toshiba vista laptop being really stupid at 'applying final configuration'

[bearsafruit]

all you need to know is that i tried installing vista onto this toshiba model p205-s6337. and it is almost finished installing when it says it has to apply final configurations, but then the screen goes black and blank. i can't get task manager up, i have tried reinstalling, cleaning the disks, repairing, safe mode, messing around with BIOS, ( i set it back to default and it still doesnt work), booting from DVD, turning off wireless connection, not interrupting it, destroying my whole hard drive and reinstalling vista, and waiting for something to happen for 8 hours. nothing worked. if you google 'toshiba vista applying final configuration' you'll get a bunch of people who have similar problems as me, but at least their laptops are restarting automatically- mine won't restart (i waited for it to do something for 8 hours and it didn't.) so i have to manually do it. is there anything.. thanks

[Allan]

Actually that's not all we need to know. Is this an original, Vista retail disc, a copy, or a recovery disc?

[bearsafruit]

its the recovery discs that i bought.. oh here, ill copy and paste this...


My Toshiba Laptop cannot start Windows Vista? (specifically, freezes at 'Applying Final Configuration'?

FYI: This question is really long, so read only if you think you may have a possible answer. Thanks.

I want to know if my problem is hardware related or OS related.
I have a Toshiba laptop, model p205-s6337. Today I installed Windows Vista on it, because we have not used it for years because it crashed on us and we could not find the recovery discs. Today we found them.
I did NOT use the Microsoft Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD to install Vista. I used the two Toshiba Recovery and Applications Drivers Discs and started the Toshiba Recovery Wizard to install Vista. These discs can only be used with toshiba model p200/p205 series.

After my laptop erased all partitions on it, recovered to factory default, and then installed Vista, it boots up Vista, and after going through screens that say "Please wait a moment while Windows prepares to start for the first time...", "Please Wait", several black screens, and then the computer restarts and boots it up again, shows the Windows logo, and I see the desktop for a few seconds, until a window appears:

Applying Final Configuration
Please Wait
This may take several minutes
System will reboot upon configuration
DO NOT INTERRUPT(in red letters)

And then the screen goes blank and black, you can't even see the mouse. It's been that way for about an hour now; I'm still waiting for it to do something as I type these letters. I don't think it is doing anything, because I don't hear any noises from it. There is nothing external plugged into it except the power cable, no USB, no disc. I have tried reinstalling, but nothing changed, I have tried booting in safe mode, and a dialog box appears which says I cannot complete the installation in Safe Mode. The screen isn't truly turned off: It looks as if it would be in hibernate mode or something, but it isn't- I gave the mouse a jiggle now and then and nothing changes.

I don't know if something is wrong with the hardware of the laptop, or if it simply takes this long. I suspect something is wrong with the laptop, because it says it should only take a 'few minutes'

[bearsafruit]

when i say it's been like that for an hour, actually it's been that way for 8 hours. i haven't interrupted it, but i don't know what to do.

[Salmon Trout]

all you need to know

Funny how that phrase (or a post embodying that sentiment) makes me deeply unwilling to consider helping...

[bearsafruit]

why is it Funny? I'm not really amused. But go on.

[Allan]

He's saying that's a bad way to start your first post on a forum, but let's move past that.

Three thoughts for you:

1) I seem to recall that Toshiba had some problematic recovery discs. You might want to contact them and request a replacement.
2) I read in another forum that you might want to try the installation after disabling the wireless switch on the front left of the laptop. You said you disabled wireless - is that how you did it?
3) If the disc is good and the wireless is off, it's possible there is a problem with ram. You might want to download and run a diagnostic on your memory.

[bearsafruit]

yes, that is how i turned off the wireless connection. i have already ran the memory diagnostic thing yesterday, but where do i see the results? and yes, i guess ill have to give the toshiba crew a call.

[Allan]

How did you run it? Most memory diagnostics require you to boot to a cd and run the test from there. When the test is finished the results will be displayed on the screen. Try memtest (http://www.memtest.org/)

[bearsafruit]

it comes with the recovery disks, but it didnt show me the results. you're saying i should download this ISO and burn to a dvd?

