Windows CD -- why not?

Why is ASUS unwilling to provide the Windows CD for the G73JH? A while back, Windows convinced itself that it could not boot without one. (Solution: Use F8 to get into the boot menu, and select "normal boot" -- as long as Windows wasn't TRYING to fix a nonexistent problem, it didn't need to use the original CD to fix the nonexistent problem.)

My thought is, if Windows needs that disc to repair some errors, ASUS ought to ship that disc, or at least be willing to provide it on request. Instead, support told me to go to a retailer and buy Windows. Well, I could do that, but if I have to buy Windows in order to use it on this machine, why did ASUS include a Windows 7 sticker and charge for a Windows license?

I'm really happy about the new vBIOS thing, but I think I'm done buying ASUS products if they're not going to stand behind them enough to actually provide the required Windows disc that is part of the Windows installation, and without which basic functionality of Windows 7 is not available. Yeah, I can download the official universal images or whatever, but I really shouldn't have to be going to forums to find CDs that provide basic drivers for my laptop, or to get the operating system CDs.

If they wanted to charge ten bucks for the discs, I'd gripe but I could accept that; that's a mildly-abusive response to the INCREDIBLE expense of having to spend $0.50 on discs to go with a $1500 machine. But refusing to provide them, at all, under any circumstances, and suggesting an RMA to resolve an issue that would be resolved immediately by simply putting in the disc that's supposed to come with every Windows install? That's sleazy.

 

Most people just burn the DVD and call it a day. Does it suck that it doesn't bring one? Yeah. Is it worth ranting over? No. Doesn't the G73 ask you to make a backup the moment you start it up or something? Regardless you should burn a disc and do a clean install of the G73 the day you get it.

 

Its common for providers to not actually give a CD, but stick it on a recovery partition. The G73 does have one (you can start the recovery program by hitting F9 on boot). The single biggest reason for this is that manufacturers don't go out and buy tons of windows boxes and use that CD to install... they just get the stickers and build up an installation around software provided to them from MS, then bulk install those on to the hard drives.

Realistically, if you need the disc, go grab it from a torrent. You can find that stuff all over the net, people who provide the copies without the keys (the key is more important than the actual software). This will fix you up.

 

with f9 you can restore your system with recovery partition...

In my opinion its better to have all the restore files in a hiden partition that in a slow DVD

You can make a rescover cd with AI Recovery Burner from ASUS

Drivers CD and win dvd---> at the end of this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...015-g73-gsod-fixes-resources.html#post6444967

 

Does the DVD this machine offers to burn turn out to be able to be used as a Windows DVD? No.

Yes. And that "backup" is a three-DVD set that cannot be used with any drive that isn't as large as the one it ships with -- you can't use it with an SSD, for instance.

That's a great idea. Please explain to me how I will get the drivers for that clean install. They are not provided by ASUS. Not all the drivers the machine needs can be downloaded from the ASUS web page. Should I just go to a random internet forum and download a big zip file posted by some random guy who doesn't work for ASUS? Is that something I should have to do in order to use a $1500 machine?

Tell you what. You point me to an official Microsoft page listing the download link for the Windows CD, and a links for all of the drivers needed for this laptop, and I'll concede that ASUS is not being totally sleazy in failing to provide a Windows disc and a driver disc for this machine.

 

....USE ASUS AI RECOVERY BURNER or

... push f9 at startup , there are 3 options, to restore entire disk, 2 partitions, 1 partition.... stock drivers are included... it is faster than DVD...but oh!!, you can´t look a physical win DVD with love...

 

Windows DVD: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

Asus Drivers: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-

Asus and Dell and HP, and pretty much everyone except Apple doesn't provide an OS disk with their computers. Why? Because it's cheaper that way.

 

Me thinks that MS offers an image somewhere, no need for torrents.

 

K.
Legal Windows 7 Downloads: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

Driver CD: Asus G73 Drivers

Download, burn them, call it a day. Your welcome.

