media player opens as default for IE

That's the first time I've heard that one.... let me check.....

Have you tried creating the recovery disks yet? (which you should have done when you first got the machine)
OK - downloaded the manual, and it says this....
1. Turn off your computer.
2. Hold down the 0 (zero) key on the keyboard and turn on your computer.
3. When “TOSHIBA Leading Innovation >>>” appears, release the 0
(zero) key on the keyboard. A menu appears.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Are you saying that you don't get the “TOSHIBA Leading Innovation >>>” ??
If so, then your MBR has been re-written, and broken the recovery capability - there is unlikely to be anything that we can do about it here.

Try creating and running the REG file as I described above - see if it works.

All well that ends well :)
is your basic problem gone ?

Great! - thanks for the resolution ( and I agree, they might at least tell you to use the 'alpha' keys rather than the 'numeirc' keys... I don't think I'd have guessed!)


Good luck!