Help! XP will not load on z70va!!!

So, last week, while I was browsing through the internet, Adobe installed an update on the reader and in the process, shutdown and then restarted. When the Asus came back up, I could not connect it to the internet through the DSL line. I looked at device manager, everything seemed fine. This had happened once before not too long ago. So I tried to re-enable the wireless and connect that way. It did not work. I tried dial-up connection -- that did not work. Looking at the device manager, I have a VPN I usually keep disabled. I tried to disable and re-enable the wireless. It was disabled but it would not re-enable. Finally I shut down the machine and then started it. When it started and I went to device manager -- now all the networking devices showed they were working when they weren't when I shut it down (and the wireless and the VPN should have remained disabled) but when I tried to turn on the wireless connection -- it said no supported adapter. I have the INTEL Wireless Pro.

Again nothing worked. So I shut it down again and turned it back on -- this time it gave me an option to go into safe mode -- but I had no idea what to do -- so it it defaulted into normal mode and loaded.

From then on the ASUS would never complete the shutting down process -- it would hang at the last step. The only way I could get it to turn off was by "hard" shutting it down by pressing and holding down the power button.

I uninstalled the Adobe completely -- but that did not help.

Since I have been extremely busy at work, I decided to let it go for the moment and use my other laptop, my HP which is working just fine.

I still used the ASUS to watch DVDs and that was fine but I always had to "hard" shut it down when I wanted to turn it off.

Tonight I had a little bit of time and tried to figure out what I could do. I tried a system restore, back to a few points before the Adobe download. I waited, it did its thing -- it showed it was doing the restore on a box on the screen and then it started to shut down -- and again it hung up at the same last point. Just in case I let it hang there for about 5 minutes and then finally I hard shut it down.

Now I try to turn it on and Windows won't even load now. It just stays a black screen (and no it is not the screen) The hard drive doesn't seem to be working at all.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Through all this, I have been using ESET's safe security.

 

You mean the Windows XP loading screen doesn't show up at all right now ?
Well, if that is the case, do you have any XP disks around (And I don't mean recovery disks) ? If you have, try booting your notebook with it and bring the recovery console. Log into your installation [if it is found, it will show something like 1-C:\Windows] and then, write fixmbr and then fixboot in the console, that might fix it.

 

Yes.... Nothing comes up...

I don't mean to be such a dolt ... but I don't quite understand. I have disc with Windows XP that came with the ASUS. I just says Windows XP includes Service pack 2.

I am so nervous.. I never did a system restore before and I completely messed things up.

So do I out the Disc in the DVD tray and push the power button on?

Ok... I am leaving above what I wrote.... b/c what just happened was... I went to put in the disc. I had to push the power button so I could open the tray. And all of a sudden -- Windows loaded and the wireless came on! The only thing that happened since my post was that it was turned off for about 20 minutes.

What the h*ll happened? It can't be a cooling thing because I keep the ASUS on a very strong cooler.. a Bytecc.. I have left the ASUS on for days and never had any problem. During this past week, right after the problem first started, I have turned it off every night and it has been off for 20 hours.

So why all of a sudden after being off for 20 minutes it loads? And before it would not even after waiting 10 or 15 minutes?

The window did show that the restore was complete... So I guess that was the right move. And now it is shutting down without a problem too.

So what happened?
Just before the Adobe download, I used for the first time a flash drive that was U3 ready (and I do not know what that means. I just wanted the flash drive -- it is a SanDisc 4 GB Cruzer Titanium USB Flash Drive with U3
I decided to chose a restore point before that software, even though the problem happened a couple of days later, immediately after Adobe downloaded its updates and restarted the computer.

Anyway.... Thanks so much for your help... even though I did not get to use it -- you helped me anyway....

 

Well, glad that it worked without all the hassle.
The disk that comes with the ASUS laptop, is a recovery CD, that has only three options :
-Wipe out the whole drive and reinstall windows on it.
-Wipe out C:\ drive and install windows on it.
-Wipe out D:\ drive and install windows on it.
So, you would only like to use the disk when you have back ups ready. On the other hand, a Windows XP retail CD, has the recovery console that can fix many of the problems that can come up.

And I think I do know what was wrong with the laptop. When a USB thumb drive/disk is connected to the laptop while it is booting, it tries to boot from it and when it fails, it just sits there waiting like an idiot unless you remove the drive and press a key.

BTW, I hope that your coolers is blowing in the right direction [i.e. Not making the air flow in the opposite direction of your laptop's internal cooling] or it will have a reverse effect as I have seen it once.

 

Justitia:
U3 is a technology that basically lets a USB drive run applications independent of the OS on the computer you're using - useful if you want to bring along apps or browsers with personalized settings and use them on a public or shared PC. You do need to be sure to eject and remove the U3 drive before you cycle or shut down the PC, so that the usb's OS is disengaged.

