Hi DaniWeb Family !
I have a Toshiba Satellite L455D-S5976, laptop with Windows 7, 32bit system on it.
The hard drive went bad and so I ordered another on, exactly like the original.
Then I had to cantact Toshiba and order the system installation disc for that computer.
I got the disc's in and when I went to reinstall the system on my new hard drive, it won't work.
The Toshiba splash screen pops up, then it starts loading Windows files. Then it says Starting Windows. Then it asks me to select between :
Toshiba Recovery Wizzard
or
System Recovery Options.
I chose Toshiba Recovery Wizzard.
Then it asks me to choose between
Factory Default, like "out-of-the-box-state"
or
Erase the hard disk.
I chose
Factory Default, like "out-of-the-box-state"
Then I have to choose between 3 things.
#1 Recover to out of the box state(System Recovery Options included.
#2 Recover without changing the hard drive partitions
#3 Recover to a custom size partition
I chose #1 Recover to out of the box state(System Recovery Options included
Then it goes into " initializing the partition". When thats done it says " Copying files, please wait".
Then, after about 20 minutes, an error pops up that says:
Can't read from the source file or disk.
preinst6.swm
type:swm file
size 632 MB
Date modified: 9/1/2009 10:47 am
Under that it gives me the choices to either " TRY AGAIN", " SKIP" , or " CANCEL".
None of those work at all.
I have tried another new hard drive and it did the same thing.
I even tried an external hard drive and that didn't work out either.
Anyone know if I'm making the right choices ? Any suggestiopns on what I should do ?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated !

Recommended Answers

All 20 Replies

try erase the hdd instead of out of the box state.

if same ,try borrowing a friends win7 dvd ,same version as yours ,if it works you then would go to manufacturers website to download missing drivers

Ok, I deleted all the partions. And then the computer kicked the disk out and turned off. Now what ? how do ya think I should go about reinstalling Windows 7 ?

Choose option
#2 Recover without changing the hard drive partitions
#3 Recover to a custom size partition

And tell us what happen

is there an other steps when you choose erase hard disk

I will do these instructions tomorrow. Thank you both for replying !!!

Ok, I deleted all the partions.?

the replacement drive,is it new or used .there should only have be one partition on it;
it could be that the recovery disks is looking for file from the recovery partition that would have been on the old drive ,but is not on the new drive .one of the reasons i like using a retail win7 to reload laptops ,plus you don't get all the junk software trials from the original laptop disks

I ordered the drive from Ebay. It is a refurbished drive.
How do I get a " a retail win7 " disk ? The only way I knew how to get an installation disk, that was the right one for this laptop, was thru Toshiba.

I ordered the drive from Ebay. It is a refurbished drive.
How do I get a " a retail win7 " disk ? The only way I knew how to get an installation disk, that was the right one for this laptop, was thru Toshiba.

i already said how . borrow one from a friend ,i know this is not always possible as most of our friends also have laptops and don't have a retail copy of windows either . so lets forget that for now and make the one you got from toshiba work

OK.
I chose Toshiba Recovery Wizzard.
Then it asks me to choose between
Factory Default, like "out-of-the-box-state"
or
Erase the hard disk.
Since we already erased all the hard drive, I chose Factory Default, like "out-of-the-box-state.
Then I chose #2 Recover without changing the hard drive partitions, as instructed above.
When I chose that, it took me to a different place that said:
The 1rst partition will be dleted and you will lose all data on the partition. Are you sure you want to continue ?
It gives me either the choice to " go back" or " next ".
Well, I hit " next"
Then it does the same thing as above in my 1rst post......
goes into " initializing the partition". When thats done it says " Copying files, please wait".
Then, after about 20 minutes, an error pops up that says:
Can't read from the source file or disk.
preinst6.swm
type:swm file
size 632 MB
Date modified: 9/1/2009 10:47 am
Under that it gives me the choices to either " TRY AGAIN", " SKIP" , or " CANCEL".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whats the next move ?

Try the third choice;)

Well, what I didn't know was that I still had my 60GB hard drive still in the laptop. So I swaped it back out with the correct hard drive, but even after choosing #3, I get get the same results. I had even chose a deep, complete deletion of the hard drive.
I don't have any friends that have a Windows 7 disk. So whats the next step ?

call toshiba

Do you have a warranty

No warranty so they will want to charge me an arm and a leg.

there must a local computer repair guy who doesn't charge a arm and a leg to install windows for you

I have talked to Toshiba and they are sending me another copy of the installation disc. I will let ya know if that does any better.

I finaly recieved the replacement discs for this laptop. Can someone let me know if I should wipe the hard drive clean again or what I should try to make sure this second set of discs works. Please

Make a copy or your Recovery Disc and try the Orig option's you were doing.

It's possible your drive not reading the disc right and fails to copy the file's correct.

Sorry - I left this posting and you already updated.
Try Option one as before

Whooo hoo, I got the new installation on the laptop. I reckon the other discs were bad.
I want to thank everyone who jumped in there to help me with this nightemare ! I hope to be able to help people on here when they need help !

You are welcome maybe you will try marking this thread as solved then.

reading all this just made me feel better,am having that same problem nw,so they sending me a replacement disk

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