 

@seebs:

1) Asus does provide a stock Drivers and Applications DVD for fresh installs. Some of the retailers do not provide this disc. Why? I do not know, other than they are lame. If yours did not come with one, the link in the previous post was provided by Yours Truly so that you can.

2) Microsoft charges for Windows discs. (To the public userbase, it's $25) I'm sure OEM retailers it's less, however, let's say it's $5, that's $5 million for 1 million copies for 1 million machines. That's a lot of cheddar. Fortunately Microsoft offers free downloadable iso images. So it'll cost you some bandwidth and a blank, but at least it's available.

So, between those 2 items, and the license code on your laptop, you have everything necessary for a fresh install. Isn't teamwork a wonderful thing?

 

Isn't that the thing that gives me the three DVDs that have no options other than creating the disks which recreate the recovery partition?

And again, how does this help me if I want to repair an existing installation, rather than wiping out the entire disk?

 

Not all the drivers for the G73JH are there.

Other vendors have been pretty good about shipping a disc upon request, though. ASUS refuses.

 

Why doesn't ASUS provide this DVD, or an image of it? Look, I'm pretty sure you're trustworthy, you've certainly done wonders for the community (thanks for the work on the vBIOS thing), but... Shouldn't it be a BIG red flag about a vendor if the official path to getting the drivers for a machine they ship is to download stuff from some chick on an internet forum?

How confident should I be that the downloadable image I'd get from MS will be compatible with the install on my laptop? I know with XP there were multiple incompatible versions...

I don't want to do a fresh install. I want to insert the "original windows disc" that my machine asks for if it thinks it wants to repair itself. (I just used pcdecrapifier to get a fairly-clean install, which has been working well enough that I'm not inclined to fight with it.)

 

wait wait wait....
which drivers are you missing
....how about you tell us that instead of keep on complaining on peoples trying to help you ?

and like someone said in a thread, a win disc is just a piece of plastic anyway it's the key which is worth anything

 

O_O first time I hear of an incompatible version of....windows....

 

XP, SP1, SP2, SP3. Couldn't use disc from one with another. If you'd installed from an XP SP 2 CD, you couldn't use an SP 1 CD to fix it later. Pretty sure there exist DVDs for different variants of Windows 7 that aren't compatible, although there's also universal ones.

There's also the possibility of manufacturer local color, similar to the way that for a long time you could use ASUS drivers with the G73, but not ATI's generic drivers.

 

I think the OP is just bored and wants to complain. I'm pretty sure if one of us mails him a Windows DVD and a drivers disk, he'll be complaining about the effort required to insert them into his computer.

 

....that's it! I'm done....

 

@seebs:

Windows 7 only has 4 flavors, and only 1 disc image. The ei.cfg file determines which flavor it installs. So if you look at an Ultimate disc and a Home one, you would find the only file different on both is the ei.cfg. If you remove the file from the image, the disc can install any flavor, as long as you have a legit key.

So any Win7 disc or image can act as a Error Recovery disc.

When SP1 comes out I suppose that will be an issue. OEM "slipstreamed" with updates is another issue as well.

 

No, I'll be complaining that ASUS is not providing a fundamental component of the Windows license they allegedly sold me.

Seriously, is this that alien a concept, to expect a manufacturer to be WILLING to provide, upon request, the discs for the software you paid for?

 

Heck if I know, I don't even know exactly which drivers this machine has -- but I've seen multiple people asserting on this forum that you have to download the ISO of the drivers disc, because the support site does not have every driver the machine needs.

Could be they're wrong. I have no easy way to find out, because I don't have a proper drivers disc to compare with...

 

Hmm. I have seen downloads for a "universal" disc image, and other separate downloads for the specific flavors. But if it really is just that file, I guess that makes sense.

Cool. That makes this less of a problem, I guess.

I still don't see why it's so horrible of me to suggest that a vendor should be willing to provide the disc. I mean, seriously. I'm fine with paying for it, I'm fine with downloading it and burning it -- I just want them to, in some way, make it available to me, instead of telling me to buy a whole new retail copy including another full license.

Should it really cost me >$100 to get that $5 disc?

 

No, you can get a copy of Windows for free if you would take half a second to listen to us and click that link we gave you.

