Asus g73jh - Reinstall Windows or Intel Rapid Storage Technology (cloned hard drive)

hyou0079

Prominent
Sep 3, 2017
26
0
530
I apologize for the frequency of posts here lately, but I’m having an issue I desperately need to fix.

My Asus G73JH laptop loaded with Win7 had begun freezing after prolonged use. A friend recommended I install a newer graphics driver in the hopes it may fix something. This not only did NOT fix it, but apparently broke some compatibility with the computer’s structure, as apparently ASUS laptops do not take kindly to drivers not issued by ASUS themselves even if they’re the same company that made the driver (in this case AMD). I attempted to install the original driver, and while this restored the visual look, it did not restore the broken compatibility issues (such as my USB monitor no longer installing/working correctly and ASUS Splendid no longer working)

I ended up taking it to a non-chain shop, where they claimed both the hard drive was failing AND the Motherboard had to be replaced due to a short related to the AC adapter. I ended up doing both, with the intent to clone the existing hard drive over to a new one. They got a larger hard drive than what was originally used, but claimed they were unable to clone the hard drive over. They handed me back the laptop with Win7 loaded and nothing else, along with the original supposedly unbootable hard drive in an enclosure.

After trying and failing to rebuild my system for a variety of reasons, I took the laptop and the original hard drive to a friend’s trusted technician. This new technician was able to restore the original hard drive, though it was still on its way to failing, so he cloned it over to the newer hard drive the shop had used. Although the cloning was successful, and the laptop is usable in the state it’s in, there is an issue. A number of features and programs on the laptop, using the original setup on the new larger hard drive, are not working. These include:

Windows Update, service cannot start (Windows Update troubleshooter does not help)

Indexing, cannot start (if I try “see more results”, a window appears and immediately closes)

Troubleshooting, cannot start

ASUS Turboboost and Asus Splendid do not work (I never used this, I’m just concerned they may be indicative of a bigger issue)

The error 0xE5E0247 keeps appearing whenever I run repair or troubleshooting functions. I run chkdsk, it comes out fine. I defrag the computer, comes out fine. When I run SFC /scannow, it finds errors but cannot correct them, and DISM fails to start up at all. At this point, two recommendations keep coming up whenever I try to talk to people about this

1 – Intel Rapid Storage Technology – This comes up very frequently when I try to research both the problems listed and whenever hard drive cloning comes up. One technician advised me NOT to try this because it could result in compatibility issues. Eventually I lost patience and tried it out with a backup in hand in case something went wrong, but when I tried to install IRST, it failed, saying it was an unsupported format. Does this mean I have the wrong version of IRST or it just plain can’t work? I don’t know, nobody can provide answers.

2 – Reinstall windows – Completely formatting and reinstalling Win7 from a blank slate is simply not an option, due to the lack of proper drivers, utilities and reinstallation software (many of my programs installation CDs are back home, I’m currently away for an extended period). The “Factory Install recovery partition” that every Asus G73JH Laptop comes with is there on the new hard drive, but is apparently useless due to the cloning making it unusable.

While I do have a Win7 CD on hand, it’ not the one used to install Win7 on the Asus, it was used to install Win7 on a macbook I used during school. I’ve been told that I can use this to REPAIR my Asus’ Win7 installation by putting it in, choosing “upgrade” and having it overwrite it with a healthy installation of Win7, and this would KEEP my programs files and drivers without removing any of them. I have not attempted this yet because I cannot get any confirmation as to whether or not it’s safe to do this with a Win7 CD that was not used to install the Win7 originally there. The unit's serial number is still on the laptop's underside.

So is it that I need to use IRST, or is Win7 corrupted and have to be repaired? I don’t know what the issue is, but I desperately need guidance on this.
 
Solution


OK.
Sometimes, a full wipe and reinstall is needed. No matter how painful.

And for future reference, backups. A single USB external drive, ad any number of free software applications, will create a full image of your drive.
I have several layers of recovery images for my systems.
Day 1 with just the OS
Day 2 with the OS and my basic load of applications
And then a daily/weekly update Image procedure.

I can recover the system to any condition in the last two weeks, or from Day 1 if need be.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
1. Ditch the IRST. Buggy and mostly useless.

2. A full reinstall IS an option. Might not be an option you like, but it is an option.
That's what I would probably do in this case.

However...a Win 7 Repair might fix it.
Discover your Win 7 license, and see if you can download the relevant Win 7 ISO from Microsoft.
Here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7
This probably won't work because you have an OEM license from ASUS. But try it anyway.
 

hyou0079

Prominent
Sep 3, 2017
26
0
530


Yeah it didn't work, said it was issued by the manufacturer and I'm not sure Asus would provide an installation.

I do have a Win7 installation CD, just not one provided by ASUS. This wouldn't work for a Win7 repair?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


If you already have a Win 7 DVD, use it.
It should work.

I mentioned "probably not...", because trying to download the Win 7 ISO from Microsoft requires the license key. If you input a OEM license key, like from ASUS, it will just refer you back to ASUS to get it.
 

hyou0079

Prominent
Sep 3, 2017
26
0
530


Okay, just one last concern/question, since I can't seem to get an answer to this.

the ASUS has an AMD graphics card and driver, so it uses ATI and the like. When I installed Bootcamp on my school Macbook though, it automatically downloaded an Nvidia graphics software package to use for the Windows side. I don't claim to know how Macbooks and Bootcamp work, I don't know Macs very well, but should I be concerned about using the Windows 7 CD other than what ASUS issued overwriting software like that?

I watched a video on youtube that showed how this "reinstalling windows without formatting" works and it never came up, it's really my only concern. The video made it look like it wouldn't erase programs, but another story I read claimed it would delete my files like pictures movies music and etc if I tried. Yeah those are easy to back up but I'm just concerned.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


A regular Win 7 install DVD should just install basic drivers. After that, you install the proper AMD driver on your own.
 

hyou0079

Prominent
Sep 3, 2017
26
0
530


So it SHOULDN'T overwrite the AMD ATI driver I have installed right now then
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Unknown. Probably not, but be prepared for every eventuality.
 

hyou0079

Prominent
Sep 3, 2017
26
0
530


Alright, I'll make an image backup and a file backup along with a drivers list just in case, thanks for the support and I'll write back with a report when I can work up the stomach to take the plunge.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


OK.
Sometimes, a full wipe and reinstall is needed. No matter how painful.

And for future reference, backups. A single USB external drive, ad any number of free software applications, will create a full image of your drive.
I have several layers of recovery images for my systems.
Day 1 with just the OS
Day 2 with the OS and my basic load of applications
And then a daily/weekly update Image procedure.

I can recover the system to any condition in the last two weeks, or from Day 1 if need be.
 
Solution