Do I or don't I

[TVeblen]

You can't flash to an earlier version.
The 207 flash was successful.
Did you go to the Exit menu and load the Optimized Defaults, then save and exit?

 

[TVeblen]

This also could be due to the wrong time and date in the BIOS.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Am having greta difficulty in sending post TV but time and date ok and trying all sorts of things bt right now a $1700 doorstop

 

[Golden]

The flashing was successful since it shows 207. Check that optimized default values are loaded.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Done that plus checked the secure boor etc and this is what I get with the secure boot without it is that small black and white screen .
It just will not boot to anything - I did find the optical drive listed under SATA config though it is not listed in the Boot tab??

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok just a little update I installed the original drive back in that has that Windows 8 on and it booted to 8 so what gives with the 7??

It keeps asking me about the secure boot but it doesn't make any difference what setting it is on I get that red screen.

Does anyone think putting a new drive in and installing the Home version that is already tied to the board be an option in that what the seller put on is corrupted somehow??

Am now really annoyed with Asus and their darn set up with the BIOS why couldn't the drivers all be for 7 & 8?? instead of just the one for WLAN

 

[DavidE]

John,
See if you can disable Secure Boot Control in BIOS.

Here is an interesting post

It sure helped me, thanks. I have the ASUS N56DP NoteBook & was running into same problem because I was going from Win8 back to Win7. Your suggestion of 'Disabling' my "Secure Boot Control" which is located in my BIOS under 'Security' Tab. Again, thanks for your input.

Source: secure boot violation - invalid signature detected help

 

[TVeblen]

Yes, Secure Boot must be disabled for W7.
There is no setting that says "Disabled". You just change it from "Windows UEFI Mode" to "Other OS". Windows 7 is an "Other OS".

If it has a setting for CSM ("Launch CSM"), be sure that is enabled.

Side note: this Secure Boot thing is a Wintel scheme. Asus is just following orders.
(Wintel: collaboration between Microsoft and Intel)

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well have tried both ways with and without and as per the previous pics I get either the black and white message or the red secure boot one.

Now because the thing is booting into 8 with no problems I am wondering if I should juts get a new drive and install that 7 Home version back on in case that seller has put on am OEM that is or was not done properly. That will have to wait until I get back home (at work) and hope the machine will boot from the optical and install that version because that is what I did in the first place and then found out about the 7 drivers requiring this update.

I sent it back thinking the seller could install 7 (at an extra cost) and if he had to change the BIOS then it would be his problem, but he didn't obviously do anything with the BIOS and so I find myself in this mess and maybe having to run 8 on the machine after all which is a great disappointment. Plus the 8 is on a very slow 1TB spinner (5400rpm) and to clone it is too expensive.

In hindsight I should have left well alone. I am still pretty miffed at Asus all the same because the drivers for 7 could have been incorporated with the 8 install BIOS as I sad before the WLAN one was but none of the others.

 

[TVeblen]

John, the problem you are having is an odd one. There should be nothing you need to do with the hard drive or the operating system after flashing the BIOS.... other than resetting the BIOS to where everything was before the flash.

Hopefully you made notes of all the BIOS settings before you did the flash. Otherwise you must rely on your memory.
When you flash a BIOS it will automatically go back to the Optimized Defaults. You must change the default settings back to your preferred settings. If you installed W7 on this laptop before then you would have had to have made changes to the BIOS settings to do so. You would have had to set Secure Boot to "Other OS" to do so.

A BIOS flash will not change anything about the OS installation. Your W7 installation will work without any alteration. You just need to figure out what changed in the BIOS settings to cause this problem. You only need to work with the BIOS settings until the W7 drive starts normally.

