Boot Disc to get far enough to show me the CPU temp. It loaded to a point, and then said that "Windows is shutting down to prevent damage to your computer"-- or something along those lines, along with suggestions to check the disks using chkdsk and also look for viruses. I'll have to take a look in the BIOS to see if it'll tell me if the CPU is heating.

 

Hi Mighty, sorry to hear about your problem
Just one question, do you get the same symptoms while booting in safe mode?

 

Hi, Redeemer... yup-- same issues booting into Safe Mode.

 

It really sounds like a heat issue then. Since you can get only so far then it shuts down. Had a similar issue with an i7 desktop where I didn't manage to get the 4th pushpin down on the cpu fan causing it to overheat and just shutdown after getting into windows once. (oops.)

One other thing, I the CPU fan working (the left fan in back with monitor facing you)

 

I can feel some warm air coming out of the left fan. It's not as strong as the right one, but it's there.

 

I am kind at a loss. Without having physical access to the laptop. I am thinking of things to remove to eliminate that part of the equation. Remove both harddrives and the optical drive? (Might want to make a quick bootable flash drive, with a linux livecd install or something like a Ultimate boot cd) and see if you can get anywhere. If you cant get past that It might be RMA time. It could be a heat issue but to overheat this bad on a whim would be pretty bad (like not touching the CPU/GPU type cooling issue) or all out bad Motherboard... Bad luck either way. Though it has happened before on a Toshiba laptop back in the P4m Days. Motherboard pretty much burned up. Freak issue for sure by the sounds of it.

 

Did you try safe mode or DOS???

Just for discard a win7 related problem.

 

Did you even read his OP?...

 

Hey, Nekki... Safe Mode (and a boot disc) leave me with the same issues.

 

did it even find a windows installation to repair?
and if so...are there restore points that are active?
side note...it can also be a bad hard drive with uncorrectable errors as well....you would have to do a surface scan to verify that, though....

 

Guys he is crashing outside of the OS or Harddrives completely. It is a hardware issue completely separate of the OS install. Something got jacked inside apparently. The question is what?

 

Curious. If you can get into the Bios, What version do you have? If you are not the latest (211) I may recommend flashing to the latest version. The only issue is if it borks and resets mid flash....

 

ummm. your seriously reaching.

 

Im with IM, it would possibly be the motherboard or a heat issue. (no BSOD?) and you have checked RAM and HDD (Hard drives normally show BSOD error).
Unless your willing to pull the laptop apart and check the board i would recommend that you RMA.

Good luck

 

Hey, Johnksss... The repair utility said it couldn't find or couldn't automatically repair the issue(s). The system restore utility didn't find any active restore points, however. When I pulled the drive and hooked it up to my desktop, it saw everything on the drive with no problem-- Windows and all-- and didn't report any errors when I did an error-checking test.

IM0001, a hardware issue was my thinking as well, especially because the HDDs seem healthy, and because I can't even get into an OS via a boot disc. And Redeemer, nope-- no BSOD.

 

you guys sure do jump right out to the extremes first.

you will not be fixing any of my computers any time soon.

you need to do a surface scan to check for bad sectors
sure it reads in another computer, but that computer is not trying to boot it's os either....

and if that checks out.
make a new partition and see if you can load windows onto it.
im thinking it's something to do with your hard drive.

 

Extremes? He covered that he did all the Software checks and can't get into an OS whether its from his HD or through a BOOT CD (MEANING NO HARDDRIVE IS USED.). That kicks out the possibility of anything that installed or on/from the drive is killing it. No BSOD which you would normally get from a Ram Issue, so it can only mean somewhere he has a hardware issue that is doing a hard reset at certain points. I have had a laptop that did this (Old Toshiba) that did reboot when it got to hot at random times and a bios update fixed it.

I am not reaching for anything just going off of experience from what the OP clearly posted with surprisingly good detail. If the OP does the last few things I asked (Remove HD and Optical drive) and checks the BIOS that may possibly need an update, then we can assume it is a complete hardware issue with either cooling or failure and an RMA may ensue. Until then there is a slim chance it can be fixed.

 

nice explanation and all, but
yes, there is a but..
he did not do all there is to do.
and if the drive does not show any restore partitions or the windows installation it self. generally means...a hard drive or memory issue.
he said his memory checked out, but had not did a surface scan.

computer was working find and dandy with his current bios.

 

Again. If he cannot boot a Boot CD... Why would it matter what his Harddrives do?

To Help my case.. MightyFurcules, Can you please take out both harddrives and try running that Boot CD once again please.

If it works then there may be other problems besides readability of the drive since it did work on a drive bay.. Could be an SATA controller issue or something. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

 

As for my BIOS version, n the Main BIOS screen, it says:

Version: G73JH 209
VBIOS Version: 012.017.000.004.0359.A33G
EC Version: b12c180203

Insofar as the restore points, that might actually be my own fault. To be honest, I don't think I ever actively set a restore point in Windows in the month or two that I've owned the comp. I thought system restore was always set to "on" by default, but I'm just not sure.

I'll try removing the HDDs and booting from the disc now. Give me a few minutes.

And I thank all of you guys for your continued help!

