[twswford]

in the system recovery option box there is no option in the window with either button pushed (use recovery tools or restore your computer. nevermind.

ok i clicked load drivers like it said and a window came up saying insert the installation media for the device and click ok

Edited by twswford, 02 March 2013 - 10:50 AM.

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We need to change a setting in the BIOS of you computer in order to be able to run our boot tools.
To access BIOS, you need reboot your computer.
When the computer first starts to turn on, you should see a prompt to press the F2 key to enter Setup. If so, press F2 to enter BIOS.

If you do not see that prompt, then you need to press and hold the esc key for three seconds immediately after turning your computer on.
You should then be prompted to press F1 to enter Setup.

More info on entering BIOS can be found here.

Once you enter BIOS, you need to find the setting for SATA Controller Mode. It should be located under the Advanced menu. You need to change the setting to Compatibility and press enter. (If there is no setting for compatibility, look for ATA or IDE settings.) Once you have changed it, follow the instructions to save changes and exit BIOS.

[Essexboy]

We need to change a setting in the BIOS of you computer in order to be able to run our boot tools.
To access BIOS, you need reboot your computer.
When the computer first starts to turn on, you should see a prompt to press the F2 key to enter Setup. If so, press F2 to enter BIOS.

If you do not see that prompt, then you need to press and hold the esc key for three seconds immediately after turning your computer on.
You should then be prompted to press F1 to enter Setup.

More info on entering BIOS can be found here.

Once you enter BIOS, you need to find the setting for SATA Controller Mode. It should be located under the Advanced menu. You need to change the setting to Compatibility and press enter. (If there is no setting for compatibility, look for ATA or IDE settings.) Once you have changed it, follow the instructions to save changes and exit BIOS.

[twswford]

i have sata interface setting under power management
under advanced i have system config
i found it

Edited by twswford, 02 March 2013 - 11:06 AM.

[twswford]

ok it rebooted and is back at the same window for insert the installation media fot the device and click ok ot select the driver

[Essexboy]

I have a feeling the Hard drive could be failing

I have just found this which may be relevant

Can try a power drain !!

take the battery out n disconnect from the external power .

Hold on to the power button for 30 sec .

Try connect to external power source(AC adapter) without battery.

Later u can put the battery back and use as usual.

hmm .. Its just a try to drain the static charge from RAM slots ..which can potential cause a blank display.

Give a try n let me know !!

If that fails could you restore to factory settings again and let me know what model it is so that I can locate a hard drive diagnostic

[twswford]

ok i did the drain and it came on with just the power cord. i replaced the battery and rebooted but i hadn't switched the boot order back so it pulled up the repair window again. just out of curiosity i clicked next without an operating system in the window and it went to the system recovery options window like in your instructions however under choose recovery tool it says "operating system: unknown on (unknown) local disk and then it has the same options to click under that
startup repair
system restore
system image recovery
windows memory diagnostic
command prompt.

i didn't reset to factory yet so......

and its a toshiba sat. L756-S5244

Edited by twswford, 02 March 2013 - 01:37 PM.

[Essexboy]

Select command prompt
At the command prompt type the following :

notepad and press Enter.
The notepad opens. Under File menu select Open.
Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad.
In the command window type e:\frst64.exe and press Enter
Note: Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive.
The tool will start to run.
When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.

Press Scan button.
It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.

[twswford]

ok finally,
the log follows

Scan result of Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST) (x64) Version: 28-02-2013
Ran by SYSTEM at 03-03-2013 07:33:33
Running from Y:\
(X64) OS Language: English(US)
Attention: Could not load system hive.
Attention: System hive is missing.

==================== Registry (Whitelisted) ===================

Attention: Software hive is missing.

ATTENTION: Unable to load Software hive.


==================== Services (Whitelisted) ===================


==================== Drivers (Whitelisted) =====================


==================== NetSvcs (Whitelisted) ====================


==================== One Month Created Files and Folders ========


==================== One Month Modified Files and Folders =======


==================== Known DLLs (Whitelisted) =================


==================== Bamital & volsnap Check =================

C:\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\wininit.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wininit.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\explorer.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\svchost.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\services.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\User32.dll IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\User32.dll IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\userinit.exe IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\volsnap.sys IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.
c:\Windows\system32\codeintegrity\Bootcat.cache IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION!.

==================== EXE ASSOCIATION =====================

HKLM\...\.exe: <===== ATTENTION!
HKLM\...\exefile\DefaultIcon: <===== ATTENTION!
HKLM\...\exefile\open\command: <===== ATTENTION!

==================== Restore Points =========================


==================== Memory info ===========================

Percentage of memory in use: 12%
Total physical RAM: 4043.86 MB
Available physical RAM: 3556.11 MB
Total Pagefile: 4042.01 MB
Available Pagefile: 3546.86 MB
Total Virtual: 8192 MB
Available Virtual: 8191.89 MB

==================== Partitions =============================

3 Drive x: (Boot) (Fixed) (Total:0.03 GB) (Free:0.03 GB) NTFS
4 Drive y: () (Removable) (Total:3.73 GB) (Free:3.53 GB) NTFS

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 3824 MB 0 B
Disk 1 No Media 0 B 0 B

Partitions of Disk 0:
===============

Disk ID: C3072E18

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 3823 MB 564 KB

==================================================================================

Disk: 0
Partition 1
Type : 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 1 Y NTFS Removable 3823 MB Healthy

=========================================================
==================== End Of Log =============================

[Essexboy]

Could you go back to the system recovery console and select

startup repair first

If that fails then select system restore

[twswford]

OK I DID STARTUP REPAIR AND when it finished it tried to boot and then went to the system recovery options window again. when i try to system restore it says i need to specify an operating system but there weren't any in the window.

Edited by twswford, 03 March 2013 - 12:38 PM.

[Essexboy]

OK at this stage I reckon we need to reinstall the system and then check the hard drive out. Could you do a factory restore please

[twswford]

i'd be happy to but i forgot how i did it before. sorry. can you help?

[Essexboy]

OK here are the instructions

1) Hold down the power button for ten seconds to switch off your machine
2) Press and hold the zero key and at the same time, tap the power button once to switch on your notebook
3) When the machine starts beeping, release the zero key
4) When prompted by the warning screen, select Yes to continue with the system recovery
5) Select Recovery of Factory Default Software and click Next
6) Select Recover to out-of-box state and Click Next again
7) Click Next to Start the recovery

[twswford]

ok the power on + zero didn't work to factory reset. what it did do was bring me back to the no boot disc black screen. after going through the system recovery menus from the usb drive that we made again not i get a window i didn't get before. i've attached a photo of it. in the boot management window there is nothing to the right of hdd. i'm stuck til i hear from you. thanks for your patience working with me on this. i know just enough about this to cause real problems probably.

[Essexboy]

No photo I am afraid

The list of downloadable legitimate windows discs can be found here. They will not work without your COA key though (A sticker somewhere on the laptop of 16 numbers )