I can’t boot to Windows. Toshiba splash screen and the display console shows ‘HD1 password=’ I don’t know the password.
I have a Toshiba Satellite 5205-S703 and had it for 3yrs, warranty expired. I’m having a lot of problems recently. The latest one is I can’t seem to boot to Windows. I get the Toshiba splash screen and the display console shows ‘HD1 password=’ I don’t know the password. I think it is a hardware problem where can I find a reliable laptop repair center.
If you didn’t set up the hard drive password yourself, then most likely you have a problem with the hard drive. This model has a BIOS update in version 1.40 related to this issue. Check it out here. It says that you can get a message asking for the hard drive password if there is a problem with the hard drive. So, I think that your hard drive is bad and that’s why you see this message.
First of all, I would check what version of BIOS you have and if it’s an old one, I would update it. Try to press Esc key on the laptop start up to access the setup menu, you can find the BIOS version in there. The latest BIOS version for Satellite 5205 at this time is 1.50. It’s possible that after the BIOS update you would be able to get an access to the hard drive. If you have an important data on the hard drive and you are able to access it, back it up as soon as possible, because the hard drive might fail permanently any time.
You can run Hitachi Drive Fitness test to test the hard drive. If it fails the test, you’ll have to replace it. It’s not very difficult. You can access the hard drive from the bottom of the laptop if you remove the hatch. After you replace the hard drive, you’ll have to run a recovery DVD (you got it when you bought the laptop) to restore operating system and the factory software. To start the recovery process, place the DVD inside the laptop, restart it and press C key when the Toshiba splash screen appears. The laptop will start booting from the DVD and after that you’ll have to follow the instructions.
Toshiba installs 60GB 4200RPM hard drive into this model. You can install 60GB, 80GB, 100GB or 120GB hard drive; you should have any problem with the size. You can use 4200RPM or 5400RPM hard drives. Faster is better. I haven’t tried 7200RPM in this model yet, so not sure if there would be any heat related issues.
If you not sure if you can do it yourself, then any local computer repair shop can handle it.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I have since learned about and installed the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools, which is allowing me to use the recovery discs, so please disregard the above. Definitely appreciate this resource, though!
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I am trying to install a Western Digital Scropio 160 GB hdd into my Toshiba 5205-S703, but I keep getting a PXE-E61 media failure error.
I have updated the BIOS to 1.5 and checked and doublechecked the installation, so I do not think there is any problem there.
Is this drive simply too big for the 5205-S703? Do I need some sort of jumper settings? Or is it likely my drive is simply a lemon? The original drive works, but it’s dying, so I really need to replace it, but I am going crazy trying to figure out what is wrong with this new one.
Thanks for any help.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I just installed XP operating system on my Toshiba Satellite 2400 S201 it worked for three days, then one mourning I turned it on and it asked for a HDD Password. I don’t know the password because I just bought this laptop from a pawnshop. I looked around online to see about the problem and it might have a bad hard-drive. I used one of your examples and took out the hard-drive and turned it on and it didn’t ask for the password, it just took me to bios. Bios said that the password was not registered. any ideas or answers?
June 7th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I followed the instructs to replace the DVD drive (used the UJ-811B). When I boot, I get the following message:
PXE-E61 Media Failure, Check Cable
I can’t get past this. I checked the cable connection, and everything is secure. The drive revs and I can hear the CD working – the indicator light works properly, etc…
Since this laptop does not have an extensive BIOS interface, I am stuck. Any ideas?
May 7th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Jeff,
It looks like the laptop is asking for the BIOS password. It’s possible that you have something wrong with the CMOS chip but this problem is not common. It’s possible to clear the BIOS password without CMOS chip or motherboard replacement, but you’ll have to take your laptop to the authorized repair center.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I am asked for the password when the hard drive is removed. Do I have a corrupted CMOS chip? Can I reset it or replace it?
May 1st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Jeff,
Remove the hard drive and turn on the laptop. If the laptop still shows Password= even with removed HDD, it’s asking for the BIOS password. Replacing the hard drive in this case will not help at all.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:06 am
Milton,
This is not the hard drive password, this is the BIOS password. I posted your question here.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I purchased a Toshiba M55-s1001 about 2 years ago. It has worked fine until recently. I tried to boot it up and it was suddenly asking for a password at startup. It shows the Toshiba logo, then prompts for a password. I have never set the system password. Do you know if this is the hard drive password? Should I replace the hard drive?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I bought Toshiba Portege and when you turn it on it tahe toshiba logo comes on then a screen comes up asking for a password, it dosen’t say what the password is for. It just shows Password = and that is it. I replaced the HHD but it hasn’t made a diference.
HELP
April 12th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I have just inherited a surplus Satellite Pro SP6100, however, someone has set up a power up password, so I can’t access the bios, hard drive or anything else. (Par for the course, no-one knows anything about the laptop or the password.) I’ve dismantled the laptop and removed the RTC battery, formatted the hard drive and installed linux while in another laptop, yet it still requests a password on power up. Anything I’ve missed, or can try?
