A lot of laptop and desktop computer problems are caused by a failed memory or a failing memory module. As a laptop repair technician I test memory modules every time I get a laptop for repair. I have tried many different memory testing utilities but finally I stopped on Memtest 86+. So far it is one of the best free memory test utilities and I use it everyday. You can find this utility on the Memtest 86+ homepage.
To test your memory modules you have to do next:
- download Memtest 86+.
Choose Download – Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) if you want to burn it on CD.
Choose Download – Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS – Win) if you want to place the utility on a floppy disk. I usually use CD because most computers have a CD drive and it’s much faster to start the test from a CD disc.
- Change the boot order on your computer to boot from a floppy drive or from a CD/DVD drive.
- Insert the floppy disk or the CD disc with Memtest 86+ into the computer.
- Start the computer.
If you did everything right, you computer will start from the floppy or the CD and the memory testing utility will start automatically.
If your memory passed the test, you will not see any red error messages.
I usually allow a memory module pass the test 4-5 times. I’ve seen many times that a failing memory doesn’t fail the test on the firs pass and then fails on the second or third pass.
If your memory failed the test you will see red error messages.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
February 9th, 2006 at 5:41 am
thank you very few man like you who share knowledge.
how do you test an inverter?
February 27th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Can you help with the disassembly of a Sony Vaio Notebook PCG-XG28 (PCG-8411)?
February 27th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I work mostly on Toshiba laptops and have not worked on any Sony yet. You can search for help here. This site offers some Sony laptop disassembly guides and it might be helpful for you.
March 9th, 2006 at 7:42 am
This is a great site.
Thanks
March 14th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
[...] I started testing the memory on the laptop with Memtest 86+ utility and the memory failed right away. The laptop had 2 memory sticks installed. I tried to eliminate a bad stick by removing and installing modules one by one into different slots on the system board. The same pattern occurred on startup: [...]
April 11th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Hello!
My nephew has a Toshiba A65-SP126 Model No. PSA60U-01C010 laptop which has failed twice in different times -apparently due to a defective RAM-. The first failure was within the warranty period and just now again, when it is out of warranty. According to the info obtained from a test CD, the amount of installed RAM is 512MB, but the funny thing is that the slot where the RAM module(s) should be present is EMPTY! — there is NO RAM there!
We have not dissassembled it yet, but we suspect that this RAM might be located somewhere inside the motherboard.. is this possible in a Toshiba Satellite A65 laptop? Any comment of yours on this oddball will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance and greetings from Mexico!
Sincerely,
monbollo
monbollo@mexico.com
April 11th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Hi Monbollo,
Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 laptops have a memory integrated into the system board, that’s why you cannot find it. There is only one empty slot available for upgrading the memory size. If the onboard memory is bad then the entire system board has to be replaced.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Ca you help me find a repair guide for a Sat 1135-s155.
Thank in Advance
April 12th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Hi J Nehu,
All disassembly guides I have created are posted on the Toshiba laptop disassembly website. Unfortunately, I haven’t created a guide for Toshiba Satellite 1135 yet. Read through other disassembly guides and you will be able to take you lappy apart. All disassembly guides are very similar.
April 17th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba M35x-S149. Its motherboad and cover was replaced about 9 months ago because of power problems…
Now, I have a strange problem…. when I power on or open lid to start from standby, it takes few minutes before any sign of life, i.e. not disk activity, screen blank, power light is blue and front light is green indicating it is powered on.
After few minutes, it will start to come alive, i.e. disk activity and regular startup.
Oh, I installed XP home edition from the recovery CD and reformatted the HD.
Any ideas/sugesstions…
needless to say, it is out of warranty:(
Thanks very much
April 17th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Hey Mike,
I have never seen the problem like yours before. I would try to upgrade or re-flash the BIOS first. It’s possible that a corrupted BIOS causing the problem. I would also try to remove the DVD drive, the wireless card and the modem to see if any of these devices make the system to hang on startup. But it’s more complicated, you will have to get under the keyboard.
