Guest jah191@gmail.com Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 I have a Toshiba a a25-s207 running Windows XP. Toshiba included the recovery disk on a DVD which includes a fresh windows install as well as all the drivers required by the laptop. Unfortunately it seems as if my DVD/CD drive laser is malfunctioning. While the drive still reads CD, it refuses to read any DVDs. I believe the drive has two different lasers/circuits so perhaps the DVD one is fried. Anyway, what is the best way to obtain a relatively clean install of XP without being able to use my recovery drive?
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Re: Recovery with broken DVD drive Fix the DVD drive. Really, can't think of any other way. You really need to use the Recovery disk, not some generic XP install CD. While the latter *might* work, it's iffy, since laptops are picky that way. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com <jah191@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1183996818.669921.210010@a26g2000pre.googlegroups.com... >I have a Toshiba a a25-s207 running Windows XP. Toshiba included the > recovery disk on a DVD which includes a fresh windows install as well > as all the drivers required by the laptop. Unfortunately it seems as > if my DVD/CD drive laser is malfunctioning. While the drive still > reads CD, it refuses to read any DVDs. I believe the drive has two > different lasers/circuits so perhaps the DVD one is fried. > > Anyway, what is the best way to obtain a relatively clean install of > XP without being able to use my recovery drive? >
Guest M.I.5¾ Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 Re: Recovery with broken DVD drive <jah191@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1183996818.669921.210010@a26g2000pre.googlegroups.com... >I have a Toshiba a a25-s207 running Windows XP. Toshiba included the > recovery disk on a DVD which includes a fresh windows install as well > as all the drivers required by the laptop. Unfortunately it seems as > if my DVD/CD drive laser is malfunctioning. While the drive still > reads CD, it refuses to read any DVDs. I believe the drive has two > different lasers/circuits so perhaps the DVD one is fried. > > Anyway, what is the best way to obtain a relatively clean install of > XP without being able to use my recovery drive? > You can connect an ordinary DVD drive using an IDE to USB adaptor cable. Both are relatively cheap. The alternative is to replace the DVD drive in the laptop (it is a laptop?), but suitable drives are often hard to find if the original part is no longer available.
Guest jah191@gmail.com Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Re: Recovery with broken DVD drive If I use the IDE to USB adapter will the computer be able to boot from that drive first? Is USB enabled before windows starts? On Jul 10, 4:43 am, "M.I.5¾" <no....@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote: > <jah...@gmail.com> wrote in message > > news:1183996818.669921.210010@a26g2000pre.googlegroups.com... > > >I have a Toshiba aa25-s207 running Windows XP. Toshiba included the > > recovery disk on aDVDwhich includes a fresh windows install as well > > as all the drivers required by the laptop. Unfortunately it seems as > > if myDVD/CD drive laser is malfunctioning. While the drive still > > reads CD, it refuses to read any DVDs. I believe the drive has two > > different lasers/circuits so perhaps theDVDone is fried. > > > Anyway, what is the best way to obtain a relatively clean install of > > XP without being able to use my recovery drive? > > You can connect an ordinaryDVDdrive using an IDE to USB adaptor cable. > Both are relatively cheap. > > The alternative is to replace theDVDdrive in the laptop (it is a laptop?), > but suitable drives are often hard to find if the original part is no longer > available.
Guest jah191@gmail.com Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Re: Recovery with broken DVD drive checked my BIOS...no option for USB booting. Only CDROM, FDD, HDD, and LAN. The strange thing is that this drive, the Teac DW-224E-A, only has one lens for both CD and DVD. Most of what I've read about combo drives says there should be two lenses. The drive works flawlessly with CD but only intermittently with DVDs. I am too afraid to start the recovery process in case the drive decides to fail halfway through. Is the laptop hardware so proprietary that I can't just use a clean Win XP install disc?
Guest M.I.5¾ Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Re: Recovery with broken DVD drive <jah191@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1184300003.647497.244730@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com... If I use the IDE to USB adapter will the computer be able to boot from that drive first? Is USB enabled before windows starts? -------------------- Yes - If your BIOS supports booting from USB. All recent BIOSs certainly do. You may need to alter the boot sequence, but be aware that some BIOSs only show the devices that are actually connected, so you may need to connect the drive and then configure the BIOS. On Jul 10, 4:43 am, "M.I.5¾" <no....@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote: > <jah...@gmail.com> wrote in message > > news:1183996818.669921.210010@a26g2000pre.googlegroups.com... > > >I have a Toshiba aa25-s207 running Windows XP. Toshiba included the > > recovery disk on aDVDwhich includes a fresh windows install as well > > as all the drivers required by the laptop. Unfortunately it seems as > > if myDVD/CD drive laser is malfunctioning. While the drive still > > reads CD, it refuses to read any DVDs. I believe the drive has two > > different lasers/circuits so perhaps theDVDone is fried. > > > Anyway, what is the best way to obtain a relatively clean install of > > XP without being able to use my recovery drive? > > You can connect an ordinaryDVDdrive using an IDE to USB adaptor cable. > Both are relatively cheap. > > The alternative is to replace theDVDdrive in the laptop (it is a laptop?), > but suitable drives are often hard to find if the original part is no > longer > available.
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