Toshiba Satellite A105-S4284 Troubleshooting

‘’The battery used to last 2 hours but now it only lasts an hour.’’

Ensure the plug is fully seated. Trace the wire back and make sure the plug is fully seated in the powerblock/outlet.

Turn over the laptop, release the battery lock and slide the release and pull battery out. Check the metal connectors, blow them out like an old Nintendo game. Then re-insert the battery. Note: Please make sure the computer is off and not plugged in.

Fully charge the battery then turn it on, leave it on till it shuts itself off, then repeat 3 times.

‘’You turn on the switch/press the button and nothing happens.’’

Turn over the laptop, release the battery lock and slide the release. Check the metal connectors, blow them out like an old Nintendo game. Then re-insert the battery. Note: Please make sure the computer is off and not plugged in.

If applicable trace the cord back to the wall, make sure the plug is fully inserted; plug in a lamp to make sure the outlet has power.

Make sure when the switch is slid to the power on position that you feel the switch detents engage. and that the switch travels the full length of the slide.

‘’It seems like everything is working but I just can’t see what’s happening.’’

Locate the function switch and the f-key associated with the external monitor setting, press it several times to toggle through the different settings. If that is not the case adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen by using the buttons indicated on the keyboard.

If there is an image but it just doesn't look quite right, make sure to re-install or update the drivers. Depending on your OS find the device manager page right click on the Display/Monitor, click on properties, then the drivers tab, click the button labeled update drivers. Allow the OS to look for newer versions of the driver online.

If you can see the screen very dimly and only in certain light first try adjusting the brightness settings using the hard keys on the keyboard. If this does not help the most likely cause is that the backlight has failed and you will need to replace it.

‘’ The computer won’t read any CD’s or DVD’s.’’

Eject the disk, replace the disk in the correct orientation. Note: the label of the CD should be facing upwards.

Eject the disk, fog with your breath and use a soft cloth to wipe down the disk.

Eject the disk and gently pull on the open tray, wiggle side to side if there is excessive motion. If so the drive may need to be firmly pressed back into the laptop fully.

‘’ There is no data reading from all the parts of the laptop/ it failed the power on self test.’’

Rapidly press DEL key after power on. This should put you in the BIOS setup screen. If your computer crashes before it gets to this point it is most likely a corrupted BIOS.

If applicable. At the starting screen hit the ESC, F2 or F12 key (whichever pertains to your computer) and from there back up the BIOS, update it and restart the computer. If it does not work on the starting screen then you can look under Hardware and Sound and find it there. Note: Make sure your computer is plugged in or fully charged. Reference this page if you do not know how to update the BIOS: https://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/HTD9502M... .

‘’The computer starts and I see the TOSHIBA screen but after that I get nothing.’’

Make sure that you can feel/hear the hard drive moving.

Rapidly press DEL key after power on. This should put you in the BIOS setup screen. Go to the section labeled Boot Order. Make sure that your hard-drive is First in the order.

If the laptop is new to you, you may not have an operating system installed. If you do not place a bootable disk in your Optical Drive and try restarting the computer.

‘’ The touch pad does not respond, it lags or it moves too quickly. ‘’

Check to make sure that a USB device is not stopping it from working. Make sure that the mouse has not been disabled in the BIOS by checking in the control panel. The computer might not have updated the touchpad correctly or it is a hardware malfunction and you have to replace it.

Make sure that the computer is powered off, take a soft cloth and gently wipe the touchpad off, if that does not work then take a computer safe disinfectant and wipe it down with that.

Enter the control panel, click on mouse utility, locate and click on device setting then follow the directions to calibrate the mouse.

‘’ There is no sound coming from the computer.’’

Press the Volume Up key several times. Note: The volume bar that appears on the bottom of the screen.

Enter your device manager program and click on the audio icon. Make sure that the laptop speakers are selected as primary audio source and that they are enabled.

Locate the Headphone Jack on the outside of the computer and verify that no foreign objects are present.

Device Page