Question Toshiba laptop saying this and not starting operating system

Sep 16, 2022
14
0
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Toshiba model satellite A45-S121
Upon pressing the starting button it says this
IDE. #0.
ERROR

PXE-E61: MEDIA TEST FAILURE. CHRCK cable
PXE-MOF: EXITING Intel boot agent
Insert system disk in drive
Press any key when ready

——
now the thing is I have misplaced the system disk that came with this laptop.
it is really an old laptop that today I am using after many years.

thanks so much for help
 
Toshiba model satellite A45-S121
Upon pressing the starting button it says this
IDE. #0.
ERROR

PXE-E61: MEDIA TEST FAILURE. CHRCK cable
PXE-MOF: EXITING Intel boot agent
Insert system disk in drive
Press any key when ready

——
now the thing is I have misplaced the system disk that came with this laptop.
it is really an old laptop that today I am using after many years.

thanks so much for help
either your boot settings are misconfigured or drive doesnt work
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000706.htm
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
Toshiba had divested its computer business and Dynabooks us taken it over. The toll free number has no live help and just gives out web addresses which Tell to contact technical support online but there is no technical support online either.. after contacting them online this is all I got . An example is here.
The customers are being deceived and duped by this Dynabooks which hactajeb over Toshiba computer business. No technician came after several times trying to get one there are no phone numbers with live help. This is a fraud case n customers
After putting in my serial number for Toshiba laptop it tells me it does not recognize it.
Customers should sue this company
10:40 AM Connecting...
10:40 AM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
10:46 AM Technician Console has ended the session.
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
He's probably confusing "system disk" with "recovery disk."
The laptop comes with a hard drive it is old laptop with windows XP.
I was able to get into bios and it says no hdd!
What is a system disk? Is it hard drive?
No way to contact Toshiba like I said I previous post. The warranty expired king time ago. I cannot get past bios without the computer saying all I wrote in first post.
What to do now?
 

MrLitschel

Commendable
Nov 7, 2021
241
48
1,640
The laptop comes with a hard drive it is old laptop with windows XP.
I was able to get into bios and it says no hdd!
What is a system disk? Is it hard drive?
No way to contact Toshiba like I said I previous post. The warranty expired king time ago. I cannot get past bios without the computer saying all I wrote in first post.
What to do now?

The system disk is the Hard Drive. It has the operating "system" on it. Without a hard drive, it can't boot. If you have removed the hard drive, you will have to reinstall it. If the hard drive has died, the bios may also indicate that there isn't a hard drive.
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
The system disk is the Hard Drive. It has the operating "system" on it. Without a hard drive, it can't boot. If you have removed the hard drive, you will have to reinstall it. If the hard drive has died, the bios may also indicate that there isn't a hard drive.
Bios says no hdd?
But how can this be? I only used this laptop few times after I bought in years ago rhen I just put it in a laptop carry bag and used another Toshiba laptop for years. Only few days ago I opened after more than a decade.
Why is it saying no hdd in bios? How can hard drive die after using the laptop just a couple of times??? This is not making sense.
And how can I be sure the hdd is dead for sure?
I have the documentation that I am the original owner. I tried to contact Toshiba but it has sold its business to Dynabooks which has a useless toll free number which no one answers.
Where can I buy another hard drive that goes into this laptop?
How can I be sure it is correct hard drive for this laptop?
Will the new hard drive come with windows Xp akready installed?
The laptop says it is for windows xo
Can I install other windows operating system on this laptop?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
If it came with Windows XP originally, it is ~20 years old.
(XP was released in August 2001)

It sounds like it is a dead drive.
Or possibly, disconnected somehow.

If it is just disconnected, then maybe this is workable/fixable.
Someone will need to open it up and look around inside.
This is unlikely, though.

If it is an actually dead drive....this is mostly a lost cause.
Any money put into this laptop is a waste.
 

