Toshiba W-7 went dark

On 24/03/2018 15:39, Mike Easter wrote:
Patrick wrote:
I've since had another look at what I thought was a 2010 date and now
realise that I was mistaken, it was a 2018 date.

I don't know what you were looking at, but the Satellite C655D with Win7
was released about 2011, so its little battery is pretty old.


It was a full date (Thu, 22, 201*), so couldn't have been 2010

I managed to get a black screen on a W7-Home-Premium installation that
I've made for this thread, I suddenly guessed the problem to be the WiFi
dongle that was plugged in (no Driver), so whipped out the WiFi Dongle
and OK.

On Fri, 23 Mar 2018 23:11:01 -0400, "HB" wrote:


"Monty" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 22 Mar 2018 15:41:24 -0400, "HB" wrote:
The Macrium downloader gets an error and it doesn't download. Do you have
an URL for a working downloader for Macrium?


The following is a 2-stage download. First, get the downloader from
Macrium. This file is called "ReflectDLHF.exe" and is 3,758,120 bytes.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

A little way down the page is the option to

Download Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition. Click "Home Use".

You will be offered "ReflectDLHF.exe", which is a Binary File.
Click "Save File". You can accept to save it in the "Downloads"
folder.

It's sitting on my Desktop where I save everything to so I can find them
easily. But if I click on it it opens a DOS like text on a black background
and wants to install on THIS PC which runs perfectly. Is that what's
supposed to happen? I aborted it not seeing anything like that before.

What I suggested to you was to install a program on a working PC. The
ultimate aim is to make an emergency CD which we will use to test a
broken PC. To make such a CD using the free version of Macrium is a
two stage download process.

The first step is to download a downloader program from Macrium. The
name of this program is "ReflectDLHF.exe" and it has a file size of
3,758,120 bytes.

Can you please tell me the name and the size of the program that you
downloaded?

When you provide this information, we can decide on the next step.


Thank you,

In message , HB writes:

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , HB writes:

Although it's not a foolproof check, has the date and time remained
reasonably correct whenever you power the beast?

This was talking about the little battery inside, that (in the absence
of both external power _and_ the _main_ battery) maintains the settings
and keeps the clock/calendar going.


Yes but the weird thing was that Tosh would say, "Plugged in but not
charging" when it was! That lasted a week or more. It finally said the

Now you/we're talking about the main battery.

battery was at nothing. But whoever used it always plugged it in so there

It _might_ just have needed recalibrating: the software that tells you
how much charge there is in the battery can get out of step with reality
(though I've not encountered it going in the _wrong_ direction); it can
probably be recalibrated. But that's something to be done once we've got
the new Windows installed (it may even happen automatically within the
first few days after the installation).

were no problems. But that wasn't true. It was charging and in Fatdog it
shows it charging.

Do you realise what you did there? You admitted you've used part of
fatdog that none of us had told you about, the bit that shows whether
the (main) battery is charging or not! You see, you're not as clueless
as you think you are (-:! We'll make a Linux user out of you yet ...
(note: I've *never* used Linux! Anything I've said in this thread is
what I've picked up from the others here. Well, I've used Linux's
predecessor, UNIX, but thirtysomething years ago, when it was _all_
command line. And I have [some] "feel" for operating systems in
general.)

Plus my son was trying to get it to boot using the rescue
disks and checking out Linux on the battery alone for over an hour. he
wanted to see if it was charging or not. She it's charging.

Good - one less thing to worry about. (The main battery almost certainly
_has_ lost some capacity - they all do - but if you always use it on
external power, it really only needs enough capacity to let you shut
down properly in the event of a power cut, or cart it from room to room
without shutting down.)

I don't _think_ that's the problem, anyway - booting from CD as you have
been doing should normally work regardless of the state of the cell, and
the tests you've been able to do from fatdog do indicate a very poorly
(though possibly capable of being cloned) hard drive.

How can it be cloned? Is that another complicated need-to-read-50-websites
to try and understand? :^)

No. It is possible that one of the many utilities that are being
discussed here might be able to read from it, even if it's unwell: some
of them will try repeatedly to read a bad sector, and might succeed. (I
think "ddrescue" is one that can do that.)

