PCMCIA boot

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Wires_are_bad, Jul 14, 2009.

  1. Wires_are_bad

    Wires_are_bad Nibble Poster

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    I've been racking my brains with what seems to be quite a simple problem - but one I can't seem to figure out!!

    I've recently had a boot problem with my Toshiba Portege R200 and to be honest I'd like to do a fresh install as it was getting clogged up with crap!

    I have an external Toshiba DVD-ROM drive (PCMCIA) but booting from this device doesn't seem to be supported in the BIOS. I'd like to boot from my Toshiba recovery disc and unpack the factory image onto the hard drive, overwriting the existing Windows installation.

    I've searched for a BIOS upgrade that supports PCMCIA booting (if this is actually possible) but the Toshiba site doesn't seem to offer a revision that supports this.

    So I thought I'd try creating a bootable USB flash drive and placing the recovery files onto it. All was going well until I had to convert the files into an image - magicISO only allows 300MB to be converted in the trial addition! (Money is tight and I would rather not purchase the full product yet).

    I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas on how I can boot to my recovery disc?

    Cheers!
     
    Certifications: Bsc Business I.T (2:1)
    WIP: A+ and N+
  2. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    This should help. Found it on the Toshiba forums for you - Link

    (It's for the M200 and not the R200, but I'm sure it'll work just fine. Flash drive will work instead of floppy/SD too)

    Else remove the drive and mount/attach it to your PC using a suitable cradle.

    Either or. :)

    Hope this helps.

    Qs
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  3. LukeP

    LukeP Gigabyte Poster

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    I had similar problem some time ago and I couldn't get it to work. At the end I gave up and I took the hard drive out. Did what had to be done and I put it back into the laptop.

    :(
     
    WIP: Uhmm... not sure
  4. Wires_are_bad

    Wires_are_bad Nibble Poster

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    Thanks guys!

    Qs i', trying those steps right now. I feel a bit demoralised that I wasn't able to do this without some help :(:p

    I'm just happy it wasn't overly simple! I tell you, working in IT and everyone (i.e non IT people) assumes that you're able to magically do anything!
     
    Certifications: Bsc Business I.T (2:1)
    WIP: A+ and N+
  5. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    No problem. Let us know how you get on.

    Pulling rabbits out of hats is my favourite trick :p

    Qs
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  6. Wires_are_bad

    Wires_are_bad Nibble Poster

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    Qs - you legend! It's just unpacking the image onto my hard drive now! (Noticed Toshiba's recovery disc is using Norton Ghost which I use at work).

    Thanks again! Hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem too.
     
    Certifications: Bsc Business I.T (2:1)
    WIP: A+ and N+
  7. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I believe what QS said will work but I suggest in the future getting Acronis it's going cheap at the moment.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  8. Wires_are_bad

    Wires_are_bad Nibble Poster

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    Acronis is imaging software isn't it? I have Norton Ghost so I suppose I could have used that instead!

    If I created a bootable floppy with DOS and the Ghost application, I'm guessing that I could have somehow stuck the driver for the CD drive on there and then retreive the image from CD.

    Another solution that I could have gone for would have been to stick the image on a share on my network and created a network boot disc to retrieve it onto the laptop.

    Thanks for the alternative ideas greenbrucelee 8)
     
    Certifications: Bsc Business I.T (2:1)
    WIP: A+ and N+
  9. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Glad it's sorted :)

    Qs
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  10. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    If you're coming along to the GTG I'm sure we'd love to see that magic trick :wink:
     
    Certifications: SIA DS Licence
    WIP: A+ 2009

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