Asus G73JW Freezes after Windows 8.1 Update - Network Related

Anonymous
2013-11-19T13:41:57+00:00

Quick background.  I had trouble installing the Windows 8.1 update - it continually crashed on installation.  I contacted Microsoft Support and they directed me to this site: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/1e1adbc5-b78e-4b2a-9661-4139d13cc7d3/0xc1900101-0x30018-error-during-update-restore-win8?forum=w8itproinstall

In the end, I was able to install Windows 8.1 by disabling all of my onboard devices (audio, networking, etc).  When I re-enabled them, I found that the computer would crash anywhere between 0 - 2 minutes after logging in.  I assumed a driver issue and, in those 2 minutes, was able to update each driver via Device Manager (requiring several reboots).

Everything worked fine for a few days.  Now, the computer has started to freeze again.  Disabling the built-in networking solves the problem, but I would obviously like to access the internet.  On top of that, it's inconsistent.  Once the freezing starts, I *must* disable networking via BIOS.  But then if I re-enable networking, it doesn't automatically lead to a freeze - I'm writing this post from the troubled computer right now.

I've confirmed that it's related to the network card because I tried a dozen things, but it kept on freezing.  Disabled the network and boom - freezing is gone.

I don't know how long I'll have a grace period.  If I only need to disable the networking once a week, I can live with that.

Thoughts?  Drivers are updated.  The install is as clean as possible since doing the update required me to wipe my system.

I'm certain that going back to 8.0 will solve the problem, but I like to keep my system current.

Hardware: Asus G73JW Laptop with Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless (as reported by Device Manager)

Thanks!

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Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-01-04T17:03:03+00:00

    Thank you for sharing (especially the driver version numbers).  I noticed that many of your shared drive folders were empty.  With the driver version numbers you provided, we may be able to locate the drivers ourselves.  My freezing issues began happening on a working Windows 8 system.  I was able to update to Windows 8.1 without a problem, but the freezing issue began happening again a few days after the upgrade. I'm not sure if these drivers will help me, but they are worth trying.

    The folders should not be empty now. I have very slow upload speed and it took a looong time to upload them. Hope it works for you.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-01-04T06:03:20+00:00

    I had the freezing issue on upgrading from Win8 to Win8.1 on my G73JW that so many has reported. It couldn't get past the 'Getting Started' part of the install. Looks like I fixed it by updating all my drivers.

    Here's a list of the drivers I updated in the order I installed. I first did a clean install of Win8 as it seemed stable. I then installed all the Win8.1 drivers I could find and then upgraded to v8.1.

    • Bluetooth: Qualcomm Atheros W81 v8.01.312
    • Chipset: Intel Inf Updater 9.3.1027
    • LAN: Qualcomm Atheros Lan Driver v2.1.0.21
    • WLAN: Qualcomm Atheros v10.0.0.274
    • Audio: Realtek R273
    • USB3: Fresco v3.5.73.0 (Note: v3.5.74.0 did not work)
    • Graphics: Nvidea Geforce 331.82
    • Touchpad: Synaptics v17.0.6.13 (Newer version failed to install. Found this older one. Bonus!: Supports the gestures needed by Win8)
    • RST: Intel RST v 12.9.0.1001

    I did have one failure but realized I installed the wrong Lan driver and had not installed RST. Once I installed these two all freezes disappeared, Win8.1 installed, and my system seems stable again. I did not worry about the model laptop I had but rather what hardware was in it in finding these drivers. Seems to work great.

    Thank you for sharing (especially the driver version numbers).  I noticed that many of your shared drive folders were empty.  With the driver version numbers you provided, we may be able to locate the drivers ourselves.  My freezing issues began happening on a working Windows 8 system.  I was able to update to Windows 8.1 without a problem, but the freezing issue began happening again a few days after the upgrade. I'm not sure if these drivers will help me, but they are worth trying.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-04T04:14:00+00:00

    I had the freezing issue on upgrading from Win8 to Win8.1 on my G73JW that so many has reported. It couldn't get past the 'Getting Started' part of the install. Looks like I fixed it by updating all my drivers.

    Here's a list of the drivers I updated in the order I installed. I first did a clean install of Win8 as it seemed stable. I then installed all the Win8.1 drivers I could find and then upgraded to v8.1.

    • Bluetooth: Qualcomm Atheros W81 v8.01.312
    • Chipset: Intel Inf Updater 9.3.1027
    • LAN: Qualcomm Atheros Lan Driver v2.1.0.21
    • WLAN: Qualcomm Atheros v10.0.0.274
    • Audio: Realtek R273
    • USB3: Fresco v3.5.73.0 (Note: v3.5.74.0 did not work)
    • Graphics: Nvidea Geforce 331.82
    • Touchpad: Synaptics v17.0.6.13 (Newer version failed to install. Found this older one. Bonus!: Supports the gestures needed by Win8)
    • RST: Intel RST v 12.9.0.1001

    I did have one failure but realized I installed the wrong Lan driver and had not installed RST. Once I installed these two all freezes disappeared, Win8.1 installed, and my system seems stable again. I did not worry about the model laptop I had but rather what hardware was in it in finding these drivers. Seems to work great.

    I'm uploading the drivers shown above to a shared folder here (may take awhile):

    https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0C2TrPARs6HNkhYMDdSRUwzZWc&usp=sharing

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-12-30T18:20:29+00:00

    How do you figure Cheep? this was over $1600, 

    Imagine if Microsoft just sold you hundreds of dollars in software and never supported it, they wouldn't last long, the business community would see to that.

    You just keep purchasing Asus, and you can keep coming back to these forums to find out how to resolve issues with your next, and next, and on and on Asus PC, because they make such a great product and you have nothing better to do than try and figure out ways around for bad drivers and bad hardware.

    I paid $1400 something for this laptop - I agree, $1600+ does seem to be on the pricey side.  Same for the $4000 Mac.  Anyway, if you have other recommendations for Gaming Laptops, I'd love to hear them.  I've been looking at Lenovo and MSI a bit.  For gaming machines, the lifecycle is 3-4 years.  Otherwise, the hardware is too far out of date.  I plan to stretch one more year out of this thing, but it's coming up against some limits to what it can handle.

    Anyway, this is the first time I've ever had trouble with an Asus product and, in this case, it is a problem with Microsoft's Software.  I generally expect Windows to fail gracefully with incompatible/out-of-date drivers.  Or, supply functioning generic drivers.  It's not like our components are rare :-)  I've never experienced these kinds of hard freezes unless there was actually faulty hardware (RAM usually).

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-12-30T12:47:02+00:00

    My Asus G73JW with Win. 8.1 works better than ever and has been doing so for over a week now.

    The Intel Wifi card does not like Win 8.1.

    Det the computer in airplane mode which Will disable the wi-fi. Thats the price for Udine Win 8.1 at this time.

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