Toshiba Satellite A20 Boot Priority Problem

[jenko]

hi pips! just found this forum and im hoping that this will help me solve my laptop problem..so here it goes..

i've had this toshiba Satellite A20 laptop for almost 2 years now..it was working just fine eventhough i noticed that it was running relatively slow than usual..i'm just a newbie when it comes to computer troubleshooting..a friend of mine told me that maybe my laptop is infected with virus or spyware..i never gave it some serious thought until i subscribed to an internet provider..when i installed their software and click on the internet explorer to register my account it opens up then close! so i called up my friend again(who by the way is relatively good with computers) and he told me to do a system recovery using the recovery cds that came in with my notebook..but i can't seem to get it right until my windows system won't boot up anymore..so i told him that i can't do it by myself and i just made it worst because now it's no longer functioning..so he visited me..tried the recovery disk but it won't boot on the cdrom drive..until he read the manual and saw that the setup function to change the boot priority is inside windows in the control panel...now that really SUCKZZZ!!! can anyone here help me with my dillema?? how can i change the boot sequence of toshiba A20 without goin in windows(coz as ive said..no more windows to go to!! :o )

[BuggZ]

Try pressing the F12 key when the Toshiba script shows on the display. You should see either a list of boot devices to select from or some Icons to choose from. If you have Icons, use the right and left arrow keys to select the CD and then press the Enter key. If this method doesn't work you will need to change the boot sequence in the BIOS. To enter the BIOS, press the Esc key when the Toshiba script shows up on the display. You should then get a message to press the F1 key to continue. Press the F1 key and you should be in the BIOS. The Boot sequence is on Page 2 of the Bios settings on many Toshibas. To get to page 2 press the page down key. Make sure you follow the screen prompts because your system may be slightly different.

[jenko]

i already tried that method (pressing F12) but it keeps on booting up on the harddisk..i also tried the ESC key method...it showed me the bios setup but i can change the settings on the left side in page one only..the boot sequence priority is located in the right side of page one...this is really frustrating! is there another way to do it?? thanks!

[BuggZ]

Does the BIOS recognize the CD-Rom drive? If the BIOS doesn't detect the CD-Rom drive then you may have a defective CD-rom or a problem with the motherboard or BIOS. Also when you set the computer to boot from the CD-Rom you should hear the CD spin and then you should see a prompt "Press any key to boot from CD..." If you don't press a key the laptop will default to boot from the hard drive.

[jenko]

i'm sure my dvd-rom drive is functioning ok because i used to play cds in it..i tried pressing the ESC key again last night and now it is asking for a password!! im sure i didn't put in any password because 3 days ago i can still access the BIOS..but like ive said..i can't change the values on the right side of the bios setup..i noticed when i read the manual again(from cover to cover this time) that the picture of the icons when you boot the pc has a bar under each of them...but in my case the icons have none!i'm really thinking of going to a service center already...but i'm soooo challenge by this!! but if worst comes to worst...do you have any idea how much would it cost if i bring it to a service center and have them do the system recovery?? by the way, another bummer...all my files are still in there..the good thing is that i saved them on the second partition of the hard drive.

if you've got any more suggestions...pls let me know..i will really appreciate it! thanks again buggz!

[BuggZ]

If you can get the icons for selecting the boot options to display on the screen, try using the right and left arrow keys (or the tab key) to highlight the DVD drive. If you see the bar under the DVD icon press the enter key. If you never see a bar under any of the icons, or if you can't change the boot option then for whatever reason you don't have access to the BIOS. There may be a supervisor's password on the BIOS which will require the BIOS to be reset. That is not easy to do on the newer Toshiba laptop because it requires special software and/or diagnostic tools. You should be able to ask a repair center how much they would charge to run a system restore. I would try to get the data of before taking the laptop in though because the restore process may wipe all the partitions off the hard drive. You can install your hard drive in a USB external drive case to copy your files to another computer.

[jenko]

hi..my friend got it working...installed winxp prof w/ service pack 2 instead of the bundled winxp home ed...it was ok but the thing is...it has no sound now! there were no errors in the installation...even in the device manager evrything is working ok...but there's no sound!!! can somebody shed some light on this issue?..is it bec. of XP service pack 2?..do i need to look for a driver update or something?? pls help...thanks!!

