I have a problem with my laptop not starting.

Toshiba Satellite M45 Series Laptop. OS: XP; MS WIN Home (SP2)
Intel Pentium M 730 (1.6GB, 2MB L2 cache, 533Mhz FSB)
512 MB SDRAM, 100 GB hard disk (5400 RPM)

The first times I turned it on it showed the WINDOWS XP screen and the little horizontal bar underneath runs the little 3-light sequence across the bar for about 2 minutes before (1) going to a blank screen or (2) C000218 Registry File Failure Registry cannot open the hive (file) \System Root\System32\Config\Software or its log or alternate. It is corrupt, absent or not curable. Dumped physical memory.

Now it will only go into the SAFE mode screen before going blank. It will NOT recognize the Toshiba Recovery, Applications & Drivers CD.

I tried to open BIOS by pressing DEL at when starting, but it went into the SAFE mode screen & then went blank.

I guess I need a new hard drive? What should I do before buying & installing a new HD? I am a beginner at this & have spent the past 3 days reading to get this far. How do I know it definitely is not something else?

Thanks, Al

Hello, have you got an XP CD around? You might be able to try a repair install, or try and fix the problem through the recovery console.

Regards

Martin

The computer will not "see" the CD. I cannot get it to anything but go into tha error mode & then freeze.
What is the recovery console? How do I fix the problem through the recovery console?

Firstly, try pressing F2 instead of DEL to enter the BIOS screen. If that works, you need to set your boot priority so that your PC will attempt to boot from the media you have inserted into the CD-ROM.

If you've managed to boot from the XP CD, it will start to go to the set-up screen. Give it a few minutes to load, and when it's finished you will be given a few options. You will need to press 'R' to repair your windows installation.

Once the recovery console has loaded, log on to your XP installation putting your password in if necessary. Then type FIXMBR and press Enter, then type FIXBOOT and press Enter.

Next, type CHKDSK /r and press Enter, this will check your disk for any errors and attempt to repair them.

If you can't get the CD to boot we'll need to try a floppy disk if you have a floppy drive.

Do you get the option to press F8 during boot time? If you do, what options are you given?

Regards

Martin

Yes, i agree with attempting to press F8 and enter BIOS (or whatever key does this for you). Check to see if your drive is recognized there, if not, then it could be a random unplugging, or the drive itself is not working properly, thus why Windows cannot see it either.

__________________

</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)

Martin, THANK YOU!!!!!
I followed your directions -- F2 worked. The recovery disk recovered my hard drive. It appears that I have lost about 7GB of hard drive space. The Toshiba desktop has been replaced with all the original garbage. I spent 4 hours deleting the free offers and reinstalling MS Office, Zone Alarm, Ad-Aware, etc.

I have a question. When I do a disk clean-up should I just clean up or should I click on repair? I'm afraid that if I tell the computer to do a repair, it might get hung up and crash again. Or are those sectors of the hard drive forever partitioned off?

Thanks again.
Al

No problem!

Where are you being asked to repair, is it part of your laptop recovery program?

We could do with fixing the drive properly in case you start to get any more problems in the future.

To use XPs' disk check go to My Computer>Right click on your C: drive and go to properties>Select 'Tools'>Click on the Disk Check button>Tick both boxes for repairs.

Your computer will ask you if you want schedule the task for the next time you start your computer, click 'Yes' and re-boot your PC.

Take note on wether any errors were fixed.

Regards

Martin