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    Stuck / frozen at "Pentium M" screen before I can see BIOS

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by joep2k, Nov 4, 2009.

  1. joep2k

    joep2k Newbie

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    Got an old Asus W3a which was working great... until I reinstalled Windows. Now when I try starting it, it's stuck at the Pentium M screen, before I can see the BIOS... which means that I cannot even have the option to enter it or format the computer.. OR ANYTHING.
    Is there a fix to this at all? I tried pushing the reset button at the bottom of the laptop, tried with just AC power, just batt, with no success
     
    joep2k, Nov 4, 2009
    #1
  2. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Turn your notebook upside down and see if you can locate a BIOS reset button - it should be a pin-sized hole which you'll need to insert a paperclip to press the button.
     
    David, Nov 4, 2009
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  3. KimoT

    KimoT Are we not men?

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    If there is no reset switch, try disconnecting both the battery and AC, and holding down the power button for 15 seconds.
     
    KimoT, Nov 4, 2009
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  4. ASUS Customer Care

    ASUS Customer Care Company Representative

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    Are you still experiencing the boot issue?

    If you have tried and still same issue. You can try re-seating your HDD and RAM modules. Was there any other changes other than an OS re-install?
     
    ASUS Customer Care, Nov 4, 2009
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  5. joep2k

    joep2k Newbie

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    Thanks all for the replies,

    ASUS Customer Care, your suggestion sort of worked, but now led to another problem.

    Anyways, when I remove the hard drive, I get past the BIOS where it is looking for a bootable drive.

    I reinstalled the hard drive, and it actually turns out it always could load the bios screen, but I had to push F2 quickly... Apparently its getting stuck when it detects the hard drive and says "S.M.A.R.T. capable and status OK", and thats when the system freezes, and nothing works.

    Does this mean it hard drive is broken, or the cable.
     
    joep2k, Nov 5, 2009
    #5
  6. crazycanuk

    crazycanuk Notebook Virtuoso

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    my guess is the HDD is messed up
     
    crazycanuk, Nov 5, 2009
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  7. joep2k

    joep2k Newbie

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    Cool, I'm getting it RMA'd, hopefully I get a new one to try out.
     
    joep2k, Nov 6, 2009
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  8. joep2k

    joep2k Newbie

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    Installed an old toshiba, windows 7 installed perfectly. Thanks for the help all.
     
    joep2k, Nov 7, 2009
    #8