My G73 arriving tom.

So tomorrow my G73 will arrive and I had a few questions. This is my first laptop ever(yes ever), and my current desktop I bought 5 years ago, so I am kind of out of the computer loop. I bought it from powernotebooks.com, so they updated all drivers, BIOS etc. I was just wondering if there is anything I need to do when I first receive this beast? Again out out the loop on these laptops, and don't know where to start tom. My specs are in my signature. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

 

I suppose the first thing would be to INSTALL SOME GAMES!!

 

...my name's not Tom.

 

Step 1: Get rid of bloatware
Step 2: Install some games
Step 3: Play and enjoy

 

And dont try to flash to BIOS...looks like you wont need to but just avoid some headaches...a bunch of us arent enjoying keyboard lights or the entire laptop at all because of that...

Congrats, you got yourself an amazing deal

 

That's one of my problems. I was always a console guy, the only computer game I play is CIV 4 at the moment. The original reason to upgrade my 5 year old desktop to the G73 was for Civ 5. Do you guys recommend any good non-first person shooter games(I don't enjoy these). Thanks

 

I heard about the keyboard issue. I made sure I asked Powernotebooks if they upgrade everything and they said yes, then I made sure to ask if they tested everything. They said everything is pretested to catch any issues before the product gets to you.

Great deal... Why you say that?

 

Grand Theft Auto 4. Amazingly fun game. It's part Strategy/Racing/Shoot 'em up/pretend we're real life (with dating, and maintaining friends etc)

If you're "into them" Sims 3, Spore, and though it's old, Sim City 4.

Battlefield is another game, but, it's mainly FPS.

 

I'm an RPG'er, so Dragon Age / Mass Effect 1 & 2

I've also been playing the Overlord series for fun, and Steam had it for $4.50

 

Of course as said #1 is enjoy.

Make sure the SSD is not partitioned. The HDD I think will be partitioned and that is fine. You want to put the applications you want to be the fastest on the SSD. But that will be hard choices as you will run out of space very fast. You do not want to overfill the SSD. What % that is I do not know the current thought.

If your SSD is C:, HDD D:/E:, D: will run faster so I recommend applications and data you want faster access on that. I would think of E: as more of storage/archival.

This is just a rough construct.

 

I got GTA IV for PS3, sick game... An ex bought me Sims 3 not really my style. I got The Sim City Box set. Another good game just really out dated, and gets kind of repetitive. I might be stuck with just playing my Civ IV with 36 CIVS on HUGE MAP(been wanting to say that for a few years now )

But how is that game The Witcher, I heard good things about it? Any other good RPGs, with a little bit of realism. I understand dragons and monsters is mainly the theme in those games, but I remember like Earthbound for Super NES was a RPG with some differences then most.

Any new Final Fantasies? I loved VII for the original PS(who didn't love that game though!)

 

Get the witcher. Graphic is very good. All conversation is SPOKEN. There's even a bit of (romance) and mature content that you will enjoy. If you like dragon age, you will love the witcher.

 

I'm going to pick up The Witcher tomorrow on Steam. I was looking at Dragon Age today looked like another sick game. I got a lot of catching up to do guys!

 

Thanks for your input. I asked about the odd partitioning Asus does and they said they make everything more let's say 'even'. Was the SSD 80gb a big upgrade from the 500gb HD? I really don't know much about SSDs I just did some reading on performance on this site before I ordered it and went with one. 420gb difference though does hurt... I guess Windows 7 will be on the SSD, anything else? What should i add to it, maybe just the one game I am currently playing?

 

The SSD was a fine choice many are doing it. You are getting the best of both worlds. One drive is speed and the other has capacity. I would never compare SSDvsHDD as a GBvsGB. Giving up 420GB is a lot easier when you still have that 2nd 500GB HDD.

I myself would be putting Office or whatever productivity application you use first and other of those type apps. I think will still be room for a game.

Yes OS on SSD.

This is a sweet notebook I have had many I think you will really like. The back pack makes it very mobile for me. I can carry my HD camcorder, Cannon 10MP camera, TV tuner, Sprint 4G mobile hot spot, cords install disc's manuals. It all fits very neatly in the pack. Oh did I mention the mouse fits in also.

I am not saying the greatest notebook ever but for me with my budget it is.

Speakers are better than any other notebook I have ever owned. Of course headphones or external speakers will blow away on board. Sitting here at night by myself. I do not even bother plugging in external to listen to tunes always. Runs cool and very quiet.

One tip I can give since I upgraded from 98SE to XP to Vista to W7. Give your self some time to just play around with OS. I have at times found adjusting can be one of the most frustrating things. And if the OS frustrates you makes it harder to enjoy anything. Not sure what you OS is but if XP W7 is going to be a little bit of a jump. So much you will do it will ask "are you sure".

Good luck

 

Good idea, I will load Office and hopefully Civ V on the SSD, and then the rest on the Hard Drive.


