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How to restore Toshiba satellite laptop when holding 0 doesn't work

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  • Laptops
  • Hard Drives
  • Toshiba
Last response: in Laptop Tech Support
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October 6, 2014 7:52:29 AM

Hello! I have a Toshiba Satellite A205 S4577 that has issues. I would like to reset it to give to my mother.
A few years ago, a friend of mine reset the hard drive and created a partition...im not sure why or how he did what he did but i can only assume that is the issue.
When I hold zero, the system beeps but the warning screen never appears. I do not have the recovery disk; is there an alternate way to perform a factory reset?

More about : restore toshiba satellite laptop holding work

October 6, 2014 10:55:34 AM

You don't necessarily need a recovery disk. Any Windows installation disk will work, or even a bootable USB drive with the Windows files on it. The only thing you'd need is the product key to activate it. If that is not printed on your laptop/packaging/manual somewhere, you can try to call Toshiba who might be able to provide you with that information after verifying your purchase.

My guess is that whatever your friend did wiped out the recovery partition that most laptops seem to come with in lieu of a physical disk. Not a big deal, just find/create some new installation media.
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October 6, 2014 3:38:19 PM

If you can get into Windows still, use the built-in Reset feature to launch the factory recovery.

1. From the Start screen, type reset to open the Search charm, and then select Remove everything and reinstall Windows from the search results.

2. Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, click Get started.

3. On the Reset your PC screen, click Next.

If you can't get into Windows and the 0 (zero) key isn't getting you into the recovery, it could be that the recovery partition is damaged or missing. Your only other options then is to reinstall Windows from scratch, or purchase the recovery media for the laptop from Toshiba.
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October 8, 2014 5:24:02 PM

Titillating said:
You don't necessarily need a recovery disk. Any Windows installation disk will work, or even a bootable USB drive with the Windows files on it. The only thing you'd need is the product key to activate it. If that is not printed on your laptop/packaging/manual somewhere, you can try to call Toshiba who might be able to provide you with that information after verifying your purchase.

My guess is that whatever your friend did wiped out the recovery partition that most laptops seem to come with in lieu of a physical disk. Not a big deal, just find/create some new installation media.


Thank you for your reponse. How would i get the Windows file? Is it somewhere online for download?
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October 8, 2014 5:37:22 PM

Prostar Computer said:
If you can get into Windows still, use the built-in Reset feature to launch the factory recovery.

1. From the Start screen, type reset to open the Search charm, and then select Remove everything and reinstall Windows from the search results.

2. Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, click Get started.

3. On the Reset your PC screen, click Next.

If you can't get into Windows and the 0 (zero) key isn't getting you into the recovery, it could be that the recovery partition is damaged or missing. Your only other options then is to reinstall Windows from scratch, or purchase the recovery media for the laptop from Toshiba.


Thank you for your response. I can get into Windows just fine. I typed reset int he start search and found 'Restore'. There is also a link for Advanced recovery methods with 2 options. "Use a system image you created earlier to recover you computer" however, no image was ever created; and "Reinstall Windows (requires Windows installation disc)" and I don't have the disc
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October 9, 2014 9:11:02 AM

CoCoNicole said:
Thank you for your response. I can get into Windows just fine. I typed reset int he start search and found 'Restore'. There is also a link for Advanced recovery methods with 2 options. "Use a system image you created earlier to recover you computer" however, no image was ever created; and "Reinstall Windows (requires Windows installation disc)" and I don't have the disc


You're welcome, Nicole! Are you running Windows 7 or Windows 8(.1)?
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October 9, 2014 3:47:37 PM

Prostar Computer said:
CoCoNicole said:
Thank you for your response. I can get into Windows just fine. I typed reset int he start search and found 'Restore'. There is also a link for Advanced recovery methods with 2 options. "Use a system image you created earlier to recover you computer" however, no image was ever created; and "Reinstall Windows (requires Windows installation disc)" and I don't have the disc


You're welcome, Nicole! Are you running Windows 7 or Windows 8(.1)?


When i purchased it, it had Windows Vista but is now running Windows 7
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October 10, 2014 9:49:25 AM

Ah. The directions I listed were for Windows 8, so you would need to go about things differently in 7. My guess is that the original recovery partition was done away with when Windows 7 was installed. You can confirm whether it's there or not by doing the following:

Click on the Start button
Type 'disk manage' in search field
Click on "Create and format hard disk partitions" in search results
Look for anything that says "Recovery" or "OEM" partition in the Disk Management window

If it's not there, I'm afraid your only option is to reinstall Windows or contact Toshiba for recovery media (which they charge for if they can supply it). Note that if the laptop originally came with Vista, recovery media will reinstall Vista.

If your friend created a back up image for Windows 7, you may be able to use that. You just need to find it.
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October 13, 2014 5:09:34 PM

Prostar Computer said:
Ah. The directions I listed were for Windows 8, so you would need to go about things differently in 7. My guess is that the original recovery partition was done away with when Windows 7 was installed. You can confirm whether it's there or not by doing the following:

Click on the Start button
Type 'disk manage' in search field
Click on "Create and format hard disk partitions" in search results
Look for anything that says "Recovery" or "OEM" partition in the Disk Management window

If it's not there, I'm afraid your only option is to reinstall Windows or contact Toshiba for recovery media (which they charge for if they can supply it). Note that if the laptop originally came with Vista, recovery media will reinstall Vista.

If your friend created a back up image for Windows 7, you may be able to use that. You just need to find it.


The Partition is not there...oh well! Thanks so much for your help!
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a b D Laptop
October 14, 2014 3:21:01 PM

CoCoNicole said:
The Partition is not there...oh well! Thanks so much for your help!


You're welcome!
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