If you're going to install a complete new Windows 7, onto a new HD (or
SSD), then attempts to retrieve from the old one are unnecessary. The
only real reasons to attempt to retrieve from the old drive a

1. _if_ we could retrieve completely from it (even if we had to use
repetitive read utilities to read some sectors), we could build the
partitions on the new drive such that it would just plug in and boot,
without you having to find a W7 to copy onto it; and

2. You'd save the Toshiba recovery partition and method.

1. is not important if we can get you a download of Windows 7 from
somewhere, that will install and authenticate with your existing
Microsoft key. Some of us here think we can. I think most of us don't
think we'd be able to retrieve reliably from the old HD anyway.

2. isn't really important, since once we've got the new system up and
running, we're going to STRONGLY urge you to make images of the (newly)
working system anyway (e. g. with Macrium), AND make a (e. g. Macrium)
boot CD. If you have those (an image and a boot disc), you will always
be able to restore the working system (even onto another new HD/SSD if
necessary in the future), _without_ needing the Toshiba recovery method.
(Which, as you've discovered already, doesn't work anyway if the drive
is borked.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

That's how he [Dr. Who] seems to me. He's always been someone who gets the
/Guardian/. There are some parts of the universe where it's harder to get hold
of. - Peter Capaldi (current incumbent Doctor), RT 2016/11/26-12/2

In message , HB writes:

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , HB writes:

This is one of the things we're hoping to find you a way of downloading.

I checked the MS site and found
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...nload/windows7

I note that page is headed "Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files)".
Note the reference to "Disc Images (ISO Files)"!

Was that the page where you said putting in the key from the Microsoft
label on the Toshiba gave a "not valid" result?


disk I made from this PC wont boot the Toshiba. And it's also a W-7 64bit.

That's very odd, since you're successfully booting the fatdog Linux OK. I
still suspect you're not making them right. You can always try booting the
desktop from them.

There was nothing said when I made the DVD for the W-7 HP laptop about

When you say you "made the DVD", EXACTLY what steps did you go through -
and on what computer - to make it?

burning it to an OSI file.

(ISO, not OSI.) You burn _from_ an ISO file, not to it. If you were
obeying some instructions on screen that said something like "now put in
a blank DVD and click Continue", then it would have created the DVD as
it should be created. If you ended up with a file, and then burned it to
a DVD yourself using Ashampoo or ImgBurn, then there's the _possibility_
you got it wrong.

If you put that disc into your drive and look at it with the normal
Windows Explorer, what do you see on it - lots of files and folders, or
just one huge file?


The thumbdrive of the rescue disk for the W-7 HP gamer machine didn't
mention it either. That one wont boot the Tosh - neither will.

I think this is the first time you've mentioned a thumbdrive of a rescue
disc.

I don't understand these OSI burners. I tried using two I downloaded and

Do you mean two .iso files, or two burner softwares? (We've only
mentioned one burner software, ImgBurn.)

couldn't figure out how they worked. One kept mentioning blue-ray. I don't
have anything blueray. I couldn't find anything that said burn this as an
OSI file or convert this to an OSI file and "burn".....


--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"We're plumbing shallows we didn't know existed here" - Jeremy Paxman (as
quizmaster of "University Challenge"), 1998 (when losing team suddenly put on a
spurt by showing knowledge of things like the Eurovision Song Contest ...)

In message , HB writes:

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , HB writes:
[]

No way to do that now with the Toshiba. There was nothing of real
importance
on it. Anything important was backed up on a thumbdrive.

Not entirely true: if we can clone the drive, we'd have the operating
system that could be put on a new one without having to put you through
the trouble of finding and downloading, burning to a DVD in the correct
manner, and then reinstalling (and possibly reactivating) the OS - plus of
course you wouldn't have to reinstall your various softwares, including
your daughter's favourite game (-:.

How can it possibly be cloned when it wont boot?

Because when the PC tries to boot from it, it just tries to read the
disc, and, if it fails, errors. Some of the utilities we have access to
can repeatedly try to read a dud sector. From what I read here, ddrescue
can do that, making a clone as it goes. If it succeeded in doing that,
the clone (which would be on the new drive), when booted, would read
first time.

. As a result, the drives can appear to still be working
perfectly, but get slower and slower.

That about describes the Tosh.

That _can_ also be caused by assorted other things, unfortunately - bad
"housekeeping", for want of a better term. However, let's hope that the
hard drive failing _is_ the cause. A new drive with newly-installed
Windows will be fast due to the hardware (new drive), and will _also_ be
fast due to the newly-installed Windows not yet being silted up by bad
"housekeeping"; however, _that_ cause can happen again in time. But
let's hope that your way of using the computer does _not_ silt it up.