[BuggZ]

Either the sound driver is not loaded, the sound device is not enabled in the BIOS, the sound is muted in the control panel, or the sound chip is defective.

[mnarewec]

Hi
I have the same problem. Friend of mine has been using this laptop (Toshiba Satellite A10) for sometimes and then it couldn't go into windows. We
tried those icons on the screen (disrk,cd,floppy etc) but it gives us a blank screen with a cursor (dash) blinking on and off. This goes on forever.

I tried pressing the Esc and F12 during when powering on but I can't get the BIOS setup screen. Is there any other keys should I press to go into BIOS. I tried all function keys in vain.

Please help.

[BuggZ]

Have you tried holding the F1 key down while you power the laptop up?

[mnarewec]

I've tried that BUT NOTHING.

[drummer]

I've tried that BUT NOTHING.

I have a Toshiba Satellite notebook and had similar problems changing boot priority. I finally discovered that I could change boot priority by going into the control panel and selecting Toshiba Controls. But as previously mentioned this won't help if you cannot open windows at all....well I also had problems getting to BIOS as well; I will have to go back to see how I finally suceeded, but I tried unsuccessfully all the same methods previously mentioned.

[BuggZ]

Last posibility to force the computer to enter the bios is to remove the hard drive and attempt to boot. You should receive an IDE 0 or other hard drive error and a prompt to press F1 (or F2) to enter setup.

[mnarewec]

I tried that and it came up with the Error but No F1 to go into BIOS. It display the Toshiba Logo and then Go to that Blank Screen (cursor (dash) blinking at TOP Left corner) and stay there forever.

[BuggZ]

According to the users' manual for the A20 posted on the Toshiba website, you need to turn the laptop off, then press the F12 key as you turn the laptop on to access the boot option menu. You should then get a menu to select the boot device. If the menu doesn't appear or the CD is not listed then you may have either a bad CD drive or a BIOS problem.

[ramjo]

Remove the Hard disk from thhe laptop(when turned off). turn on the laptop without the hard disk inside and without any bootable cd in the DVD-ROM. It will restart twice the second time saying there is no valid system disk and should place one.
Place the Bootable CD or recoverydisk before turning off. Turn off the laptop and plug back the hard disk.
Start the computer and dont press anything and the boot will automatically start in the CD/DVD-ROM

[femustang]

Hi There
changing the boot sequence is not in window. it varies by manufacture but on my satellite it's by tapping the f12 key repeatedly after you hit the power button. On most pcs there is a message that pops up at the bottom of the screen telling you which keys to hit otherwise look it up on the web from another computer. once in set up its pretty straight forward using the arrow keys and such select the cd/dvd drive as the primary boot dev and save then exit. if this does not work you may have one of the nastier bugs that mess with you BIOS I've never had to deal with one myself but hopefully this onfo will get you running just be aware that resoring your operating system will take a long while so be patient and dont hit the power button after five minutes. have a good one

hi pips! just found this forum and im hoping that this will help me solve my laptop problem..so here it goes..

i've had this toshiba Satellite A20 laptop for almost 2 years now..it was working just fine eventhough i noticed that it was running relatively slow than usual..i'm just a newbie when it comes to computer troubleshooting..a friend of mine told me that maybe my laptop is infected with virus or spyware..i never gave it some serious thought until i subscribed to an internet provider..when i installed their software and click on the internet explorer to register my account it opens up then close! so i called up my friend again(who by the way is relatively good with computers) and he told me to do a system recovery using the recovery cds that came in with my notebook..but i can't seem to get it right until my windows system won't boot up anymore..so i told him that i can't do it by myself and i just made it worst because now it's no longer functioning..so he visited me..tried the recovery disk but it won't boot on the cdrom drive..until he read the manual and saw that the setup function to change the boot priority is inside windows in the control panel...now that really SUCKZZZ!!! can anyone here help me with my dillema?? how can i change the boot sequence of toshiba A20 without goin in windows(coz as ive said..no more windows to go to!! :o )

[crunchie]

Thank you for the reply but, you are 4 years too late :).