May 2nd, 2006 at 6:33 am
I am an HVAC mechanic. My son broke the DC jack on my daughter’s Toshiba A65 in Dec’05. I have never worked on a computer, let alone a laptop so I told her to take it in and see what it would cost to repair. The answer was not good. I looked on the internet for the part which I found from $35 down to $9. I bought one on Ebay for $9 and found your website. I followed your instructions and repaired the unit myself. Thank you very much for your website. Could you email me your address so I can send you a donation.
May 2nd, 2006 at 6:50 am
Kane,
You can find a Donate button on the right side of the website.
I am glad that my website helped you to fix the problem. Donations are always welcome.
May 6th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
When i try to get the MemTest software burned to a CD, my burning program reads the .iso file but shows it as empty. I tried buring the CD anyway just for kicks, and then tried to boot from it. This failed of course and booted Windows regularly. Any idea why the .iso file is reading as blank?
May 7th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Strike my last comment. After downloading this WinXP Power Toy it worked just fine. The power toy uses the built in WinXP CD burning utility to burn ISO images.
May 18th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
hello. i have 1 question. i recently took my laptop to get looked at – it was messing up madly. well they told me that it was a memory problem and i believe them…so now here’s my question:
why is it that my laptop works only in certain positions? i’ve noticed that when the toshiba backsplash comes up during boot there are lines through the letters (signifying its defected memory). most of the time, however, when i see these lines, i can lift one side of my laptop and the lines go away…and my laptop boots normally.
thanks,
mark
May 21st, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Mark,
I think you might have a more serious problem. Try to connect the laptop to an external monitor and see if you can get the same bad video output there. Set you laptop to display video on both internal and external screens. Compare the video output. If you see the same lines through letters on the internal and external screens, you might have a bad system board.
If the video output is bad only on the laptop LCD screen and the external video is fine, then you might have a loose connection between the system board and the LCD screen. Reseating video cable on the system board and on the LCD screen might fix the problem.
June 4th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
[...] From your description I understand that you purchased this laptop recently and the laptop might be still under the manufacturer warranty. If it is still under warranty, take it or ship it to Toshiba authorized repair center and let them fix the problem. I would test the memory first. The laptop has dynamically allocated shared graphics memory; it has no dedicated memory and uses part of the main memory for video purposes. I guess if the main memory is going bad, you can get an error message related to the graphic card. [...]
July 5th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I’ve a Dell Inspiron 2100 and Gateway Solo 3350. Both are pentium 3 laptops with 12″ screen. My Gateway is working perfect but Dell could not be powered up. If i wanted to test the functionality of my Dell LCD screen, can I disassemble it and fix it on my gateway. Though the brands are different, I find the size and design quite similar. Pl advise.
July 18th, 2006 at 3:57 am
Hi,
I’ve got toshiba satellite A60(On board RAM). The RAM is corrupted now. Out of total 256MB RAM , 128MB is working perfectly. I’ve checked it with installing and booting linux using mem=128M option, which is used to usage of RAM from the total available. I am not able to start linux with all the RAM available. Though I am facing a little graphics problem(mouse pointar distortion) due to shared graphics memory with onboard RAM, its OK to work with it… Can any one suggest how to do the same for Windows??? I have Windows XP cd provided with laptop…
The option I searched is to put /maxmem=128 parameter in boot.init.. but that is if windows is already installed.. what for the installation?????
