Member Avatar for blittle

I have a toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop. When i turn it on it say's please insert system disk then press any key. What do i need to do. We got this from a friend with no software or instruction booklets.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 320 Views
  • 3 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by hollystyles

Dani AI

Generated

Brief expert summary: the "Please insert system disk then press any key" message means the firmware did not find a bootable device. Causes range from removable media intercepting the boot sequence, to a corrupted boot record (MBR/BCD), to an absent or failed hard drive. This expands on ' removable-media point and treats 's reinstall suggestion as a last resort until the drive and data are checked.

Quick diagnostic checklist (do these in order):

  • Check for any removable media beyond just a floppy: USB sticks, memory cards in readers, PC Card/ExpressCard devices, external drives. Remove them and reboot.

  • Enter BIOS/Setup at power-on (watch the POST screen for the key) and confirm the hard disk is listed and the boot order is sensible. If the HDD does not appear, a hardware fault (failed drive or loose connection) is likely.

  • If the BIOS sees the disk, try booting from known-good media (Windows install CD or a Linux Live CD/USB) to inspect the drive and copy files. Use recovery tools rather than reinstalling immediately. Typical repair commands:

    For Windows XP (Recovery Console):
fixmbr
fixboot

For Vista/7/8/10 (Recovery Environment):
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

  • If installers report the drive as “not recognized,” test the CD/DVD drive, try another install disc, or remove the laptop HDD and connect it to another PC (USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter) to recover files.

Recovery and cautions: factory restores or fresh installs will erase user data — extract important files first using a Live CD/USB or by mounting the drive on another machine. If the HDD is missing in BIOS or makes no spin-up noise, the drive is probably failed and may need professional replacement or data recovery. Model-specific recovery media may be available from the original owner or the manufacturer; treat OEM keys and licensing accordingly. This sequence preserves data and narrows the fault before resorting to 's reinstall advice.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for jitterson

You better find one operationg system CD and re-install the OS. I think your OS software is corrupted

Member Avatar for blittle

You better find one operationg system CD and re-install the OS. I think your OS software is corrupted

Where do i get an operating system CD at?

Member Avatar for hollystyles

There's probably a floppy disk (gosh are those things still around?) in the floppy disk drive, most computers are configured to try and boot from a floppy disk first and then the harddrive afterwards (so that if the hard drive dies you can boot from a floppy and fix things up) If the floppy is not a "system disk" or "boot disk" you get that kind of message that you're getting, so take it out (eject it using the little eject button on the side somewhere near the slot)

Windows is an OS, as is Linux. There are others but I wouldn't recommend them just yet to newbie. Go online or to a computer store and buy Windows xp home, or a Linux box set like Suse, or get a friend with braodband (if you havn't got it) to download umm... Unbuntu goes on laptops fairly well (Unbuntu is a flavour of Linux like SUSE) it's one of the easiest Linux distributiuons to install (i thought so anyway it'a all a matter of choice really)

While your in the store or shopping on-line (whichever's your thang) get one of those "PC's the basics" books to get ya started.

Oh yeah and get yourself subscribed to a monthly PC mag, one that's good for beginners, I don't know if you're UK or US resident but in the UK we have "PC Answers" it's an excellent mag for explaining all these oh so complicated PC things in nice and easy langauge and pictures.

Member Avatar for blittle

I have windows but it won't recognize it when i install it!

Member Avatar for hollystyles

I've never seen a "not recognized" error message. You will need to be very specific and in grim detail for us to help. Example,

I pressed the power button, screen flashed, drive wirred, sony vaio spash screen, error message in detail letter for letter.

You may need to go into the BIOS (means pressing an F key you know F1 F2 varies amongst laptop models when you power on) and checking the boot order setting, check CDROM is mentioned in the list, in your situation it want's to be the first in the list.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.