P
Praxius2
Guest
Hello.
I have been looking for an answer for my specific problem for a few weeks now and figured I need to post the exact problem in order to find an exact answer. This might be a bit longer than most questions on here, but I figure if I explain what was done and what the problems are, I can possibly get a more accurate response from people who can help me:
Back in July (2015) I purchased an ASUS VivoTab Smart (ME4000CL) which came with Windows 8. It worked great and did everything I expected it to for a Tablet. I gradually updated it to Windows 8.1 after a number of updates. I also had no issues with Windows 8.1 on it.
Then Windows 10 launched and I figured that it should help with performance and improve my experience over W8.1. It was a bit of a mess to get working but I eventually got it running..... then I ran into some problems.
The update ended up making the device slow and buggy, so I figured a complete reset of Windows 10 would fix the problems. It went through the whole process and out came a fresh Windows 10 which appeared to be somewhat smoother, but new bugs remained.
I found out later that all the ASUS drivers for the device (Graphics, Sound, etc.) were wiped. I then went to ASUS's web site and downloaded the specific drivers for my device and installed all available drivers.
Finally everything was running zippy, fast and smooth....
But then I noticed that occasionally my system would simply freeze and lock up shortly after booting up the tablet. I'd have to hold the power button down to power it off, then start it up again and hope for the best.
This problem is still happening despite all my research and what's worse is that my sound doesn't work on anything. (Games, Grove, Media Player, Internet, everything) Sometimes the sound will work for about 30 seconds and then it's gone again until I reboot the system and as mentioned above, even that doesn't bring it back & if it does, it's only for a few seconds.
I have checked Device Manager and everything is "Working Properly" and that I am currently using the most recent drivers. The Volume Controls pop up and I can turn the volume up and down + mute, but nothing.
I then went into the Sound Settings and checked out the speakers and do the whole testing of the sound, yet when I hit "Test" there is an animation showing which speaker is being testing and yet still no sound.
• Volume is all the way up to 100
• Volume Rocker works fine, as do the on-screen volume settings
• It is not Muted (First thing I checked)
After fighting with this for over two weeks, I finally have had enough and wanted to roll my system back to factory default and go back to Windows 8/8.1.
The problem is that during my reset of Windows 10, I (or it - One of Us) apparently wiped the ASUS recovery section somehow and I can not find it anywhere. When I attempt to reset Windows 10, I get the following error:
Could not find the recovery environment
Insert your Windows installation or recovery media, and restart your PC with the media.
My tablet did not come with any recovery media except for the recovery partition on the tablet which no longer exists.
I have looked online and several sources have mentioned to use the Media Creation Tool supplied by Microsoft.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only
The problem is that the tool will only download a Windows 8 installation media based on the type of system that is downloading it. The tablet is a 32-bit system, while my PC, my wife's laptop and the notebook attached to our TV are all 64-bit. When I create the recovery USB, it won't work on my Tablet when I try. Everyone else I know who could offer to help all have 64-bit systems.
I then looked at downloading the media from Microsoft here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media
The problem here is that I only have a Windows 8 product key which doesn't work for Windows 8.1 and I need to specifically find Windows 8 32-Bit.
I can not find this anywhere, nor can I find anywhere where I can download the original factory image from ASUS for this specific tablet.
So I am stuck..... as well as screwed with a phillips.
There is the option of sending the tablet into ASUS for repair, but everything I have read so far is that people who have done that have been stuck for weeks and even months waiting for their tablet to return. There simply has to be a better option than this.
I can only guess the problem with the sound and the occasional freezing has to do with the ASUS drivers being somehow incompatible with Windows 10 (at present) and I'm hoping that the problems will be resolved once I go back to Windows 8 / 8.1.... but I can't even do that.
I have even contacted ASUS support explaining the problem and they simply provided the basic cookie cutter response:
"Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is XXXXX and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.
We apologize for the inconvenience in using our product and the delayed response due to the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.
While Windows 10 has limitation for system and hardware, a part of model isn’t in support list as following link.
http://www.asus.com/event/2015/osupgrade/ ....... (Didn't Help, the list / search doesn't work)
...... Maybe there’s problem on compatibility and efficient after upgrade to Windows 10 for VivoTab, then, we suggest you don’t upgrade to Windows 10 for the model which isn’t in support list. (Little Late for that Cpt Hindsight)
.... Thanks for your support to ASUS.