July 18th, 2006 at 4:14 am
A suggestion.. currently if onboard RAM is gone then the mother board is to be replaced.. but if somehow onboard RAM can be disabled or bypassed and laptop is made to work on externel slot memory only!!! is it possible??? may be with BIOS flashing??? new mother board is of the same cost as new laptop!!! also if my previous suggestion can work…
)
If someone can get Toshiba upgrade BIOS software version to cop with “ONBOARD RAM problems”.. it would be great… as such i couldn’t find any link on their entire website for our feedback..im already our of warranty
(
September 7th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Hi, I have a Toshiba A65 laptop. I used memtest 86, and I got no errors (I ran it through multiple times). I have also reloaded windows from several different disks (to be sure that it wasn’t the copy of windows that was the problem). I also surface scanned the hard drive. There are no system conflicts, but I still get BSOD shortly after startup (not every time, but enough to make the laptop pretty much useless). I am on Windows XP Pro with SP2. I have tried everything I can think of. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
September 7th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
One more thing to try. Remove the wireless card and run the laptop for a while without it.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
I’ll try that, thanks!
October 24th, 2006 at 5:29 am
LOOKING FOR DISK TO RELOAD CD/DISK DRIVE FOR TOSHIBA PSA60U LAPTOP WHICH MADE IT THRU THE FLOOD. IS THERE A DOWNLOAD ON THE NET? HAVING DIFFICULTY FINDING ONE. THANK YOU.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Sam,
What do you mean by “reload CD/disk drive”? Are you looking for a recovery DVD so you can reimage the hard drive back to original factory defaults? If yes, then you cannot download this image from Toshiba website, but I think you can call them and purchase it. It shouldn’t be very expensive.
November 30th, 2006 at 8:08 am
Hi, I have a Toshiba A60 and I guess I fried the onboard RAM (blue screen of death, win doesn’t boot, linux boots just with mem=384M option – although with graphic problems – and so on).
Moreover I noticed ACPI doesn’t work anymore: I mean, before this ACPI worked well, I could see the temperature and stuff like that, but now it isn’t even able to detect ACPI (so no /proc/acpi folder) and with dmesg I found out that it complains about fatal errors caused by pnp bios. Using option pnpbios=off I don’t get that message, but ACPI doesn’t work anyway…
Any ideas? Nix, did you find a way to disable onboard RAM?
December 27th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Have the exact same problem on my Toshiba A65-S1062 as BoRis has. I’m beginning to wonder now if this is really a personal problem or something wrong in the Toshiba A60/65Series competers!
December 31st, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Robert Doherty,
I’ve seen the same problem with Toshiba Satellite A65 onboard memory many times before. I think it’s not a personal problem; apparently something is wrong with this laptop model. I guess the memory that Toshiba integrated into the system board wasn’t very good. Unfortunately you cannot disable onboard memory in the BIOS settings and if it goes bad you have to replace the motherboard.
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:36 am
In the end I had to change my motherboard: really expensive (550 €, not much less than a new laptop), it’s not worth it unless you have insurance/warranty/whatsoever that can give you part of the money back.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Add me to the list
After 2 years of seemless operation i got corrupted onboard memory on my Toshiba A60 and had to write it off.
Its totally crazy that they designed it that way especially when there is an extra slot available on the back.
Lesson learned; never buy a machine which has its memory integrated on its motherboard.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Hi,yes it is fantastic,when i test my RAM i founded many errors,but could anyone please tell how can I make recovery to these errors,I mean is there any software can help to recover these errors or correct them.and if there is a software,just send the name or the webside to get it in order to download it,I need your help.
Regards
January 24th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Gehadhanna,
If your laptop has onboard memory and it failed, you are out of luck. You’ll have to replace the motherboard. There is no software that can help you to recover these errors, at least I don’t know any.
If the memory module that failed is not integrated into the motherboard, you’ll have to replace just the module itself. Lucky!
January 25th, 2007 at 5:38 am
If a new system board is out of the question, and all you do basically is surf the web and E-Mail, then try a copy of Xandros Linux operating system($29 in the U.S.A.) Use the command “mem=(Whatever you have-at least 512M in spare memory slot)m. Got my A65 running including an RJ-45 connection to my Airport Extreme transmitter, True Wireless I’ve failed. I understand that a similar command in ALREADY INSTALLED Windows in the init file can sometimes work. Otherwise you’re stuck with finding a board on E-Bay. Do check for an extended warrenty on your machine.
