dstrakele has covered about everything and I would be sure to try to reload and save the default bios settings if you haven't already because it's so easy to try and might help if you updated your bios at the same time (?).
I wanted to mention a few more things below too ('tag team' with dstrakely and I).
1) Your DVD-ROM should appear in the bios too, so wanted to make sure it's listed. It may not be very likely, but if your DVD drive has gone bad and is causing this problem (not a common problem I'm aware of, but possible in theory? Actually, if both the DVD-ROM or hard drives don't appear in the bios anymore, it may be more likely a problem with the SATA controller/connector.), there is a relatively easy way to unplug the DVD-ROM to see if this helps the hard drives to be detected.
2) Not sure if your notebook has 2 hard drive bays as in the screenshot below (some if not all G73SW notebooks will), but if you haven't already tried it, connect your hard drive to the other hard drive connector if available to see if it works).
3) Although I wouldn't want to spend too much money on an older out-of-warranty notebook if possible (I would rather save the money for a newer notebook with warranty if you can afford it), check this link for contact information if you would like to send in the notebook to ASUS USA for out-of-warranty service.
I wanted to mention a few more things below too ('tag team' with dstrakely and I).
1) Your DVD-ROM should appear in the bios too, so wanted to make sure it's listed. It may not be very likely, but if your DVD drive has gone bad and is causing this problem (not a common problem I'm aware of, but possible in theory? Actually, if both the DVD-ROM or hard drives don't appear in the bios anymore, it may be more likely a problem with the SATA controller/connector.), there is a relatively easy way to unplug the DVD-ROM to see if this helps the hard drives to be detected.
2) Not sure if your notebook has 2 hard drive bays as in the screenshot below (some if not all G73SW notebooks will), but if you haven't already tried it, connect your hard drive to the other hard drive connector if available to see if it works).
3) Although I wouldn't want to spend too much money on an older out-of-warranty notebook if possible (I would rather save the money for a newer notebook with warranty if you can afford it), check this link for contact information if you would like to send in the notebook to ASUS USA for out-of-warranty service.
dstrakele wrote:
1) What happens if you enter the BIOS and restore the default settings? Has the SATA Configuration changed in your BIOS as compared to your roommate's?
2) Does reinstalling or updating the Intel Chipset driver with the -overall switch to ensure that all Chipset devices are updated resolve the issue? Since the HDD is not recognized in the BIOS, I believe this attempt at a Windows software fix has little chance of success.
3) Booting into a Linux "LiveCD" distribution would be another way to help confirm if the issue is BIOS-related or hardware related, as opposed to Windows software related.
4) How did you end up with a roommate that had had the exact same laptop as you? That was extremely fortunate for troubleshooting...
If the above fails to change behavior, I'd be inclined to accept your diagnosis of a failed SATA Controller or SATA connector.
dstrakele wrote:
1) What happens if you enter the BIOS and restore the default settings? Has the SATA Configuration changed in your BIOS as compared to your roommate's?
2) Does reinstalling or updating the Intel Chipset driver with the -overall switch to ensure that all Chipset devices are updated resolve the issue? Since the HDD is not recognized in the BIOS, I believe this attempt at a Windows software fix has little chance of success.
3) Booting into a Linux "LiveCD" distribution would be another way to help confirm if the issue is BIOS-related or hardware related, as opposed to Windows software related.
4) How did you end up with a roommate that had had the exact same laptop as you? That was extremely fortunate for troubleshooting...
If the above fails to change behavior, I'd be inclined to accept your diagnosis of a failed SATA Controller or SATA connector.
1) When I restore to default settings, it doesn't do anything different. and our BIOS are identical, sans the hardrive option missing.
2) I'm not sure how to do that, but would it work if it's not picking up the HDD?
3) How would I go about doing that?
4) we got them at the same time lol
cl-Albert wrote:
dstrakele has covered about everything and I would be sure to try to reload and save the default bios settings if you haven't already because it's so easy to try and might help if you updated your bios at the same time (?).
I wanted to mention a few more things below too ('tag team' with dstrakely and I).
1) Your DVD-ROM should appear in the bios too, so wanted to make sure it's listed. It may not be very likely, but if your DVD drive has gone bad and is causing this problem (not a common problem I'm aware of, but possible in theory? Actually, if both the DVD-ROM or hard drives don't appear in the bios anymore, it may be more likely a problem with the SATA controller/connector.), there is a relatively easy way to unplug the DVD-ROM to see if this helps the hard drives to be detected.
2) Not sure if your notebook has 2 hard drive bays as in the screenshot below (some if not all G73SW notebooks will), but if you haven't already tried it, connect your hard drive to the other hard drive connector if available to see if it works).
3) Although I wouldn't want to spend too much money on an older out-of-warranty notebook if possible (I would rather save the money for a newer notebook with warranty if you can afford it), check this link for contact information if you would like to send in the notebook to ASUS USA for out-of-warranty service.
1) Both my DVD-ROM and Network options appear in the BIOS.
2) Mine does have to hard drive bays and I tried that first lol.
3) I guess I'll have to look into that and see if it's worth it
