Bought F3T....now what?

My first ever laptop purchase was about 3 years ago. I got the laptop in the mail, quickly unpacked it, and started loading games. After three years, and looking back on things, I don't think that laptop ever functioned to its full potential. Everytime I read message boards, it seemed others with the same laptop were getting better results.

So, three years later, and I just purchased an ASUS F3T, and I don't want to make the same mistake, so I am looking for advice on how to start up a new laptop properly.

At the moment I am charging the battery, I figured I could do that much without screwing things up....

The F3T came with Vista premium preloaded, and an F3T driver and utility disk. Is this driver and utility disk just a backup? Are all of the drivers on this disk already loaded on the laptop or do I need to put whatever is on this disk on the laptop?

I am assuming this should be my first start up routine:

1. Boot up computer and go through any first time Vista screens that appear.
2. Update the BIOS (not sure how to do this, I looked at the thread, but am not sure what to do with the info there).
3. Look for newer drivers for the laptop (not sure where to find this on the ASUS website).
4. Use the bloatware messages on this board to remove programs I don't need.
5. Start downloading programs I will need: antivirus, antispyware, and what else?

Any information...or links to other messages on the ASUS board would be appreciated. I have found a few, but could use any advice on how to get this laptop off to a better start.

 

The Asus homepage has updated drivers and detailed instructions on how to update the BIOS. However, you may not need new drivers since they may be up to date. As for programs, here's a few free ones to download to keep your computer in good shape.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Spybot Search and Destroy - Spyware, Adware, etc.
Spyware Blaster - Blocks bad sites.
CCleaner - Helps clean your registry.

 

just got one too, get rid of all the nasty stuff... including POWER4GEAR and tell me if NB Probe gives a 'fatal'


other than that, this thing runs like a champ

 

a list of things to do to a new laptop has been suggested time and time again, please search the forum.

 

Thanks for the reply radditz. I have searched the forum, and even comment on that in my original post that I have found some messages on the boards, but am unsure if I have found all I need to know, hence the post.

Nowhere on this site did I find the one link I have already recieved, so I am ahead already.

Perhaps I don't know what to search for, so you could give me a couple of search ideas so I can find posts other than the stickied ones I have managed to find.

I was also hoping to get some ASUS specific information from knowledgable people in the ASUS forum, and most things I have found on this site are for "general" notebooks, not ASUS specific.

So, again, thanks to those that can help.

 

is f3t easy to upgrade for ram? thinking of adding 1gig ram more if i buy it.

 

Yea another gig of ram surely won't hurt and should be required since you're running vista...I am sure it would improve performance quite a bit since Vista is a resource hog.

 

any reviews for f3t?

 

working on one, by monday hopefully

 

Hypdotspec,

My NBprobe has the same issue as yours, it says my hard drive has a fatal error.

What drivers are you running for the 7600? I have the forceware 158.16 drivers at the moment, and am contemplating updating to the 160.3 unless you have found something better. I can't get stalker to play properly yet.

My right side handrest gets fairly hot, and that is with a cooler underneath, are you finding it warm?

Even though it is a Vista ready machine I am finding Vista really, really slow. How is Vista running on yours?

Did you update your BIOS with the one on Asus' sight?

 

I've updated the BIOS and upgraded to 2gm of ram.

grab the 158.18 drivers off of http://latptopvideo2go.com and replace the INF file with the one on the site.

the drivers work great (LOTRO runs amazing... cept for the slow HD speed, and oblivion works great too).

I reinstalled Vista using the disc and i dont get a SMART error anymore. However, I still have no options regarding GPU temperature. No matter what drivers I use theres no option for temp monitoring.

i THINK its a nforce/vista issue because I had tried putting xp on this machine (had problems) but I could read temps just fine.

And yes, the bottom right gets awfully warm while gaming, and the exhaust can cook eggs but I played LOTRO for 2hrs straight with no issues. Not using a cooler either

From what I've read, the 160 series drivers have hit a dead end and the 158 series is the way to go... NVIDIA's got some issues there.

I'm hoping we can see an nforce mobo drivers update soon so we can read temps


Anyone have any other ideas besides defunct mobo drivers?

edit: updated to latest BIOS (223) btw

 

I am only running the 221 BIOS, I will take a look for 223 today.

When I downloaded the 158.16 drivers the inf files were down on laptopvideo2go so I manually changed them with information in one of the messages on that sight. I will have to check and see if the downloads are working again.

Any idea about 158.43? It is on the message board, as is 160.03 but not on their download page.

Another gig of RAM will have to wait for me.

Now for a stupid question. I can't find this info on Asus, and I have searched here, but haven't found anything:

When you say you reinstalled Vista using the disk, you mean the recovery disk correct? I have never had a recovery disk for a computer before, does this disk just restore the laptop to a clean install so I can start over with adding programs? Where do I find instructions on how to use a recovery disk?

Thanks, I know that is probably a stupid question, but thanks.

 

yea. I actually reccomend using the recovery disk because then you can install vista on just one partition. my f3t came with 3 partitions, and one of them wasnt even viewable by vista.

all you have to do is pop in the recovery disk and reboot your computer and choose 'recover to one partition.'

As for waiting for your extra ram, you can try Windows ReadyBoost by stickinga USB drive into the computer and you can apparently use it as extra ram (sort of).

Can you do me a favor and install Notebook Hardware Control and see if it outputs VGA temperature? Mine won't. Or better yet, open up your NVIDIA Control Panel and see if you have a temp option. Thanks.


edit: 158.43 are the latest beta drivers so you could give those a shot.

 

I am going to restart tomorrow. I will test NHC after I get restarted.

Nothing on my nvidia control panel.

Those new drivers made STALKER more playable.

I'm not in love with the touchpad mouse buttons, very firm and sticky, but I am getting used to them.

 

Question about the recovery disk.

The Asus sight says the recovery partition will return the computer back to original factory specs with all drivers, but, the recovery disk restores without drivers.

After you recovered from the disk did the driver disk that came with the laptop have everything you needed to get restarted?

When you restarted did you get rid of the recovery partition?

 

Once i reformatted and reinstalled using the Recovery disk, i am left with one 120gb partition (C:\) and it does away with the other two partitions.

Once you get yourself another gig of ram, your notebook will perform very well.

You can also double tap the touchpad as an alternative to double clicking the left mouse button.