February 21st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Ok, so i got 10′000.000 errors and my laptop (All-Crappy Toshiba A60) doesn’t boot anymore, what does that mean and what can i do about it?
February 25th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Pedrito,
If you had an extra memory stick installed you removed it before running the test, right? There is not much you can do about it. Satellite A60 has a memory integrated into the system board. If onboard memory fails, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
March 5th, 2007 at 7:40 am
I have Acer travelmate 4150NLCi laptop. Initially there was suscepted virus programs. Later I tried to reinstal windows but midway system turned off. So I repeated installation but error message came. So using a live CD I formatted the C drive (In live system works atleast for 15 min) Then I tried to reinstall, system went off midway. So I pressed F2 to enter setup it showed the 1st screen of setup. When I moved to next(boot, security, advanced) system went off. Using live CD I can use system for any amount of time. Can you please make some suggestions
March 10th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Jackson,
Maybe the laptop overheats? Check the heatsink and if it’s clogged with dust, blow it off with compressed air.
What kind of error message you get?
March 24th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I have a strange problem with my RAM. It seems like the system steals 8MB RAM. I have two modules and 384MB RAM total but the device manager displays only 376MB. The modules are ok. No matter which single module I use there are still missing 8MB. What can I do to fix it?
March 25th, 2007 at 7:50 am
I have a problem with missing 8MB ram. The device manager displays 376MB and there are two modules all together with 386MB installed. The modules are ok. How and where do I free the stolen ram?
The memtest shows 376MB too and the test is without error, but when I set bios to all (in config C) the memtest shows all 384MB and the result is with error. Please help me out. Thanks.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:48 am
For you people “missing” 8MB of ram, it is most likely shared memory used by your video card. Alot of onboard video cards will use “shared” memory, that is, take it from your ram. If there is a setting in your BIOS to change your video memory size you can verify this for yourself.
April 7th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Thanks, but there is no setting in my BIOS to change my video memory size.
April 8th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Gitte,
Why do you want to change the video memory size? As Michael Rogers said, 8MB is not missing, it’s used for video purposes.
April 9th, 2007 at 5:26 am
Because I’m not sure it’s used for video purposes. In the original configuration none ram were missing. I think the systemboard have stolen the ram for memoryrange 17800000.
I just want to control the ram myself. I want to decide how much ram is used for anything else than original purposes. I must find the way to free the ram.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Graphics Processor / Vendor: AGP
Video Memory: VRAM – 8 MB
No shared memory ram in my graphic card. Where is it?
April 20th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
[...] factory software. Same problem occurred right after I rebooted the laptop. I tested the memory with Memtest 86+ test. It took me over 2.5 hours to test 512MB of memory but it didn’t fail the test. Usually this test [...]
April 27th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
[...] of failure may occur because of bad memory modules. I started testing both 1GB memory modules with Memtest 86+ utility but the laptop locked up before I finished testing. Only after I removed both memory sticks and [...]
July 19th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Hi, I have a Sony Vaio B100B09. I believe it has 512mb onboard, and I expanded by 1gb. Lately, I have been getting the blue screen flash and instant rebooting. I took it to a shop and they traced it down to the on board memory. When I take out the 1gb extended memory, it doesn’t even boot into windows. With the 1gb in the laptop, it boots and works fine for a while, then randomly reboots.
Is there no possible way to disable the onboard ram or is there at least a program or something that will tell windows not to use that memory after it’s booted, since I have no problem booting up?
Replacing the motherboard would cost as much as a new laptop, and I feel like it’s such a waste to not be able to fix this one at a reasonable price.
Any advise on my situation would be greatly appreciated.