Yep, I already checked. That's OK. I have a feeling the HD is the
problem.

Have you decided whether you're going to get a 250, a 500, or a 1T?

If I take that route probably a 500. Plenty of room for the girl's games and
music etc. Hours on FB don't use up disk space.

Indeed not.

That does sound very much like hard disc failure. Especially if the
ticking sound was from the drive rather than the speakers.

It didn't sound like it was from the speakers. :^(


If from the drive itself, then either a (mechanically) bad patch of disc
surface repeatedly hitting the heads - _highly_ unlikely, as that would
probably have caused a lot more damage (and also would have been at 90
or 120 times a second, so more a buzz than a ticking), or the drive
electronics repeatedly moving the heads back and forth to try to find
and read a dud sector.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"We're plumbing shallows we didn't know existed here" - Jeremy Paxman (as
quizmaster of "University Challenge"), 1998 (when losing team suddenly put on a
spurt by showing knowledge of things like the Eurovision Song Contest ...)

"Paul" wrote in message
news
HB wrote:
On 2018-03-17 09:08, HB wrote:
OK, then how will I know if the HD is toast if it boots the PC anyway?

Booting from a CD or USB thumb drive bypasses the HD. Once Linux Puppy
is up and running, you should see all the drives it can access.

This is Fatdog, not Puppy. I see no drives listed on the desktop.


If you don't see a something that looks like a hard drive icon for C:,
there may be a way to click through the menus to find it an "mount" it
(= make it visible and usable by Puppy). Someone familiar with Puppy
should be able to walk you through that.

You must think I'm familiar with Linux. I'm not and it doesn't look like
anyone else here is either.

On a normal Linux setup (before fancy graphics):

sudo mounr -t ntfs /dev/sda2 /media/mount/my_C_drive ----- what's
this?

??? This gets typed in the Command Prompt? Fancy graphics? Not on this
version. Just a desktop similiar to the old Windows. BTW, sda1 and sda2
don't show on the desktop anymore. Instead there is an icon of a disk and it
says sr0.

would take the contents of partition sda2 and make it "appear"
in the file system as "/media/mount/my_C_drive". Now, I can see
and interact with my files, at that known location in the file
system namespace.

Where is the file system to be found in Linux?

You don't have
to know any command line stuff, because those icons were placed
there for your usage.

Both are gone. Replaced with a incon of a disk that says sr0. When clicked
on a window opens with icons with strange endings like .sh and .in ad .3
etc. Meaningless to a non tech.

When the OS shuts down, using the proper OS shutdown item (looks like
a power button icon), the partition is dis-mounted and made safe:

sudo umount /media/mount/my_C_drive --- What's this?

the OS completes shutdown procedures and the power goes off.

- snip - Technical terms I don't understand.
--

"You can fool all of the people some of the time,
and some of the people all of the time,
but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."
--Abraham Lincoln--

"Patrick" wrote in message
news
On 23/03/2018 06:30, HB wrote:
I have that one also. Which of the 6 choices handles ISO files?
The first one ("Write image file to disc".

OK, so an image file is an ISO. When I see the word image I think of
pictues, not some kind of computer code.

BTW, Have you heard of a free Program called "Rufus"? Said program would
allow you to Write an image file (ISO, IMG etc., file) to a blank
USB-thumbdrive.

I already downloaded several ISO burners. I have no blank thumbdrives. All
are full of saved "stuff." I would rather use the large amount of DVDs and
CDs we have.
--
"The hands that help are better far
than lips that pray."

-= Robert Green Ingersoll=-

HB wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message
news
HB wrote:
On 2018-03-17 09:08, HB wrote:
OK, then how will I know if the HD is toast if it boots the PC anyway?

Booting from a CD or USB thumb drive bypasses the HD. Once Linux Puppy
is up and running, you should see all the drives it can access.

This is Fatdog, not Puppy. I see no drives listed on the desktop.

If you don't see a something that looks like a hard drive icon for C:,
there may be a way to click through the menus to find it an "mount" it
(= make it visible and usable by Puppy). Someone familiar with Puppy
should be able to walk you through that.

You must think I'm familiar with Linux. I'm not and it doesn't look like
anyone else here is either.