Or you can keep making things up, like the non-existent special "flavors" of Windows 7 disks or the "missing-but-not-really-since-I-haven't-actually-looked" drivers.

 

You didn't buy a copy of windows with your laptop, you bought a license. This is the world we live in, and have for many years when it comes to buying new computers (laptops or otherwise). It is incredibly rare to find a manufacturer (ANY of them) that will give you a full-on CD/DVD version of Windows when you buy it. I've purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9 brand new computers in the last 8 years, and not once have I received a "legit" copy of Windows. It has always been recovery disks or partitions.

That being said, Windows 7 is much better than previous versions. While you do have the option of buying a silly amount of flavors (home, home premium, ultimate), others have already pointed out here that if you buy any of those retail, the software provided is functionally the same, aside from one file which basically locks that disc in. It is only affected at installation time. Guess what you do when you go to the store and buy Windows 7 now? You're buying a license... basically what the manufacturers are doing already.

Regardless, calling this laptop or Asus crappy because of it is somewhat silly. It isn't a flaw in either the company or the machine, its just a way to save a lot of money, which in the end benefits you, because you can get a machine like the G73 for a pretty reasonable price.

 

I already provided you with the whole damn drivers disc. It has every G73 driver you need and you're still complaining?

 

Also, here's something about sp1, sp2, sp3: have you ever heard of "slipstreaming"? If not, then google it. If you have windows OS (xp, vista, and 7 will be so), then you can slipstream a service pack and burn a new image, thus having a new ("compatible" lol) OS CD with the service pack you need.

 

I've got that. I just want to know why ASUS won't provide one, and why everyone here seems to think it is 100% delightful of them to refuse to provide a disc that their machine will ask for.

Look, I'm not expecting you to all agree that ASUS should be burned to the ground over this. I just find it pretty shocking that the consensus seems to be that it is WRONG of me to want them to offer that fairly basic level of support.

1. They do, in fact, exist -- as someone pointed out, though, it's just one data file on the disc and you can replace it.
2. I didn't claim that they necessarily existed -- I pointed out that with previous versions of Windows you could end up with a Windows disc that did not work with a Windows installation, and that I had no idea whether a generic disc would work with this.

I've been using Windows machines on and off for the last fifteen years. In that time, I have been burned badly enough, often enough, by trying to use a standard disc with a vendor-specific install, that I wasn't about to try a generic disc with a non-generic install without some kind of evidence that it would work and wouldn't break anything. Maybe that's fixed now; you say so, anyway.

You haven't actually given me any reason to believe that the multiple posters here who claim that there are drivers not available from the ASUS site are wrong.

Furthermore, if ALL of the drivers are really available from the ASUS site, why are there so many threads about the importance of the driver downloads and the ISO of the driver DVD? Is it just possible maybe that the reason people want these is that there are files on them you can't otherwise get?

It could be that all the people asking for driver discs, and asking for specific drivers, are just clueless. But it is odd that most of the responses to them are links to the driver disc image made from the driver disc that came with early models, rather than to the ASUS support site. Hmmmmm.

But now you're insulting me for being stupid enough to believe other posters in this forum, and demanding that I cleverly believe everything you say, even though you've offered no more links or support for your posts than anyone else has.

 

I just spent something like $1,500 on a computer, and the vendor's response to a request for the software to run it is "you should search around on the internet until some guy named KuroLionheart tells you where he posted a copy of the disc, because we can't give it to you."

Yes, I'm complaining. Not about the question of whether or not I can get software that is probably the right software for the machine (assuming none of y'all are including trojans or botnet drivers...), but about ASUS not being willing to provide that software themselves, and telling me to instead go download it from random third-party sites.

Other vendors I've dealt with have either provided the necessary CDs, or been happy to do so upon request. I dunno, maybe I'm just crazy and old-fashioned. I imagine five years from now, I'll be complaining that a company's "warranty" service is that if I ask around on the notebook review forums, I should be able to find a guy who can fix my laptop if I send it to him, and you guys will be making fun of me for complaining when obviously the guy can fix the laptop, and why should ASUS have to provide any kind of repair service?

