System Recovery and Recovery Media

[deweyrich]

After a routine update, my Satellite A505-S6973 stopped doing anything except to show a light-blue Windows 7 screen. It won't respond to any buttons at all except the on/off button. I was told that the problem is probably a corruption of some sort and that I needed to order a recovery disc. I was also told that I would lose all information on the hard drive that hadn't been backed up. But, in looking around on the net, I see sites that tout software designed to save 'lost' files in all kinds of scenarios. Why wasn't I told this, if such is possible, and IS IT possible in a situation like mine? If it's of significance, my OS was factory-installed Vista, upgraded to 7.

[Jerry_Lippey]

Satellite A505-S6973

See if you can rescue your files by booting with a flash drive this way.

1. Prepare a thumb drive formatted in FAT32. It doesn't need to be large. This stuff only occupies 130 MB on mine.

2. Download UNetbootin to create the thumb drive.

3. Download a Puppy Linux .iso file for the operating system.

4. Run Unetbootin-windows-xxx.exe and point it to the Lupu-xxx.iso file to create a bootable drive.

5. When you power on your computer, hold down the F12 key. That should give you the opportunity to choose the boot drive.

6. For some tips, scroll down to the following sections at this web page.

     Mounting drives and partitions in Puppy Linux

     Copying your files to external hard disk or USB flash drive

[Peter]

This thread should be working again.

[Jerry_Lippey]

Thanks, Peter.

[deweyrich]

When I try to run the Unetbootin.exe, it says it's not a valid Win32 file. ??

[Jerry_Lippey]

That means the file is corrupt. Download it again.

[jhiltonw2]

I had the same problem with the same Lap top as thousands have had with the Toshiba brand 505.

I took out the hard drive (easy) and hooked it up to my Reliable old Dell Desktop computer through a connecter that you can get on Amazon for $12.

This connection will make your Desk top see the drive and maybe you can dowload all your docs to the desk top.

I did eventually also have to re flash the bios  to get the Lap top to work.

Good luck with the Toshiba L505.

Mine has since kept going 3 months now with no issues.

[deweyrich]

Can you tell me what the connector is? And also, Jerry, can you weigh in on this option? Forgive my ignorance, but I am a hapless (clueless) baby boomer.

[Jerry_Lippey]

That's another option, but I think it may be more difficult because you need some hardware you don't have.

You would remove the hard drive, mount it in an external enclosure, and access it from another computer. To remove the hard drive, see Steps 6 and 7 here.

[jhiltonw2]

It is called this .

SATA/PATA/IDE Drive to USB 2.0 Adapter Converter Cable for 2.5 / 3.5 Inch Hard Drive / Optical Drive with External AC Power Adapter

[deweyrich]

Thank you. I'll go through the whole process you provided first . . . if that proves too daunting or frustrating I'll know the other is an alternative.

[deweyrich]

Thank you for the info. It may come in handy if I fail at the process I'm currently trying.

[deweyrich]

Jerry, I'm not clear what you mean by pointing to the lupu file. All I saw that I could 'point to' was the F drive logo where the lupu file is located . . . I clicked on that and both files are now on the flash drive, but as separate entities?? What did I do wrong, or is it right??

[Jerry_Lippey]

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I'm not clear what you mean by pointing to the lupu file.

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Click on this button to navigate to an ISO file.

                 

[deweyrich]

I recently refired up my laptop after leaving it idle for over a year, relying on my old, slow, but somewhat comprehensible desktop. I was unable to make the advice I received in this forum work for me . . . couldn't quite figure out the lupu thing. But . . . in an idle moment a few days ago, I removed the battery from the laptop, replaced it, and lo and behold it came back to life, with no file losses! I had read advice about trying that tactic, though not for the particular issue I was experiencing. I'm grateful for the trouble you in the forum went through, and I highly recommend trying the battery-removal trick as a first attempt in similar situations. Yeah, it's like finding a lost CD in the microwave oven, but you just don't know what you might discover until you pry!

[Jerry_Lippey]

Great news, Dewey! Thanks for reporting it.