My Toshiba Sattelite A55 S26 has been working like a champ for over 3 years, For some reason it has failed to boot today. The F12 key does nothing, before I buy a new hard drive and start from scratch anyone have any ideas?

Does anything happen when you press the power button? Fan spin, LEDs light up?

what is the error massage.
does it say"failed to boot from disk" ??

When I turn on the pc the Toshiba logo comes up with its boot choices; default setting on the hard drive. However, when the hard drive should boot, the screen becomes grey with the cursor flashing in the upper left corner. I don't hear the hard drive, fans or anything else attempt to boot.

maby its time to take your lappy to the local techy.that sounds like a job for the lappy techy

Try running the Last Known Good Configuration.

Start the computer and then press the F8 key when Windows begins to start. The Windows Advanced Options menu appears.

Use the ARROW keys to select Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), and then press ENTER.

If a boot menu appears, use the ARROW keys to select Microsoft Windows XP, and then press ENTER. Windows XP restores the computer to the most recent restore point.

I suppose he cant do that cos the this happens before those actions can be done

I usually don't use the local "techie" because I can make my own repairs. I will try using the F8 key when I see the Toshiba logo appear. I have already ordered a new hard drive, which I suspect is the problem, my recovery discs are at not with me so I can't do much until I get those discs and try and boot from the cd.

thats cool with me.thing is i dont give info if i know its it can result in a screw up. laptops ill only work on if i have them by mysself. i hate to guide people to take apart their lappies.
good luck

Thanks, I understand your sentiment. I have done a significat amount of laptop and desktop work so feel pretty comfortable with the mechanics. Just frustrating when I don't have the materials I need; ah well a few days more won't hurt.

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