Asus K73TA/A73T laptop - Win 10 installation issues: accept, fiddle, or go to 8.1?

[1101]

Good question! I'd already paid upfront - sorry, I should have written that correctly - I signed for receipt of it at the end.

Tech has written it off, I can demand a revisit which will cost more, I know I'm not getting a refund.

The tech may have been correct though, it may be that its simply isnt 100% win10 compatible .
Given its age & actual value : The tech had 2 choices, spend possibly nonchargeable HOURS trying to get it to work 100% on Win10 , and possibly failing after all that time, or just say its unsupported & doesnt work with Win10 .

I would just load Win8.1 on it , as thats supported.
8.1 isnt that bad , if running on an SSD . You can even get the start menu back (on 8.1) with various addons .

[B.M.]

True, I didn't like the advice, plan on ignoring it, and smiled through gritted teeth as I paid for the 'service' - total waste of time and money IMO.

I have gotten a good run out of the laptop, 2013 and counting, and with no visible wear, it is in great nick (To be fair, it's kinda my fault lol - I have a bunch of old tech - Note 4, Note 10.1, a six year old laptop, and don't even ask me how many CD players I have!). Using the AMD chipset driver got me a much better start up time, (less than 30 seconds as opposed to 2-3 minutes), what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

Bear in mind that Computer Technicians world wide have filled their pockets by repairing all the broken computers left behind by Win10 updates and patches.

If they can’t fix the problem then selling the customer a new computer is a good option.

Personally, I’d recommend installing Linux – Mint – Cinnamon.

Worked for me on a number of occasions and comes complete with LibreOffice - and a vast selection of Apps to do anything Win10 will.

[Sick Puppy]

I've entertained the idea of going to linux once or twice a while back, and used a Hirem boot CD for disgnostics a few times - but I have both a work laptop and home PC using windows, and juggling between that and linux would not be fun.

I will recheck drivers, check that earlier wordpress page, see if I can get 10 up to speed, and then if that fails, try 8.1.

Would anyone have a disassembly manual for a K73TA/A73T hanging around please? Asking for a friend :P

[1101]

Would anyone have a disassembly manual for a K73TA/A73T hanging around please? Asking for a friend :P

Youtube usually has very good how to vids , to open up particular laptops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeOTDpAtOq8

[Kame]

I am wondering which driver you installed?

I believe the chipset driver is included with the graphics driver.

The driver you want would be for the R5 200M series, going by AMD they have Catalyst 15.9 or 16.x.x Crimson beta (newer) which is supported on Windows 10.

If this was what you installed then could the issue be related to a loose connection of the drive or a faulty drive.

[Agent_24]

what has me scratching my head is the drivers for the second drive and optical drive - I mean, they are generic windows drivers anyway, and work across 7/8/10 right?

Windows comes with generic drivers for HDDs, optical drives, yes, and they typically work fine, as the drives all should adhere to the IDE/SATA/etc standards. Only very strange and non-standard designs would need a special driver.

That said, generic drivers assume the computer manufacturer used the hardware/firmware reference designs, or didn't significantly change anything.

Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but have you tried looking for chipset/SATA controller drivers or whatever for another model of laptop from Asus? You may find a newer driver for a different model that uses the same hardware, which may work, if Asus has customised something.

[wainuitech]

There is another possibility as well. It was actually mentioned in the original Post when you were advised to sell it as its going to die soon. He may have been telling you something -- The Motherboard may be failing, and due to its age I wouldn't be surprised.

I have a old Toshiba here I use at BBQ's, plugged into the outdoor sound system, that if I move it while its turned on, it drops the DVD drive. Doesn't matter what OS is on it, W7 (which it came with) W10 or linux. Does the same thing on everything, its a hardware problem where the DVD Drive goes into the SATA port on the board. Pull out the drive, push it back in, restart and its fine again till its moved then drops again. If I ever need a Optical Drive I simply plug in a External USB Optical drive and it works perfectly.

[wainuitech]

and a vast selection of Apps to do anything Win10 will.

Errr NO. Some apps or programs there is no linux version.

And as I mentioned in last post, if its a hardware related problem then doesn't matter what OS is installed.

SO please explain "IF" linux were installed and the Optical drive and additional HDD (which BTW all plug into the motherboard) still Disappear, then what ? (That's a legit Question as well).

[Agent_24]

Then you could say most likely it's a hardware fault. In fact I think trying a live Linux USB or DVD would be a useful troubleshooting step at this point.

It seems the laptop in question was working fine in Windows 7 though? Maybe it just plain doesn't work on Windows 10.

[piroska]

The tech may have been correct though, it may be that its simply isnt 100% win10 compatible .

The number of times I've heard that sort of thing.............
Down SOuth....there was a large muli-shop IT crowd who'd do that. OK not Win10, cause it wasn't out then, but same thing.

I's get people coming in,. X Said I need a new PC....cause my Win98, WINXP, WIn whatever is too old.
ANd I'd fix their minor hardware issue and off they'd go happily....

Terrible salesperson I was.....