[VampVixen]

Okay so at first it was stuck on the Aptio Utility screen (You know I'm never getting another Asus). Then I did that whole enable/disable of the Launch CSM/Security Boot Control.

I was so happy! I had my Asus title screen back! Until I realized my laptop would not let me into the recovery menu so that I could system restore it. No matter what F key I spam, which actually it was another topic I read here which said spam F9 to open recovery menu, I just get a screen that spams "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"

...Have I just totally screwed my laptop?

[Advertisements]

    VampVixen,

 

First thoughts are that the HDD has been disabled or has issues, the latter takes into consideration that Windows could be corrupted.

 

Okay so at first it was stuck on the Aptio Utility screen 

 

 

Can I ask how you came to such a screen as in were you having problems with Windows and so trying to use a recovery partition.

 

You mention the OS to be Windows 8, is it Windows 8 or 8.1, if 8.1 was it upgraded from Windows 8.

 

Can you post the model name and number for the ASUS so we can do some research.

[phillpower2]

    VampVixen,

 

First thoughts are that the HDD has been disabled or has issues, the latter takes into consideration that Windows could be corrupted.

 

Okay so at first it was stuck on the Aptio Utility screen 

 

 

Can I ask how you came to such a screen as in were you having problems with Windows and so trying to use a recovery partition.

 

You mention the OS to be Windows 8, is it Windows 8 or 8.1, if 8.1 was it upgraded from Windows 8.

 

Can you post the model name and number for the ASUS so we can do some research.

[VampVixen]

I don't know how I came to the screen. Probably because my poor laptop never gets shut off unless it's going under an update I just know I came home from work, opened up my laptop, and it was there. I couldn't get off the screen so I figured going to the recovery screen and doing a system restore would help, but my laptop seems to not be on the same page with me.

I bought it as a Windows 8 and haven't upgraded it from anything.
Asus X551M NotebookPC

[phillpower2]

An update would not affect a recovery partition so there is something else going on here.

 

Can you check in the BIOS to see if the hard drive is detected, enabled and set as the first boot device.

 

To access the BIOS, with the notebook shut down, press and hold down the F2 key, press the power on button (do not release the F2 key until the BIOS comes up).

[VampVixen]

Well under "Advanced" (I am looking in the right place right?) the SATA configuration it says my Device Type is a Hard Disk and it lists the model name and the he Serial Number so I would assume that the HD is still recognized and next to Intel Virtualization Technology it says Enabled.

Under "Boot" the only thing I can change is Launch CSM and Delete Boot Option. I've already messed with one of them and look where it got me.

[phillpower2]

A quick check to hopefully save some time, navigate through the BIOS and look for an option to restore the factory default settings, they are sometimes called most stable settings, do not select optimized settings if you come across it as it overclocks things and could make things worse.

 

Can you post the model name and serial number of the HDD so we can do some research.

[VampVixen]

Alright under Save and Exit and I took your advice and clicked no when the optimized defaults option came up. The most notable change is under the Boot menu where it now says under Boot Menu Priorities "Boot Option #1" followed by the model name of the HD so that caught my eye and it says Hard Drive BBS Priorities right under that.

Model Name: ST500LT012-1DG142 (500GB)
Serial Number: W3P70F86

[phillpower2]

Alright under Save and Exit and I took your advice and clicked no when the optimized defaults option came up. 

 

 

Were the options that you selected listed as "most stable" or "fail safe defaults" or something along those lines, different brands use different terminology.

 

The most notable change is under the Boot menu where it now says under Boot Menu Priorities "Boot Option #1" followed by the model name of the HD 

 

 

Have you or if not can you try restarting and continually tapping the F9 key to see if you are able to access any Recovery Partition.

 

Good that the HDD is detected and identified by brand as it means that you should be able to test it if needs be.

 

Is there any data on the HDD that you would like to try and back up in case the drive is flaky.

[VampVixen]

No it didn't say anything else after I clicked no for Load optimized Defaults.

Trying to access the Recovery Partition is one of the first things I did but that still doesn't seem to be working. Unless it's a different F key.

Not particularly I mean I don't have anything super important on my laptop that I'll cry about if it disappears (I was ready to have to do a full on factory reset on my laptop if I needed to)

[phillpower2]

As far as I am aware an ASUS recovery partition is accessed by tapping the F9 key when you see the ASUS logo on the screen.

 

Couple of suggestions if only to rule them out;

 

Try loading the optimized defaults.

 

A long shot but does sometimes work;

 

If you do not have a Windows 8 DVD or a system restore disk, connect a USB keyboard to the computer and then try the following for us;

 

1: Use the power button to restart your computer three times, this will hopefully start the Windows Recovery Environment.

2: In the Windows Recovery Environment, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click Troubleshoot.

3:Tap or click Start-up Settings.

4: If you can't see Start-up Settings, tap or click Advanced options, then tap or click Start-up Settings.

5: Tap or click Restart, then wait while your computer restarts.

6: On the Start-up Settings screen, choose Refresh

7: Sign in to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

[phillpower2]

Not heard back from you VampVixen, do you still require assistance or is the issue now resolved, an update would be appreciated.

[VampVixen]

Sorry no it isn't resolved. I actually was trying to figure out a time when I could get a USB keyboard as I do not own one.

The problem with the Windows 8 DVD or a Restore Disk is my laptop actually doesn't have a place to insert a disk. Yep it sucks like that. I don't know why it doesn't have a place to put any sort of CD but it doesn't. Plus I don't own them anyway.

I might just have to take my laptop in

[phillpower2]

Sorry no it isn't resolved. I actually was trying to figure out a time when I could get a USB keyboard as I do not own one.

 

 

No problem, was just checking you were still around.

 

Did you try loading the Optimised Default settings, if yes, what happened, if no, give it a try and let us know the outcome.

 

There must be two different specs available for the Asus X551M, possibly due to user demand in different countries, two links that I checked here and here say the notebook has a DVD drive, you obviously know that yours does not which makes it more difficult to work with.

 

I might just have to take my laptop in 

 

 

Notebook repairs are notoriously expensive so do what you can to borrow a USB keyboard to try first.

 

In case you are not already aware, brand name computers such as ASUS are responsible for support of the OS on their computers and not Microsoft meaning that if you need to replace the HDD you will either need to purchase system restore disks from ASUS or a new disk and product key from Microsoft.

[VampVixen]

It just loaded the settings back to what they were before I changed the launch CM/ect ect so back to square 1 there when I loaded the optimized defaults.

Yeah not having a DVD drive makes it very difficult but I swear I checked it up down left and right and there isn't one cause I wanted to watch a DVD on it a long time ago and just couldn't find it. I even took over to my step mom to see if she could see something I was missing and nope it for real was not there it was really strange.

And yeah I know they are expensive unfortunately.

Do you think the HDD could be screwed and that really is the problem here...?

[phillpower2]

It just loaded the settings back to what they were before I changed the launch CM/ect ect so back to square 1 there when I loaded the optimized defaults.

 

 

Acknowledged, have you reversed this again since.

 

Do you think the HDD could be screwed and that really is the problem here...? 

 

 

Too soon to say but atm I suspect it could be a problem with Windows.