Newbie; Need Help with G53SX

Hi! I'm newbie here and I just got my first ASUS ROG Laptop, a G53SX, last January. I've never had any problems until this March and I'm not sure whether its Software or Hardware.

My Current Problems Are:

*Slow "Welcome" Load after Logging In
*Constant "Windows Explorer not Responding" - I have looked online for solutions, such as CCleaner and a HDD check. It still persists but less frequently now
*FN Keys not working - My keyboard's back light won't light up, but I think that's because I turned them off since they do turn on whenever I start up my laptop so it may just be because of the FN Keys
*MS Word (Starter) unresponsive - I constantly get this message about MS Word downloading something so it may be unresponsive, I've left it idle for a while, but nothing has changed

I also turned on my notebook and my screen didn't start up with no ASUS Post showing up, this only happened once. It happened after I came home from work (I bring my laptop with me). I always keep it safe and inside the laptop backpack that came with my notebook. This hasn't happened again.

Regarding the FN Keys, I have also tried re-installing the ATK KB Filter Driver, but it hasn't changed anything. The Keys that aren't working with FN are the F2, F3, F4, F9, F10, F11, and F12. I'm not sure about F8, but the rest work.

The only other thing I have done lately, which was delete the GamePark bloatware that was installed. This was done before I got my MS, Windows Explorer, and Slow "Welcome" problems. But with MS, I never used MS since Feb so that may be different.

I've been wanting to do a Clean Install of my Pre-Installed Windows 7 Home Premium, thinking it might help. But I don't know how to go about it because the ROG Forums (which I regularly go to) are down.

I have been lurking before registering and posting this, I did see some of the Clean Install Guides, but some of them are rather confusing with all the software and links. Plus this'll be my first clean install so I'm rather cautious.

Also, any help regarding my issues would be great too. Thanks!

 

Well I would say it could be a problem with your HDD but firstly recommend doing a factory reset to see if it solves your problems.

You could go through a reel of damn fixes and software changes only to find your worse off or nothing has changed.

I would personally recommend thinking about an SSD if you are running a mechanical drive, the slow welcome screen sometimes slows down when you have a lot of processes running at startup and this can be normal after using an OS for a while and installing lots of software. A complete reinstall will fix this however an SSD would remove all slowdowns especially with a SATA III expect a 20 second boot and 0 slow down on applications and requests and minimal load times in games, not to mention copying and moving files.

To do a factory reset just hit ALT and F9 or F10 or F12 depending if it is different to the G73JH during boot to bring up the option. You sometimes need to turn it on in the BIOS to access this when it first boots it should tell you what to press and go in and turn on the recovery option if it is set to off it will also tell you there what to press if it is not one of the above.

 

Alright, thanks. An HDD problem? That's weird.. I just got this notebook. Also, I was told by my Retailer I can't upgrade my HDD anymore because its 1TB and they also mentioned I can't get an SSD for my notebook. Now if I were to do it on my own, that'll void my warranty :s

 

If its new then maybe not I would run a HDDTUNE just to be sure but the health check will probably come up green.

It sounds as though you have a bad case of the bloatware. Might be an idea to have a look at the post linked below and create your own bloatware free installation if uninstalling all of the software does not help the speed.

You will have a 1TB mechanical HDD which runs around 90-100mb/s read and write sequential speeds an SSD although it has less storage can run upto 5 times the speed of a 7200RPM drive. Whatever the Retailer was playing at he is an idiot pardon the pun but if he wanted to try and make more money out of you I do not understand why he would lie and tell you that you cannot get an SSD, nothing surprises with some people in the computer industry about as thick as mince some of them but an SSD fits nearly any laptop let alone your one. Also most plug and play items such as a HDD or RAM rarely void the warranty if ever how would they know when you can just remove them.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...lk-through-doing-clean-windows-7-install.html

 

Alright thanks.

I'll go ask the ASUS shops here instead of my local retailer. I don't think they even sell SSDs. Also, I'm curious to know, can I also change my video card and is there a good guide thread where I can get my software drivers?

 

Software updates from the Asus website or Windows update.

You can change the RAM, HDD/SSD and wireless card normally with some ease but the CPU or GPU require a disassembly and the GPU has not been tested but usually ASUS GPU upgrades are a knightmare to get running. The CPU you can plant upto a 2960XM in it which is super fast.

SSD can be picked up from nearly any online computer retailer and you can find some good deals online. But if you have 1TB and it is new might be an idea to just bloatware free it up as mentioned above fella.

Pardon my English I am still half asleep this morning

 

Thanks Yiddo! I've been busy so I haven't gotten the chance to reply. Once I do a clean install though, how can I recover my pre-installed starter MS Word and my pre-installed Trend Micro Anti-Virus and the Nuance PDF Reader? (I personally prefer Adobe though) I want to replace them, but right now I can't afford to buy new ones yet.

 

The factory recovery facility will have all of those items installed in it.

To be honest you wanna use AVG free its the dogs and you can get MS Word starter for free anyway

 

Hmmm, alright thanks. Weird I didn't get you reply on my email. Though won't the factory restore also restore the bloatware? Well since Nuance I guess is part of that. I'll just stick to adobe.

 

That link I sent you above explains how to create a clean installation of windows 7 and you can also create your own factory partition as well.

I normally just use a completely basic version of windows to install and then add all my own software and create an image of my operating system, it really helps if like me you like to reinstall on a regular basis to keep things running smoothly.

 

I went through it and I finally got a clean install with a Windows 7 HP x64 ISO, thanks a lot for all the help! However I dunno how to get my Microsoft Word Starter OEM back, which I really need.