MrLitschel

Commendable
Nov 7, 2021
241
48
1,640
Bios says no hdd?
But how can this be? I only used this laptop few times after I bought in years ago rhen I just put it in a laptop carry bag and used another Toshiba laptop for years. Only few days ago I opened after more than a decade.
Why is it saying no hdd in bios? How can hard drive die after using the laptop just a couple of times??? This is not making sense.
And how can I be sure the hdd is dead for sure?
I have the documentation that I am the original owner. I tried to contact Toshiba but it has sold its business to Dynabooks which has a useless toll free number which no one answers.
Where can I buy another hard drive that goes into this laptop?
How can I be sure it is correct hard drive for this laptop?
Will the new hard drive come with windows Xp akready installed?
The laptop says it is for windows xo
Can I install other windows operating system on this laptop?

Some hard drives can deteriorate after time when not in use. As a former technician, this happened occasionally on our laptops that sat in storage for 3-4 years.
It also could be possible that the cable to the drive has may have some corrosion from any humidity in the air.

Either way, you need to physically look at the hard drive.

How to Remove Replace and Install Your Toshiba Satellite A45-S121 Laptop Hard Drive
  1. On the bottom of your Toshiba A45-S121 laptop, find the hard drive door to access the hard drive.
  2. Remove the Screws.
  3. In this step, you will either need to pry out your Toshiba A45-S121 hard drive caddy, or simply remove the door.
  4. Once the Toshiba A45-S121 hard drive is removed the laptop, you need to remove the hard drive caddy. There are usually four screws to remove from the caddy.
  5. Inspect the drive and cable.
  6. Reassemble and test if it finds the drive and boots.

If you purchase a new hard drive, you will need to install XP on it (they don't come with preinstalled with any OS).

Windows XP is no longer available from Microsoft. You will need to find your Recovery Disk that came with the laptop or the Recover CD that should of been created when you first logged into the laptop. If you don't have either of these, you can always install Windows 10 but it will be painfully slow or choose an alternate system like Linux.
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
If it came with Windows XP originally, it is ~20 years old.
(XP was released in August 2001)

It sounds like it is a dead drive.
Or possibly, disconnected somehow.

If it is just disconnected, then maybe this is workable/fixable.
Someone will need to open it up and look around inside.
This is unlikely, though.

If it is an actually dead drive....this is mostly a lost cause.
Any money put into this laptop is a waste.
I bought in middle of 2004
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
Some hard drives can deteriorate after time when not in use. As a former technician, this happened occasionally on our laptops that sat in storage for 3-4 years.
It also could be possible that the cable to the drive has may have some corrosion from any humidity in the air.

Either way, you need to physically look at the hard drive.

How to Remove Replace and Install Your Toshiba Satellite A45-S121 Laptop Hard Drive
  1. On the bottom of your Toshiba A45-S121 laptop, find the hard drive door to access the hard drive.
  2. Remove the Screws.
  3. In this step, you will either need to pry out your Toshiba A45-S121 hard drive caddy, or simply remove the door.
  4. Once the Toshiba A45-S121 hard drive is removed the laptop, you need to remove the hard drive caddy. There are usually four screws to remove from the caddy.
  5. Inspect the drive and cable.
  6. Reassemble and test if it finds the drive and boots.
If you purchase a new hard drive, you will need to install XP on it (they don't come with preinstalled with any OS).

Windows XP is no longer available from Microsoft. You will need to find your Recovery Disk that came with the laptop or the Recover CD that should of been created when you first logged into the laptop. If you don't have either of these, you can always install Windows 10 but it will be painfully slow or choose an alternate system like Linux.

