Serious help needed (Load Error! msg)

i've been trying to figure out what's wrong with my brother's laptop for a while now and i can't seem to fix it so i have to ask for some help. The problem is when I turn it on it pops up his first screen that says the name of the company and shows icons that let you select what the computer starts from i guess. And then after that a message pops up in a DOS style message that says "Load Error! Press a key to reboot...". Then if you press a button it just repeats the message. Then I tried running a restore CD that he has and i'm able to run that but then it goes right back to the same message.

So the only control over the computer i have is at the very first screen that lets you decide what it starts from. I think one time i was messing with it and got it to a DOS prompt but now i can't even remember how i did that. I thought about trying to find a program that would run in dos and could scan his computer of something to see if it can fix it but i don't know what program that would be and also i dont know how to get the dos prompt again. I am able to get into the BIOS though. And i am able to run a CD but that's it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. And if it helps i believe it runs Windows 98 because thats what the restore CD says its running, but theres a sticker that says Designed for Windows XP, but i doubt he has it.

Thanks,
Michael

 

I don't remember how i got the dos prompt though thats the problem. I have the recovery disc though and i'm able to run it, but i don't think it helps. Is there any program i can install onto a CD and be able to run it off the cd to scan the computer? Its not letting me onto windows at all so thats not an option, it has to somehow run before windows can even come up. So does anyone have any ideas on a program to use, or any other help that might fix it. Again my only options are that i CAN get into the bios, and i CAN run off a CD.

 

Ok nvm, i did manage to get the DOS prompt with F5, now ill try out the scandisk thing

 

What do the icons say on the first screen? Do you select any of them before you get the error message?

Try pressing and holding the ctrl key when rebooting and see if you get a start up menu. Choose safe mode and see if it starts up.

 

at the DOS prompt it starts as A: so i changed it to C: and did the scandisk and got nothing, so i did dir/w and it says C: has no label and file not found so nothing is on C:. So i went back to A: and did a dir/w and all thats on there is "Command.com Autoexec.bat getq.bat [bin] config.sys" thats it, then i went into the BIN and all thats in there is "banner.com chkwrite.exe rsp seq.exe toscdrom.sys himem.sys mscdex.exe smartdrv.exe" and thats it. So any other suggestions???

 

sach2 - they don't say anything they are just symbols. i think one represents the hard drive, one for the cd, and a few other ones. basically i think it lets you decide what the computer starts up from.

 

i believe the A: drive is his cd drive and i had the restore cd in there which is why it was saying A: had stuff in it, so i still need some help.

 

It sounds like you have no operating system on c: and are only seeing the bios screen.

Put the recovery disk in A: [the CD drive]
Restart and choose A: on the icon screen
When you get the command prompt type C:
Then do a DIR

Are any files found?

 

Okay, I reread your posts and you have already done what I just said. If there is nothing on C: then you should just load up the operating system. The restore CD you have is a full copy of Windows? What happens when you run it. Does it load up files and go through a full install?

 

thats what i was saying, there aren't any files or anything on drive C:. I have a Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD that came with the computer which is what i try to run. But i don't think we have an actual Windows 98 cd or dvd that we would be able to run, i figured the restore disc would have it but i guess not. So i'm thinking the C: drive was cleared with the restore but there was nothing to restore with it maybe. Any ideas?

 

What exactly is on the recovery DVD? Can you determine the total size of the files on the DVD [ie. 100mb or 500mbs?]. I would think if you put the recovery DVD and boot from it you should get a menu not just a command prompt. It should give you choices like repair drivers or repair OS.

 

when i boot from the cd it says in the Dos style message "Starting Windows 98", then it begins to run TOSHIBA Restore Tool 7.5.1, i don't remember what it does after that so im running it again, and ill let everyone know. I'm pretty sure it says remove the disc and press any key to continue, but then it goes back to the load error i believe. But we'll see....

 

the above post says what happens when i just boot the restore disc directly, and this is what the DOS prompt says is on the cd "Command.com Autoexec.bat getq.bat [bin] config.sys" thats it, then i went into the BIN and all thats in there is "banner.com chkwrite.exe rsp seq.exe toscdrom.sys himem.sys mscdex.exe smartdrv.exe" and thats it. I'm re-running the restore to see what it does again cause i can't remember exactly what it did before.

 

Check out the laptops manufacturer's site under support. If you have the model number there should be instructions on how to reload the OS there. Look under manuals for your model and get the online file. It will give you instructions on how to use their recovery disk.

 

It sounds to me like that might just be an emergency start up disk not a restore disk. A restore disk would have to have Windows .cab files on it. Are you sure that is the only disk you have from the laptop?

 

I'd have to search around for any other ones. The laptop was my older brother's and he wasn't really a computer person so who knows what he did with em and he got his own apartment recently so now it'll be even harder to find. I ran the boot disc again and after it finished it says Please remove all the disks and cds from the drives and press a key to continue. So i press a key and it restarts the computer, loads the Toshiba screen and then back to the Load Error message. I guess i gotta find his Windows Cd somewhere.

 

thanks for trying to help everyone, i'm giving up for the night and i'll try to find the windows cd and reply back for any other help. thanks again for trying.

 

Look at the Toshiba site it may be worth your while. What the name and model number of the laptop? I'll look it over and see if I can come up with any suggestions.

Also check at the command prompt for any other partitions. Type D: E: just in case there is a recovery partition.