Help with Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet PC

[Deozaan]

Hi all,

A friend of mine has a Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet PC that's so infested with viruses and who knows what that the PC doesn't even know how to run exe files anymore. Nothing runs except Internet Explorer.

My friend would have just formatted and reinstalled himself, but the machine doesn't have an optical drive. I have an external drive I can plug an optical drive into, and have done that. But I can't figure out how to get the machine to boot from CD. I don't even know how to get into the BIOS.

Pushing F8 brings up an advanced boot menu which has options to boot into safe mode or reboot or boot normally, etc. Pressing F2 or F12 shows a few images: The first one looks like 3 CDs stacked on top of each other. The next one looks like a single CD. The next one looks like an SD card and a floppy disk. The next one looks like two computers networked together. And the final one looks like a stick of RAM.

I interpret these to mean: Boot from HDD, boot from CD, boot from floppy/removable media, boot from LAN, and possibly access BIOS? The problem is that they all go straight into booting Windows except boot from LAN, which tries to access something on the LAN.

So I can't tell if the machine even recognizes the external (USB) optical drive because I can't check the BIOS and I can't figure out how to get the machine to boot from CD. It does recognize it from within Windows and even launches the Auto Run menu, but when I click the button to install Windows it doesn't do anything, probably because the machine doesn't know how to run exe files.

Does anyone who has used a Portege, perhaps even this model, have any tips on how to get the machine to boot from CD or get into the BIOS? I don't have the instruction manual or any of the original information that might have come with the Portege.

Any useful information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[mouser]

i have an old hand me down portege (older model than yours) and it's a nice machine.
it also does uses an external optical cd rom.

my memory is that you can't just boot with any external cd rom -- to boot from cd you need their proprietary cdrom drive (or one made specifically to be compatible); that's my memory.

the boot from lan option sounds like something you should investigate -- i've never used it but it seems like it could be the way to go.

[app103]

boot up into safe mode

go to start> run

• type in "command" without the quotes.
• then hit enter
• type in "notepad" without the quotes.
• then hit enter

When notepad opens, type this in:

[Select]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"

(there is a space before the second %)

save it to the desktop as fixexe.reg and then run it.

You should be able to run exe files now.

I had a similar problem recently with some nasty malware on my daughter's laptop, and this was how I fixed that. Then you can run malwarebytes to find & remove it while you are still in safemode.

[app103]

Once you get his machine cleaned up, uninstall all versions of Java, flash, and shockwave.

Reboot!

Then download latest versions of all 3 and reinstall.

Disable Java in whatever browser he uses so he won't get reinfected.

I also suggest running Spybot and using the vaccinate feature, with all browsers closed.

If he is a firefox user (I hope he is) at the very least, install ad block and flash block. If he can handle it, skip flashblock and go for noscript.

And if he has been playing any facebook games, get a list for me. I am trying to track down the source of malware that keeps infecting my daughter's pc and the only place she really goes is youtube, gmail, and facebook. I think it's coming from ads in one of the facebook games she plays but I don't know which one. (I am suspecting yoville)

[Deozaan]

boot up into safe mode

go to start> run

• type in "command" without the quotes.
• then hit enter
• type in "notepad" without the quotes.
• then hit enter

When notepad opens, type this in:

[Select]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"

(there is a space before the second %)

save it to the desktop as fixexe.reg and then run it.

You should be able to run exe files now.

-app103 (September 22, 2009, 01:29 PM)

Two problems:

1. Booting into safe mode and typing in "command" into the Run dialog says that Windows doesn't know how to run command.com.

I rebooted into Safe Mode with Command Prompt and then I was able to get notepad to run and safe the file, but then it didn't show any files on the desktop. So then I rebooted back into regular Safe mode and...

2. XP doesn't know how to run .reg files.

And since regedit is an exe, I can't manually enter that information either...

Do you have any other tips on any other methods to modify the registry?

Thanks!

[app103]

Does the malware have a name? Does it pop up any kind of windows that could help identify what it is? Usually a Google search will turn up some ways to remove it and undo it's damage. I am suspecting it is some sort of fake antivirus/security product, so be alert to anything popping up complaining of malware or some other sort of "attacks".

[app103]

Save the .reg file at the root of the C drive and you should be able to easily find it from Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Even if you can't see the file, knowing what you named it and where you saved it should allow you to open it.

[Deozaan]

Save the .reg file at the root of the C drive and you should be able to easily find it from Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Even if you can't see the file, knowing what you named it and where you saved it should allow you to open it.

-app103 (September 23, 2009, 04:41 PM)

I just tried that and even from the command prompt when I attempt to run the .reg file it asks what program to open REG files with.

Unless there are any other tips, I think I don't have much choice but to format completely and reinstall... if I can find an external optical drive that works with this thing.

Does the malware have a name? Does it pop up any kind of windows that could help identify what it is? Usually a Google search will turn up some ways to remove it and undo it's damage. I am suspecting it is some sort of fake antivirus/security product, so be alert to anything popping up complaining of malware or some other sort of "attacks".

-app103 (September 23, 2009, 04:37 PM)

No. The only thing that pops up is a Windows Security Alert that says that Avast! is out of date.

[Deozaan]

Well I ended up putting the hard drive into another machine that has an optical drive and installing Windows XP.

It appeared to work just fine in the machine I installed Windows on, but after moving the hard drive back into the Toshiba it won't boot windows. Watching the files load while attempting to boot into safe mode I see it gets stuck loading mup.sys.