Can you tell me what hard drive will fit in this particular laptop please?from which reliable place can I buy the hard drive?
what is solid state drive?
this laptop does not have this.
will solid state drive work on this laptop?
If so which one will be compatible?
how do you install the solid state drive and where?
So the recovery disk will help me install windows operating system on this laptop the operating system windows Xp that this laptop came installed with?
I simply put the recovery disk in the cd drive and follow instructions that show up after this?
thanks so much
 

MrLitschel

Commendable
Nov 7, 2021
241
48
1,640
Can you tell me what hard drive will fit in this particular laptop please?from which reliable place can I buy the hard drive?
what is solid state drive?
this laptop does not have this.
will solid state drive work on this laptop?
If so which one will be compatible?
how do you install the solid state drive and where?
So the recovery disk will help me install windows operating system on this laptop the operating system windows Xp that this laptop came installed with?
I simply put the recovery disk in the cd drive and follow instructions that show up after this?
thanks so much

That particular laptop is extremely old and doesn't support solid state drives (SSD).

The largest hard drive guaranteed to work is a 320GB 5400RPM Ultra ATA/100 8MB Cache 2.5 Inch Hard Drive but the price is more than what the laptop is worth.

https://drivesolutions.com/upgrade/model/view/id/174191/

You are correct, that after replacing the drive, running the recovery CD should restore it to the original factory setting.

As other have stated, it would be better to put any money into a newer laptop . A cheap laptop from Best Buy currently can be had for $250 (complete with windows 11)
 
Can you tell me what hard drive will fit in this particular laptop please?from which reliable place can I buy the hard drive?
what is solid state drive?
this laptop does not have this.
will solid state drive work on this laptop?
If so which one will be compatible?
how do you install the solid state drive and where?
So the recovery disk will help me install windows operating system on this laptop the operating system windows Xp that this laptop came installed with?
I simply put the recovery disk in the cd drive and follow instructions that show up after this?
thanks so much
The laptop takes the old type of drives, you will have to find a 3.5" ide drive to put in it.
Solid state is a drive that has no moving parts, older drives have platers like old turn tables for music, solid state is basically like ram only that it doesn't lose the files when you turn off the system.
Any 3.5" ide drive will work ssd or normal doesn't matter.
 
That particular laptop is extremely old and doesn't support solid state drives (SSD).

The largest hard drive guaranteed to work is a 320GB 5400RPM Ultra ATA/100 8MB Cache 2.5 Inch Hard Drive but the price is more than what the laptop is worth.
The system has no way of even knowing what the drive is, it just looks like a drive to it and since its ide you won't be able to find an ide ssd large enough to be a problem for any ide system.

It's not really worth it and xp will treat the ssd badly, no trimm and so on, but on the other hand you still get a speed boost and don't have to worry about bumps that much anymore.
 
Sep 16, 2022
14
0
10
The laptop takes the old type of drives, you will have to find a 3.5" ide drive to put in it.
Solid state is a drive that has no moving parts, older drives have platers like old turn tables for music, solid state is basically like ram only that it doesn't lose the files when you turn off the system.
Any 3.5" ide drive will work ssd or normal doesn't matter.
How are hard drives measured? How can U know the hard drive I have is what size? Do I measure the length or the width of the hard drive?
I am not looking for really high capacity hard drive the current capacity will do . I just need computer for basic tasks like internet surfing Microsoft word excel etc nothing g much..
Is there a way to post here photo of the hdd I have in this laptop?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
The laptop takes the old type of drives, you will have to find a 3.5" ide drive to put in it.
Solid state is a drive that has no moving parts, older drives have platers like old turn tables for music, solid state is basically like ram only that it doesn't lose the files when you turn off the system.
Any 3.5" ide drive will work ssd or normal doesn't matter.
3.5" ?

Pretty sure that should be 2.5" IDE.


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https://www.manualslib.com/manual/329134/Toshiba-Satellite-A45-S121.html
Mass Storage/Optical Drive

Primary Hard Disk Drive: 40GB* hard disk drive, Enhanced IDE (ATA-5) interface, 4200rpm drive rotation; 9.5mm height, 0.2lbs,
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