At my wits end. What is wrong with my laptop?

atoddw

Estimable
Aug 3, 2015
4
0
4,510
Last night my Asus x550z fell from about 2 feet and hit the tile on the top left corner of the front of the notebook. I was in Windows 10 and the YouTube page I was on became unresponsive after the drop though the volume settings in the bottom right worked, (after some seconds). So I reset the laptop and it opened up the (aptio firmware settings?) I think this the name, and I could not exit the settings no matter what I did. It would just show the Asus logo again and the settings would come up again. Obviously the first thing I did was Google hours of forum posts, and long story short I went to Walmart to buy a usb flash drive, put Windows 10 on it from another computer, and tried to repair my laptop- to no avail. I've managed to access more than just the firmware settings alone, but even the recovery settings I've accessed have yielded no improvement. I've gotten the "00xc0000185" error, the "00xc00000f" error, a mentioning of a kernel or something missing or containing errors, "a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed" "the application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors". After dropping it last night I removed the casing on the back to look inside. Nothing seemed out of place and I carefully examined everything, unplugged the battery, replugged it, and after re-screwing the casing back on there's a noise coming from the laptop that sounds like a ticking clock when I boot the laptop up. I've tried every option in the advanced settings for booting the laptop via the usb that i have (after selecting the "repair your cpu" or whatever option when Windows first asks to install, and all of them have given me an error of some kind). I've tried installing both "upgrading" and "custom", I have 6 partitions or whatever and none of them can a. Be deleted, or b. Have Windows installed on them, Almost any link someone directs me to I am confident I've tried, and nothing works. I called asus tech support and the guy pretty much took me through everything I already told him I tried. Is this computer done for? What the hell is wrong with it?

Errors I can recall that I've received. (Surely there are some that aren't mentioned here.)

1. "00xc0000185" error code
File: \windows\system32\winload.efi
"The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors."

2. "00xc0000185"
(No file)
"A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed."

3. "00xc0000185"
File: \windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
"The operating system couldn't be loaded because the kernel is missing or contains errors."

4. "0xc000000f"
(No file)
"A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed."

5. "Diskpart has encountered an error: the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. See the system event log for more information."

6? "Startup repair couldn't repair your PC."

I don't understand what any of this means
 
Solution
If the machine is physically damaged, nothing that you can do with software will fix it. Sorry to be a downer, but stops working after being dropped sounds like physical damage to me. If you are lucky, something got knocked loose and needs to be reattached. I suspect that, at least, the hard drive is damaged.
If the machine is physically damaged, nothing that you can do with software will fix it. Sorry to be a downer, but stops working after being dropped sounds like physical damage to me. If you are lucky, something got knocked loose and needs to be reattached. I suspect that, at least, the hard drive is damaged.
 
Solution

atoddw

Estimable
Aug 3, 2015
4
0
4,510
If the machine is physically damaged, nothing that you can do with software will fix it. Sorry to be a downer, but stops working after being dropped sounds like physical damage to me. If you are lucky, something got knocked loose and needs to be reattached. I suspect that, at least, the hard drive is damaged.


i appreciate the straight answer. That's what I'm looking for. I'm clueless as to what the issue is but your suspicion of physical damage is helpful.
 

Ironsounds

Distinguished
Hello... I would suggest using the OS install media to "clean install" to remove/delete all the extra partitions...
1) Install/Boot from your Windows install media.
2) Type in needed data and complete information screens.
3) "Type of install" screen choose "Custom Install"
4) When HD/SSD/Drive information screen is Displayed click the "Drive options" app below.
5) Highlight a "Partition" and click delete.
6) Repeat till there are NO more "Partitions" visible.
6a) sometimes it takes a few "re-boots" with the install media to get them all.
7) When your drive is "Clean" Start/click the OS "Install" and the Windows "Install button" And the install will start... AND will create the needed "New Partitions" on it.

Typically a Platter Hardrive takes the worse from a fall or drop shock... I suspect your Platter Drive is the problem... and the ticking noise could be from it, as the heads are trying to access the platters. I would suggest replacing the Drive and a OS install, for your computer... An SSD drive will be better for future drop resistance to Damage VS a Platter drive.
 

atoddw

Estimable
Aug 3, 2015
4
0
4,510
@ironsounds

I followed your steps all the way to 5. When I tried to delete a partition it gave me this error: "we couldn't delete the selected partition. [error: 0x8007045d].

Actually, there wasnt an options button to click on step 4, after clicking custom install the window showed up with the partitions in them and "where do you want to install Windows?" Above them. And below them there is an option to delete whichever one I select, which is what I tried to do and got that error message
 

Ironsounds

Distinguished
Hello... Are you getting the "Drive Tools" app option, at the bottom of the page and clicking on it?

Does it error for all the other Partitions too? check look at your HD connections for any damage... I would suggest trying a different HD/SSD plugged into your System as the next Tests on your computer.
 

atoddw

Estimable
Aug 3, 2015
4
0
4,510
I see no "drive tools" app option. Although there are I suppose options already present on the screen. I can
Refresh
Delete
Format
New
Load driver
Extend

Though some of them are greyed out and I'm unable to click them. I've tried at least 4 of the drivers already and I'm getting an error for all of them.

The HD is like bonded in place by a strip that's connected to the chip. Or something like that