Formatting Toshiba M45-S169

[glassguy]

I had problems with my Toshiba Satellite M45-S169 so I have reloaded the operating system. I am using a copy of XP Pro SP2 that is apparently a corporate version that does not require authentication. I have formatted this hard drive in the past and reloaded the operating system with no problems but this time I have tried to format the drive and was not able to do so. I finally did a quick format but it seems that the operating system will not load completely. It works but I am unable to load programs like Photoshop Elements and windows media player won't work among other things. I don't know if I have a hardware problem like a failing mother board or whether the disc with my operating system is corrupted. I know I should just go buy another notebook but...money is tight and I would rather repair this one if possible. Any help or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, G

[boucbaz]

One tome I hit this with SP2 so I install it with SP3 and it solved everything. Mind you it wasn't exactly the same problem but it did act weird. Worth trying. Good lock.

[glassguy]

That's another thing...I have tried to install SP3 and it shows there are some corrupted files in the operating system. I can't complete the installation and then the system completely locks up. (That is why I have reloaded the operating system 4 times, it was easier, I thought, to start over than figure out why the installs don't work) I dunno, as they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This same copy of SP3 was installed on this notebook as well as 2 others that are running the same operating system about 9 months ago with no problem. Again, could this be a mother board problem? Thanks for the response, G

[FTT]

I would test the hard drive first. Find out what manufacturer of the drive is and then download and burn their diagnostic softwares. For example: If Western Digital drive, you would need the program called Data LifeGuard available from their site.

You could use Belarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) to determine the drive manufacturer.

[Paul Komski]

I am using a copy of XP Pro SP2 that is apparently a corporate version that does not require authentication.Sounds a bit suspicious. Bad hardware may be the root cause but I suspect that your installation medium is at the root of your problem. I think you will need to use a normal retail installation CD or pay Toshiba to send you a Restoration CD. Don't even bother with the normal installation route if you cant get the drivers for XP from the Toshiba site.

I recently gave up trying to install Vista on a Toshiba and finished up installing Ubuntu to save the owner £30/$48 for the restoration CD.

[glassguy]

If I go to the Microsoft web site they will say that this is not a legit. copy of XP but I have been using this particular program for several years without a problem as long as I don't use updates. On top of that, when I bought this notebook, Toshiba included a recovery disc that really doesn't do anything. I downloaded the drivers that I needed to do the reinstall from Toshiba's web site. I downloaded Belarc and ran their diagnostics and it shows the hard drive to be OK. What are the chances that the program disc has degraded? I store it in a fairly constant temperature space in a CD holder.
If I break down and buy another notebook, this one will certainly be loaded with some version of Linux. The response is appreciated, G

[LochLomonder]

glassguy,

If I go to the Microsoft web site they will say that this is not a legit. copy of XP but I have been using this particular program for several years without a problem as long as I don't use updates.

This is generally because pirated versions of the operating system will be flagged.

[glassguy]

I understand what you are saying but I installed and ran this XP disc successfully previously several months ago. I had Bright House install a modem and router and that is when the problem started. Both of my notebooks would not recognize the router and they finally sent a "tech" to fix it. I don't know what he did except he really slowed the both machines down to a crawl and screwed up the wireless reception on both machines.
To repeat, when I did the reinstall previously, I was able to do a full format and a clean install. This time when I tried to format, it reached the 9% point and then just sat there for more than an hour. I then restarted and did a quick format in order to proceed.
When Windows Media Player would not run I downloaded and tried Media Player Classic and that program will not run either. I get an error message. So I can't load some programs that I used to be able to run with this version of XP but things like MS Word work perfectly. I just don't understand. Thanks for the response