Trying to salvage Asus K52f, Win7 laptop, killin me....

[redgtxdi]

So, buddy allows his son on laptop, I get stuck trying to fix and I can't get this thing to do anything. (nauseating virus and probably more than 1)

I've tried F9 and using Asus's own recovery but none of the 3 options (1 partition, 2 partitions, whole HD) work. It starts the format process, then gives an ERROR that smacks of the virus intruding.

Next up......download an ISO from the old Digital River mirror, ultimately torrent. It's a Win7/64 Home Premium and seems legit so I don't suspect it, but the friggin' ridiculous Windows USB/DVD tool fails @ 99% every time (well doc'd on Google so not just me) I tried WinISO and disc won't pass verification test.

I'm about to toss this thing like an olympic discus!

Suggestions?? (Obviously if the stupid F9 built-in worked, that'd be peachy)

 

[John Connor]

If you're going the nuke router the burn the Windows ISO with Imagburn portable. If you use Imgburn install be careful not to install any opencandy as I have heard there is some now. Never seen it myself.

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download&

http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTAB...-Portable-Applications-Portable-ImgBurn.shtml

Using a recovery partition is really not a good idea if there is a virus unless you can format C:\

 

[Puffnstuff]

If the laptop has an oem sticker on it get the windows key off it. Then get a legitimate copy of whatever version it uses and do a clean install using the key and start over. Burn the media on another machine and if it won't play the disc then the problem is probably hardware related.

 

[Ketchup]

You could also just put 10 on the machine using the Media creation too. The latest version will activate with his Windows 7 key.

 

[redgtxdi]

Thanks gang!!

Ya, my only issue with 10 is, this guy is not savvy at all and would certainly hurt himself trying to use 10.

I'll give Imgburn portable a try and hope for success!! (And, ya, I figured if the intruder was harmless, maybe F9 would work, but I know now it definitely needs the full-nuke!)

I'll post back results. (Or damage report from the pieces laying in the street after I give it a good toss)

 

[Ketchup]

Thanks gang!!

Ya, my only issue with 10 is, this guy is not savvy at all and would certainly hurt himself trying to use 10.

I'll give Imgburn portable a try and hope for success!! (And, ya, I figured if the intruder was harmless, maybe F9 would work, but I know now it definitely needs the full-nuke!)

I'll post back results. (Or damage report from the pieces laying in the street after I give it a good toss)

Good luck. And while I don't know your individual situation, I wouldn't assume that a person familiar with 7 is going to have a huge learning curve with 10. They aren't that different, as Microsoft does listen to their customers from time to time. I have family (and friends) in their 40s to 60s running 8, and 60s to 80s running 10 (and most of the 10 group actually asked for it). So don't waste too much time avoiding the easy solution based on a possibly-incorrect assumption.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I would go ahead and activate 10 on your pc just to make sure that you secure your free upgrade before the July deadline. No sense in letting the free upgrade slip away like that and if you decide you don't like it them you can still go back to 7 with the ability to go back to 10 anytime you get ready.

 

[redgtxdi]

Actually that sounds ok. I think I'll run with it as any more of the same will make me crazy.

Suggestions for the win10 download for least amount of grief?

Thx

 

[Ketchup]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

Burn to flash drive and go.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Ditto on the media creation tool. I've used it on all of my pc's so far with great success and let it download the latest files before you start.

 

[bruceb]

Windows 10 won't be too bad to live with, as there are some items you can add to make the look and feel more like Windows 7 / XP .. of course some old programs won't install on Win 10 but a lot of them will work just fine.

I use Classic Shell and also 7+Taskbar Tweaker and also Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 ... between them, it looks just about like XP used to, with a nice XP style start menu

http://www.classicshell.net/

http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10

 

[John Connor]

Win 10 is a damn privacy nightmare just to let you know. Stick with 7 if you can, especially if the MOBO doesn't have 10 drivers.

