Toshiba Satellite Laptop

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by solo_voyager, Jan 25, 2021.

  1. solo_voyager

    solo_voyager MDL Junior Member

    Aug 5, 2009
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    My galfriend has a Toshiba Satellite C55-A5105 laptop.
    It's an older one that had Win 8.1 x64 for an OS.

    It gave her problems a few years ago.
    I took a look at it, and decided that it was dying, soon to be inaccessible.
    I pulled the HDD out of it, and apparently wiped it, as it now seems to be blank.
    I just pulled it out of storage (A bottom shelf in the closet) getting ready to throw it out.
    Turned it on just out of curiosity.
    It seems that it wants to start, just has a blank HDD with no OS.

    I'm not going to pay $40 for a recovery disk from Toshiba for a laptop that'll probably go T.U. again in a very short time.

    Can I simply install Win 8.1 x64 on it and have an accessible OS to check it out with and maybe play with it until it dies again?

    The way it started up makes me think that wont work.
    It may require a recovery disk to operate again.
     
  2. chillgates

    chillgates MDL Senior Member

    Dec 15, 2010
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    you can install 8 or 10 on it without problem. there is no need for recovery disc from toshiba. just make bootable win10 on usb drive using rufus tool from another system , put usb on toshiba laptop, bring boot menu while laptop is booting and select usb and install it freshly. after installation completes, run "HDD sentinel" app to know how many days left for this hdd to die.
     
  3. solo_voyager

    solo_voyager MDL Junior Member

    Aug 5, 2009
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    Thank you,
    I'll give it a try in a day or two, then tear into it and see how bad it is.
     
  4. WindowsGeek

    WindowsGeek MDL Expert

    Jun 30, 2015
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    #4 WindowsGeek, Jan 25, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2021
    Well if is just a bad HD and not a mobo issue u can get a cheap 120GB ssd on ebay for around 16 -19 dollars install win10 and bring back to life.
     
  5. solo_voyager

    solo_voyager MDL Junior Member

    Aug 5, 2009
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    #5 solo_voyager, Jan 25, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2021
    (OP)
    Life gets interesting.
    It looks like it is a dying or bad HDD.
    I pulled the HDD again and mounted it in a dock connected to my PC.
    It screwed around for a while, then showed up on "This PC" as a drive.
    Everything seems to be there.

    All the regular drives have a green circle with a check mark in them signifying a good drive.
    This one has a red circle with an X in it, assuming that is saying it is a faulty drive.
    I ran the drive checking utility in my OS.
    It stops and says the drive needs fixing.

    I'm reluctant to just dive into that drive while it's connected to my PC.
    I tried to copy the drive's contents to a folder with a copying/verifying app (Tera Copy).
    The app seized up, had to do a hard restart to clear it out..

    I can see some Toshiba and Recovery folders on what has been copied so far.
    I'm wondering, if I have what's needed from that HDD, can I make a usable recovery disk?

    The original is a 500GB drive.
    I have an extra 320GB drive that seems to be good.
    It should be big enough to use as a replacement.

    If I have the needed parts copied to my PC, can I make a Recovery disk from my PC that will be usable to make a recovery install on the replacement HDD?
    I have an ASUS Prime Z390-A board, an i7-8700k CPU with a Win10 LTSB OS.
    I certainly don't want to do it any damage while attempting to fix this laptop.

    EDIT:
    I'm also thinking of attempting to do a direct transfer from the old HDD to the replacement drive, again on my PC using dock stations.
    EDIT again:
    Or, try making a clone with an imaging b/u utility?

    Thoughts, ... suggestions ...?
     
  6. chillgates

    chillgates MDL Senior Member

    Dec 15, 2010
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    Run "scandisk" on the drive with the option " check for bad sectors". Then it may take hours to scan and fix bad sectors so you can copy the required files in to other drive without a problem. Later do whatever you want.
     
  7. solo_voyager

    solo_voyager MDL Junior Member

    Aug 5, 2009
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    #7 solo_voyager, Jan 26, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2021
    (OP)
    I think I'll have to do a clean install of Windows on the replacement HDD.
    I ran chkdsk several times.
    It quit early and unfinished each time, saying everything was OK.

    I have 6 drives on my PC.
    An M.2 SSD for my OS.
    An SSD for app installs to the OS.
    And, four 2TB to 4TB drives for general storage, all with only 1 partition.
    I finally went to Enterprise Server drives for those.
    They're slower but hold up much longer.
    I keep a lot of DATA.
    Plus, got 4 - 1TB archive drives in plastic cases.

    I have also seen a lot of HDD failures over the years.
    I do keep a lot of disk applications for my situation.
    I just don't think about applying it for others.
    I normally use them as preventatives, not fixes.

    I ran the disk on HDD Sentinel.
    Got my first real explanation of the problem.

    Health is 0.
    It's lit up in red saying: failure is predicted.
    5 relocated sectors.
    Indicates problem with surface or read/write heads.
    13676 bad sectors on disk surface.
    Contents moved to spare area.
    May form continuous areas.

    It does at least 3 of them.
    I saw them when Tera Copy froze.

    Disk clone operation in Acronis freezes at 61%.
    Disk cloning freezes in AOMEI also.

    I now suspect that she dropped it a good distance, screwing up the disk surface and heads, maybe while it was running.
    I was thinking about doing a new clean install on my PC.
    I'll need to do hers first.
     
  8. solo_voyager

    solo_voyager MDL Junior Member

    Aug 5, 2009
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    It had been so long since I put this away that I forgot a very important reason why I has given up on it.
    The keyboard doesn't work.
    I can add a keyboard and mouse to it.
    They will work.
    Can sometimes get a start page to come up, but it's an inquiry for a password.
    Can't enter one even with the add on keyboard.

    I could try installing a new OS to see if I can get passed the password inquiry.
    The inoperable keyboard makes it seem to be not worth it, as I had decided before when I threw it into the bottom of the closet.
    Think I'll do a clean install on mine instead.