I've had my G73JW for about two years now, and had to send it in after the first six months to fix an issue with a broken key on the keyboard. Laptop came back and worked fine for a while, but now it is exhibiting a problem I've never had or observed before on any PC (laptop or desktop (have been building custom PCs for approx. 14 years).
If I perform a flash update of the G73JW's bios (I use a thumb drive containing the rev 202, 203, and the 205 official bios files) through the bios menu (F2 in startup mode), the laptop will run flawlessly, up until the point that I am forced to either shut down, or reboot the laptop. Upon the restart (again, from either a previous clean shutdown, or a reboot) the laptop will hang / freeze within 30 - 45 seconds of reaching the Windows desktop. I don't see how this can be a hardware or software conflict, because the laptop works fine immediately after a bios flash. I can flash the bios and run the laptop nonstop (gaming, working on schoolwork, etc.) fine for days on end (I've left it running for 48+ hours just to test heat & stability issues). The laptop works FINE 100% if I boot directly from a new bios flash. Any other time (reboot, or cold boot (again, from a clean shutdown), the laptop hangs somewhere between 30 - 45 seconds after Windows loads.
I have seen a corrupted bios before, however, re-flashing or flashing and pulling the CMOS battery usually fixes that problem. However, I've never seen a flash that wouldn't take permanently. It either wouldn't flash (failed to update the bios), or took the flash, but did not POST). This is weird, and driving me insane!
I'm at my wits end, but got to thinking, I don't remember seeing a CMOS battery anywhere when installing the 2nd HD, is there a CMOS battery in the laptop that I can get to and replace the battery? Maybe the battery is dead, or not fully seated and the bios information isn't saving?
Anyone that could offer some insight as to what might be causing this issue (and how to fix it) I would be extremely grateful for the help!
FYI - other than the 2nd HDD there are no modifications to the laptop, there are no heat issues (max is usually around 75 degrees), and I've tried CLEAN installs (with full HD wipes) of Win 7 64bit, Win 8 64 bit, Win 8.1 64 bit. All end up doing the exact same thing: the O/S boots and runs fine IF directly after a bios flash. After a reboot or cold boot: hangs!