Toshiba has some models that need BIOS updates, motherboard changes, driver updates and so on. Their service centers usually cover this if you call in.
Your post tells of the usual issues but didn't reveal if you made the call, researched Toshiba's web site and if you are sure there is no pest, SONY ROOTKIT (google.com), virus, trojan, spyware or such on your machine.
Cheers,
Bob
I have a Toshiba Satellite P25-S607, running Windows XP MCE. I normally don't shut it down, just leave it running and close the lid to send it into standby when I'm not using it. Generally it runs very well -- I can usually go a couple of weeks at a time before I need to shut down and reboot (you know, to clear out the cyber-cobwebs 
).
The reboot is where the problem sometimes comes in -- this was originally very intermittent but is becoming more frequent. If I shut down and then reboot by pressing the power button, as often as not I'll just get a black screen. (More recently, this will sometimes happen as well if I choose Restart as opposed to a full shut down and restart by the power button.) When I first push the button, I'll see a split second where the black screen is backlit and the hard drive indicator light indicates hard drive activity. Then the backlight disappears and the hard drive stops spinning -- I can hear the CD drive spin up and the fans running, but that's it. This will happen repetitively, but if I walk away and come back later it will boot up without a problem. I've wondered if this indicates something is overheated, but I don't feel any real hot areas on the case. My thought was that the hard drive might be going bad, but once it's gotten past that first few seconds (is it going to boot up or isn't it???) it's fine, no problem at all with hard drive activity. I've also heard this may also indicate a motherboard problem. I'm not sure how to proceed as far as diagnosing/troubleshooting, but with the problem becoming more pronounced I feel some urgency to get it taken care of. If anyone has any ideas about this, I'd greatly appreciate it -- TIA!
I've searched through Toshiba's web site but have found nothing that addresses this specific problem. I also run the Toshiba Software Upgrades utility regularly for available updates, and everything is current. Really, this doesn't strike me as a BIOS or driver issue -- given the fact that the problem has been sporadic and has increased slowly but steadily from extremely infrequent to semi-regular, my gut feeling is that it's a slow failure of some hardware component. If you or anyone else can offer further thoughts or advice, I'd appreciate it -- thanks!
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