Portege 3490: reformatting, and reinstalling OS

Hi,

I'm a newcomer to forums and out of desperation joined to see if someone could help me.

I have a subnotebook (Portege 3490) which, b/c of its compactness has no built in floppy or CD drive (it came with Win98 already installed, and I upgraded to XP using an external drive plugged into the USB port).
I love how portable it is and simply have been using an external hard drive to get my files and porgram back and forth.

Recently though I acquired some spyware I couldn't get rid of, which slowed the computer by 50% and drove me nuts so much that I decided to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS. I've done that before on other computers so I figured no problem, but in my frustration I didn't think ahead far enough.

I used an external floppy in the USB port to format the drive using f-disk, and expected to be able to then plug in an external CD drive to install the OS. However, after formating the hard drive, the computer would not recognize any external CD drive through its USB port.

So now, I am stuck with a perfectly good Portege that, although it has no more spyware, also has no more OS on it, and I don't know how to get it back on there. I took it to Business Depot's service guys, who told me I would have to send it back to Toshiba for fixing. I also took it to a high end computer repair place (a Toshiba authorized outlet) who couldn't do anything either. When I phoned Toshiba, they wanted $45 per question to help me with this machine b/c it is no longer under any warranty (with no guarantee that they would be able to provide an answer).

Has anyone dealt with this experience and found a resolution?

thanks in advance for any clues you can provide. I'll check back tomorrow.

JJC

 

I would pull out the HD, hook it up to a desktop PC via this link, disable the Master IDE hd and install windows using the desktop. After your install either A. pull the HD before windows boots up for the first time (after you load setup and enter prod key) and the machine may possible boot (most likely not since windows does install drivers during install and when you put the HD back into the laptop it will BSOD), or B. Install Hardware patch (after setup and load for first time on desktop) n that allows XP to be installed on multiple PC without BSOD and put HD back into the laptop and install drivers, ect.
Also there is no need for fdisk because you dont want to install XP onto a fat32 partition (although you can) for performance. XP cd includes partition setup for NTFS, format and install all in the setup. I suggest you read up on how to install XP to do it properly from the desktop.
Otherwise call your "High End computer shop" and see if they will do it, if they are high end they will know how to, and if they tell you it isn't possible or there is no patch I will email to you for them to use.

 

Wow, thanks jpagel for such a quick and thorough answer!

I'll tell you ... I had thought of doing the hard drive switch technique which you described - yet when I asked a computer shop (yet a different one than mentioned in last post) the guy told me I could certainly format and install OS onto the laptop HD if I hooked it in to the desktop machine, but that then the OS wouldn't work once I put it back into the laptop b/c the operating system will only work with the particular machine that installed it. ??? Does that make any sense or is he blowing smoke?

Another thing ... if it will indeed work for me to do the switch & install method, reinserting the drive back into the laptop when done ... what about the possibility of ghosting the desktop HD onto the laptop one using a program like Norton Ghost, without deactivating the IDE and hooking up the laptop drive in its place? Is that the same difference? That is, would it likely work and, if so, would it be just as good in the end as the switch technique?

thanks again,
Jim

 

"the guy told me I could certainly format and install OS onto the laptop HD if I hooked it in to the desktop machine, but that then the OS wouldn't work once I put it back into the laptop b/c the operating system will only work with the particular machine that installed it. ??? Does that make any sense or is he blowing smoke?"
He is not blowing you smoke, he obviously doesn't know about the patch (I obtained / found it on MS site that they quickly pulled off a LONG time ago (around 3 years ago), and then made my own changes for xp with sp2 slipstreamed) - thats the BSOD I was talking about in option A.
XP is designed to install on one chipset, if you change chipsets after install it will BSOD when it hits the splash screen UNLESS the computers are running the same chipsets - Most likely the desktop / laptop will not so you will get the BSOD, thats why you will have to install it via the desktop, boot to the laptop drive via the laptop after you install it, install the Hardware patch that allows you to transfer windows over different chipsets without reinstall, install your drivers, apps. ect.
Your ghosting idea is the same concept because the install was still pointed at the chipset of the desktop so you would still need the hardware patch installed or it would BSOD on you again.
The only other thing I can think of would be to install your HD into another laptop that has the same chipset (and cd rom obviously or external cd boot support) as your current laptop and install Windows and then transfer your drive back into your laptop. Now once you get it installed and working I would suggest ghosting/imaging to an external HD just so you have a backup of everything and then using a boot ghost floppy to reinstall your OS say persay this happen again.
ONE other idea is this - IF you can boot to floppy you can get the setup files for setting up your partition / format and continuing setup from USB cd-rom (possibly because setup files will have USB drivers for the 2nd setup to initialize the cdrom).
For XP Home - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=E8FE6868-6E4F-471C-B455-BD5AFEE126D8
For XP Pro - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...familyid=55820EDB-5039-4955-BCB7-4FED408EA73F
This MAY work, will load setup from floppy, setup your partition, format, copy some setup files, reboot (insert usb cdrom drive w/ xp cd in it) and setup will start loading and hopefully detect / install your usb and continue with copying files from the cd like normal.
Otherwise you are stuck with your Desktop install w/ hardware patch and putting it back into the laptop - Good Luck and feel free to PM me
BTW - Welcome to the Forums - NBR is a good choice.

 

Hmmm .... quite a lot to digest! But all good info, thanks.

I think I will try your plan B: "Install Hardware patch (after setup and load for first time on desktop) n that allows XP to be installed on multiple PC without BSOD and put HD back into the laptop and install drivers, ect."

I'm guessing this means that after I setup and load onto the laptop drive I enter the serial number and let it finish loading completely, before I can install hardware patch, right?
BTW, would you mind sending it to me then?

Another question out of curiosity. You also said:
"XP is designed to install on one chipset, if you change chipsets after install it will BSOD when it hits the splash screen UNLESS the computers are running the same chipsets"
Does that go only for XP? That is, if I installed Win98 instead, is that able to work with different chipset than what it was installed with? Could I then replace the drive back into the laptop without having to do hardware patch (and then just upgrade to XP with the laptop)? Just curious.

again, thanks
JJC

 

Windows 98 SE is different, and reacts different to hardware changes based upon hardware specs. I have had loads of Windows 98 / SE motherboard moves without fresh load and many different experiences. Sometimes it would just work, boot right into Windows98 and go through finding hardware, installing what it can and then letting you install the rest through Windows 98 Device manager / setup executibles that install the drivers for you. I have had it where Win98 would not boot with other hardware, or there was a conflicting persay modem or device, boot into safe mode and a lot of times it would start installs and at least get me into Windows, then I could reboot back into normal mode and the drivers it was stuck on safe mode fixed, proceed with device driver installs and ready to go. Some would crash / BSOD / lockup in normal and safe mode. Some could be fixed with replace of a system file or 2, some just had to have a load of win98 over the top, holding the data but just repairing core files to Windows. Some just didn't' work at all, data backup and fresh load of windows was required. Alot of times before moving a Win98 load to another machine (or replacement motherboard / upgrade) I would make sure I cleaned up the machine, removed adware/spyware/check for viruses. Run System File Checker, defrag the HD, remove AV when I am done, uninstall device drivers ( so no previous drivers could conflict). Then pop it into the replacement hardware and 9/10 it worked.
Within MS licensing (with XP) says that is not allowed. Thats why it acts different, and is made to crash if changing hardware.
I will send the hardware patch, PM me a personal email addy - I will include exact instructions on what to do and how specifically to install it for your situation.