BIOS Boot Failure - X460-44G

I have had a X460-44G since March of 2009. While stylish and great in theory, this thing has been nothing but a headache. I've sent it in 3 times during the period of my 1 year warranty. I've had the hard drive, motherboard, shell/case, and monitor replaced, as all these components failed.

I am now out of warranty, and the laptop is starting to do the same thing it did when the motherboard was originally replaced. Here's the situation:

1. Windows 7 x86 - will be using the computer with light load (Outlook open, Chrome open with a few tabs, no major background services, etc.), and it will bluescreen. Sometimes it references 'bowser.sys', other times it is too quick to catch.

2. When I power it back on, the Phoenix/Samsung BIOS splash screen appears, but the blue loading bar at the bottom sticks on about 75% through, and stays there for several minutes. It then flashes black and says "Operating System not found". I just keep trying rebooting (pull out battery and power for quite some time, then put back in), but it just seems to be the luck of the draw, and then it starts working again. I have reseated the 2 RAM chips, but no discernible difference.

I'm baffled about what it could be. Motherboard? RAM?

Has anyone had this or a similar issue? I can't afford to pay out of pocket right now for parts, and there is no way I am shipping this thing to Intelisol -- they take at least a month from start to finish--if I am lucky.

Sorry for the long post, just looking for some guidance.

 

Not that anyone seems to care/have ideas, I replaced the RAM and Hard disk in the computer. It started working like a champ for a few days, but is back to how it used to be again.

 

I would suspect a bad connection somewhere which you temporarily fixed by removal / replacement of the RAM and HDD. Dry solder joints can be very difficult to see.

John