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keanra · ‎04-24-2013

Hi all,

I'm having real difficulty finding anything that can help me fix my laptop.

Long story short.... I bought an ASUS G74sx laptop for my parents for Christmas 2012 (I know, I way over did it. but wanted them to have a FAST computer so they couldn't complain about it)

About a month ago it started having BSOD issues. My father noticed it first and told me it happened when he tried to load a youtube video. Eventually it happened again while I was at work and hasn't booted since.

I checked it out that day and no matter what boot option I choose it would freeze, BSOD and usually restart just to do the same thing again.

I ended up buying an ASUS recovery disk ($65! should have come with the computer) which didn't work, BSOD before ever getting an option to do anything. I borrowed a Windows 7 install disk to try and boot from that, also with no success. Each time the computer hits a point, stops and BSOD before eventually restarting itself (sometimes it doesn't auto-restart).

After searching the internet for solutions, I read that I needed to perform memory diagnostics to determine which memory stick was faulty. After 8 passes of the extended memory testing which took the better part of the last two days. Last night before going to bed it was on pass 8 of 8 and about 50% done and still the program had reported no errors. This morning when I checked, it was stuck at the Windows 7 splash screen either completely frozen or counting down until the BSOD.

I've contacted both ASUS and Newegg (where I purchased this on November 26th, 2012) and neither could help me. Newegg simply told me because it had been 30 days I was S.O.L. while after convincing ASUS to do so they gave me an RMA to send the computer in for fixing... probably more money down the drain?

Before I send it to ASUS I figured I would try else where.

Thanks

Attached is a screen shot of the BSOD

dstrakele · ‎04-24-2013

A STOP 0x9c MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION most likely indicates a problem with hardware issued by the CPU on your G74SX. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329284 discusses this error for an XP system, but the possible causes could be the same for your Windows 7 system. You report you already checked the memory, so power supply, CPU, cooling fans, or motherboard are other possible problem areas. If your Dad would admit he was attempting bleeding edge overclocks of CPU, GPU, or memory timiings, that would be another area to examine...

Pressing F9 at startup should start the ASUS Factory Recovery (provided that you don't BSOD) if you wanted to try a last attempt at a software fix. Choose to recover Windows to the 1st partition. All files on C: will be overwritten.

Does the BSOD occur while on battery power?

Can you enter the BIOS by pressing F2 on boot or does this also result in a BSOD? If you can enter the BIOS without a BSOD, I'd try "Load Optimized Defaults" then Save & Exit to see if it resolves the BSOD.

If I were in your situation, I'd try putting the HDD in a USB enclosure and see if you could examine the Windows System Event Log on another computer to possibly determine what hardware device is causing the problem. But this has a very low chance of success to help you resolve the problem.

As much as I hate to say it, I think the odds are slim you will be able to resolve this problem without an RMA to ASUS for Warranty repair - your most cost-effective choice at this point. If you make this choice, be sure to PM cl-Albert on this forum with your RMA information, so he can provide assistance.

G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

keanra · ‎04-24-2013

Thanks dstrakele,

dstrakele wrote:
A STOP 0x9c MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION most likely indicates a problem with hardware issued by the CPU on your G74SX. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329284 discusses this error for an XP system, but the possible causes could be the same for your Windows 7 system. You report you already checked the memory, so power supply, CPU, or motherboard are other possible problem areas.

Does the BSOD occur while on battery power?

I'm not sure but I would think yes. I'm fairly certain that it was running off battery the first day I was messing with it.

dstrakele wrote:
Can you enter the BIOS by pressing F2 on boot or does this also result in a BSOD? If you can enter the BIOS without a BSOD, I'd try "Load Optimized Defaults" then Save & Exit to see if it resolves the BSOD.

Yea, I can enter the BIOS and I have tried the "Load Optimized Defaults" with no success.

dstrakele wrote:
If I were in your situation, I'd try putting the HDD in a USB enclosure and see if you could examine the Windows System Event Log to possibly determine what hardware device is causing the problem. But this has a very low chance of success to help you resolve the problem.

I think the odds are slim you will be able to resolve this problem without an RMA to ASUS for Warranty repair - your most cost-effective choice at this point.