 

And when I asked ASUS for help inserting the disc that the "license" of Windows requested, they told me that I had to buy a fresh retail copy and license of Windows for it from a retailer. So apparently the "license" they gave me is not enough, and they think I need to buy another license.

Now, apparently, I don't actually need to do that -- in which case, why didn't their support people tell me "here's the URL to download the ISO for the disc you need, burn that and put it in the machine"? Why did they tell me I had to buy another copy?

Did I call either the laptop, or ASUS, "crappy"? I think their support is crappy.

I would happily have paid another $50 for a machine that came with the software discs it needs to run. Or paid ASUS $20-50 to ship them to me if I wanted them. That's fine. I'm not complaining that they shouldn't default to the money-saving thing. I'm complaining that their answer when I ask them to provide something that their laptop is asking me to insert is to tell me to go buy another license from another vendor.

 

This thread is awesome. Can't you just stop complaining? We all know Asus support sux and the guys here offered you a solution. You can try Lenovo next time, their support is not that "crappy", but I doubt you would get R5870 for 1500$.

 

What exactly do you want from this forum? xD lot of users have given you solutions (win7 links, recover partition, drivers and utils. DVD...) and you're still complaining

 

I guess what I was wondering was whether there was some kind of basically good reason for which ASUS should be completely unwilling to provide those discs or images. And I haven't actually heard one. I've heard an argument given for why they shouldn't include them in the box (apparently the cost of licensing for including a Windows disc is not as low as the cost of physical media, which makes some sense), but I don't see what's so horrific about the idea that, if you write ASUS support asking for a driver disc, they should be able to come up with one.

Okay, here's the thing.

My problem is not "I cannot solve this technical problem". It rarely is. My problem is "I don't see why ASUS is unwilling to provide a simple solution it is unambiguously and clearly within their technical ability to provide, possibly for a fee to offset any costs it might have."

I'm aware that, if I simply completely ignore ASUS's alleged technical support, I can solve this problem. Since ASUS did in the past manufacture a "driver disc" for this machine, and an ISO of that image is available, obviously I can get that image. Since Microsoft has made it possible for people to get a URL for an ISO image of Windows 7, I can get that image too.

See, I'm not trying to solve the purely technical problem. I'm wondering why I should have to go to third-party resources to get support for a laptop which cost a fair bit of money. What I'm hearing for feedback here is that it is totally wrong for me to expect a laptop manufacturer to provide support for their laptop, as long as it is possible for me to obtain that support from third parties. So as long as some guy on the internet maintains a download link for the driver disc, it is ridiculous for anyone to suggest that ASUS should provide that disc, or make an image of it available, or otherwise provide that support themselves -- after all, I can get that ISO image from some guy on the internet.

What I'm complaining about is not whether or not I can make the machine run, but why it's requiring so much more searching around third-party forums and downloading of stuff maintained by people who are not in any way affiliated with ASUS than it would if ASUS just included their driver disc in the box. Apparently, the answer is "because the people who buy ASUS laptops would rather click on the third link down in someone's signature for a link to a thread with a list of links to third-party sites which maintain copies of stuff that other third parties ripped from a DVD ASUS used to ship, than get a disc from ASUS."

What that's suggesting to me is that, much though I love their hardware (I haven't had 10 Eees yet, but pretty close, and I think my last 10 or so home-brewed computers have all been ASUS motherboards...), I am probably not really in the market that ASUS is now aiming for, and next time I want a laptop, perhaps I should go with a vendor whose hardware design isn't as good, but who are more comfortable with old-fashioned support models where the latop maker provides the driver disc, rather than people on an internet forum having to band together to create lists of links to the various drivers and ISO images needed to keep the machine in good working order. Because, even though it may seem silly, I have a sort of preference for getting driver discs from the vendor, rather than from a third-party site that is not affiliated with the vendor in any way.

 

Good reasons:
1) From point of view of Asus: save every cent they can, even if it might seem cruel for some people.
2) From point of view of users: there's none. Again, this might seem cruel to some.

