Tioshiba Laptop

[ghore]

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

[mickg]

ghore wrote:

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.



try typing del (key) Esc (key) repeatedly after boot you may get into

the Bios and be able to reset the password in the bios If this is the
one. Else it's get the operating system CD and re install the operating
system from scratch.

MickG

[John Ellingsworth]

ghore wrote:

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

When you say taking the battery out, do you mean the main battery?
Try removing the internal CMOS battery; this will reset the password.

[f/fgeorge]

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 10:26:25 -0000, "ghore" <[email protected]> wrote:

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

When you first power on the laptop press and hold the escape key and

the bios should come up. Clear any passwords in there.
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais ... nj.0&ct=DL

This may wrap horribly but it is the link on the http://www.toshiba.com site
to your machine and the new bios/cmos setup download. It should take
care of the problem if just clearing the password doesn't work.

[ghore]

Thanks for all the suggestions but I had already tried esc, del, etc.
and tsetup doesn's work either. It would seem that the drives are not
addressed until the password is provided. I guess it is a bin job although
I might try opening the case and see if disconnecting the internal battery
will make any difference - something I very much doubt as it would seem
illogical to make access that easy. The original owner was going to throw
this out as it was simply taking up space !!

"ghore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1111660010.175da54188f86e717415d79691458da8@teranews...

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless
to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

[John Ellingsworth]

hah hah you shouldn't open it and try removing the battery - consider it
useless and send it to me instead.

(curiously, what do you base your doubt on? WHERE exactly do you think
that password is being stored?)

ghore wrote:

Thanks for all the suggestions but I had already tried esc, del, etc.
and tsetup doesn's work either. It would seem that the drives are not
addressed until the password is provided. I guess it is a bin job although
I might try opening the case and see if disconnecting the internal battery
will make any difference - something I very much doubt as it would seem
illogical to make access that easy. The original owner was going to throw
this out as it was simply taking up space !!

"ghore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1111660010.175da54188f86e717415d79691458da8@teranews...

I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless

to

add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

[ghore]

I have looked at various sites and the general consensus is that the
password protection is not battery dependent - in eprom or whatever memory
chip which holds data without power on.

(curiously, what do you base your doubt on? WHERE exactly do you think
that password is being stored?)

ghore wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions but I had already tried esc, del, etc.
and tsetup doesn's work either. It would seem that the drives are not
addressed until the password is provided. I guess it is a bin job
although
I might try opening the case and see if disconnecting the internal
battery
will make any difference - something I very much doubt as it would seem
illogical to make access that easy. The original owner was going to
throw
this out as it was simply taking up space !!

[Dave Hinz]

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 18:04:58 -0000, ghore <[email protected]> wrote:

I have looked at various sites and the general consensus is that the
password protection is not battery dependent - in eprom or whatever memory
chip which holds data without power on.

There is a CMOS battery that keeps that information. If you remove
the CMOS battery, that memory will be erased.

(curiously, what do you base your doubt on? WHERE exactly do you think
that password is being stored?)

And please don't top-post, it screws up the thread of the conversation.

[Robert Heiling]

It would be pretty much of a joke as a password if all that anybody would have
to do is go into the bios and reset it. That's a simple matter of holding some
key down while the laptop is booting, making a change in the bios that is
displayed then, and saving the new settings. There's more to it than that and,
as you've discovered, you can't even get into the bios without the password.

The best advice that I've found is to disconnect the cmos battery and leave! it
disconnected for 24 hours. That allows enough time for capacitors that are
holding the info to discharge. Maybe a bit more time to be extra certain? Here's
a picture of the battery:
<http://www.pchub.com/uph/catf/BigPicture.aspx?iid=14799&PhotPath=6323068087732812502_ACPOCMATOST310CDS.jpg>

<http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/48-14799-1317/Cmos_Battery__V___A__Toshiba_Satellite_310CDS.html>

It's up to you to figure out what you need to open to gain access to it.

HTH
Bob

ghore wrote:

Thanks for all the suggestions but I had already tried esc, del, etc.
and tsetup doesn's work either. It would seem that the drives are not
addressed until the password is provided. I guess it is a bin job although
I might try opening the case and see if disconnecting the internal battery
will make any difference - something I very much doubt as it would seem
illogical to make access that easy. The original owner was going to throw
this out as it was simply taking up space !!

"ghore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1111660010.175da54188f86e717415d79691458da8@teranews...
I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless
to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On 24 Mar 2005 18:08:37 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> declaimed
the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

There is a CMOS battery that keeps that information. If you remove
the CMOS battery, that memory will be erased.

If it is stored in something like spare clock memory, yes... If

they used something like FLASH memory to hold the BIOS (allowing BIOS
updates without changing chips) they might be storing the BIOS password
in that -- and that won't go away by removing a battery.

I've also seen machines where one needs a separate password to
get into the BIOS settings themselves, much less to get past the boot
stage.

--

==============================================================
[email protected] | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
[email protected] | Bestiaria Support Staff
==============================================================
Home Page: <http://www.dm.net/~wulfraed/
Overflow Page: <http://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

[Helen Castle]

I once set a bios password and forgot it and taking out the internal battery
worked. Luckily it was my second or third machine and the battery wasnt
soldered in like the first one which was flat when I got it and wouldnt
recharge so I always had to set the date.

Helen Castle
"ghore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1111686761.4e4b92bd62454ac83159aa14c684d717@teranews...