July 21st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Eric,
Unfortunately, you cannot disable the onoboard memory. If it’s bad, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
If you are desperate for any advice, here it is. Please proceed on your own risk.
Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 laptops also suffer from the onboard memory failure. Check out comment #23 by Justin and find other comment by the same guy. He was able to solve the problem by removing the onboard memory (unsolder it from the motherboard) and using just the external memory module. I’m not sure it it’s going to work with your laptop but you asked for any advice.
Also check out comment #52 by diaphus.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
i want laptop motherboard repair using vidio explanation
August 19th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi, I was hoping you may be able help me with a problem with a toshiba satelite laptop…. Tonight I showing my daughter how to use msn when we lost about half an inch of the right side of the screen, we now have a black strip, so you cannot see the time in the toolbar but when you move the mouse over to this side the screen scrolls across and then you see the time but the desktop image moves with it to the left,
Hope you understand my message and would appreciate your advice
Thanx in advance Tim
August 26th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Morning to You, Just an enquiry before I try the advise above.
I have an LG laptop LS50a with two sticks of memory at the moment one 512mb and the other 256mb. I have purchased two new 1 gb sticks of generic brand and they don’t even register when i put them in. I have tried putting them in one at a time and nothing, the computer starts up ok but can’t even get into the bios.
On the internet it says only certain brands are compatible with LG like Kingston Samsung etc. I am just wondering if I can test the memory to see if its doa some how that way I will know if the sticks are the problem or if it is just incompatible. thanks for any help you can give, Regards Mrs Evans
August 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Tim Walker,
Check the screen resolution settings on your laptop. Right click on the desktop – Properties – Settings. First, change it to 800×600 and see if you can get full screen. Then increase the resolution and test the laptop again.
August 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
G. Evans,
Did you purchase correct memory type? For example, if your laptop requires PC2700 memory modules and you purchased PC2100, you might have a problem.
Unfortunately, if you cannot start the laptop, you cannot test the memory. You can install your 1GB memory stick into another laptop and test it in there.
August 27th, 2007 at 4:14 am
I have a Toshiba Qosmio F15 AV201. I have line problems in the screen, I can’t get the restore discs to finish installation. It goes to 98% and stops, every time. Called Toshiba for a new set of restore discs in case they were bad and at the price of $39.95 they sent me another set, which didn’t go any further than the original set. After installation cuts off at 98%, the sgreen goes blank and the fan goes on high speed . After a few minutes, it tries to restart with the same results.Any ideas? Thank you very much.
October 6th, 2007 at 8:45 am
How do I shut the test down
October 9th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
my daughter brought over her Toshiba Satellite A65 The laptop won’t load windows anylonger And it won’t start in safe mode either. Or even last known woking config.A blue screen will flash for only a few seconds much to quickly to be read. Then when windows trys to load it keeps going back to how do you wish to start in safe ect. ect. and no matter which you choose it just returns to the same thing. Not in safe, last known or in any other choices. What could the problem be?
October 13th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Thomas D Nemeth,
I think these lines on the screen are related to a faulty video on the motherboard. Toshiba even had a recall on Qosmio G15 and F15 units and they replaced motherboard because of some kind of problem with video. I’m not sure if this recall is over but you can call Toshiba and ask them.
October 13th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Kirk,
I started this thread dedicated to Satellite A60 and A65 problems.
1. It could be memory related problem. If you have an extra memory module installed into the expansion slot, remove it and run Memtest86+. It will test the onboard memory. See if it fails.
2. Test the hard drive. Run Hitachi’s drive fitness test, I linked to this utility in Resources on the right side.
3. Read through comments in the above mentioned thread dedicated to Satellite A65.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Thank you for replying to my post. It is truly appreciated.
