Repair/Refurbish Windows 7 Asus Laptop

[richardf77]

Ouch, that's quite the delay.  Where did you buy the drive from?

Amazon UK, but apparently via a German supplier/wholesaler, something that wasn't clear when I ordered it. Thankfully though that was very conservative estimate since the drive arrived in the post this morning!

When I opened the package there was a sticker on the wrapping around the actual drive saying only to be opened in a static free environment/work area. I know static can damage hdds but how can I achieve this in a home environment? 

After that it should be all systems go for install!

[Calum]

Ah, well, glad to hear it arrived quite quickly in the end.
That warning is standard on almost all parts shipped in an anti static bag.  Don't worry too much about it, if you're worried then don't open it somewhere likely to generate static (i.e. on the carpet while shuffling about in slippers) and you can always ground yourself by touching a grounded metal surface, such as the back of a radiator or an unpainted part of a computer case while the PSU is plugged in and thus grounding it, before you open up the package.

[richardf77]

Have now fitted the new HDD, went OK. problems have started as soon as i turned the machine on. it seems to have detected the new hdd OK but i cant seem to boot from the USB stick i want to install windows from. All i get is a Boot Manager screen on start up telling me windows cant load because of hard ware changes (ie new HDD) and to installation/recovery media and reboot. When this screen appears i put the usb stick into the machine and tell it to reboot and the same screen message reappears. I made sure the boot priorities were set to boot from removable media first, then optical then HDD but this has made no difference, it still goes straight to the empty new HDD on start up.

I have also tried bootable recovery discs made when the OS was last installed on the old HDD, as well as recovery disc made when  the machine was purchased (installation discs not supplied with the machine) all to no avail (although i suspect a problem with the optical drive).

The Boot manager screen gives the error code 0xc000000e, which means nothing to me but will to those in the know i am sure.

I am surprised and confused that the machine will not boot from the USB stick now that the new HDD is installed. It worked fine when there was no HDD in the machine!

Have i missed something? Should something have been done to the new HDD before fitting it into the PC, like formatting or configuring in some way so that the PC would recognise it?

Please help. I am starting to get the feeling i am wasting my time and money here.

[Calum]

If the hard drive is new and blank, you shouldn't get that message at all.  Hit the boot menu key - F9 on most HPs, can be F8, F10, F12, etc...depends on the laptop.  Asus is usually F8 or Escape, it'll be on the splash screen.  Select removable media or USB HDD from there, does that help at all?  I know you're already set the boot priority but it's worth a try.  There should be no configuration necessary for the hard drive.

[richardf77]

Problems all sorted out now and windows 7 installed on the new HDD fine. Had to reinstall the ISO files onto the USB stick to get it to work. I apparently hadnt done it right the first time (files extracted direct from download file to stick rather than extracted to other PC and copied over).

Instalation took longer than nessesary, ran the installer 3 times  thinking each time that the installation had failed, instead i discovered i needed to remove the usb stick after the first reboot otherwise the pc would boot again from the stick and ask to start the installation process all over again. Once over that problem all was fine. Didnt get the option to partition as i thought, either that or i missed it (see other thread).

The only problem i still have is that the optical drive still wont work. Unless anyone can can shed some light onthe problem and/or fix it it looks like i will either have to do without or replace it (internal or external options). FYI the optical drive will open and try to run the disc but then give up. Drive not recognised in 'My Computer'. Shows drive but not any disk in it.

[Calum]

Try reseating the optical drive just to make sure it's making a good connection - if you're tried that, or it doesn't help, the drive's probably had it.  A new drive, either internal or external, is cheap enough, anyway.

Glad to hear you have it all installed and sorted now though.

[richardf77]

PC up and running, havent sorted the optical drive yet. Only issue is that the fan seems to run a lot more than before. Could this be anything to do with the new hdd (which is relatively quiet when running) or could i just be over working the processor. It has occured to me that since the PC hasnt been used for some time while due to the kaput HDD, the processor isnt powerful enough to do the job its now asked to do by up to date webpages, applications etc. Its only about 3 years old but i guess the way tech moves on thats long enough.

That said i have a desktop of the same age that still performs very well with what it is asked to do.

[Geek-9pm]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
Shall we mark this as solved?
BTW:
Do you feel that nit was worth the effort?
Was it fun?
Would you do it again?
Thanks for sharing. 

[Calum]

It could just need a good clean out with a can of compressed air, if the fan's spinning up more than it used to.  However, websites now do tend to use a lot more CPU-heavy animation etc than even a few years ago, so it's equally possible that things are just more demanding than last time you used it, and thus it's getting worked a little harder.  if the laptop is performing OK, I wouldn't worry

[richardf77]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
Shall we mark this as solved?
BTW:
Do you feel that nit was worth the effort?
Was it fun?
Would you do it again?
Thanks for sharing. 

!

Yes on all counts. Learnt a lot about the workings of a laptop PC and installing windows. Would do it again.