Glee,
Sorry for the late reply!
I could only access the Bios once.
I wanted to make sure the Bios was set to boot to the floppy.
That's the floppy with the software you wanted me to test the drive
with.
Well the Bios came up and the system hung up.
It's been 2 days and it hasn't started back up since.
I never got a chance to run the software.
It just keeps lighting up the lights (plugged in and computer on).
The hard drive gives one Whurr and nothing else happens.
It won't reset (when reset is pressed) or power down (when shut off is
pressed).
So I have to un-plug it and try again.
I will keep trying daily, with the software ready to go in floppy A
drive.
Why would my laptop act this way?
Thanks,
waiting for a boot up
glee wrote:
What were the results of the hard drive diagnostic I said to run....I don't see
where you say in your reply?
What do you mean by:
So I tested the second drive in another borrrowed Tosh Sat 2105CDS.
Same result. ?
How far along in the boot process does the computer get, when it fails to load?
Does it just make a noise and shut down, or does it go through the boot screens, or
what?
What about when you try starting in Safe Mode?
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
"bry" wrote in message
ups.com...
Glee,
Thanks for the reply.
Yes it has a floopy drive.
I initially had a virus, which was on a HD that was not backed up
recently. So I got another HD and installed it.
With either drive the machine still acts the same.
So I tested the second drive in another borrrowed Tosh Sat 2105CDS.
Same result.
I like your diagnosis, what would be my next step in finding the
problem?
Thanks again.
glee wrote:
I would certainly NOT consider the BIOS to be the problem at this point in your
diagnosis, although it may be some other hardware fault (hard drive,
motherboard,
etc). The first thing I would do is test the hard drive from a floppy
boot......does the machine have a floppy drive?
Test the drive by running the diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer's web
site.
If you don't know what brand the drive is, you can download the limited-use free
edition of OnTrack Data Advisor from this location:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor
When you click the download link on that page for Data Advisor 5.0 Free edition,
you
will be taken to a page to register with the OnTrack site, then you will be able
to
download the diskette creator file.
The downloads are diskette creators. They are to be run once from a working
Windows
system and will guide you through the process of extracting the Data Advisor
onto a
3.5" floppy disk.
Download and Use Instructions:
http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/downloadinfo.asp
As far as I know, Maxtor's diagnostics will also work with any brand of drive,
and
the older versions of Seagate Seatools also, but I am not sure about the new
version.
Hard Drive Diagnostic Programs by Vendor:
OnTrack Data Advisor:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools:
http://support.wdc.com/download/
Quantum/Maxtor PowerMax:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Seagate SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Download:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/B7a.html
http://www.seagate.com/support/seato...toold_reg.html
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
"bry" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I have a Tosh satellite 2545 CDS laptop, running win98 FE.
Now when I try and boot it up, sometimes it will and others it won't.
The few times it does boot up, it will eventually hang up.
This leaves me with an un-responsive machine.
No power button shut off capability, only a reset button shutdown
without a restart too.
Or just an un-plug her without the battery attached option.
I've be told it's a bios problem, since the power light does comes on.
The HD gives a whurr sound once and then comes the maybe she starts and
maybe she doesn't part.
I tried to flash the bios with upgrades, but for a tosh 2545 cds
running win 98 there are very few updates. How can I find out
definently that it is the bios. It's my favorite Laptop and if a not so
pricey DIY job to replace it or the motherboard is in order. I'm
willing to give it a shot.
I know I should move into the 2k gerenration, but old reliable should
be given a chance to run free once more.
Thanks