To resolve the issue, please make sure you have done all the windows update. And do Windows Update for about 2-3 times. After that, the drivers in your notebook will upgrade to Windows 10 public compatibility drivers. And it might solve your problem.
If the problem still remains, you can follow the attachment to go back to the previous os. Sincerely sorry for bringing you the trouble.
If it can not work, would you please follow the attachment to do the reset for a try? Sorry for the trouble.
If your problem could not be solved after my suggestion, I suggest you to take the product to our local service center to have a comprehensive inspection and help you to fix the problem.......
And on it goes. Basically I did all of this short of sending it in and did your standard step by step checks anyone with some computer skills would do before contacting ASUS or here.
TL
R
• I need a link to somewhere where I can download the Windows 8 32-Bit Image for use with a USB Boot/Recovery (Not Windows 8.1 as my Product Key won't work)
• Or I need a link to somewhere I can locate the original Factory ASUS Recovery Image for an ME4000CL VivoTab Smart so I can properly roll my system back to Windows 8 32-Bit & Start from Scratch.
• Or I need any other helpful solution anybody can offer, which this or any of the above would be greatly appreciated.
While my basically brand new and hardly used Tablet is still partially functional, it still is not acceptable and in the long run, if something more serious happens with the OS/system, I can't even reset the current Windows 10 on there as mentioned above. Due to the freezing, it isn't very reliable to attempt to download the Windows 8 image mentioned above directly on my tablet and attempt to create the USB from there. (WiFi is slow and would freeze long before it could complete the process)
If there is no other solution, the only thing I can think of, which is my very last resort (and not a favoured one) is looking for a torrent online. The problem with that is I have a perfectly valid / legit Product Key for my system and I do not want a pirated copy of Windows 8.1 on my system. I did look ahead and the only ones available online are Windows 8.1 (again, my key won't work & I would be forced to use a hacked one, which I do not want to do at all) ~ But at the same time, I don't want to have a plastic brick on my desk that I paid a few hundred bucks for only a couple of months ago, simply because I upgraded to Windows 10 which wiped my recovery partition during a reset to fix a buggy update.
Any help would be appreciated and I apologize for the long winded post.
Thanks in advance.
Continue reading...
I have been looking for an answer for my specific problem for a few weeks now and figured I need to post the exact problem in order to find an exact answer. This might be a bit longer than most questions on here, but I figure if I explain what was done and what the problems are, I can possibly get a more accurate response from people who can help me:
Back in July (2015) I purchased an ASUS VivoTab Smart (ME4000CL) which came with Windows 8. It worked great and did everything I expected it to for a Tablet. I gradually updated it to Windows 8.1 after a number of updates. I also had no issues with Windows 8.1 on it.
Then Windows 10 launched and I figured that it should help with performance and improve my experience over W8.1. It was a bit of a mess to get working but I eventually got it running..... then I ran into some problems.
The update ended up making the device slow and buggy, so I figured a complete reset of Windows 10 would fix the problems. It went through the whole process and out came a fresh Windows 10 which appeared to be somewhat smoother, but new bugs remained.
I found out later that all the ASUS drivers for the device (Graphics, Sound, etc.) were wiped. I then went to ASUS's web site and downloaded the specific drivers for my device and installed all available drivers.
Finally everything was running zippy, fast and smooth....
But then I noticed that occasionally my system would simply freeze and lock up shortly after booting up the tablet. I'd have to hold the power button down to power it off, then start it up again and hope for the best.
This problem is still happening despite all my research and what's worse is that my sound doesn't work on anything. (Games, Grove, Media Player, Internet, everything) Sometimes the sound will work for about 30 seconds and then it's gone again until I reboot the system and as mentioned above, even that doesn't bring it back & if it does, it's only for a few seconds.
I have checked Device Manager and everything is "Working Properly" and that I am currently using the most recent drivers. The Volume Controls pop up and I can turn the volume up and down + mute, but nothing.
I then went into the Sound Settings and checked out the speakers and do the whole testing of the sound, yet when I hit "Test" there is an animation showing which speaker is being testing and yet still no sound.
• Volume is all the way up to 100
• Volume Rocker works fine, as do the on-screen volume settings
• It is not Muted (First thing I checked)
After fighting with this for over two weeks, I finally have had enough and wanted to roll my system back to factory default and go back to Windows 8/8.1.
