Computer help ?


 
Lynn Dollar

Lynn Dollar

TVWBB Emerald Member
Is this ASUS laptop dead and gone ? I think the hard drive has crashed. I can't seem to get past this page, no matter which option I choose. Is it worth taking to a computer repair guy ?



20200418_134327.jpg
 
Last edited:
It is possible that the bios is set to boot off a drive where the operating system does not reside. For example, the DVD drive, or a USB drive Restart the computer and press F1 or F2 (depends on the computer) to enter the bios. Within the bios, it will indicate the boot drive. If it's not the C:\ drive, select the C:\ drive, save and exit. If the bios is already set to boot from the C:\ drive, then you may want someone to take a look and give you an estimate for repair. Good luck Lynn.
 
Our granddaughters laptop had the same issue. It is probably just a simple corruption of Windows, but might be the hard drive. In her case her brother loaded an alternate OS and she could access her files for export. Newer versions of Windows have a self repairing feature, but it doesn't always work if the error occurs before loading root files. Only repair for that is a windows reinstall.
 
Pressing F1 or F2 does nothing. Its caught in a loop. Follow anyone of the options and it ends up restarting and right back to where it was.

The Windows reinstall sounds like it might work, cept I don't know how to do that. I'll take it to the repair guy and pay him for his knowledge. There might be hope for it.
 
Look up how to boot to safe mode in Windows 10. It's not easy to do but worth trying. If it boots the HD is fine
 
Clint said:
you don't get the motherboard bootup text, like "American megatrends" or anything, just straight to that screen?
Click to expand...

I get the ASUS logo, then it says its going to " automatic repair " and then I get the screen in the pic. Whatever I do from there, it loops back to the ASUS logo and then the screen in the pic.
 
I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but my initial questions are: 1) do your data files reside on the same drive as where Windows is installed? 2) If so, are the data files on the same partition as where Windows resides? 3) if you answer "yes" to either question, are your data files backed-up elsewhere? If not, are they important, or are you not certain of their importance (value)?

Is this a mechanical HDD, or a solid state drive? What actions did you perform to get to this option screen?
 
BFletcher said:
I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but my initial questions are: 1) do your data files reside on the same drive as where Windows is installed? 2) If so, are the data files on the same partition as where Windows resides? 3) if you answer "yes" to either question, are your data files backed-up elsewhere? If not, are they important, or are you not certain of their importance (value)?

Is this a mechanical HDD, or a solid state drive? What actions did you perform to get to this option screen?
Click to expand...

I don't remember. This thing went kaput about a year ago. I worked on it for a little while, but I have a PC and a tablet and I easily got along without it. But now Mrs Dollar is working from home and it would be a help to her to get this running.

Larry, this thing starts up on " choose an option " page. I go to " troubleshoot " , which then provides me with " reset this PC " or " Advanced Options " when I click on either one ...........it loops right back to the " choose an option " page.

I think I take it to a computer guy and find out if its just a Windows problem peculiar to ASUS laptops or the hard drive has crashed. Either way, I'm not sure its worth putting any more money into a $300 laptop.
 
Clint said:
I've seen a lot of crashed hard drives - never(?) a notebook hard drive though..... but the bigger ones will sometimes make a tickng noise. If that's a $300 laptop it most likely doesn't have a SSD, so you might hear some noise (a click every couple seconds or more)

There are SATA to USB adapters that will let you pull data off of the drive, if it's still good, or even run a check disk on it. I have a few kinds of SATA/IDE(obsolete)/USB adapters that are even good for using the drives for backups.

Computer shops will probably be happy to see you - I've never been to a computer shop for a repair so no idea what they'd charge.

https://www.amazon.com/sata-usb/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?k=sata+to+usb&linkCode=ll2&tag=TVWB-20
Click to expand...

They charge $100. No matter what it is, its a $100. Got a loose wire , its a $100. Need a diagnosis , $100.

Or so it seems to me.

I've been in front of this thing all morning, it does nothing but loop in circles. From what I've Googled, its something unique to ASUS laptops.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I don't remember. This thing went kaput about a year ago. I worked on it for a little while, but I have a PC and a tablet and I easily got along without it. But now Mrs Dollar is working from home and it would be a help to her to get this running.

Larry, this thing starts up on " choose an option " page. I go to " troubleshoot " , which then provides me with " reset this PC " or " Advanced Options " when I click on either one ...........it loops right back to the " choose an option " page.

I think I take it to a computer guy and find out if its just a Windows problem peculiar to ASUS laptops or the hard drive has crashed. Either way, I'm not sure its worth putting any more money into a $300 laptop.
Click to expand...
You will never get to safe mode from that screen. Believe me I've been there and drove myself nuts, until my genius son in law (no I was not kidding) he's the head of internet security for all of Aldi's in North America told me about it. You have to do the steps exactly as the 3rd one suggests or you will not get past the screen you're on. Honest. Been there done that
 
Clint said:
I've seen a lot of crashed hard drives - never(?) a notebook hard drive though.....
Click to expand...

I have. Biggest difference between laptop and desktop drives is the auto-park feature, that will automatically home the heads after a short period of inactivity, otherwise they're generally (or were,) a smaller version.

For a $300 laptop, I'd have a hard time taking it into a a shop. As noted, there's a good chance that you can take the drive out of the laptop, and potentially pull the data out into another system. Personally, since you started this, I would be suspecting a surface problem with the drive, some of it may be recoverable.
 
LMichaels said:
You will never get to safe mode from that screen. Believe me I've been there and drove myself nuts, until my genius son in law (no I was not kidding) he's the head of internet security for all of Aldi's in North America told me about it. You have to do the steps exactly as the 3rd one suggests or you will not get past the screen you're on. Honest. Been there done that
Click to expand...

Larry, I tried that several times, it did not work.
 
If it did not work than the HDD is toast because it's the only way you can get to safe mode without using an external boot device like an SD card or memory stick. Another thing son in law did for me was make a recovery drive on a mem stick so it could boot at least to a prompt. Anyway if you have important data on the drive you can get it recovered. Then you should be able to get a new HDD and install a fresh install of Windows and reactivate it from your original documentation. Sorry but you never made it clear you had actually done the correct steps to attempt safe mode
 
Lynn, if the laptop is more than a couple of years old I'd seriously consider replacing it before throwing service dollars at it, if you don't mind spending the money. You might even be able to get a few bucks for it as a trade-in.

Of course, your last name's Dollar so clearly money is no object for you.;)
 
Brad Olson said:
Lynn, if the laptop is more than a couple of years old I'd seriously consider replacing it before throwing service dollars at it, if you don't mind spending the money. You might even be able to get a few bucks for it as a trade-in.

Of course, your last name's Dollar so clearly money is no object for you.;)
Click to expand...

Yep, I've heard that before :D

Right now, just trying to help Mrs Dollar with her work days. We don't know how long this set up is gonna last, but she's hoping it becomes permanent. And if so, we will spend some money on her home office.

But until then ................... nope, these are crazy times
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top