On a normal Linux setup (before fancy graphics):

sudo mounr -t ntfs /dev/sda2 /media/mount/my_C_drive ----- what's
this?

??? This gets typed in the Command Prompt? Fancy graphics? Not on this
version. Just a desktop similiar to the old Windows. BTW, sda1 and sda2
don't show on the desktop anymore. Instead there is an icon of a disk and it
says sr0.

would take the contents of partition sda2 and make it "appear"
in the file system as "/media/mount/my_C_drive". Now, I can see
and interact with my files, at that known location in the file
system namespace.

Where is the file system to be found in Linux?

You don't have
to know any command line stuff, because those icons were placed
there for your usage.

Both are gone. Replaced with a incon of a disk that says sr0. When clicked
on a window opens with icons with strange endings like .sh and .in ad .3
etc. Meaningless to a non tech.

When the OS shuts down, using the proper OS shutdown item (looks like
a power button icon), the partition is dis-mounted and made safe:

sudo umount /media/mount/my_C_drive --- What's this?

the OS completes shutdown procedures and the power goes off.

- snip - Technical terms I don't understand.

You asked a question about "mount" and "unmount".

Both OSes have the same notions, but with different
ways of doing things.

At one time, we may have had to use more command line
stuff to do things.

Now there are icons to do the same thing.

Paul

"Patrick" wrote in message
news
On 23/03/2018 15:14, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Why would he want to do that - or would it allow his laptop to boot from
the thumbdrive in the same way it is doing from the CD he's made with
fatdog Linux on it?

Yes,

I have just installed W7-Home-Premium (What 'HB' has on his good PC and on
the his Toshiba), onto a spare HDD (having disconnected the working HDD.

Was it one of those "only once" copies made from a PC itself or do you have
or an original MS disk from the store?

I did said Installation using 'Rufus' which wrote W7 ISO to the
thumbdrive.

And this was an ISO made from a PC you already have? That once only copy MS
allows?

I then stuck the thumbdrive into PC, turned PC on, tapped the F12 key,
selected the thumbdrive (under HDD's) to boot from, then watched for it to
say "Press any key to boot from USB" and installed it.

It installed the OS on the NEW blank drive you installed in PC #2?

I then rebooted to the Thumbdrive, entered the Keyboard location, was
given the big "Install" button and down in the lower-left an option to
repair the Installation which of course found no problem.

Rebooted back to the W7 HDD.

How many times does MS allow us to use the "once only" copy of the OS?
--

"Those who can make you believe absurdities,
can make you commit atrocities"

~ Voltaire ~

"Paul" wrote in message
news
HB wrote:
I have that one also. Which of the 6 choices handles ISO files? Do the 4
top choices do it? There is no mention of ISO files. Are "image" files
aka ISO files?

Top-left button burns an ISO.

There is also an option to "read in" an optical disc
and make an ISO file out of it. For archiving perhaps.

Thanks.
--

"You can fool all of the people some of the time,
and some of the people all of the time,
but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."
--Abraham Lincoln--

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , HB writes:
several partitions (or even drives, I think).

Full manual at
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?/...urn-functions/

Will keep all this info - thanks. CC it to myself.
--
Morality is doing what's right
without the threat of divine retribution
nor the possiblity of divine reward.

- Arthur Paliden -

In message , HB writes:
[]
This is Fatdog, not Puppy. I see no drives listed on the desktop.

Yes you do. (Well, I'm not sure what you mean by "listed".) On the
screen photos you've shown so far, there have been two icons (near the
bottom left, just above the taskbar). I can't make out what the text
under them is, but one, to me, looks vaguely like a CD/DVD in its case,
and the one to the right of it just looks like a square (as far as I can
tell in the picture).
[]
You must think I'm familiar with Linux. I'm not and it doesn't look like
anyone else here is either.

We're very clear that you're not familiar with Linux! I haven't actually
used it myself, though I'm understanding most of the posts about it
here. But you are likely to offend some here with your last few words
the despite this being a Windows group, several who have contributed
to this thread seem to me _very_ familiar with Linux. Paul, and Mike
Easter, for a start.

On a normal Linux setup (before fancy graphics):

sudo mounr -t ntfs /dev/sda2 /media/mount/my_C_drive ----- what's
this?

??? This gets typed in the Command Prompt?

It would (except I think that should be "mount" rather than mounr) ...

Fancy graphics? Not on this
version. Just a desktop similiar to the old Windows.

