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How can i get my Toshiba to read my recovery cd/dvd from and external usb combo ? My internal drive says "working properly" but does not read cd's or dvd's even after trying every update i could find and i need to reformatt my computer?
Is there a solution to this problem ?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Xlphos

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— short checklist and practical next steps, expanding on 's point about boot selection.

  • Verify the recovery disc and the external drive on a second PC. If that machine boots from the disc or can read its files, the media and external drive are OK; if not, the recovery disc may not be a bootable image or the disc is damaged.
  • Try different USB ports (use a USB 2.0 port if available) and another external optical drive if possible. Some laptops are picky about how an external CD/DVD shows up to firmware.
  • If you have access to the running OS, create a bootable USB installer from the recovery ISO (or from a fresh OS image) and test booting from that before replacing hardware.

Check firmware (BIOS/UEFI) settings next. Look for legacy/CSM support and a specific option for USB optical devices (different firmwares label them as "USB CD/DVD", "USB-HDD", "Removable"). On UEFI systems Secure Boot can block unsigned media, so either use UEFI-bootable media or temporarily disable Secure Boot / enable legacy boot to let the external drive boot.

If the internal drive is enumerated by the OS but refuses to read discs, it is commonly an optical mechanism or laser failure. Before attempting a full reinstall, boot a live USB (Linux or Windows PE) and copy personal files to an external disk. If you cannot get the recovery media to boot, create a USB recovery/reinstall media on another PC or contact Toshiba for official recovery media. Replacing the internal optical drive or using a known-good external drive are the usual hardware fixes.

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Member Avatar for Xlphos

Is the boot order correct?

Member Avatar for TOKEN1

Yes the boot order is correct..

Member Avatar for Xlphos

These recovery CD/DVD's are you trying to boot from them?

Are you sure that you have set up to boot from USB drive and not CD drive?

Also I can go into boot selection by pressing F8. Can you boot from something similar and select what you want to boot from?

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