Kirk
January 10th, 2008 at 4:14 am
to the pc masters out there, i need some help please!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a fujitsu siemens amilo pro laptop. all was working fine until i wanted to use it and it does not want to boot up. it gives a dos like screen with start in safe mode, start windows normally ect. what would the problem be and is there a way it could be solved?
thanks
joe
January 11th, 2008 at 12:04 am
joe van der westhuizen,
Can you start the laptop in Safe Mode?
Try “Last Known Good Configuration”, it might help.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:53 am
hi there, thanks for the feedback but i have tried both and none work. any other suggestions?
January 11th, 2008 at 12:58 am
joe van der westhuizen,
Now you can runs some basic hardware diagnostic tests, I would test the hard drive first. You can use Hitachi’s drive fitness test, link in Resources on the right side.
Test the hard drive and if it passes, probably it’s time to reinstall Windows.
January 27th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Hy, i have an acer aspire 5634, it work fine but somethimes it’s restarting …i don’t know why…..it is xp media center on it from acer
January 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
mihai,
1. Test memory (Memtest86+ utility)
2. Test hard drive (Hitachi drive fitness test utility).
3. Make sure the heatsink is clean. This problem could be related to overheating.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:50 am
Nice test, but what happens when in test 1 ALL memory fails? Could this be due to BIOS problems? I have checked my added in memory (1 Gb), and have taken it out, and it still fails ALL of it, which does not make sense. There must be something else that makes all of it fail!
This is a Toshiba PSA60C, that suddenly failed completely, but the hard drive is ok, but it will not start up on a windows XP setup disc, and will also not do anything but run things in DOS, floppy or memtest do work.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Backdoctor,
Sounds like a problem with the onboard memory (integrated into the motherboard).
I have another post dedicated to Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 problems. If you read the comments, you’ll see that a lot of people experiencing the same problem with this model. Removing the onboard memory could be a good solution when you have nothing to loose but it’s not ease. Read comments.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:21 am
i have a fujitsu siemens amilo D7830 that has a blank screen even though the hdd lights is on,fans spinning too.
i have swapped mem. modules too.
February 13th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Mosakun,
The screen is completely blank or you still can see a very dim image?
Did you test your laptop with an external monitor connected to the VGA port on the laptop? Can you get video on the external monitor or it’s blank too?
March 1st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
i hav a dell laptop and it seems to hav an image error and it has this cuz while restartn it took so long that i just pressed the power button and now when i turn it on it says image error wat should i do?
March 6th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Hi,
I spent a lot of time searching for sata drivers because i want to install windows XP on my laptop. The model is: TOSHIBA Sattelite A215 4757, AMD Turion 64 x2. The chipset is M690V.
It seems that there are no drivers on AMD or TOSHIBA website.
So i please you, if you could help me in getting the SATA drivers for windows XP.
All kind all information is welcome!!! Thak you!
March 6th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Vinti Catalin,
Why do you need SATA driver in the first place? XP should handle SATA hard drive without any problem.
I don’t think that installing XP on this laptop is a good idea. Even if you can install XP you will not find any device drivers. Toshiba doesn’t list device drivers for TOSHIBA Satellite A215-4757 for Windows XP.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
System:
- Windows XP
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz 2 CPU cores, 666MHz FSB, 512MB RAM
I don’t know what to do. Here is my problem:
Suddenly my computer became very slow.
I took my laptop to the original HP service in Slovenia. They said that motherboard died and needs to be replaced. OK. I paid about 400€ and expected that the problem was solved. But it wasn’t!!!
Ok. So it was not the motherboard.
After a while I find out, that I can’t charge my battery more than 6% (12 hours of charging).
Ok, I said. Battery is also dead.
Then I tried to disconnect the AC power supply to test how long will computer run on those 6% of battery.
I FOUND THAT MY COMPUTER IS RUNNING OK !!!
(It is fast as it was before,…)
Ok. So next logical step would be to replace the charger. I bought brand new charger (same characteristics Voltage/Current), but still doesnt work.
What could be wrong, any ideas?
