I have a Toshiba Satellite M45-S169 laptop less than 3 years old. My issue is the on-off switch in the upper left hand corner will not turn on without some effort to push the switch sideways, up or anything but the normal procedure to turn it on. Once on, the computer has no issues, so I feel the switch has issues. I have been told that maybe that switch is a unit with the 6 buttons below and is a plug-in. This is all located above the HeatPad. I don’t know how this unit is removed and if it is a plug-in or if the switch can be replaced independently? Maybe you could give me this information before I open the computer and any suggestions where to get the part the cheapest. Also what is that unit called?

The on-off switch (power button) is located on a 6-button switch board. If there is a problem with the on-off button, you’ll have to replace the whole switch board. Here’s the part number for the switch board: V000051150
The switch board could be found underneath the top cover assembly and it’s connected to the motherboard via a flat ribbon cable.
In order to access and replace the switch board, you’ll have to remove the top cover as it shown on the step 21 in this disassembly guide for Satellite M45 laptops.

Be careful. Taking apart laptops is not for beginners. Proceed on your own risk.

I have a Toshiba Satellite 1415 Series notebook and I wanted to know how I know if it’s already equipped with wireless. My owner’s manual isn’t much help to me…. so any suggestions?

First of all, start the laptop and to turn on the wireless switch. On Toshiba Satellite 1415 it’s located on the right side, under the floppy drive. If the LED close to the switch lights, then you have wireless card installed.

If you think that your laptop has a wireless card, you also can check it in the device manager. To access the device manager follow the path: Start – Control panel – System – Hardware – Device Manager. In there find a network adapters line. If you have a wireless card installed, it should be listed.

The easiest way to check if the laptop is already equipped with wireless antennas, is to remove the wireless card cover on the bottom of the laptop. The wireless card slot is located close to the memory slots. If the laptop is wireless ready, then you should see 2 wires (black and white) located under the cover (left top corner on the step 5). These wires are wireless card antennas; the white wire connects to a main connecter and the black on to an auxiliary connector. If you don’t have a wireless card installed, then you can buy it if you search by the part number. Toshiba part number for your model would be P000339520. I just searched here and found this wireless card for $60.

I’m fixing my girlfriends Toshiba Portege A100 and the fan is dead is there anywhere online where I can order a new fan besides Toshiba (i.e. non genuine parts or second hand ). Thank you for your time.

I had to repair Toshiba Portege A100 only 2 times. First time I replaced the hard drive and second time I replaced the fan. That’s a lot of work, because you cannot access the fan from the bottom of the laptop or even if you remove the laptop keyboard. The fan is located on the bottom of the system board and you have to remove the board in oreder to replace the fan. You’ll be surprised, but I have created a guide for replacing the cooling fan on Toshiba Portege A100. The hardest part was finding a new fan. This model is not sold in the USA so I had to find an equivalent. I found that Toshiba Portege 3500 should work fine, and it did. That’s the same fan. Here’s a part number for Toshiba Portege 3500 fan: P000363930. You can search for this part number on eBay or just Google for it.

Quick question. I need to repair or replace power jack on Toshiba Satellite 5105-S701 model. Worried it might need soldering to remove and replace but have seen two on eBay that had wired tails that look like they plug into motherboard instead. Do I need to solder or not on this laptop? Thank you for your incredible websites and picture guides. I used one recently to replace a relative’s screen. Thanks again.

You don’t have to solder the power jack on this model. The power jack is located on a separate DC-IN harness. To replace the power jack harness you will have to open the laptop case, unplug the defective DC-IN harness and install a new one. You can find a new power jack harness on Google by the part number P000341880. I just did a quick search and found it for $12. Looks like a cheap repair.
You can use Toshiba Satellite 5105 video card replacement guide to open up the laptop. The power jack harness is pictured on the step 16. It’s a thick black cable right in the middle that taped to the cooling fan.

My daughter’s Toshiba Satellite 1410 screen won’t stay upright - just happened today - any thoughts on how to tighten?

If the laptop display just suddenly became loose and doesn’t stay upright, them most likely the display hinge or hinges are broken. You cannot really tighten a broken hinge, you have to replace it. To replace the display hinge in this model you have to take apart the display assembly and remove the top cover from the laptop base. Hinges are pretty expensive; you can find them on the internet around $70 a piece plus shipping cost. If you want to replace them yourself, I can help you to find the part number so you can search for it on the net. Leave a comment with the laptop full name and model, something like Toshiba Satellite 1410-S173, PS141U-01F3WV

I have recently purchased a Portege 3500 and have a few questions about it. It came without a HDD, and without the accompanying parts. I know I will need a door for it is there also a caddy of some sort? I did find a “HDD Holder Assembly” part P000364160 at Spare Parts Warehouse, and think that this with the door should hold the HD in the unit.
My other question concerns the Operating system and how to load it. It came also without the CD-ROM or floppy drive. I have searched online and found PCMCIA CD-ROMs but there is some issue of whether they will be bootable or compatible with the Portege 3500. I have also considered utilizing a PCMCIA floppy and a virtual drive image program from Microsoft to load the OS (a friend of mine suggested this and I have no idea how it actually works, something about a broadcast image?)
Regardless of how I eventually get the OS on there the COA has been taken off the bottom and I haven’t been able to find a for sale copy of the OS online (XP Tablet) with a COA, so I have no registration code. Do you know of anyone with a broken unit which I could purchase for the COA?
And it also has a missing door for the modem port on the right side, would that be a MDC cover right?
Thanks for any help you can give me.

I have created a Toshiba Portege 3500 laptop disassembly guide. You might need this guide in the future when you want to take it apart and repair the laptop yourself.
There is no hard drive caddy in this model but there is a hard drive holder assembly (P000364160). The main function of this holder is to keep the hard drive in place. You screw the holder to the hard drive, then place the hard drive inside the laptop and screw the holder to the laptop base. I think you can leave without the holder but you need the hard drive cover-door (P000364150). When you install the hard drive inside the laptop, I guess you can cut a piece of eraser and place it between the hard drive and the HDD cover, so the HDD is secured and doesn’t move when you carry the laptop.
I think you are right, not all PCMCIA CD-ROMs will work with Toshiba Portege 3500 laptop. I just looked up for accessories listed for this model and found 3 different models:
Targus DVD; Part number NWDVD04
DVD-ROM; Part number PA3246-1DVD
DVD-ROM; Part number P000373470
I searched ebay for Portege PCMCIA DVD-ROM and found PA3246-1DVD for about $100. I am not familiar with virtual drive image software from Microsoft, not sure if you can use it to install the OS. Try to contact Toshiba and ask them if you can buy restore CDs for your laptop; I believe they are not very expensive. Another story with the Microsoft license for Windows, you have to find it before you buy restore CDs. Restore CDs will not include the license.
A door for the modem card is called MCD cover and the part number is: P000364270

Here is a crazy idea just in case if you cannot find a copy of Windows XP Tablet edition and the external DVD-ROM drive. If you have a copy of regular Windows XP, you can try next. Install the hard drive from your laptop into another laptop that has a DVD/CD-ROM drive and load generic Windows XP. After that install this hard drive into your laptop and start in. You have good chances that it will not blue screen on you and you would be able to use the operating system, after you load all drivers of course. Not sure if it will work 100% but it still worth trying.