So I put the hdd back into the laptop with an optical drive and installed Ubuntu. After swapping the hdd back into the Toshiba, Ubuntu boots perfectly. The only problem is that I don't think Ubuntu has any drivers or anything to make use of the touch screen. I can't say so for sure right now though, because I can't download drivers or updates to Ubuntu until I take the Toshiba somewhere I can plug it in using an ethernet cable.

Thanks for all the help.

[scancode]

What I did when I had a M200 is to connect the drive to a computer with a CD Drive, booted it using a Windows 98 Boot Floppy converted to CD, fdisk and format /s'd it, copied both Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CDs to \SETUPXP, put the drive back on the TabletPC, booted it up and ran \SETUPXP\I386\WINNT.EXE

Hope it helps.

[Deozaan]

What I did when I had a M200 is to connect the drive to a computer with a CD Drive, booted it using a Windows 98 Boot Floppy converted to CD, fdisk and format /s'd it, copied both Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CDs to \SETUPXP, put the drive back on the TabletPC, booted it up and ran \SETUPXP\I386\WINNT.EXE

Hope it helps.

-scancode (September 25, 2009, 01:07 AM)

Thanks, that's some progress. But I'm running into other problems.

When I type format c: /s it tells me "insufficient memory to load system files" and won't do it. Consequently, the drive won't boot without the boot disk in. I don't know why it thinks there isn't enough memory. The machine has 2GB of RAM in it.

Also, do you have any tips on how to quickly copy over the contents of the Windows XP CD? DOS can't copy subdirectories recursively so I had to manually create each directory and copy all the files over from each directory and subdirectory.

Thanks for the help!

[scancode]

What I did when I had a M200 is to connect the drive to a computer with a CD Drive, booted it using a Windows 98 Boot Floppy converted to CD, fdisk and format /s'd it, copied both Windows XP Tablet PC Edition CDs to \SETUPXP, put the drive back on the TabletPC, booted it up and ran \SETUPXP\I386\WINNT.EXE

Hope it helps.

-scancode (September 25, 2009, 01:07 AM)

Thanks, that's some progress. But I'm running into other problems.

When I type format c: /s it tells me "insufficient memory to load system files" and won't do it. Consequently, the drive won't boot without the boot disk in. I don't know why it thinks there isn't enough memory. The machine has 2GB of RAM in it.

Also, do you have any tips on how to quickly copy over the contents of the Windows XP CD? DOS can't copy subdirectories recursively so I had to manually create each directory and copy all the files over from each directory and subdirectory.

Thanks for the help!

-Deozaan (September 25, 2009, 05:20 PM)

a) I'll make you a custom ISO as soon as I get home, working overtime today
b) XCOPY

[Deozaan]

a) I'll make you a custom ISO as soon as I get home, working overtime today
b) XCOPY

-scancode (September 25, 2009, 05:53 PM)

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it!

[scancode]

a) I'll make you a custom ISO as soon as I get home, working overtime today
b) XCOPY

-scancode (September 25, 2009, 05:53 PM)

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it!

-Deozaan (September 26, 2009, 01:45 PM)

Damn, I forgot. Here you go, just tested!

Connect the M200 to a PC with a CD drive. Make sure there are no other drives attached.
Boot from the attached ISO.
Create a single partition with FDISK.
Reboot.
Run

[Select]

FORMAT C:
SYS C:
COPY HIMEM.SYS C:\
COPY XCOPY*.* C:\
COPY SMARTDRV.EXE C:\
ECHO DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS>C:\CONFIG.SYS
C:

Remove the boot CD, insert the XP Install CD.

[Select]

SMARTDRV
XCOPY R:\ C:\XPINST\ /S
SMARTDRV /C

It will throw up some errors, ignore it.

Remove the Install CD, insert the Tablet Components CD.

[Select]

XCOPY R:\ C:\XPINST\ /S
SMARTDRV /C

Turn off the computer, place drive in the M200, turn it on.
Type

[Select]

SMARTDRV
CD XPINST
CD I386
WINNT

Enjoy!

[scancode]

Just added instructions for copying the 2nd CD. Make sure you're using WinXP Tablet Edition and a WinXP TE Key or you'll have a hard time getting the stylus to work. By the way, the M200 is _not_ touchscreen =)

[Deozaan]

Thanks again for all the help. I'm running into another problem:

When trying to boot to the drive (on both the Toshiba and in the other machine with a CD drive) it says:

[Select]

GRUB Loading stage1.5.


GRUB loading. Please wait...
Error 22

And never brings up a prompt, so I can't do the last step of installing Windows XP.

I think that has something to do with the fact that I had Ubuntu installed on it earlier. But I deleted all partitions and formatted the disk, so I don't know how that is still on the hdd. Any tips on how to get rid of this GRUB loader?

[scancode]

Thanks again for all the help. I'm running into another problem:

When trying to boot to the drive (on both the Toshiba and in the other machine with a CD drive) it says:

[Select]

GRUB Loading stage1.5.


GRUB loading. Please wait...
Error 22

And never brings up a prompt, so I can't do the last step of installing Windows XP.

I think that has something to do with the fact that I had Ubuntu installed on it earlier. But I deleted all partitions and formatted the disk, so I don't know how that is still on the hdd. Any tips on how to get rid of this GRUB loader?

-Deozaan (September 27, 2009, 04:22 PM)

Boot from the Win98 boot CD, and type FDISK /MBR