Please, see reason #1 above.

Please, see see reason #1 above.

Ok, we've got your point. It is a cruel, but there are other brand choices. Why did you make a choice of going with Asus?

Please, see previous few sentences.


Summary: I can see your disappointment due to a fact of not getting the level of service that you have expected. You have to understand that you will *not* be able to change anything about the way Asus functions just like you cannot expect 5-star service from a 3-star motel. If you don't like the service, there is such things as RMA and many other choices for Asus.

You could do more research before getting stuff from Asus to see whether it provides the level of service that you want. I, for example, completely fine with Asus' policies. There's a compromise of price vs. quality. If you want something better, then do what other said: go with other brand such as Lenovo.

 

I said it already, so I'll say it again because I have nothing better to do right now: Next to no manufacturers provide a hard retail copy of windows with ANY purchase you make. This is industry standard. They aren't refusing, they just plain don't do it.

If you're not satisfied with that, go find a manufacturer that does, find a laptop they make that you like, and buy it. I just hope for your sake that it doesn't cost an incredible amount of money to boot.

 

mmm my g73 come with a driver/utils. disc...

 

Hey Lord neno what all is on that disc? I got one of those too. but never really looked at it. still in the box with my nap sack and mouse. ?


Hey Seebs, i was feeling the same thing when I got my asus G73 A1. but it's the only bad thing I can say so far. I don't know why Microsoft doesn't offer people a site to download an ISO Image of what ever flavor of OS they got. I mean they offer office that way at many OEM stores and at Microsoft's website. they sell a boxed version that has nothing inside more then just a key. so why don't they just offer a download site for us paying windows users to download our software. every other vendor in the world works this way. Every notebook maker in the world seems to be doing this don't give you a cd trick. It's just a sign of the times. But I think microsoft is to blame here because they don't offer a place for us Users to download a real copy.

see what you did Seebs, you got me ranting.... now I need more coffee!

I was just thinking, after thought if you really don't like not getting the windows dvd with your product you should really go and write microsoft a email.

Dear Steve Ballmer [email protected]

where is my windows 7 disc?

 

So far as I know, all the others will send you one if you ask. They might charge for it, but they will be willing to send it if you ask.

I'm not demanding that it be included in the box -- just suggesting that they ought to be willing to send me the required discs on request.

Alternatively, maybe they should ship with Windows modified so that it never asks for that disc they didn't provide?

 

How does that explain them not being willing to sell the discs to a user who wants them? Other people have charged $10 or $20 for replacement media. That works. And then they're not just not losing money, they're making money.

Because, prior to this, my experiences with their support had been pretty good. I have a history of being happy with their hardware. I have bought a lot of Eee PCs, and they seem to come with some kind of driver CD. (For all I know it's actually not, since I was just loading Linux on 'em.)

There were references in some forum discussions to the "driver DVD", which came with some G73JH machines. I had come to the conclusion that they stopped shipping it, to save money, but that it would presumably be possible to order one. After all, they already went to the trouble and effort of creating that DVD -- the cost to them of shipping a replacement copy has to be virtually zero.

Oh, sure. I don't expect to change anything about it. It's just that, in the past, ASUS was a company that did hardware, and supported that hardware pretty well. If I bought a motherboard from ASUS, it came with a driver DVD that had working drivers for every recentish version of Windows. I would view willingness to provide such a DVD -- even if they charge money for it -- as about the bottem end of two-star service, and I tend to think of ASUS as a better company than that. So I was pretty surprised.

Again, I totally understand the decision not to actually include it in the box. I just don't understand why they don't have a $19.95 "ASUS G73JH Media Pack" in their store that gives you the two DVDs, and which support directs you to. I would be fine with paying twenty bucks for DVDs that, even with licensing, probably cost them less than $5 to make (after all, MS licensing is about license keys, not about individual discs), because I recognize that not everyone needs those.

I've been buying stuff from ASUS for something close to fifteen years now. I've probably had something like three or four dozen ASUS driver CDs at one point or another. I'm used to them providing those media. Since there's download links for an ISO of the ASUS driver DVD, I assumed that they had made such a DVD, but weren't including it in the box anymore, but I'd just go grab it.

