G73SW and G53SW: Latest drivers and everything you need for a fresh install.

[JOSEA]

PowerDVD 9 do not support Blu-Ray playback

Have you tried CyberLink PowerDVD 9 that Allur mentions above, I have been using it for months w/o no issues.

[midihooker]

one question before i make a clean install.. im getting a 250gig SSD disk 2,5. should i wait with the clean install before i get it????

[sarge_]

I'd say it's more convenient to install straight to the SSD than to move it from the HDD later.

[Chastity]

You can import your old install, but it can get a bit hairy, and you would need to use the right tools. I did using Acronis Home 2011 w/ Plus pack, and moving my Steam dir to an alternate drive. The existing install was only about 2 months old.

The Plus Pack adds the feature that a system partition can be migrated to a new setup with different hardware. In my case, I changed the motherboard from a gen1 EX58 board to a gen3 one, plus set up a 3x RAID 0 + installed a 120G SSD. I managed to successfully migrate the image.

[starxidiam]

I have the G53SW-XN1 and in device manager, my Wi-fi driver says Atheros 9002WB-1NG. Which driver should I install, the first option under wi-fi?

[Kahn20]

I followed all of the steps in Sarge's OP, except I installed SP1 after the 6 Windows Updates, and I also installed the MEI drivers after the Intel RST. I am, however, having a couple issues.

1) When I start my system, the backlit keyboard is off. I can turn it on by adjusting the brightness with Fn+F3 and F4. If I toggle it with the Lights On/Off button, it will not come on until I adjust the brightness again.

2) Windows won't let me update the wifi drivers for the Atheros AR9285. Whenever I point it to my extracted driver files, it simply insists that the driver is already up to date (2.0.0.74, dated 6/9/2009).

3) My Bluetooth drivers are showing up as 6.2.0.9419 from 2/25/2010 even though I downloaded and installed the 6.2.5.600 package from ASUS. A bit odd, no?

4) Some random display issues with the screen blinking black on login, things like that. Though I did download GeForce drivers 270.61 because some people had reported issues with 275.33. Perhaps an upgrade will fix this.

All of these are somewhat minor issues, but it's still annoying because I can't figure out where I went wrong. Any ideas?

[starxidiam]

bump for Wi-Fi driver?

[sarge_]

@Kahn20
1) It should retain its settings. The keyboard should be at the same light level as it was before shutting down. And it's normal that you have to turn on the lights using Fn+F4 after disabling all lights.
2) Try uninstalling the old driver first (Uninstall button in the Driver tab). If that doesn't help, try the Have Disk... method.
3) Same here. They work fine, so no big deal.
4) Update the driver to the latest.

@starxidiam
Never heard of that one. You can try installing the Atheros driver (first option). If that fails, try the third option (driver from the Asus site).
Also you can try asking in this thread: Asus G53SW Owners' Lounge

[dabox]

Thank you Sarge,really great post!
Everything went well for me,even though its a loooong and fun process.
Anyway i would like to bring out only two hickups i had.
1)I used USB flash to format win7 and with no specific reason stick the flash to 3.0USB port,which is out of order with no drivers installed.Since i couldnt went through the partition step of install,took me some time to figure out that and to change to any other of 2.0 ports.
2)After flashing the HHD software, BOOTMGR file was gone,but i was able to fix this by "boot repair" option on Win7 installation disk.
Everything else went just fine,computer is blazing fast now.
The only thing that lacks on this machine and couldve been better is sound.Seems like THX certificate is only for advertisement,sound is so empty with no bass or might be im just spoiled due to my old Toshiba satellite X205-7483 with stunning(for laptop) Harman/Kardon system on it.
Thanks again!
Cheers

[zuachs]

Sarge, the "Realtek 2.61 modded" link is not working :/