Thanks for all the suggestions but I had already tried esc, del, etc.
and tsetup doesn's work either. It would seem that the drives are not
addressed until the password is provided. I guess it is a bin job
although
I might try opening the case and see if disconnecting the internal battery
will make any difference - something I very much doubt as it would seem
illogical to make access that easy. The original owner was going to
throw
this out as it was simply taking up space !!

"ghore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1111660010.175da54188f86e717415d79691458da8@teranews...
I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The owner has long forgotten whatever password was required and, needless
to
add, there is no handbook. Any idea as to how to solve the password
problem - taking out the battery doesn't help.

[ghore]

"mickg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

ghore wrote:
I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and
pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an
opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?

The above is part of a query I placed here some weeks ago. Since then
various suggestions were made as to how to deal with the password question.
These went from using various combinations of key strokes to removing the
internal battery to downloading some software.

I thought that it might be interesting to those who replied to state that no
combination of keys worked ; removing the internal battery (actually there
were two - one with six small cells labelled Varta 7.2v, etc., and one with
2 cells with just a number - they were situated together and plugged into
two sockets) didn't work and, yes, I left them out for over a week (they are
still out !) ; the piece of software (tsetup.exe) didn't work even though
the computer did address the floppy drive on startup and finally I removed
the harddrive (in conjuction with all of the above) and that didnt' work
either. Needless to add, before doing any of the above I had removed the
rechargeable battery. I should mention also that in each situation above I
redid things like shoving keys, etc. So there you go !! Thanks for the
suggestions.

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:41:29 +0100, "ghore" <[email protected]> wrote:

"mickg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
ghore wrote:
I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and
pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an
opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?


The above is part of a query I placed here some weeks ago. Since then
various suggestions were made as to how to deal with the password question.
These went from using various combinations of key strokes to removing the
internal battery to downloading some software.

I thought that it might be interesting to those who replied to state that no
combination of keys worked ; removing the internal battery (actually there
were two - one with six small cells labelled Varta 7.2v, etc., and one with
2 cells with just a number - they were situated together and plugged into
two sockets) didn't work and, yes, I left them out for over a week (they are
still out !) ; the piece of software (tsetup.exe) didn't work even though
the computer did address the floppy drive on startup and finally I removed
the harddrive (in conjuction with all of the above) and that didnt' work
either. Needless to add, before doing any of the above I had removed the
rechargeable battery. I should mention also that in each situation above I
redid things like shoving keys, etc. So there you go !! Thanks for the
suggestions.

If you haven't tried this website yet, it's worth the time to check it
out: http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/bios_password.htm
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:41:29 +0100, "ghore" <[email protected]> declaimed
the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

I thought that it might be interesting to those who replied to state that no
combination of keys worked ; removing the internal battery (actually there
were two - one with six small cells labelled Varta 7.2v, etc., and one with
2 cells with just a number - they were situated together and plugged into
two sockets) didn't work and, yes, I left them out for over a week (they are
still out !) ; the piece of software (tsetup.exe) didn't work even though
the computer did address the floppy drive on startup and finally I removed
the harddrive (in conjuction with all of the above) and that didnt' work
either. Needless to add, before doing any of the above I had removed the
rechargeable battery. I should mention also that in each situation above I
redid things like shoving keys, etc. So there you go !! Thanks for the
suggestions.

As a last thing, look somewhere between the internal batteries
and the BIOS chips (or the clock chip, as they often use spare memory in
the clock to store system status) for either a momentary-contact switch
(less likely in a laptop, as vibrations could trigger it) or a set of
bare jumper pins. Some systems have a /very difficult to reach/ internal
BIOS reset -- shorting the jumpers, for example (with the batteries in
place).

Don't recall if such sites have been mentioned in this thread...

http://corky.net/2600/computers/reset-b ... word.shtml
http://labmice.techtarget.com/articles/BIOS_hack.htm
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/41091/

--

==============================================================
[email protected] | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
[email protected] | Bestiaria Support Staff
==============================================================
Home Page: <http://www.dm.net/~wulfraed/
Overflow Page: <http://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

[Gjest]

Don't have acess to all the earlier messages, so my apologies if this
repeats what has already been said.

From the Toshiba support web site:

"Only an Authorized Service Provider can clear a Password if it has
been forgotten. You will be required to show proof of ownership to the
ASP prior to having the Password removed this way.

How to contact a Toshiba Authorized Service Providers(ASPs).
Toshiba ASP Locator

WWW - http://www.csd.toshiba/tais/csd/support ... nters.html

Phone - 1-949-583-3300 or 1-800-457-7777
"



On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:41:29 +0100, "ghore" <[email protected]> wrote:

"mickg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
ghore wrote:
I have been given an old Toshiba 310cds laptop which I thought might be
useful for carrying in the car with all my family history bits and
pieces
therein - but when I switch it on it comes up immediately with an
opening
screen 'Toshiba' and then password ?


The above is part of a query I placed here some weeks ago. Since then
various suggestions were made as to how to deal with the password question.
These went from using various combinations of key strokes to removing the
internal battery to downloading some software.

I thought that it might be interesting to those who replied to state that no
combination of keys worked ; removing the internal battery (actually there
were two - one with six small cells labelled Varta 7.2v, etc., and one with
2 cells with just a number - they were situated together and plugged into
two sockets) didn't work and, yes, I left them out for over a week (they are
still out !) ; the piece of software (tsetup.exe) didn't work even though
the computer did address the floppy drive on startup and finally I removed
the harddrive (in conjuction with all of the above) and that didnt' work
either. Needless to add, before doing any of the above I had removed the
rechargeable battery. I should mention also that in each situation above I
redid things like shoving keys, etc. So there you go !! Thanks for the
suggestions.