[Allan]

I would, yes. It's one of the best memory diagnostic utilities available. At the very least you can rule out the ram as a potential problem before calling Toshiba.

[bearsafruit]

alright ill give it a shot

[bearsafruit]

k, i put it in the laptop and booted it. now i have this blue screen that says Memtestv86 4.10, but what do i do from here? i dont see any instructions.

[bearsafruit]

its showing me all the settings.. um did it already complete the diagnostics, or what do i do?

[bearsafruit]

it says memory: 2038M 2222MB/s. I dont have any clue what this means except something has 2222 megabytes of something in a second.

[bearsafruit]

whatever. i guess we'll just have to call toshiba then. they will probably charge us through the nose for this, though..

[Allan]

You need to run the test. And I'm deleting your other post.

[bearsafruit]

how do i run the test?

[bearsafruit]

i dont know how. enter doesnt do anything, there's nothing on the screen that says' run test', there's no mouse,  the arrow keys dont do anything. what do i do here?

[Allan]

I'm not sure if the diagnostic kicks in automatically or not. This may help: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

[bearsafruit]

it didn't say anything about how to start the test. hm... maybe this means my ram IS broken.

[Allan]

Your ram isn't broken. When you boot to the disc you created does the test begin?

[bearsafruit]

no, it doesn't begin. it says this:
Memtest86 v4.10
Intel Core 2 1729 MHz
L1 cache: 32k 24353 mb/s
l2 cache: 2048k 11301 mb/s
l3 cache: none
memory: 2038m 2222mb/s :---------------------------------------…
chipset: intel i945gm/pm (ecc: disabled)- fsb : 133 Mhz- Type : DDR2
settings: Ram: 221 Mhz(DDR443)/ CAS: 4-4-4-12/ Dual channel (Interleaved)


512k e820 off

Memory SPD Informations
--------------------------------------…

[bearsafruit]

you know what, ill just use the memory diagnostics that came with the toshiba recovery disc, since that one was MADE for this laptop.

[Allan]

Okay

[bearsafruit]

okay, i started the windows memory diagnostics tool, its running test pass 1 of 2, but at the bottom it says:

Windows will restart the computer automatically. Test results will be displayed again after you log on.

See, that's the problem- I can't log on. As soon as I try, the stupid Applying Final Configuration pops up and blanks the screen out and then i have to manually turn the laptop off and back on, so i can't see the results.

[killerb255]

@bearsafruit:

You're making this harder than it needs to be.

When you see the blue Memtest 86 screen, you don't have to do anything!!!  It starts automatically!

Pay attention to the top of the Memtest 86 screen.  It goes through a series of tests, and once the slower bar gets to 100%, it's gone through a "pass."  If you see ANY red on the bottom of the screen, that means you have bad RAM.  After about two passes or so, if you don't see any red, then your RAM should be good.

[bearsafruit]

to killerb: too late, i already started the windows memory diagnostics tool. but when i tried using that memtest, there was no bar at the top that went through tests. like i said, it showed and only showed this:

no, it doesn't begin. it says this:
Memtest86 v4.10
Intel Core 2 1729 MHz
L1 cache: 32k 24353 mb/s
l2 cache: 2048k 11301 mb/s
l3 cache: none
memory: 2038m 2222mb/s :---------------------------------------…
chipset: intel i945gm/pm (ecc: disabled)- fsb : 133 Mhz- Type : DDR2
settings: Ram: 221 Mhz(DDR443)/ CAS: 4-4-4-12/ Dual channel (Interleaved)


512k e820 off

Memory SPD Informations
--------------------------------------…
i waited a few minutes, but it hadn't done anything, so i assumed it either didn't work on toshibas, or windows vista, or both. thanks for trying to help though.

[bearsafruit]

it's as i expected- the windows memory diagnostics tools finished, it rebooted vista, then showed the applying final config again and blanked out. i have no other option but to call toshiba.

[killerb255]

What Service Pack level is your Windows Vista Toshiba recovery disc at?  If it's less than Service Pack 2, then have Toshiba send you updated discs...