Furthermore, I had assumed (perhaps this was stupid, in retrospect...) that since the machine had a "recovery partition", presumably it could use the Windows files from that partition for repair if it needed to. On other systems I've used, a "recovery partition" can be configured so that Windows can use it if it wants to access the "original media". This one isn't like that, though.

But yeah, I think the overall impression I'm getting is that ASUS has decided to stop providing the kind of support that originally made me a fairly consistent customer for the last decade and change, so in future, I may look elsewhere for my laptops. It just seems frustrating to me, because if they were willing to sell the media they used to ship with the G73JH, I'd happily buy it (I'm not gonna complain about a $20 fee for something like that), and then I'd be totally happy with the laptop. The only other concern I would have had was the vBIOS thing, and obviously they're being good about that.

And the thing is, given that they'd make money selling those discs, I really don't see why they don't. I guess it's the same as my question about why they are unable to sell the secondary drive bracket -- it's obviously a cheap generic part, and I don't see what's hard about including it in their parts store, along with everything else. Instead, I'm probably just gonna have a friend who has a bunch of machine tools make me one.

 

This is the particularly weird part, to me -- obviously the disc exists, and ASUS manufactures some, they just don't include it with some models. I don't understand why.

 

had your notebook bag and mouse?

 

Not that I know of. It's a G73JH-RBBX05, one of the Best Buy models. However, given the number of people calling me names for thinking I ought to have gotten these discs, I'm pretty sure a lot of models ship without them. Mine came with no bag and no mouse. It came with various packing material, battery, and wall adapter, plus I think a sort of very generic manual. It instructed me to create a set of three backup DVDs right away, but all those can do is recreate the recovery partition on a 500GB drive exactly the size of the one the machine came with. I was able to use third-party software to migrate that onto an SSD, but there's no support for that included -- by default, if you want to install on an SSD, you have to do a clean install from regular media, then either give it the license key from the bottom of the machine or use third-party software that can save and restore the activation magic.

 

bestbuy models come with fewer accessories and services So you pay less for it.

Much of the G73 come with the backpack, mouse and support CD, I think the problem here is bestbuy and not asus.

 

My asus came like this Youtube Video with a backback and a gaming mouse and asus cd. but ASUS over email told me a clean copy of windows cd can be ordered over the phone with in 30 days. I got an ASUS G73JH-A1, I got it for the price of the A2 not that I have any bluray movies but what ever.

Personally I would ask a friend with an OEM version of windows 7 to make me a copy or buy one cheap on sale at some OEM parts shop with case fan, you know the deal. I think you need the OEM version and not the Full retail version that is sold in stores for your key to work other wise your out of luck and it has to be the same version of Windows 7 too.

 

Every other vendor I've tried will ship replacement media if asked. They might charge for it, but it's one of the things they will do.

 

Seebs, do you think they send you a real pressed OEM windows disc? or do they just burn you one and send it? just asking...

 

With other vendors, when I've requested replacement media, they've sent me something that looked pretty much like a factory-pressed CD. I think it's always been free, though some vendors charge for them nowadays. It's been enough like a standard CD that putting it in when Windows asked for its install media worked; I don't actually care too much how they do it.

 

Look, this is the way that ASUS is currently doing business. Continuing to gripe here doesn't do much- if you have a concern about it, consider PM'ing Gary or calling ASUS about it. I don't understand the thought process when there are plenty of work-arounds. Why gripe when you can get it anyway?

 

BECAUSE THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY IS DOING IT. GO COMPLAIN TO THE ENTIRE NOTEBOOK PC MARKET.

 

Bingo, I actually downloaded Windows right from Micrsoft, threw it on a DVD and used the key on the back of the lappy.....win.....best way to do a fresh format and dump all the junk Asus felt the need to put on it haha

 

Again, this is not the case. Other vendors will ship you a CD if you ask their support people. They may charge for it, but they'll be willing to get you the media. At least, that's been my experience.