I recently upgraded my XP on my 5 year old desktop to Windows 7 and I'm having a blast with it. But you are right the transition is quirky at first. Tomorrow is the big day, I can't wait I'm like a kid in a candy store jeez... Ahh Foreverrrr Younggg.!

Thanks for all your information, appreciate your help and patience.

 

Just got mine today but I'm only browsing the web with it for now until tomorrow. My boss is giving me his volume license Windows 7 ultimate so I'll be doing a clean install and can't wait.
for games I'd recommend Mass Effect 1 & 2 if you haven't played them already. I also love strategy games, and if you are a Civ guy then you absolutely must take a look at Sins of a Solar Empire and the expansions. Your life depends on it. You can try the demo and don't give up at the high learning curve. It is so worth your time, trust me.
I also enjoyed Red Alert 3, which will look good on the G73. If your RPG lust still needs to be quenched, try Fallout 3.
That should be enough recommendations for the rest of the year. Where will you find time to work a job to make the payments to pay for your new laptop and games?

 

When you get it install and run FurMark on Stability test, extreme burning, postFX, 1920x1080, MSAA 8x.
That way you will find out if your gpu perhaps runs too hot (if it gets to 100C or over thats not good) or if you get GSODs (grey screen of death) in which case youve got a defective gpu.

 

FrankieBX, your situation is a lot like mine. I got my G73 from PowerNotebooks about 1 month ago, with the exact same options except for the wireless upgrade to Intel.

My first piece of advice would be to clone your drives to an external drive. I use Clonezilla which is free, but there are many others. Keep these images as long as you own your laptop (don't delete them with newer images as time goes on.)

Secondly, PowerNotebooks, will configure your system to the high standards you see on these forums! The evil bloatware will not be installed, and what small utilities they do leave on your system will probably be useful or necessary. (I un-installed a few more after I got the lappy)

Thirdly, You will have to be very careful about what you put on the SSD as nearly half of it will be used by Windows! (if you have Windows 7 Pro) I have Office 2010 Pro installed on the D: drive. There are ways to cut down on the usage of the SSD here.

Now enjoy your notebook!

 

thank you all for your help. I am currently waiting, UPS called said it will be delivered today! Now I'm just debating on my first game to purchase. Should I go with the Witcher or Dragon Age, or Mass Effect?...or... I'm decisively indecisive, so many good games you guys recommend, I'm new to this computer gaming and want to start with something fresh(graphically and playability) wise.

If I do go with Dragon Age, should I buy the expansion right away as well? Does it add that much content to the original game or is it more like a separate game. In my readings all indications are that the expansion isn't that good and is more like a separate game then an addition to the original...

 

My G73 Windows Premium, not Pro am I missing out on that much? I currently do not have a copy of Office 2010, but when I get one that will go on the SSD as well. From my readings it seems that the SSD is strictly for speed and should only run the OS, and applications such as MS Office and maybe a a game or two if there is room.I just don't want to mess anything up(lol). I'm by no means computer illiterate and normally 'know the most about computers', amongst my friends. However, once I joined this forum I see how much I don't know compared you guys and with such an expensive investment, I want too be extremely cautious. But I will learn! Thanks everyone for your help.

 

Wish You all the best with ur new machine..and HAPPY GAMING!!!

 

Or just have 1 partition on the 2nd HDD. Makes life easier.

 

Got it about 2 hours ago, and loving it. This thing is amazing. I have about 45GB left on my SSD. I was wondering how do I uninstall IE and other programs and install them on my hard drive instead? I tryed to install my firmware and driver update for my Orochi mouse but it went directly onto the SSD. Thanks in advance, glad to be part of the Asus club, very fine tuned laptops.

Also how do I change the default Windows 7 screen with the 'gay' colors and flowers, this beast can not and will not have flowers on it!

By the way Powernotebooks.com did partition it. There is only one 500GB partition.

 

You can install the G73 Desktop Theme. It's on the CD, if the boys at PNB didn't install it already.

 

it just had a background for the desktop, but didn't change the unfitting log on flower screen lol.

 

I suppose you can google that and find a solution.

 

I know there is aftermarket programs, but I was wondering if there is a more legit one to use, or a simple way to do it through Control Panel. I want to put the least amount of unnecessary programs on it as possible. Plus I don't know what files those aftermarket programs affect, can it mess things up. Thanks

 

Don't ask me, I like flowers.

 

It can be done with registry tweaking, but it can also be done simply by installing the free program Tweaknow power tools It has a lot of good utilities, plus a simple way to change the logon background. I have mine set to a hd picture of a 1932 Chrysler Imperial dual cown phaeton. Definitely don't need those wispy swoops from MS, although I like the little hummingbird.

 

thank you very much just downloaded and switched it . seems like a new little tool as well.

 

Tried furmark yet to test your gpu?

 

No. Unfortunately I'm stuck trying to figure how to install programs to my HD instead of to my SSD, I understand some I can change manually on install prompts, but other like Steam and the Razer mouse coordinator I can not, and I by far can not fit games on the SSD. Any advice, others tried to help but I wasn't understanding their explanation. Please anyone help if you guys know a quick fix. Thank you.

