After updating BIOS, Windows 7 won't start up !?

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with

I've enabled UEFI.. no luck, Windows still won't load..

Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 1

Zomby88 said:

Delete both those partitions, then try.

Try reinstalling with the Asus Recovery Disks.

You can Order Asus recovery disks from here:
ASUS eStore
At the search box, type in RECOVERY

If I can & have to reinstall, I already have the original Windows disk.. but as I've said its OEM and I've just activated it today, I've read that Microsoft puts limits on reactivation, so I really don't want to risk my licence if there is a way to somehow restore my working Windows as it was before the bios incident..
I'm waiting for Asus support response, hopefully it won't take them 48 hours to get back to me with a solution for a problem caused by their own update service...

I've been searching everywhere, but failed to find a proper solution. Some people have similar misfortunes on their desktops, they say emptying CMOS might do the trick - that should be that battery on motherboard, but thats easier said than done, especially on a laptop..

If you had used the Asus Recovery Disks, there would have been no need to activate.

Just a shot in the dark, but since this hasn't been brought up before:

Is it possible your laptop supports AHCI for SATA harddisks and it was set to IDE before the BIOS was flashed and all settings reset to default? That would likely change the HD setting from IDE back to AHCI. And Windows can't boot because it has no AHCI drivers and doesn't know how to talk to the harddisk other than in IDE mode.

Is there such an option in the BIOS? If you find it, try changing it from AHCI to IDE. I'm just making a guess here, but maybe, just maybe this is the problem all along and it'll magically fix everything.

also, try changing any raid settings you see in the bios. Chances are the old bios and the new bios are both fine, but they have different settings somewhere in there.

@Corazon @ johnhoh

Thats the most likely possibility all right, thanks for mentioning, by searching online for answers, I've found both of these things mentioned by other people where Windows wouldn't load after updated BIOS.
The trouble is - I can't find any of AHCI/RAID etc. settings in my BIOS ! I don't think there were any in my old BIOS either. I'm pretty sure my BIOS is fine - I remember during the update, the old version I had was released only 20 days before this new one. My old BIOS was marked with version 205 and now when I open this new one it clearly says 206, so I believe the overall update, flashing and delete of the old BIOS went perfectly fine. The only issue is that Windows 7 won't load. But You guys are right, if I could find that setting in BIOS AHCI/RAID and restore it, that might indeed magically fix the whole issue ! What worries me, if that these settings didn't exist in my previous nor in my current BIOS version and that people who were able to fix it by doing this had older BIOS versions than mine, most likely with desktops.

Here are some some quotes & solutions that worked and I wish I could somehow do as well:

"i cleared the CMOS and changed the J-MICRON setting back to AHCI. one of those two actions fixed the issue."
"Also make sure you set sata mode to what it was in the old BIOS, IE: IDE, AHCI, or RAID, if the new update changed it back to default,it won't boot."

If anyone's familiar if & where I can find AHCI/IDE/RAID etc. in the latest BIOS(end of July 2011, 206 version) for ASUS laptops, that would be of great help ! Thanks in advance.

If no such setting is in the BIOS it's pretty unlikely it would have been different before the BIOS flash.

Another possibility is re-flashing back to version 205 of the BIOS (if you're able to boot from a CD or USB stick and download the older BIOS file from somewhere else). If THAT doesn't get Windows going again we have a real mystery on our hands...

I think there isn't.. been looking online for similar answers but its all different BIOSs, desktops, not laptops..

I don't think I'll be flashing BIOS back or forth ever again in my life.
If I don't hear back from ASUS support with an easy fix, then all I have been left with would be complete Windows & drivers reinstall - if it comes to that, I'm not even sure if that would go smoothly at all. The only 'good thing' is that I have no data to loose, so if I can boot from the disk, reformat & start all over again... and pray that it works and that I'll be able to activate Windows again.

Complete mess & misery this turned out to be. From a simple update click in Windows to a crashed system in a matter of secods, all thinks to Asus Live Update. I wish I could meet the wiseguy who implemented BIOS update together with software&drivers update without putting some extreme red window and a warning - "Your system will most likely crash if You choose to update".