There is also a way to completely delete the U3 software capability from the SanDisk flashdrive, just leaving you with the big blank USB key you're looking for. As I recall from mine, it gives you the option on initial bootup. Else, you can find instructions on the Sandisk website for the deletion procedure in the FAQ under Can I Remove U3 Technology.

 

I looked all over the XP CD that came with the ASUS and there is nothing on the CD that says it is a recovery disc. The booklet it is attached to says it is licensed for distribution only with a new PC --(which was the case with mine) -- and inside it refers to using the Recovery console if you your computer doesn't start properly The Recovery console provides a command line-- it sounds similar to what you were referring to.

Dies it seem that way to you? Wouldn't the disc say it was a "recovery disc" if that is what it is? It looks to me like a retail version of XP. I can contact the re-seller, Pro-portable, and ask.

Good thought about the thumb drive though it was not plugged in. It was plugged in only once -- that was a few days before. But I did pick a restore before that point in case the U3 software that got loaded somehow had a delayed effect -- or interacted with the Adobe update download.

Yes, in this ASUS the coolers suck in air from the bottom and shoot it out to the side. The Bytecc blows air up from the bottom into the same hole as the ASUS cooler suck air in from -- so it reinforces the air cooler unit.

When deciding on what cooler to get -- there was a thread discussing which way the cooling unit should blow. The consensus was that it should blow up from the bottom despite the fact that that means it will such dust and dirt into the ASUS because the ASUS designed its own cooling unit to suck up air (and dust and dirt, etc) from the bottom. A stupid design feature in my opinion.

But I am glad you asked because that was more than a year ago and I checked out my Bytecc and discovered that one of the fans is not working. Fortunately the one underneath the ASUS cooler is working and that's the part of the laptop that gets really hot.

But if I can't fix it -- I will get a new one -- it is only $20 bucks.

Thank you so much for all your info.

 

Thanks for the suggestion and the warning. I will follow up on what you recommend and make a decision as to what I want to do.

I can't believe the thing sells on Amazon now for $20 when I paid $80 for it 5 months ago. And I only started using it a couple of weeks ago. (My life -- as per usual -- is excessively hectic -- though I keep saying it will calm down some day. )

 

I think Mujtaba's talking about the way things ship with the Ensemble models (I believe which have the recovery CD with just the XP license and not a retail install), not the older BoA series like the z70 etc. Those come with the retail version of XP and a drivers disc, and do not have a recovery partition on the HDD - you have to do a full reinstall of XP if you run into problems like that. To access the Windows Recovery Console, I think the procedure is to boot with the XP CD already in the drive, and then select RC from the menu that pops up.

On another note, good luck getting a hold of Justin at PP - he's been absent from the forums for almost a year now and no one seems to know whether the company is still running as it was back then; possible that it might still be and he just moved on to his architectural company fulltime, but no one around here has talked about buying from Justin in a looong time.

 

Eeeek, hey justitia.

long time.

So everything is good now?

I always suggest to people to unplug their USB keys/drives when booting/rebooting their systems.

Some systems are set to boot to removable drives and such, so systems hang and people freak out.

If you can't locate your CD I'd say start networking, there must be someone with a windows xp cd laying around, that you know.

Unless you have super sensitive materials, I would suggest using a normal USB key/drive, I hate that U3 stuff. Always has to load when you plug it in.

Personal preference I guess, but those drove me crazy.

I'm glad to see your Z70Va is still kicking. My baby is still going strong as well.

I recently bought some more ram for her and gave her a thorough cleaning under the keyboard and everything.

So far she's survived a 3 foot drop, abuse from my sister, and daily commutes back and forth on the TTC (Toronto Transit...) to and from work and school.

I just can't find anything new on the market that matches the Z70Va in terms of battery life, performance, screen resolution, style.

Really I can't. After using huge resolutions like the Z70Va has (1680x1050), I just can't go down to a lower resolution, I feel so cramped.

Plus all the new notebooks have those glossy screens that I just can't get used to.

Blech. Oops, I totally went off topic here, haha.

Guess I'll be checking back here more often now, just incase some Asus regulars hare having problems.

I've got your back Justitia!

Haha

Cheers,
Mike

 

Missed seeing you Mike -- though I have not been around much (oh I forgot -- I am using my BF's handle -- been working on his laptop -- I am Justitia )

My Asus screen has been out for over 6 months. I have had not itme to send it in. I use a Dell 20.5 external moniter with it now. So it just serves as a desk top I think I got just a lemon... And now I hear that Justin is no longer around. I am still under warranty b/c I bought the extended one. Probably at the end of the semester I will try to send it in to get repaired -- and maybe a clean-up too.

Hope all is well, Mike