Strange string of events

I have been chasing a string of errors down on my G73SW for about 6 months and wanted to know if anyone else has had something similar.

It started with multiple BSOD events. It would restart and want to run the check disc process, usually there weren't many errors found. It got to the point where it would restart and give the "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected bla bla bla" error, meaning it couldn't see the hard drive. When it gave this error, I would go into the BIOS and it didn't list the hard drive. So I switched bays and it would work a few times. Thinking it was a bad hard drive I bought a new one and did a clean Windows install. Same problems. If I restarted it enough, it would eventually power up and run without any problems. If I moved it while it was running, it would lock up and crash and start the process of not being able to power up the hard drive.

One of the times where I was taking the hard drive out, I noticed a screw was missing from the motherboard. I checked the other ones that I could see and they were all very loose. I move the laptop quite a bit in a backpack taking it to work with me and I am assuming that all of that movement flexed the case enough that it started backing screws out. A few days ago I tore the laptop down completely and found several more loose screws. Since then, I have not had any issues. So my question is, can a bunch of loose motherboard screws cause blue screen errors and the inability for the hard drive to power up? I took it to Best Buy where I bought it and their repair guys said they hadn't ever heard of this and they think there is a hairline crack on the motherboard somewhere.

Thanks for any input!
John

 

I bet it is much more common for loose and/or missing screws to cause such issues than most people realize. I've had some experience with "being screwed".

1) I've read of several "boot to black screen" issues where the user disassembled the laptop, couldn't find any problem, then reassembled it and all was well.

2) Conversely, I also read a thread where the user reported his laptop functioned fine in a partially disassembled state, but then encountered problems with HDD recognition once the laptop was completely assembled.

3) In another thread, a user who transported his new laptop to work in a rolling case wanted to show it off to a coworker, but it would no longer start. Reseating the memory and HDD resolved the issue. I suspect the vibration of the rolling case was enough to shake the laptop apart. I suspect this would be less likely if all screws were properly torqued up.

4) I think many of the video issues where the user reports they can change or resolve the video corruption by pressing on the laptop or picking it up by one corner could be caused in such a manner or by laptop housing flex. Loose or missing screws could contribute to an inordinate amount of laptop housing flex.

 

Thanks for the reply, I am really hoping that loose screws was all it was. Don't know what the proper torque is, but I'll probably take it in somewhere and have a tech pull it apart and retighten everything. I had similar "fixes" where it would work after pressing on it, or flipping it over to check the hard drive and memory. Even slamming the lid worked sometimes. So far Ive had 4 straight days of a working laptop! Thats kind of a big deal.