See: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-upgrades/497698-how-save-hd-instead-ssd.html

This is very frustrating, I never realized saving files to different drives is so difficult. Please help

 

Did you turn off useless things such as system restore and virtual memory? That alone saves you over 10GB space on the SSD.
And furmark is a very small program. Just install it and run to see if your GPU is good or defective, becouse if it is, youre better off finding out sooner, so you dont waste time doing other things if in the end you have to RMA it anyway.

 

Yes, I downloaded the SSD Tweaker Program. How does this furmark work, what I read it seems that it overheats your gpu, why would I want to do that?lol

 

It doesn't do anything your GPU wouldn't do under a heavy load in a game, so don't worry about it. If your GPU does something bad while Furmark is running, you've just saved yourself the trouble of finding out the GPU is bad while you're in a game.

 

OH OK....I just downloaded it. Do I just run the stability test, without changing any settings?

 

Did you check my link? Forget about symlinks and such. That's no good. I have my SSD at 14.1 GB used right now, with everything installed, including updates, Office 2010 pro, Acrobat, Big HP Laserprinter, etc. etc.

Turn off Hibernation, System Restore, move Page File to D, relocate all of your user folders (individually, under the move tab) to D: drive. Install everything that will ask, on the D: drive. Use Erunt to automatically back up your registry everytime you login.

Have you made a clone of your drives before doing anything? Because you should (have.)

 

Run stability test with xtreme burning, post fx, 1920x1080 resolution, 8x MSAA.
Run it for at least 15-20minutes. If you dont GSOD or if your card doesnt reach alarming temperatures (near or over 100C) youre probably in luck and have a good gpu.
I do this on all my new laptops to test them, so if your gpu is fine, this shouldnt be a problem.

 

Which link? The one about turning often certain fatures on the SSD, yes. I also downloaded and used SSD Tweakr which does all the stuff you mentioned. I am in the process of switching my Steam folder now, then I need to figure out ho to move M Libraries(Music, Movies, Documents folders). Any ideas?

No I didn't make a clone of anything but my copy from Powernotebooks did come with an Asus Recovery disk.

 

OK, I'm trusting you....I'm going to run it now. Excuse my ignorance I'm new to the computer gaming world. I don't know much about testing or benchmarking, or overclocking whatever you guys call it...lol

EDIT: I read some things about it saying it could mess up your system, I tested for only about 5 minutes it reached about 94C, and leveled out at 91-93 for a while before finally topping out at 94.

 

It cant mess up your system. I run it on every new notebook and desktop i get. Its purpose is to push your gpu to max load, similar if you were playing a very demanding game. If it cant run furmark for as long as you want, its not a stable working system. Simple as that.
5 minutes is not a good enough sample. If you want to test it you need to run it longer - at least 15 or 20 minutes to see where it really stabilizes and to see if you get a GSOD or not. The thermal shutdown limit is 110C, so if you stabilize at 94C, that isnt too bad. But if you see it go over 100C its running too hot already and you should shut it down and probably start thinking obout RMAing it.
Its your choice, its just the best and fastest way to test it, since furmark really stresses it the most - you wont see any game make the gpu run hotter.

 

Here's the thing; I'm not a believer in re-installing Windows. Never have been, and never have done. My desktop is currently running an 8 yr old installation of Windows XP pro, and I've never had to re-install windows. It is my main computer that I use for business, so it's mission critical. I've always been able to go back to a good previous image. That is why it would be wise to image your system drives the way they came from PowerNotebook. I did that the day after I got my G73 from them. It really helped me avoid doing an RMA too. I had a weird problem after a few weeks, and I restored my system image from the day after I got my system, and NO PROBLEM. That proved to me that I was dealing with a software issue and not a hardware problem. I continue to make new system images of course, using Windows backup, and Clonezilla for up to date data in case of any other weird problems or viruses etc.

Moving your document folders is easy. You won't gain much room right away, but over time, those folders are the ones that really grow. I've moved over all library document folders, i.e. My photos, My Videos, My Documents, Downloads, etc. etc. to the D: drive.

Your priorities should be:

1: Save system image
2. Configure Windows to optimum efficiency
3. Install user programs etc.
4. Have fun playing games
5. (last) start tinkering with BIOS, overclocking, VGA BIOS and other highly technical maneuvers.

But always make system images before doing anything crazy. (That includes saving old Bios, or having a copy of the old Bios at hand)

 

I use tweaks.com logon changer to accomplish the same task. Couple things I really like is that:

1. It resizes the image so you don't have to mess with the filesize or resolution.
2. It has a nice GUI that allows you to see what it looks like and also saves the original as a backup.

Oh, and it's free. Read more on it here.

Neowin.net - Windows 7: Tweak your logon screen background

*edit* Whoop there's a whole second page of conversation here. Well, the link is still valid for folks that want to try it.