Recovery of a Toshiba to its factory defaults is helpful in many cases. It can fix software issues and help to remove malware that has taken over the computer. It is possible to do this on many computers by using the Windows recovery partition in Windows Vista and Windows 7. These are the steps specific to a Toshiba Satellite C655-S5132.
NOTE: While this model is no longer sold by Micro Center or the manufacturer, this information may still be useful to those using this model of computer.
- Power off the computer. If it will not shut down normally, press and hold the power button until it powers off - about 20 seconds.
- Identify the F8 key at the top of the keyboard.
- Power on the computer and begin to tap on the F8 key about 1 time a second.
- If you see the computer boot back into windows for a login, you have missed the recovery screen, and will need to power off the computer and tap F8 a bit more quickly the next time.
- If you cannot get the repair menu screen to come up you may have a problem that needs serviced at Micro Center.
- At the repair menu you will see several options for Safe Mode, Safe Mode with networking, and Repair your computer as well as others. Choose Repair your computer by using the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the highlight up and down. When Repair your Computer is highlighted you can press the enter key to go into that menu.
- The next menu will have the following items:
- Startup repair
- System Restore
- System Image recovery
- Windows memory Diagnostics
- Command Prompt
- Toshiba Recovery Wizard - Choose this menu item by using the arrow keys to move the highlight and press enter.
- The next menu will have the following items:
- Recovery of factory default software
- This will erase the partition information and reformat the drive. ALL DATA WILL BE LOST! It restores the computer to the state it was in when it was new without any data. After completion the computer will need to be set up again just like when it was first purchased.
- Recovery of factory default software with user data
- This does not partition or format the drive, but replaces all the windows software and original folders. Your programs that were added after you purchased the computer will need to be reinstalled.
- Erase the hard disk.
- Choose the recovery option above that best suits your needs.
- The system will now start the recovery you requested. This will take about 1 hour and the system may reboot several times as it sets itself up.
