[removed crossposts]

On Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:56:18 -0700, Gunner wrote:

I was given a Toshiba 5105-s501 laptop with a :"bad hard drive", so I
picked up a 40gig from one of my computer outlets this week and
installed it.

Its still not seeing that there is a harddrive in it. Booted an XP Cd
and it loads the software..then says it cant find a harddrive

No way to get into the bios on this machine that I can find.

Anyone have any ideas about how to set one of these machines up?

The link shown below has the following wonderful advice, applicable
to Satellite 5105-S501 and a lot of other 5105/5205 models:

"These models are considered 'legacy-free', and offer only a
Windows-based BIOS setting utility. From the Windows Control Panel,
launch the Toshiba HWSetup program. HWSetup provides a user-friendly
graphical frontend for modifying BIOS settings. ... HWSetup comes
preinstalled on your Toshiba portable PC ... "

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/640-entering-bios-setup-in-toshiba-laptop/

So, all you have to do is start Windows Control Panel and launch
HWSetup and the user-friendly graphical frontend should appear!!
Another entry on that page says 'power up and keep f1 pressed. it will
say "key error press del to setup"'. I imagine that's just another
way to start the so-called preinstalled HWSetup program.

I'd expect a linux live cd to see the new drive ok, and on small
machines linux performs better than MS-Windows does (well, linux
often performs better on big machines too) so that's what I'd try.

--
jiw

James Waldby fired this volley in news:k1toea$qua$2
@dont-email.me:




Of course, JW, he can't boot Winblows, so he can't get to the bios utility.

He may have a bad HD controller. That would mimic a bad HD, and lead to
the junking of the computer. If it's bad, there's nothing for it but to
replace the mobo.

IF the disk controller is OK, he could create an Ultimate Boot CD from his
Toshiba distribution disks, and be able to do it just fine.

I use the UBCD for solving all sorts of "primitive hardware" problems.

LLoyd