In message , HB writes:
[]
Rescue disks don't work. They didn't work for the other two that had this
black screen w/blinker and they'er not working now. For some reason the
Toshiba is unable to read them. Macrium will not download. I get the
installer OK, but then get an unable to download error.

Paul, any ideas?
[]
Nothing said it would boot from a DVD if no keys were pressed. ***** The
Toshiba saw the rescue CD,said "press any key to bootfrom CD or DVD."*****

If you're then pressing a key, I don't know what the problem is.
[]
4. Best case: just some of the files have been corrupted (ones that
Windows needs to be able to boot); if that's the case, we just need to
repair those files.

If we can get past the "disk read error occured" error.

Which suggests it might be worse than the best case.

1 and 2, you'd probably do on the Toshiba itself; 3 and 4 we might help
you to do on the Toshiba having booted from some sort of CD/DVD (Linux,
Windows repair disc, Macrium boot disc, ...), or we might help you to do
by taking the drive out and connecting it to something else.

That was discussed here already. The "dock" thing. I need that thing I can
plug the 2 ribbon cables into and then plug that into the USB port on this
PC.

With the dock I've shown you, you plug the drive into one of the two
slots on top of the dock; there are connectors in the bottom of the slot
which mate with the connectors on the end of the drive. You then connect
a USB lead (which comes with the dock) from the back panel of the dock
to a USB port on a (working) PC.

You get the information that all parts of the laptop except the drive are
OK; we have yet to determine whether the drive is faulty or just corrupted
(see next post). If the drive is just corrupted, then Linux may well be of
use in fixing that (though not with me giving the help).

With no help it's of no use to me. I never heard of one OS showing the
system info of another OS and fixing it, though it may be possible.

I believe it is, though I don't know enough about Linux to know the
details. Linux won't have the necessary files to repair a Windows
installation if actual Windows files are corrupted, but it can:
o interrogate the hardware of the drive to some extent
o repair things like the partition table and boot sector

The first is what we've been trying to do with fatdog's terminal and
that command that begins with s. If you enter that command, _exactly_ as
Paul specified it - so that you _don't_ get either "command not
recognised" or "wrong number of parameters" - you should get something
that, when you show it to us via a screenshot, will tell us _something_
more about the hard drive than we know now. Similarly with the fdisk
command and its subsidiaries, as detailed by I think Java Jive.
[]
I've just looked at mine, and there's no maker's name on it anywhere - it
just says "ALL IN 1 HDD Docking" on the front of it.

that. The back slot is for SATA drives. I think this is the image:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DvYAA...eW/s-l1600.jpg

The bottom image is the one I think would work. I assume need a cable to go
from it to the healthy PC.

A cable that goes from the back of the dock to the healthy PC should
come with the dock. Check the details of the listing (or in the box if
you actually find somewhere that stocks them) to be sure you get: the
dock; a power supply; and the USB lead.
[]
https://www.ebay.com/itm/151504204416 Seems to be a US seller (I'm
assuming you're in the US).

I am.

Here's the "cable", which is cheaper:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/172256326228 - the search phrase is "USB to
SATA", and you should find even cheaper, though make sure it's one with a
power supply. You will see the connectors you want, on the ends of the
power supply (four wires) and SATA (red) cables.

The ends on the red one don't look like they are for USB ports.

No. The third image on that listing gives a clearer view. The red (SATA
data) lead goes from the smaller connector on the drive, to the top of
the big black plug with the coiled clear lead attached to it. The power
supply feeds, via the four wire (black yellow black red) adapter lead,
into the larger (SATA power) connector on the drive. The other end of
the coiled clear lead is the USB plug that goes into your working PC.
(The big black plug actually has three connectors on it: the long ones
on the sides are for use with desktop and portable IDE drives - the SATA
one is on its top, near the end furthest from the USB cable.)

Here's the housing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112652273779 - you can't see
the connectors, but be assured they're on the back of the circuit board
you can see in the second picture. Search for "external housing" or
similar.

What is the housing for? The HD from the Toshiba is inclosed with 2 ribbon
cables.

You take it out of the Toshiba, and put it into the housing (the ends of
the housing come off); there are two connectors on the back of the PCB
you can see at one end of the housing in the second picture which mate
with the two connectors on the drive. What you end up with looks very
like your Seagate drive, and is used in much the same way - you connect
its USB lead to a working PC (using two USB sockets at the PC end).
[]
If you had to buy an unused Windows 7 disc/licence [assuming you could
find one!], it probably _would_ not be economic compared to the cost of a
new PC. If we can find you one which you do not have to pay for - which I
think you're entitled to, having (or your aunt having) bought it with the
PC, and it's the same PC you're trying to fix - then I would say it _is_
worth it, even if you had to buy a new HD. It would _certainly_ be worth
making a Linux PC out of it, since Linux is mostly free, but like you _I_
would not really want that.

No, I don't care for it. And as far as I know her games wont play on it.

Probably not. There is something called WINE, which is a program that
runs under Linux, which makes it imitate Windows, and can run some
Windows software, but I suspect many games would not.

BTW I'm forwarding this info to myself so I have it.

At this point I'm mentally exhausted trying to figure out what's wrong with
the Toshiba. I just can't absorb any more. I wish I knew someone who enjoyed

I think we've established with a fair degree of certainty that it is
only its HD which has any problem - the rest of it is fine. What we
still have to establish is whether the HD's electronics and/or mechanics
are at fault, or whether there is just some file/folder/partition
corruption: Paul's s... command and JJ's fdisk one, run from fatdog
Linux's Terminal window, might get us closer to knowing that. (As would
accessing the drive from your working PC using a dock, "cable", or
housing, but the Linux way is easier at the moment since you don't have
a dock, "cable", or housing.)

spending hours online reading the most boring dry computer information and

Sorry if we're boring!

working on computers. I'm not that person. I would happily give them the
Toshiba to work on and keep. I had no idea what was involved in solving the
black-screen-of-death.

BTW, the new Notebook with W-10, 8 GBs RAM and a 1 TB HD was under $400 tax
included at our local WalMart store.

A new HD should be $70 or less, probably much less, especially if you go
for one of lower capacity than 1 TB. But only if you actually need one,
which we haven't established yet.

If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting. Jeff
Bezos
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/interestingIf you can't
tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting. Jeff Bezos
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--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer
(1842-1914)