Grasshopper Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 I've never experienced a HD failure before but...I think my new Toshiba A75-226 notebook computer's hard drive is kicking the bucket.Here is the progress of events:I upgraded to SP2 about 3 weeks ago. The computer seemed to boot slower but I just chalked it up to M$ shenanigans on boot up....OK. A week or so later I began to hear a light buzzing sound for a second or two just after power up. What happens is, the fans go full blast for a second or two at power up and then they go back down to light levels. And when the fans go down is when I began to hear the buzzing. I wasn't sure what it was but it didn't effect anything that I could tell. I had upgraded the wifi driver a long time ago due to some documented problems with the wifi and power management. Then the other night, I unhooked the computer to use it in another room on battery and wifi (it normally sits on my desk, hooked to power cord and to wired network). I am always very careful when I move my computer. So when I get to the other room, and try to boot up, I can't get past the Toshiba-labeled POST screen, prior to the WinXP, blue Welcome screen. I tried it a few times and I noticed that I did not hear that light buzzing at power up...hmmm. So I take it back to it's normal spot and tried to boot it. It worked. And I had heard the light buzzing (I'm assuming the HD). Note, the HD on this thing is extrememly quiet and I can only barely hear it with little fan and I cannot hear it when the fan kicks up to cool a hard-working CPU. So today, I try to boot the thing up, plugged in, and now I can't even get past the POST screen. I do not hear that light buzzing at power up, and that makes me think that the drive is bad. I have done everything by the book on this computer. No physical hanky-panky. I've treated it very well.Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 So even if you put your ear right next to the spot where your hard drive is inside the computer you cannot hear it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Nope. Although, I never was curious enough to memorize what the hard drive sounded like while spinning...so frame of reference isn't much to report.Since posting, I've tried to dig more on the net and lemme just say that I'm glad for the warranty that I bought... Although, I haven't done a full backup in a while. All I will have lost is a few unimportant email, some neat wallpapers recently downloaded and other miscellaneous junk that I'll never miss. Looks like I'll be heading to CompUSA this week. :'( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 OK...it sat overnight and it booted up....I'm never shutting it off again!! I was so excited to hear the buzzing sound...ugh...So after a full backup tonight when I get home, I'll try to reboot it and see if it craps out then it'll go to the store if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 I'm searching because I seemed to remember recently reading about a Toshiba notebook recall. Maybe your nb has something that is part of the recall.here's one:http://news.com.com/Toshiba+is+taking+back..._3-5435167.htmlmodels: http://www.toshibadirect.com/content/pc/b2c/CEP.htmlEarlier this year (April 2004), Toshiba recalled batteries installed in notebooks. I don't think that would apply as you said it is recently purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 If you suspect the hard drive I'd download and run The ulitimate boot cd on it and test it out.http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Nathan,I'll try that, though I'm not sure it's gonna work. It just depends on if has booted it's last time. I tried last night to boot to the recovery CD for giggles and it didn't work. In fact, I had to manually pop the CD drive open with a pen. The button didn't have any power.Thanks for the links, zlim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsden11 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 From a post I found:Things I don't like: very weak integrated wireless card, the buttons are smallish and made more for looks than funcionality, very weak volume on the sound I can barely hear a movie when I am using the built in speakers. I have this annoying buzzing sound that sounds like a flourescent light with a bad ballast it annoyes me to death when I am using it in a quiet room. I did send the unit in to the repair center, they replaced the entire LCD (which I didn't complain about). But the unti still has the buzz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Nathan,I'll try that, though I'm not sure it's gonna work. It just depends on if has booted it's last time. I tried last night to boot to the recovery CD for giggles and it didn't work. In fact, I had to manually pop the CD drive open with a pen. The button didn't have any power.Thanks for the links, zlim.That sounds like you've got a power problem not a hard drive problem. That would mean replacing the mainboard on the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 10, 2004 Author Share Posted November 10, 2004 I haven't had a chance to take it in yet...been busy...You know I have been able to tinker and theorize a bit and I've also given some thought to the power supply. I have no idea how they are set up on the laptop....Well, it's under warranty and I'm backed up and a second computer. I've got the day off tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 12, 2004 Author Share Posted November 12, 2004 Well, I dropped off at CompUSA and did all the monkey dancing like they require. It's still under manuf. warranty so they had to ship it off. I'm just glad I had time to backup. The tech there, who is certified to work on Toshiba laptops said that he would initially diagnose it with a PS failure with the second choice of the HD. I for one am hoping for the former. Even though I backed up, I would still like to go without reinstalling everything. And they charge you $70 for a backup prior to work on the machine....no thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patio Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 . I for one am hoping for the former. Even though I backed up, I would still like to go without reinstalling everything. And they charge you $70 for a backup prior to work on the machine....no thanks.I had never heard of this policy before...Thanx for the heads up and good luck with Toshiba.I hear they're pretty good though.patio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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