 

[nerp]

I would go ahead and activate 10 on your pc just to make sure that you secure your free upgrade before the July deadline. No sense in letting the free upgrade slip away like that and if you decide you don't like it them you can still go back to 7 with the ability to go back to 10 anytime you get ready.

Chances are that free deadline is going to be extended. Just watch. They'll enjoy the huge rush of last-minute upgrades leading up to the cutoff. Then they'll announce an extension. Or it will go perm.

 

[redgtxdi]

Just a heads up.........I went the Win10 route using Media Creation Tool. That might be the easiest windows install I've ever done.

Better yet.....it appears everything works. I haven't looked to see if any obscure drivers are missing, but otherwise.....cake!

I'll see if he can live with it first, then offer up 7, if he just can't.

Thanks again, that was quite nice!!!

:thumbsup:

 

[bruceb]

Read my post above. A couple of easy add on programs, will make it look and feel just like XP or Windows 7

 

[Ketchup]

Good to hear redgtxdi!

 

[sweenish]

It boggles my mind that people think the 7 -> 10 jump is so massive.

It's less of a leap than 7 -> 8, and much safer and faster. 99% of complaints I've seen can be fixed by just playing with settings. The telemetry complaint is the only one I kind of see as valid, but those people probably have smartphones.

 

[JackMDS]

Just a heads up.........I went the Win10 route using Media Creation Tool. That might be the easiest windows install I've ever done.

Better yet.....it appears everything works. I haven't looked to see if any obscure drivers are missing, but otherwise.....cake!

In Win 10 it takes 10 Sec.

Right click on the Start, Click on Device Manager.

If you want/can spend few minutes more you get more thorough exam.

Download this free portable Util. and run it.

https://www.pci-z.com/

 

[nerp]

Just a heads up.........I went the Win10 route using Media Creation Tool. That might be the easiest windows install I've ever done.

Better yet.....it appears everything works. I haven't looked to see if any obscure drivers are missing, but otherwise.....cake!

I'll see if he can live with it first, then offer up 7, if he just can't.

Thanks again, that was quite nice!!!

:thumbsup:

You really have to hand it to MS for making the process a lot better with Windows 10.

The nice thing is now you can do a clean install on that computer and never have to worry about product keys or activation ever again.

 

[redgtxdi]

Bruce....I may do just that. (I did similar for MIL back on win8 debut). And thanks for the well wishes.

And I actually *did* do a clean install! I wasn't confident in anything leftover so I killed all partitions and let the win10 install do a format/install.

It's only got 4 gig of ram but compared to the bloat ware HP factory win7 install, it appears to run quite quickly!

 

[Puffnstuff]

Classic shell is almost a must have for any post 7 installation.

 

[Ketchup]

Classic shell is almost a must have for any post 7 installation.

Totally opinion. After a couple hours with 10, I can go between 7, 8.1, and 10 with little issue. But I totally understand those who don't like the new look.

 

[blankslate]

Classic shell is almost a must have for any post 7 installation.

I would agree with Win 8. With Windows 10 it depends.

Do you have so many programs that you might forget the name of one from time to time? Do you type excruciatingly slowly? Are you unable to right click?

Then classicshell is a must for windows 10.


If you can right click, right clicking the start button in Windows 10 takes you to many or the old (win 7) style menu options.

If you can type reasonably fast left clicking or pushing the windows button then starting to type the name of the program you want and then press return after the start menu zeroes in on the program as you type.

If you sometimes forget the name of the program you want then yeah it's an issue that Windows 7 users could avoid by organizing the all programs area of the start menu. For example I had all my games and game oriented voip programs under "Games" and my system maintenance and tweaking tools under "Utilities" so forth and so on so if I wanted to do something particular with my computer but forgot the name of the program I could drill down in the start menu by the program folders organized by categories of programs.

the last example is the one that I have yet to find a built in option for in windows 10, but then I haven't had the need to look very hard for one either.



______________

 

[Puffnstuff]

I like how CS lets me pin programs to the start menu with an attached menu of recently opened files with each of them.