- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Location
- New York, USA
A client brought me an Asus X550CA that he couldn't get Windows to install on. Initially, he suspected a bad HDD (my thoughts too), so I gave him an old 250GB drive I had lying around. The drive had a couple of bad sectors, but was otherwise fine.
He tried the installation again, but with similar failure, so he brought the machine to me. I tried first with the same installation media (Windows 10) that I use on my main machine. It would bring up the splash screen, and then go blank. I changed a few settings in BIOS (AHCI mode in stead of IDE, and I changed CSM to legacy), but no dice. I then tried to run System Rescue CD from the same flash drive (USB2), and it went blank just before it gave me the option for keyboard selection. So on a hunch, I removed the drive, and booted fully into SRCD.
Since this is happening with two different drives, I suspect the SATA controller. Am I right?
Edit: I forgot to mention, I tried flashing the BIOS to the newest version (300), but apparently it won't allow that to happen without the battery connected and charged to at least 20%, and his battery is dead and gone.
He tried the installation again, but with similar failure, so he brought the machine to me. I tried first with the same installation media (Windows 10) that I use on my main machine. It would bring up the splash screen, and then go blank. I changed a few settings in BIOS (AHCI mode in stead of IDE, and I changed CSM to legacy), but no dice. I then tried to run System Rescue CD from the same flash drive (USB2), and it went blank just before it gave me the option for keyboard selection. So on a hunch, I removed the drive, and booted fully into SRCD.
Since this is happening with two different drives, I suspect the SATA controller. Am I right?
Edit: I forgot to mention, I tried flashing the BIOS to the newest version (300), but apparently it won't allow that to happen without the battery connected and charged to at least 20%, and his battery is dead and gone.
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