Hi, i dropped my Toshiba satilite L20
now its acting weird, sometimes it boots up, but if it deos its very slow, sometimes it doesnt boot at all just get to xp boot screen, then hangs nd somethime i just get a white screen ???
what can i do??
does anybody know of some exelent diag tools? the built in toshiba tools are a bit simple (they dont show anything)
Thanks,
Seywar

I suggest using a laptop diagnostic card to see if all your hardware is working correctly to make sure nothing was broken.

I havent got a laptop diagnostic card and I think there is something wrong with the HDD, When i tries to load seagate tools in DOS it cant find my Hard Drive, it normally can detect it and when i tried to boot UBUNTU (Linux) Live CD, i got the error messages:
Buffer I/O Error on Device HDA logical block 8
Buffer I/O Error on Device HDA logical block 2
Buffer I/O Error on Device HDA logical block 0

The HDD is still working but not very well, could this be ust bad sectors???
is there a way i can set windows not to use the bad parts of the HDD?
Thanks,
Seywar

Try running Check Disk:

Go to start Run... and type: cmd

Then type: chkdsk /r

You will be told the volume is in use do you want to run chkdsk on next boot? Type: Y and reboot.

Originally Posted by jephree

Try running Check Disk:

Go to start Run... and type: cmd

Then type: chkdsk /r

You will be told the volume is in use do you want to run chkdsk on next boot? Type: Y and reboot.

Ive tried that, when it finished it wouldnt boot at all, i tried to reinstall using XP install disk it couldnt reconise my HDD so i had to reinstall with my factory restore disk.

You might want to start shopping for a hard drive.

You could remove and replace the current drive to check the connection.

I think ill have a look around, why is my screen going white when i switch on my laptop (doesnt happen all the time) it works through my monitor, but i have a dodgey connection where the monitor plugs into my pc.
Thanks,
Seywar

Laptop screens are connected via wires through the hinges.

Again might just be a loose connection.

On most laptops you are talking about some major dis-assembly at this point.

Removing the keyboard etc.

Of course there is always the option of taking it to a shop.

Not really major the pannel just unclips, made sure the cable was in properly, still not working, could this be a problem with the motherboard?

BTW: no shops round by me will even look at laptops, nevermind repair them, if you want somthing doing round here you have to do it yourself.