Asus G73JW Freezes after Windows 8.1 Update - Network Related

Finally got this figured out and it's the intel chipset drivers!  I'm able to reboot with wifi / bluetooth and battery plugged in no problem.  No more hard drive lag either.

Steps for full Chipset Install:

1. Navigate to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx
2. Choose "Embedded Components" -> "Embedded Chipsets" -> "Mobile Intel HM55 Express Chipset"
3. Download "INF Update Utility 9.2.0.1030" ZIP FORMAT!
4. Extract all files from the INF Update Utility to C:\intel_auto (you'll need to create the folder)
5. Open command prompt
6. Navigate to C:\intel_auto (cd c:\intel_auto <enter>)
7. Setup.exe -a <enter> (This copies the setup files to C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\INFINST)
8. Setup.exe -overall <enter> (This opens the intel installer and forces installation of the chipset drivers.  The screen will go blank / flash and then at the end, it'll ask you to reboot).

DONE!

So far this has worked for me, wont know for sure until a few days of successful boot ups without freeze. Can anyone else comment on the success of using the CMD to install intel update? Also what other drive versions you are using without problem.

Same problem here for my G73JH.

Found a solution before visiting here that works consistently but doesn't eliminate the problem.

Unplugging the battery and the power cord for a few seconds does the trick.  If I don't unplug the battery, the machine freezes within 60 seconds of boot up. 

I've since upgraded all the drivers that are relevant and still get the issue on boot occasionally, I'll be trying the CMD install for the Intel controller next as well.

ASUS support is a joke, I've had the machine in for repairs 3x for overheating shutoffs and all three times it came back with a disconnected heat sink ...finally had it repaired locally the correct way.  Tablets and other laptops all have more issues than I've ever had with PCs in my life, so unless the overall quality has degraded industry wide, I'm avoiding ASUS for a while.  USERS are the ONLY decent help I've found so thanks to everyone that took more time than the damned company that was paid to.

My G73JW DTR locked-up on start-up this evening.  I rebooted and it locked-up again -- this time I got the unhappy face blue screen telling me that there was a problem with my machine (machine_check_exception) and that Windows was collecting error information and would restart the PC when finished (it never restarted; the progress indicator remained at 0%).  So I had to resort to my fallback remedy of powering down the PC, plugging in the ethernet cable, and then powering it back up.  

I honestly do not think there is a permanent fix for these G-series problems on Windows 8.x -- just periods of stability marred by the intermittent lock-up.

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.

Just here to confirm that most of these drivers worked on the G73Jh model as well... minus of course the Nvidea drivers. I am using the latest Radeon drivers from the AMD site and no bluetooth. This seems to have resolved all freezing issues.

I should also note that I replaced my Intel Centrino wifi card with a Broadcomm, but plan on placing an upgraded Centrino card with a Wifi/Bluetooth combo that IS Windows 8.1 compatible. I will post back when I get that working with the drivers.

I also flashed my BIOS to the latest version on the ASUS website. All seems well now.

This is just an update to my status...

Upon installing my new Intel Centrino with Bluetooth, the freezing became a re-occuring thing. I browsed around a bit more online and found that the Windows 8.1 update caused a lot of driver issues in the G-series laptops, but starting with a fresh install of 8.1 resolved them (no driver updates). So, I downloaded a Windows 8.1 ISO (use a generic serial number found on Google if you have a Windows 8 key like myself) to get through. After installing... DO NOT TOUCH THE DRIVERS! Activate your Windows (change the key from generic to your own) and run a Windows update. There will be a driver for the Atheros NIC, HIDE the update. Now, from here, I installed the Audio and Touchpad driver found above, but nothing else. I found the latest Windows 8 drivers for my video card, and installed those. I used the default chipset that Windows found, and also the default WAN/ethernet drivers. I have since played online for about 8 hours with zero issues.

Hope this helps!