 

So you are 1 bios version back. A quick flash to 211 would not hurt if none of this other stuff goes anywhere. Just removes a variable. EZ Flash in the bios is sooo EZ

 

Ultimate Boot Disc <--- this is not always a reliable disc. i have 3 version of this and they do not work all the time.

i have like 10 different other ways to try when that Ultimate Boot Disc doesnt work.


but hey, it's not like rma is going any where..so whats the harm in trying everything?
rma IS a last resort

 

Might be the reason I use Hiren's boot cd instead.. (Though ACHI does give that issues in the MiniXP boot so possibly another variable to consider)

I guess we can ask if he has run this boot cd successfully before.

Or heck. Make a new bootable Ubuntu install on a flash drive to give that a shot too.

 

exactly why i use hiren as well!

lol
but i just tested 11.0 and it wont boot a windows xp mini..... need to find another copy...
i have all the version of that software.

oh yeah...you got a copy of that laying around??

 

Like I said before. Try turning the SATA mode from ACHI to IDE and then boot Hirens into XP.. Had an issue with that on a X38 setup. (I believe that worked, or the other way around)

Though it will not boot the mini XP at all on my X48 at all. :/

Apparently he has internet access... Soooo ya he does.

 

i'll give it a try as soon as it's done benching.
ehhh, scratch that...it is ide. because it's on a ssd drive...
any other ideas?

says ntdetect failed.

huh?

 

Okay... so I pulled both drives and tried to boot via the Ultimate Boot Disc. (That's the only boot disc that I have, unfortunately. And I've used this exact CD on systems before, and it's worked. I've just never used it on this exact laptop.) Same thing happens. Here's what it says: "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer." It then goes on to tell me to run chkdsk and scan for viruses, and so forth.

And no, I don't have Ubuntu on a flash drive either, unfortunately... I'm a total novice when it comes to that stuff. A friend runs it on his comp-- my experience with Ubuntu ends there!

 

So its BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) when you run the Boot disk?

 

Get This and create a bootable flash drive (Assuming you have a flash drive handy and dont mind a little download time)

 

After a point, yes. It partially loads (I get the Win logo and everything) and then that error message.

 

Hmm. Odd the boot cd wont work.

Try getting Hiren's Boot CD (Link on the bottom for Ver 11) and running that. boot into dos (the Hiren boot CD choice not the MiniXP Choice) and see if you can run some of the memory test as well a maybe a motherboard test or 2 (without the harddrives installed)

 

has to be the ram then....(speculation of course)

 

Yep it could be. Will kinda suck if it really is that last hard to reach stick.

On Hiren's cd he has Memtest so if you run that it should see if the ram is bad or not.

 

well....he might get lucky....
im in and out of mine so much that it has no screws. only the ones for the screen. once im finished...then ill put them all back in....

he can at least try taking out the first 3 and see what happens.....

 

He already did that..

I am getting really close to tearing mine open.. Just to upgrade when I know darn well it does not need it........ Mwhaha..

Curious, Is there no way to get that last stick out from the bottom without opening up the laptop? There has to be enough room to fit something in there to push the side clips out to pop the ram up isn't there?

 

I'm downloading/making the stuff for the Ubuntu bootable drive and Hiren's disc now. I'll try those out and let you know the results.

I've also pulled the 3 "easy" RAM chips, and just run it with the remaining "hard to get" one left in. Same story. But as you saud, IM0001, I'll try the mem-test.

Again, I thank you guys for your continued help!

 

Okay, not to be paranoid or anything (and again-- you guys know more about this stuff than I do) but my Norton found a heuristic virus in the downloaded .zip for the Hiren disc. Should I be worried? Could it be just a false positive?

 

Believe thats been reported before. It is a false positive.

 

go on ahead and make the call...lol


MightyFurcules:

lets know how that hiren cd does...
lets hope this one will work....

 

Ohhh you you you................

Not to change the tread direction but is that with any outside mods past a repaste? (VoltMod, custom cooling, etc?) I am aiming for a 940XM

Also whats the Non Turbo speed?

 

sent pm......

 

Understood and drooled over...

Will need better ram to push it past the 150FSB but both mods may still be a year away... They will happen however..

Off of work and heading home. See how the test go Mighty.

 

Hey guys, you were replying each other really fast. I'm not so fast with F5.

 

it's because ...in the end...we think alike...lol


side note:
my ram can clock up to 810 or 1620 mhz from 1333 mhz...

been wondering if 1866 ram would do it justice...

 

Okay, I'm having trouble with the Hiren disc... I think it's because Norton keeps getting rid of one (or more) of the files because it keeps seeing a virus. I guess I'll have to turn Norton off to make the disc.

However, I did boot into Ubuntu from my flash drive. I did a memory test (took a while), and it all passed. I'm running Ubuntu right now-- no hard drives installed-- and everything seems fine. I can get online and everything.

So now I'm really confused. I thought the memtest would find something, or maybe Ubuntu wouldn't load perhaps. But it's all running just fine, so far as I can tell. So does this mean we're back to HDD issues then?

 

Hmm. Perhaps. I know its a long shot but try doing a flash of the System Bios to 211 and for the hell of it, do a flash to the latest v93 vbios from the GSOD Blues thread. I know it sounds unrelated but you never know at the moment... For some reason this sounds extremely familiar but I can't remember exactly what it was. Where the Live Linux Distro works.. I have a hunch it could be working since the graphics card runs on a generic software driver when you run the livecd.. Hence the reason I recommend trying thbe bios upgrade route just incase.