laptop boots directly to BIOS. Wont recognize Hard drive.

Hey Ethan

Start by checking on the BIOS boot sequence, I believe Asus uses UEFI BIOS systems, so look for a HDD logo. Make sure that is the first bootable device in the systems list. This sometimes is the source of the problem when windows does updates. The Windows Updater can mess with the boot sequence because it needs to restart to finish completing.

If the boot sequence looks ok, then check to see if your drive is even recognizable. If you need to boot from the USB device, make sure the BIOS has USB booting enabled. You should also check to see if the BIOS uses UEFI booting or EFI (Legacy). If it is using the UEFI you will need to either build the USB device to a UEFI configuration, or enable Legacy mode on the BIOS system itself.

If the problem still persist where you cannot boot from either device (HDD and or the USB drive) then you may need to try a Genuine Windows Install Disk. You can also take a HDD with a installed version of Windows and connect it to the system board of your Asus to test if it boots. If it does check the formatting for your HDD you had in the laptop. If it doesn’t try to remove the CMOS battery for about 2 minutes and re-connect it to reset the boards controllers.

Good Luck!