.... but you do have fancy graphics if you have a desktop - a desktop
_is_ graphics!! So you don't need the above command.
[]
Where is the file system to be found in Linux?

Where is it to be "found" in Windows?!?
[]
Both are gone. Replaced with a incon of a disk that says sr0. When clicked
on a window opens with icons with strange endings like .sh and .in ad .3
etc. Meaningless to a non tech.

No more meaningless than endings like .bat and .exe would be to a non
Windows user (-:

When the OS shuts down, using the proper OS shutdown item (looks like
a power button icon), the partition is dis-mounted and made safe:

sudo umount /media/mount/my_C_drive --- What's this?

That's what you really ought to type before shutting down if you had a
text-only Linux. Since you have a graphical one (a desktop), with a
power-down "button", you need only click that.

the OS completes shutdown procedures and the power goes off.

- snip - Technical terms I don't understand.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"I've got this shocking pain right behind the eyes."
"Have you considered amputation?" - Vila & Avon

In message , HB writes:
[]
How many times does MS allow us to use the "once only" copy of the OS?

As many times as you like/need - as long as they're always on the _same
computer_. The "once only" is what Microsoft says about _making_ those
discs: It says something like "you will only have one chance to make
these discs". (_Why_ it does that limit, I don't know, since they can
only be used on that PC.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"I've got this shocking pain right behind the eyes."
"Have you considered amputation?" - Vila & Avon

On 25/03/2018 05:46, HB wrote:
"Patrick" wrote in message
news
On 23/03/2018 15:14, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Why would he want to do that - or would it allow his laptop to boot from
the thumbdrive in the same way it is doing from the CD he's made with
fatdog Linux on it?

Yes,

I have just installed W7-Home-Premium (What 'HB' has on his good PC and on
the his Toshiba), onto a spare HDD (having disconnected the working HDD.

Was it one of those "only once" copies made from a PC itself
N
or do you have
or an original MS disk from the store?
I did not get the requird file from Microsoft because MS would not have
accepted my activation code (as you experienced yourself). The reason
for this is because your (and my) Activation-Codes are supplied by the
makers of the Computer, ie., Toshiba, Dell etc,. and is thus not MS's
responsibility but rather the OEM's.

Thus it is that you need to aquire an OEM copy of W7-Home-Premium from a
third-party.

I have uploaded a copy of required file (3.09 GB) to my dropbox, this
you could download if you choose to, said file is here;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/81yccsh9x4...4_dvd.iso?dl=0

Or you could get the required file from other places such as;

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/techno...-download-tool

Or; http://mirror.digitalriver.info/

Or, where I got the file above (thats at my Dropbox);
https://softlay.net/operating-system...32-64-bit.html

When/if you download required file, you would then need to burn/copy the
file to iether an Empty-Thumbdrive (=8GB) or to a writeable DVD. To
copy the file to a Thumbdrive you would use the free program 'Rufus', or
to copy the file to a DVD you would use the likes of ImgBurn.

If you have done the above, you can then, iether use it to reinstall
W7-Home-Premium on the Toshiba, or use the DVD/Thumbdrive to try to do a
repair of the existing installation.




I did said Installation using 'Rufus' which wrote W7 ISO to the
thumbdrive.

And this was an ISO made from a PC you already have? That once only copy MS
allows?

I then stuck the thumbdrive into PC, turned PC on, tapped the F12 key,
selected the thumbdrive (under HDD's) to boot from, then watched for it to
say "Press any key to boot from USB" and installed it.

It installed the OS on the NEW blank drive you installed in PC #2?

I then rebooted to the Thumbdrive, entered the Keyboard location, was
given the big "Install" button and down in the lower-left an option to
repair the Installation which of course found no problem.

Rebooted back to the W7 HDD.

How many times does MS allow us to use the "once only" copy of the OS?
Above said (if it exists) would be a restriction of the OEM, ie,
Toshiba, not MS.

On 25/03/2018 06:18, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , HB writes:
[]
How many times does MS allow us to use the "once only" copy of the OS?

As many times as you like/need - as long as they're always on the _same
computer_. The "once only" is what Microsoft says about _making_ those
discs: It says something like "you will only have one chance to make
these discs". (_Why_ it does that limit, I don't know, since they can
only be used on that PC.)

Oops, I,ve just told HB that said would be a restriction (if at all) of
the OEM rather than MS. Still not to relevant at the moment.