March 9th, 2008 at 8:38 am
USE SMART BOOT MANAGER (SMALL PROGRAM ABOUT 30K AND ITS FREE). IT JUST A ONE EXE. FILE THE LAPTOP BOOTS CDS FROM THE MBR OF THE HARDRIVE NOT FROM THE BIOS. AFTER DOWNLOADING IT; RUN IT WHICH INSTALLS IN SECONDS THEN REBOOT……..YOUR FRIEND……GENER
August 14th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Hi! I have a friend who wants me to check out his laptop. It’s a HP nx9010 model. When the laptop is turned on, it only displays the HP and “Intel Inside” Splash screen and freezes right there. Keyboard is not functioning since I’d been trying to access the ESC key that would bring me to the BIOS settings. What I did is disassembled the laptop, removed the RAM, HD, WiFi PCI, and re-seat everything. I even tried to replace the RAM and HD hoping they are the ones causing the error, even removed the HSF and processor, applied new thermal paste (the one with Silver), and put the laptop back on but to no avail. I would really appreciate any help possible from you, guys. Thanks’ in advance!
August 6th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
oh yeah btw, it has to be put back togeather just right or the seal that keeps dust and stuff out wont work
August 6th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
if you really want to take a chance and reset the bios paddwords you can open up your case and remove the little watch battery on the motherboard, then replace it and boot, the password will be gone d:-p
July 12th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
CBent,
Remove the hard drive and connect it to any other working computer using an external USB enclosure. You should be able to see the hard drive in My Computer.
Try accessing it as a regular hard drive.
It is possible that you’ll be able to see files but will not be able to access them. In this case try taking ownership of the files.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I have an old ex-company laptop that had a Point-Sec login screen that would pop up upon boot up. Because of an LCD backlit problem I logged in wrong and no it has locked me out even tho i kno the password. I was running Win2000. The company went belly up so i can’t contact them. Can anything be done to get logged back in or to at least recover my data?
May 26th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I have exactly the same problem with my toshiba 5205-s705. Upon bootup, the main screen freezes at the Toshiba start screen and the small LCD screen on the base asks for a password. I plan on replacing the hard drive, but there is a problem as the dvd drive has not worked in a while.
How do I go about fixing this problem? I think I should replace the dvd drive first, but will the computer recognize the dvd drive?
February 25th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Silver,
You should try taking ownership of a folder you are trying to access, you’ll find step-by-step instructions here.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I removed the hd from my old laptop and hooked it up to an external hd enclosure, connecting it to my new laptop with a USB connection. Because I had the profile (User) password protected, however, I can not access the files.
I cannot put the hd back into my old laptop as it does not function (I broke the charger port). I have the password for the profile of the old laptop’s hd, but I don’t know how to get it to prompt me for it.
How can I access my files?
February 21st, 2007 at 7:56 pm
richard,
That’s a good question, I’ve never tried loading Windows on a laptop HDD connected to the desktop via the adapter. I think it might work, BUT it’s very likely that you’ll get an error when you start the laptop with this hard drive installed.
If you decide to buy an external USB DVD drive search for a drive compatible with your laptop. I don’t think you can use any external USB drive.
Here’s an idea. I think you should look for an docking station for your notebook witch has a DVD drive installed. I was able to find one here for $135. Just search for “ThinkPad x41 DVD”.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I just replaced my ThinkPad x41 hard drive but I now do not have an os on my laptop as the x41 does not come with a optical drive i was thinking was it possible to get an 2.5-3.5 ide adapter so i con plug the laptop drive into my desktop pc and then install windows from there .or should i buy a external usb dvd/rom drive..any advice would be good???
February 4th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Hi, I own a Dell Inspiron 2200. When I turn on the power of the laptop the Dell startup screen begins then automatically goes to a black screen with the message “Invalid Configuration information – please run SETUP program” on it. It then automatically goes to a gray and white screen saying “this computer system is protected by a password authentication system” and askes for the system or administrator password. I don’t know how to get around this…I’ve never had to do this before and I have a great deal of files that I need. Can you help me with this error? Thanks in advance.
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Nancy,
You’ll have to buy a new hard drive.
Can you get into the setup if you remove the hard drive or the laptop asks for another password? May be you have the BIOS password set too?
February 1st, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I got a used laptop from a thrift store and i cant boot XP because it asks me for a hard drive password. I have no idea what the password is and there is no way for me to contact the prior owner of that laptop. Also I’m not able to reinstall the OS becasue it won’t let me even go into the setup to boot from the CD. Any ideas???
January 8th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
toshiba satelite M55-S1001 laptop cant by pass password.Q: IS THERE ANY WAY TO FIX THIS .IVE TAKEN APART THE LAPTOP AND DONT KNOW IF IT HAS A PASSWORD RESET ON IT ??????? help!!!!!
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 am
I have a similar problem to Nielsen, except I set up the BIOS password on purpose and now it doesn’t take the password. it keeps asking for the password, after a few key presses (with nothing showing on the screen) it jumps to another line asking the same thing and then jumps onto the 3rd and final line with the same question
December 18th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Try to go into the bios before the startup. Set all bios settings to default. Save and retry. If it doesn’t help, try removing the cmos battery for 10 seconds and then replace it. Good Luck
December 12th, 2006 at 8:12 am
A friend bought a used Toshiba Tecra A2, the system has a power on password set on it. Any Ideas? Thanks.
October 30th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
we bought a epson actionnote laptop out of the newspaper. when we boot it up it asks for the current password. we do not know what the password is how can we bypass this screen so we can access our laptop? PLEASE HELP.. Thank you The Nielsen’s email us at daverosenielsen@peoplepc.com