Automatically booting into Asus Preload Wizard

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Hi there,

My Asus notebook is automatically booting into the "Asus Preload Wizard" and prompting me to repair my partitions. This occurs regardless of whether I choose to start windowns normally or perform start-up repair.

I would obviously like to hold onto my files, which are mainly on my secondary D drive, although many program files are on the main C drive. Should I just continue with the preload wizard? Should I recover the system with the AI recovery burner disks I made when I got the laptop? Are there any other solutions?

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
Not quite 6PM here. Ribs on the grill...:)

After? Put the drive back in the laptop
See what it does. Try the Preload Wizard first. See what happens.
If that fails, fall back to the Recovery DVD's.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
The Preload Wizard, or the Recovery DVD's, will wipe out whatever is on their, and return it to factory condition.

We have to figure out why it is doing this. Possibly a dying drive.

The main thing you need to do is save your personal data. After that...fix as needed.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


No, not a stupid question !
However, might be tough to fix.

1. Do you have another drive you can copy stuff to?
2. Do you have another PC or laptop?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


OK, so remove the "C" drive, and connect it to the other PC.
It will appear as D or E or some other drive letter.
Find and copy any of your personal docs you need.
If it works well enough for that, once done put it back into the original PC
Then you can proceed with the Recovery stuff. NOTE: this will wipe out everything on that drive, and return it back to out of the box condition.
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Okay, thanks. A couple of questions before I start pulling things out:

Just checking you mean take the C: drive out of the desktop and attach it to my laptop - will it automatically boot from the new drive?
Also will the files on my D: drive be safe or do I need to back up those as well?
 

USAFRet

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No, it won't boot from the attached drive.
Is the D a physical drive, or a partition on that same drive?
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Okay, sorry, not quite sure what you mean then. Do I attach my laptop to the PC and get the files through there? Can I just do that through a USB lead?

Or do you mean take the C: drive out of the PC and attach that to the laptop, but if so how do I use it if it won't boot from the attached drive?

I was under the impression it was two separate drives but having looked further I'm no longer sure... is there a way to check outside of looking up the specs? (The y all just say 750GB HDD) it's a n56vm-s4089v.

Thanks for all your help, sorry I'm not quite up to speed!
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Okay, sure, I'll give that a go. But if it won't boot from the attached drive what's the point?

I'll try and open the laptop case but have never done so before... fingers crossed!
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


OK, hang on.
I was suggesting attaching it via some external connection. Not putting it in the laptop.

But as far as not booting...even if it were perfectly functioning, it would not boot. This is simply to retrieve your personal files off of it.
After you have those, then you can see about fixing it, when it is back in the original desktop.
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Haha sorry, I think we're having a few communication issues!

I was opening the case to see how many hard drives I have - I'm now fairly certain I only have the one.

I do have a HDD-usb connector somewhere that I'm going to have a look for. My confusion is how exactly to retrieve the files with the external drive. If I plug it in and it doesn't boot from it, how am I going to rescue my files if my native drive also won't boot?

Thanks :)
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
So, to recap:
You have a desktop, with a single drive apparently 2 partitions, C & D.
This drive is trying to go into a recovery mode

You have a laptop
You probably have a HDD-USB connector thing

Remove the flakey drive from the desktop
Boot up the laptop
Connect the flakey drive to the laptop, via the HDD-USB thing
Hopefully, it will appear as other drive letters. D & E, maybe.
If it does, cruise around and find whatever files you want off of it, off both partitions
Create a folder on the laptop drive, and save those files to that folder
After you have those, then put the flakey drive back into the desktop, and go through the Repair thing.
NOTE: This will wipe out everything on that drive, and return it back to factory configuration.

This is why we are trying to save your personal stuff elsewhere.

Also, for your HDD-USB connector thing. Does this have a wall power connector as well as the USB? If not, it won't work with that 3.5" desktop drive.
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Ah, okay, I see where the issue is: it's my laptop that is having issues, I have a spare HDD and a spare desktop. Sorry for the confusion - I did say it was a notebook in the OP!
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Haha...we're (I'm) all backwards!

Take the flakey laptop drive out, and connect it to the desktop.
See what you can pull off of it.
Then put it back in the laptop, and see about the Repair thing.
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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No worries! I've connected the laptop hard drive into the desktop, but it doesn't seem to be recognising it. The laptop dive is definitely on - I can feel is vibrating. Any ideas?
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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So apparently the drive is recognised as being connected, but I can't allocate a drive letter (I'm in disk manager) - it says it has a protective partition, could this be getting in the way? Sorry for the spam!
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


If it isn't automatically assigned a drive letter, things are bad.
As in the drive can't be read properly.

I fear it may be too far gone to retrieve anything off of it.
Let's see if anyone else chimes in here.
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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Success!!! I was allowed to try plugging it into a more modern machine and it's showing up with all my files. I'm going to copy them to my back-up disk now. Will pop back for an update in a few hours. Thanks for all your help!
 

USAFRet

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Excellent!
 

Fluorspar29

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Jun 28, 2015
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4,510
Okay so I've got my D: drive copied which has most of my data - do I need to save any of the system files from the C: drive or just the personal ones? ie are there any settings/personalised system files I should try to save?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Maybe save your passwords, favorites, and other browser settings.