Do you mind posting screenshots of ALL the BIOS windows and sub-settings? One of us may be able to see something that stands out.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate I installed the 7 Home version the first time myself and I did not touch the BIOS as you know I am very wary of it. The seller did the install of 7 Pro and all the problems that came with it so I don't know if they altered the BIOS in any way in any case they did not update it.
I will send pics tomorrow of all the BIOS screens as I am at work and on my old laptop and no camera with me.
Anyway thanks to everyone for sticking with this one as it seems it os going to be something simple I think - well hope.

 

[DavidE]

It might also help if you can boot the PC with a bootable Partition Wizard CD, with the SSD that won't bootup installed.
If you can, post a screen print of that.
Maybe the person that installed the Win 7 pro changed it from UEFI to legacy BIOS, and from GPT to MBR ???

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok David I took these for TV and will do the other when I get up as I just got home and quickly took these before I hit the sack - working tonight.

 

[DavidE]

I would disable fast boot and see if that makes a difference, at least temporarily.
When i enable fast boot in 8.1 on my triple boot test box it automatically boots win 8.1 and i can't select the other Win 7 OSs.

 

[TVeblen]

I'd like to see two things expanded:

• SATA Configuration
• Intel Anti-Theft Technology Configuration

Both are on the Advanced Tab


In the meantime, on the Boot Tab, the Launch CSM should be Enabled for W7.
But lets see whats under that Anti-Theft first.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok the fast boot just got me the black and white screen / window and then I just have to tap F2 to get ack the BIOS. The SATA settings in Advanced TV in the pic it shows the optical but it does npt give it as option in the boot order.

PS should have posted that tab.

 

[DavidE]

What happens if you click "Disabled" in your last screen print for Boot Option #1?
What happens if you click "Add New Boot Option" in your last screen print ?

I have old PCs, so i don't have any UEFI i can play with ...

@TVeblen
Do you think a Win 7 Startup Repair might help sort this out ?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Disabled option - I tried that David and it yielded that black and white window again which tells me to insert the installation disk but the problem is it is not recognizing any other boot options apart from the Windows Boot manager (hard drive) - The other thing you will notice is there are no options for the machine to boot from a USB stick either.
PS I did try the add new boot option typed in DVD because I had no idea what to put in that box but nothing happened.

So in essence I have only one boot option and cannot boot from a disk or stick at all. So it seems like it is a unsolvable problem right now.

I did contact Asus support with this issue but as yet no replies which is fairly typical I find these days once they have your cash then I think they leave one to sink or swim. All in all pretty poor service in my mind and leaves a bad taste in ones mouth.

What I think I might have to do is reinstall the original drive with 8 because at least that boots and run the system in 7 style like this old Toshiba - it really grates me but I don't see what else I can do.

To be honest and this is my own personal opinion is that Microsoft made a monster with 8 and Asus have not been very user friendly in making this particular machine and between them have created more problems than they realize (or probably care about).

I just want to thank all who have tried to help because it must be just as frustrating to you too but I really am very appreciative for all the effort and I am so glad to have had you all at hand to try and get something sorted out.

My problems have been going on since October last year with this machine with activation problems and some rather unpleasant dealings with the dealer and frankly I am a little sick of it all and in hindsight - well we know what happens with that.

Perhaps if I do get that drive in I might be able to clone the partitions to a smaller SSD to make things a tad quicker - which is the only saving grace of Windows 8 otherwise I think it is a crap OS that is not as user friendly as 7 has always been.

 

[TVeblen]

@TVeblen
Do you think a Win 7 Startup Repair might help sort this out ?

I doubt it. It shouldn't.
The problem should not have anything to do with Windows or it's startup. As far as we know, no changes were made in the OS. From the pics John has posted it looks like a SecureBoot issue.

He should work with the BIOS settings first. The solution must be there. The BIOS settings are all that were changed.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep well if I knew why the BIOS settings were not detecting the optical and USB in the boot options it would help TV but as you can see they just are not there for some inexplicable reason.
I see things in the BIOS like CSM and stuff like that but Googles tell me very little except this one which looks a little promising Asus UEFI/BIOS options - How to boot from DVD? - Super User
What do you think??