Is there any diagnostic software provided by HP to test the hardware (HDD, RAM, Motherboard,…)
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
prasad,
The first thing to do is go to the Performance tab in the Windows Task Manager. Check the CPU Usage. If the CPU usage is mostly 2-10%, that’s OK, but if the CPU is used 90-100% all the time, most likely you have a software related problem. One of the applications (I don’t know witch one) is not working properly and clogging the CPU. That’s one of the reasons why your laptop might work very slow. Try this. Backup all personal files and reimage the hard drive back to factory defaults using the recovery disc.
Also, the laptop may become very slow because you have a problem with the hard drive. It’s possible the hard drive is failing. You can test the hard dive with Hitachi’s drive fitness test, you’ll find the link to this utility in “Resources” on the right side. Test the hard drive and find out if it passes or fails. Replace the hard drive if needed.
In most cases laptops start working very slow because of software related issues.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
My TOSHIBA M9 – S5513X laptop freezes but the mouse hovers but is inactive. I am forced to switch off “physically” ie removing the battery or forcing down the on/off button.
Please help. I can not reload again and again
July 20th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Boikhutso Kgwadi,
Did you test memory?
If you have two memory modules installed, try removing them one by one. Test the laptop with each memory module separately. If the laptop works fine with one module but freezes with another one, the second module could be bad and has to be replaced.
August 4th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Not sure if I am submitting in the right place but on finding your great site I am hopeful that you will be able to shed some light on my problem.I have a Toshiba qosmio F20-130.It has worked fine foe a year or so .I go away for a few months come back reconnect and start the Toshiba.It starts then dies completly.Only one lcd on the front to show any life.I renewed the battery but this made no difference.Still unable to startWhat can i do .Is there something i can download and put onto floppy as no access to CD drive drawer.Model no PQF20E-01DOOWEN Serial no:85087615H.Any help would be much appreciated.Thanks,Paul
August 25th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I have different problem that my computer has been blocked by phoniexBIOS utility password as the power is put on un usual password appear on the screen which is not my account password
Therefore can any body kindly attempt to solve my problem
The computer model is Toshiba satellite m115 series
August 25th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Ali Hassan,
I know that some newer Toshiba laptops may ask you for the BIOS password you had never set and it’s not your fault. If you purchased your laptop in the United States, you should call Toshiba customer support line at 1-800-457-7777 and explain what’s going on. Most likely they will clear the BIOS password at no charge.
Check out this post: Toshiba Satellite laptop asking for the BIOS password I never had.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:12 am
can you guys help me on how to fix computer with OS malfunction for P3 processor and a 80GB of hard disk replacement…? Because my costumers computer is always having an error on its Operating System i try to reformat it but it always disable my keyboard… Video card is not built in… the modem card is also not built in…!
January 6th, 2009 at 1:47 am
cj2600 I have a toshiba satellite p105-s9772 laptop
and the screen turns white then it restarts. It does it when im downloading something, moving files around or playing a video game it some times does it right when im loggin using the internet or just doing nothing. I took it apart and cleaned the heat sinks i thought it might be an over heating prob
but that was not the prob. I also used the recovery disk and restored to factory settings thinking it might be a software prob but that wasnt it either so i think it might be the processor, the video card, the motherboard or the ram do u have any idea of what it might be. I would greatly appreciate ur help.
SLopez
January 16th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Hello.
I have a Toshiba M40 and at first it started with not logigng into windows XP by giving an error message lsass.sys ..so I tried to reinstall windows xp on it..went through the disk formatting and began installing windows..during setup, the systmes reboots when it reaches 34minutes remaining to install windows. I also get error message that system bios not cpmaptible with acpi.
I tried to F7 when windows setup starts (when it says press f6 to install third party) to load up using HAL instead of ACPI…the system just hangs when windows setup finishes loading right before it starts setup process..I took out the wireless card and tried, same problem wont complete setup, I shorted pin 734 1and2 behind the wireless card to reset bios during system startup and that didnt help..I updated bios from manufacturer to version 2.0 using bootup disk bios..and that didnt help..i took out the heatsink and processor and didnt see any problems there..