The problem is that during my reset of Windows 10, I (or it - One of Us) apparently wiped the ASUS recovery section somehow and I can not find it anywhere. When I attempt to reset Windows 10, I get the following error:
Could not find the recovery environment
Insert your Windows installation or recovery media, and restart your PC with the media.
My tablet did not come with any recovery media except for the recovery partition on the tablet which no longer exists.
I have looked online and several sources have mentioned to use the Media Creation Tool supplied by Microsoft.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only
The problem is that the tool will only download a Windows 8 installation media based on the type of system that is downloading it. The tablet is a 32-bit system, while my PC, my wife's laptop and the notebook attached to our TV are all 64-bit. When I create the recovery USB, it won't work on my Tablet when I try. Everyone else I know who could offer to help all have 64-bit systems.
I then looked at downloading the media from Microsoft here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media
The problem here is that I only have a Windows 8 product key which doesn't work for Windows 8.1 and I need to specifically find Windows 8 32-Bit.
I can not find this anywhere, nor can I find anywhere where I can download the original factory image from ASUS for this specific tablet.
So I am stuck..... as well as screwed with a phillips.
There is the option of sending the tablet into ASUS for repair, but everything I have read so far is that people who have done that have been stuck for weeks and even months waiting for their tablet to return. There simply has to be a better option than this.
I can only guess the problem with the sound and the occasional freezing has to do with the ASUS drivers being somehow incompatible with Windows 10 (at present) and I'm hoping that the problems will be resolved once I go back to Windows 8 / 8.1.... but I can't even do that.
I have even contacted ASUS support explaining the problem and they simply provided the basic cookie cutter response:
"Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is XXXXX and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.
We apologize for the inconvenience in using our product and the delayed response due to the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.
While Windows 10 has limitation for system and hardware, a part of model isn’t in support list as following link.
http://www.asus.com/event/2015/osupgrade/ ....... (Didn't Help, the list / search doesn't work)
...... Maybe there’s problem on compatibility and efficient after upgrade to Windows 10 for VivoTab, then, we suggest you don’t upgrade to Windows 10 for the model which isn’t in support list. (Little Late for that Cpt Hindsight)
.... Thanks for your support to ASUS.
To resolve the issue, please make sure you have done all the windows update. And do Windows Update for about 2-3 times. After that, the drivers in your notebook will upgrade to Windows 10 public compatibility drivers. And it might solve your problem.
If the problem still remains, you can follow the attachment to go back to the previous os. Sincerely sorry for bringing you the trouble.
If it can not work, would you please follow the attachment to do the reset for a try? Sorry for the trouble.
If your problem could not be solved after my suggestion, I suggest you to take the product to our local service center to have a comprehensive inspection and help you to fix the problem.......
And on it goes. Basically I did all of this short of sending it in and did your standard step by step checks anyone with some computer skills would do before contacting ASUS or here.
TL
R• I need a link to somewhere where I can download the Windows 8 32-Bit Image for use with a USB Boot/Recovery (Not Windows 8.1 as my Product Key won't work)
• Or I need a link to somewhere I can locate the original Factory ASUS Recovery Image for an ME4000CL VivoTab Smart so I can properly roll my system back to Windows 8 32-Bit & Start from Scratch.
• Or I need any other helpful solution anybody can offer, which this or any of the above would be greatly appreciated.
While my basically brand new and hardly used Tablet is still partially functional, it still is not acceptable and in the long run, if something more serious happens with the OS/system, I can't even reset the current Windows 10 on there as mentioned above. Due to the freezing, it isn't very reliable to attempt to download the Windows 8 image mentioned above directly on my tablet and attempt to create the USB from there. (WiFi is slow and would freeze long before it could complete the process)
If there is no other solution, the only thing I can think of, which is my very last resort (and not a favoured one) is looking for a torrent online. The problem with that is I have a perfectly valid / legit Product Key for my system and I do not want a pirated copy of Windows 8.1 on my system. I did look ahead and the only ones available online are Windows 8.1 (again, my key won't work & I would be forced to use a hacked one, which I do not want to do at all) ~ But at the same time, I don't want to have a plastic brick on my desk that I paid a few hundred bucks for only a couple of months ago, simply because I upgraded to Windows 10 which wiped my recovery partition during a reset to fix a buggy update.
Any help would be appreciated and I apologize for the long winded post.
Thanks in advance.
Continue reading...