I'm not sure what this means, putting the harddrive in a USB enclosure. I've thought about pulling the HDD and putting it into my laptop to save whatever they might have saved in the last four months. Would this work for looking into the Windows System Event Log?

I figured I would have to resort to sending to ASUS but wanted to try everything I could first. Usually with my parents computer's I have only needed to re-format and re-install and the computer works fine, but this error doesn't even let me re-format.

Again thanks!

dstrakele · ‎04-24-2013

Putting the HDD in a USB Drive Enclosure attached to another computer or installing the HDD in another computer would both work. You could do this to recover any important files from the HDD prior to attempting to reinstall Windows.

If you press F9 at startup, can you enter the ASUS Factory Recovery? If so, recovering Windows to the 1st partition would restore the Windows instance to an out-of-the-box state. This would be your last attempt at a software fix. All files on C: would be overwritten in this operation. Note that an ASUS Factory Recovery will fail if you previously formatted the HDD and removed the hidden ASUS Factory Recovery Partition.

However, I think reinstalling Windows has little chance of success in helping you resolve this issue.

G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

keanra · ‎04-24-2013

dstrakele wrote:
Putting the HDD in a USB Drive Enclosure attached to another computer or installing the HDD in another computer would both work. You could do this to recover any important files from the HDD prior to attempting to reinstall Windows.

If you press F9 at startup, can you enter the ASUS Factory Recovery? If so, recovering Windows to the 1st partition would restore the Windows instance to an out-of-the-box state. This would be your last attempt at a software fix. All files on C: would be overwritten in this operation. Note that an ASUS Factory Recovery will fail if you previously formatted the HDD and removed the hidden ASUS Factory Recovery Partition.

However, I think reinstalling Windows has little chance of success in helping you resolve this issue.

Okay awesome that is sorta what I was thinking you were talking about.

As for the ASUS factory recovery you are correct, I reformatted the hard drive when I first bought the laptop which removed that hidden partition, I severely regret doing this. Resulting in me buying the ASUS recovery disk from ASUS support store which also didn't work because the BSOD occurred before the recovery disk would load anything to the screen.

Muratus · ‎04-24-2013

I would first check the status of the hard drive. Install it in another laptop or enclosure and check the S.M.A.R.T data. You can use a program like speedfan and there are many others.

Has it ever been taken apart and the fans/heatsinks cleaned? They are very bad to clog up with dust bunny and monsters and cause rapid overheating. It could probably use a repaste with some quality thermal paste, while your in there.

If you don't have the ability to properly check it out, I'd take it to a reputable repair shop. If they find and can fix the issue, I'm sure it will be much cheaper then Asus would charge you.

Asus G73M (Used to be G73SW-BST6 now renamed to M for the Muratus edition)

Intel Core i7-2630QM
1080p (1920x1080) LCD (upgraded)
Samsung pm830 256GB SSD
Sansung 750GB 7200rmp 2nd HD
Bluetooth ( added )
Blu-ray/DVD ( upgraded )
Windows 8 Pro 64bit

Mods:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (From a G53SX)
DC Jack Relocation
G73SW LED Mod! Afterburner LED's + Under LCD. Controlled by Keyboard Backlight.
More mods coming soon....

keanra · ‎04-24-2013

Muratus wrote:
I would first check the status of the hard drive. Install it in another laptop or enclosure and check the S.M.A.R.T data. You can use a program like speedfan and there are many others.

Has it ever been taken apart and the fans/heatsinks cleaned? They are very bad to clog up with dust bunny and monsters and cause rapid overheating. It could probably use a repaste with some quality thermal paste, while your in there.

If you don't have the ability to properly check it out, I'd take it to a reputable repair shop. If they find and can fix the issue, I'm sure it will be much cheaper then Asus would charge you.

I have only had it for 4 months, I have never taken it apart but I figured since it was a referb it wouldn't be dirty. LOL reputable repair shop, that is an oxymoron. But yah I have a few other options before I commit to sending this to ASUS. I've thought about keeping this for myself and just buying my parents another laptop. One that isn't so beefy for gaming.

Anyway thanks!

BSOD at BOOT G74sx