Toshiba Satellite will not boot anymore

[odonoghue30]

Thanks in advance for your help.

I am kind of screwed over here.. I have now burned through 2 laptops last week.. both were Toshiba Satellites Model:C655-S5132. I was running iTunes, Google Chrome, üTorrent, and Google Music Manager on both when they died. What happened was they both froze up when I was listening to music in iTunes and I held the power button down to shut them off.. now they won't boot. I am only really concerned in getting one of them to work for right now due to the fact that I don't have a computer other than these two.

So...
The computer I am trying to fix will boot up past the Toshiba Screen and then will go to a black screen with a white flashing underscore in the top left corner and will not boot any further. I am able to use a windows 7 install disk to try and fresh install it, but I get an error message when it tries to move files. I was somehow able to access the explorer and view all my files through the install disk so my hard drive isn't crashed at least. I cannot boot in safe mode, I cannot boot to last good configuration, no system restore files work, I don't have a saved system image, and I cannot get into Toshiba recovery console.. what the hell do I do now? I just want this thing to start up.

Please someone help me out.. I will gladly provide you with any more info that I have if you need it. Was running windows 7 home premium 64 bit before it crashed.

Thank you for your time.
Nick

(edit: cannot get to command prompt or do a chkdsk either)

 

[gregrocker]

Have you tried running Toshiba HDD Recovery Utility from boot? However this is an inferior install with all of the bloatware and duplicate utilties which throttle Win7. If you succeed with this option I'd definitely Clean Up Factory Bloatware .

To proceed with the superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 use the latest official installer ISO burned using the tool in Step 1/2.

Back up your files, unplug all other HD's and peripherals,

Boot into BIOS setup to enable Legacy BIOS if present. Next check BIOS Boot order for an EFI Boot Disk: remove it, set DVD drive first to boot, HD second. Then set SATA controller to AHCI. Save changes and Exit.

Then boot into installer DVD or flash stick burned or written using tool and latest ISO for your licensed here.

At first installer screen Press Shift + F10 to open a Command Box, type:

DISKPART
LIST DISK
SEL DIS 0 (after confirming Windows 7 target HD #)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY SIZE=102400 (for 100gb partition, adjust as desired)
FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="WINDOWS 7"
ACTIVE
EXIT
EXIT

Next click Install Now to Clean Install Windows 7 to the partition you created. If it fails then report back at which step and the verbatim error message.

In addition read over these steps to understand the tools and methods which work best to get and maintain a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. The steps are the same for retail.

 

[odonoghue30]

I appreciate the quick reply. I need to get access to a computer before I try any of this (as to backing up my files), but as soon as I can I will let you know how it went. Thanks for your suggestions

 

[gregrocker]

In case you weren't fully committed yet to reinstall/recovery here are the steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.