[magusbuckley]

Hello:

Working on a Toshiba Laptop that should have been, in my personal opinion, refreshed a long time ago. It was full of viruses, unwanted programs, etc. and was running very slowly. I was going to reinstall the OS but there was no restore partition and the lady couldn't find the restore discs. I ordered a restore CD online. After backing up the data, I ran the restore CD but now the system won't boot. When the restore was complete (about 45 min. process), it said it was done and said press Enter to reboot. I pressed that. During POST, I was taken to the "Windows didn't start successfully screen." and was prompted with "Safe Mode", "Safe Mode with Networking", etc. I chose "Start Windows Normally", but the system hangs there. In fact, it doesn't matter what option I choose from that screen the system will lock up.

Did research online and found suggestions for using the "0" key to activate an internal restore partition, but I know this system either never had one, or it was wiped by another tech working on this box in the past. I also read to use the "F8" key during POST and choose "Restore Windows" option, but that option doesn't appear on this system. I also reset the BIOS settings but that isn't working either.

It seems the MBR isn't being erasing during the restore but I thought the restore was wiping the drive first.?. Maybe I'll slick it and run the CD again. If you can think of anything else, I could sure use some help.

Thanks,

Magus

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It may not be the right disk.

If there was a recovery partition and there isn't one any longer, you may be better off simply using a standard Windows CD and built the installation yourself from that.

[Neil Jones]

It may not be the right disk.

If there was a recovery partition and there isn't one any longer, you may be better off simply using a standard Windows CD and built the installation yourself from that.

[rshaffer61]

The correct steps for getting to the Recovery Partition are below. If you have tried without success to do this then most likely it is gone.
To access the recovery partition do the following...

Power off the laptop.
Hold down the 0 (zero) key and turn the laptop on. Keep holding down the zero key until the TOSHIBA logo appears.
Start tapping the zero key repeatedly at this point.
Stop if the unit beeps or when the TOSHIBA logo disappears.
The screen should flash HDD RECOVERY MODE for a second and then it will load the Toshiba recovery program right from the hard drive.
Note that this erases all data, and reloads all factory default software.

[magusbuckley]

Never could get this system running so contacted the company I purchased the restore CD from. They sent me three more discs for free (nice!) - Windows XP Home and 2 Discs for Winodws Media Center.

The original OS was XP Home so I tried loading that CD but I got the same results. What I'm noticing is that when the system tries to boot, I'm taken right to the "Start Windows Normally" page. Strange, it hasn't even fully booted and it already thinks Windows crashed. Hmm, seams like the MBR wasn't waxed from the HD. I don't know, but I'm ready now to follow Neil's advice and just load a standard copy of Windows.

Thanks,

Magus

[rshaffer61]

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

Hopefully you have already put the XP cd in the drive before all this. If everything is setup correctly you will get a black screen with the following message in the upper left corner:

"Push Any Key To Boot To Cd". When you see this then push any key and the cd will take over. Then follow the prompts or if you need assistance we will help.

[Peteedee]

Ok HELP. Toshiba laptop, got the vuris, went to wipe the hard drive like I would with a normal comp. Put in a disk labeled recovery 1 and I pressed
"wipe hard drive" instead of "restore to open box". Now i cant do a thing. Put my xp disc in but wont work like it does in my normal computer.
So please help, what did I do and how do I get an opperating system back on this laptop?
Thank you.
Peteedee

[rshaffer61]

Direct to: Peteedee

Please start your own topic
Although your issue may seem similar there can be other factors that may need to be resolved.
By bumping on someone's topic it makes it confusing for the tech to understand who they are helping. This can in turn cause the wrong support to be given and can cause instability or worse to happen to your system.
Thank you for your cooperation.