Solved New Toshiba laptop startup- is this normal?

[lshaw]

Brand new Satellite L650-OCW. Turn on, and it goes straight to Recovery Wizard. Windows 7 is pre-installed, and I don't want it erased. Should I proceed? Is this a normal setup process? how do I know if it is 32 or 64 bit? Supporting documents are not helpful. Have queried Toshiba but no response yet. Easter weekend I guess.
I've managed my own Macs for over 20 years, but this machine is different. Not intuitive so far.

 

[Bill2]

Never heard of such a thing on a new machine. My guess is the recovery partition is set to active. You need to boot from a system repair disk or a partition wizard disk and check and then set the system reserved partition active if it isnt. Download the repair disks:

Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs — The NeoSmart Files

You'll have to try both the 32 bit and 64 bit disks one by one unless you can dig out the computer's specs. Better to create a partition wizard bootable cd, then check in disk management whether system reserved partition is active or not. If it isnt, you'll need to mark it active then reboot.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93322-partition-wizard-use-bootable-cd.html

 

[gregrocker]

You have one year's full Warranty with tech support. I would get troubleshooting on the phone to resolve the issue or RMA the machine.

If you haven't set it up yet, then there is no need to attempt to repair Win7. If you have, then you can boot into System Recovery Options to run Startup Repair to see if it will sort the problem.

Read the Manual on the model's Support Downloads webpage to see how to run full Factory Recovery as another option, but I would want my Recovery Disks made first as a backup to running the partition (most stable way). I would also want tech support supervising so they can provide rescue media or RMA on the spot if necessary.

You can also take it back to the store to get another at this early date. Do not accept a restocking fee for a defective purchase.

 

[lshaw]

Staples offers full money back within 14 days of purchase. Will run it down with Toshiba (head office is in my home town) and see what they say. Not keeping a defective machine. Thanks for the replies! L

 

[theog]

If you recieved x64 Toshiba Recovery disks with your notebook, x86 will be Pre-installed.
If you recieved x86 Toshiba Recovery disks with your notebook, x64 will be Pre-installed.

 

[lshaw]

Finally heard back from Toshiba. Is perfectly normal for system on first startup to go straight to Recovery Wizard. Just select language of choice (English or French) and let it do its thing. Worked perfectly. So far so good.

This laptop (and PCs in general apparently) does not come with recovery disks. Only Macs do now. You have to create your own, but it doesn't look difficult. I love the Mac, but $$$. I'd probably drop it.

Thanks so much. I haven't dealt with Windows since Win98, so will probably be back.

Linda