I did a memory test using windows memory diagnostic boot disk..no problem with ram..
I am suspecting that the processor is dead or the motherboard is dead…but if the mobo is dead I dont think i could get as far as 34 minutes in the windows install process right?? seems like system is not able to communicate with hardware..
What do you think please help!! I am running out of patience..
June 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 am
Is it possible to destroy your laptop by running this test?
I checked my EEE with it.
While still running the screen suddenly went black after 1 hour or so and
I couldn’t start the EEE again even using another memory stick.
No lamps, nothing. It seems to be broken now.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:10 am
it is a harddisk promblem or bad sector promblem in hard disk. Pls
format yr hardisk by using an third party bootable softwares, it will take around 8hours completing the format.
now u can instal ur windows xp.
thanx
reply by using this function
June 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I was working on my Gateway laptop and I grabbed to change its place and suddenly i noticed a perfectly tiny green line running from top to bottom on my screen. This line remains in all apps I go.
Please help me to get rid of this line
Thanks
June 25th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Everardo,
Sounds like a problem with the LCD screen. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do besides replacing the LCD screen. You can try torquing the screen a little bit. Grab top right and left corners with your fingers and move them very carefully into opposite directions back and force. Be very careful, do not torque the screen to much or you can break it. Sometimes it helps to get rid of a thin vertical line temporarily.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Hi,
My 7 yr old son “accidently” elbowed the keyboard on my Toshiba
Tecra A3 while I was using it. (Quite hard)
Since then the laptop is extremly slow and I get error message
“windows is unable to save all data for the file …. The data has been lost. May be caused by hardware failure” also “delayed write failed” Does this sound like a hard disk problem?
How can I check/
Thankyou for any help. Tim
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
timw,
Yes, it does sound like a problem with the hard drive. Try reconnecting the hard drive first, maybe it’s not making good contact with the connector.
Listen for the sounds coming from the hard drive. Can you hear repetitive clicking noise? If yes, you’ll have to replace the hard drive.
July 24th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Thks, will check hard drive connection tonight
and listen for any unusual sounds
Tim
July 24th, 2009 at 3:38 am
alas -checked the hard drive connection, now on reboot just get a
‘windows didn’t start successfully because of recent software or h/ware changes.
Choosing last known good configuration (and also safe mode) after a couple of seconds of the Windows screen causes a blue screen with ‘ a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down.’
message.
Any ideas gratfully accepted.
Tim
August 7th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Hi, I have been trying to downloadf ‘Download – Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)’ as have 4 of my friends. None of us can get this unzipped and working. It looks like a great tool for me. Any idea why we can’t get this working? Is there naywhere else we can download it from?
Cheers,
August 8th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Sandy,
Yes it is a great tool but apparently you are doing something wrong.
1. You download the ISO file.
2. You burn the ISO file on a CD.
3. You boot your computer from that CD and the test starts automatically.
Take a look at this Memtest CD creating guide.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:59 am
On my Toshiba Qosmio laptop, I now have two lines running from top to bottom. The first one is about an inch from left side and about a month later, the second line appeared about five inches from the right side. What causes this and how do I repair it? Thanks.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:08 am
george,
Sounds like LCD screen failure.
Probably bad solder joints somewhere on the LCD screen controller board.
You’ll have to replace the screen or use the laptop as is.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
george,
Sounds like a problem with the LCD screen. You cannot fix it. You’ll have to replace the screen or use it as is. Take a look at http://www.Irisvista.com for Toshiba laptop guides.
September 9th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
i havetoshiba m9, some times fan spin sometimes not, no display,
not boot, what could be problem?
November 12th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
tried it and found out my laptop’s memory is bad. thanks a lot!