On Sun, 4 Nov 2012 08:09:03 -0800 (PST), klem kedidelhopper
wrote:

a blue
rectangular box pops up with a black screen behind it. Inside the box
is an "enter password" message. Neither of us have ever seen this box
before, nor do we have any idea what "password" it's looking for.

Satellite A205, model PSAF3U-0NROOV is NOT the model numbers. Look on
the serial number sticker for something like:
A205-S1234
where 1234 is some other number.

That's the CMOS password. Google for "Toshiba CMOS password reset".

You might be lucky and find that just removing the CMOS battery (and
the main battery), leaving it sit for maybe an hour, replacing the
battery, and trying again, might clear the password.

Here's one method for an A205-something laptop:
http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/how-do-i-reset-eeprom-on-toshiba-a205.102975/

There are various schemes and tricks that work on different models.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/CmosPwd

I believe that the laptop is old enough that the parallel port reset
trick will work:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/CmosPwd#Toshiba
(near bottom of page).

Incidentally, there's nothing your wife did that caused the problem.
Some laptops spontaneously set a password for no obvious reason. It's
a bug that was probably fixed in a BIOS upgrade, which you probably
didn't install. Toshiba claims that for "security reasons", they do
not offer a password recovery method. They assume that if it's
locked, you'll buy a new laptop. My customers reaction is often
something like... right, any new laptop except Toshiba.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558