Fingerprint Reader …. Neat but …..
My Toshiba Satellite U205 has a fingerprint reader. It’s kinda neat when it functions properly but can be a pain when it doesn’t recognize your fingerprint. I found out that it can be a REAL pain when the fingerprint reader malfunctions and you have some important files in “My Safe.” When you register your fingerprints, the software asks you to create a backup password in case of fingerprint reader malfunction, so the computer not recognizing your fingerprint is not a disaster. As long as you remember the backup password, there is a way out.

Reinstalling the software: Protector Suite QL
If the problem persists, you can remove and reinstall the fingerprint reading software, Protector Suite QL. The reinstallation of the software should not affect the files inside.

Crash and Safe Mode Operation
The real disaster occurred when my laptop crashed and could only be booted to a safe mode. I learned a hard way that the fingerprint reader didn’t work in a safe mode. Of course, I couldn’t find my backup password. I got locked out of My Safe. I have PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) installed on my laptop, so all my very important files were encrypted with PGP and NOT stored in “My Safe.” But I had a few personal files there. I wanted to retrieve them but couldn’t find a way to do so. If you search on the internet for “My Safe fingerprint problem,” you’ll see there are other people who lost the contents of My Safe.

As I restored the factory default setting on my laptop, I lost contents of My Safe. I didn’t lose any other personal data as I was able to move all my personal files, including pgp-encrypted files, to an external hard drive.

So, the moral of the story is “DO NOT USE MY SAFE.”

Don’t get me wrong. Other than the mishap I described here, I’m very happy with my Toshiba.

I encountered a problem when I tried to do a screen capture with my new Compaq laptop with Vista Premium on it. The normal method, which is pressing ALT+Prt SC or CTRL+ALT+Prt SC didn’t work. Then, I figured out that pushing “FN” (function, a key on the lower-left corner) and Prt SC (the same as “home” key on the upper-right corner) does the work. As is most of the computers these days, this laptop doesn’t come with a hardcopy of Users’ Manual, so I needed to do some internet searches to figure this out.

All right. I bought myself a new laptop. It’s Compaq Presario Laptop with AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor. As you can see in this post, my laptop (Toshiba Satellite) crashed and I restored the factory default. Toshiba worked fine but it was about time to be replaced. So, I did a quick search on the internet and picked this one. Ideally, I wanted to get one with Windows XP but all new laptops seem to be loaded with Vista. The specs of Presario seem to fit my needs at this time. When I bought Toshiba, I was traveling regularly, so the size and the weight were my major factors. But not now. I wanted an affordable laptop that’s reliable and more RAM and disk space. My Compaq Presario comes with:

• AMD Athlon™ X2 QL-62* dual-core processor
• 2GB DDR2 memory (expandable to 4GB)
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
• 15.6″ WXGA widescreen display with BrightView technology
• 250GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8200M graphics
• Integrated microphone
• 5-in-1 media reader
• 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
• Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
• Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN
• Weighs 6.5 lbs. and measures just 1.7″ thin
• Good battery life of up to 2 hours and 30 minutes
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1) preinstalled

So far so good. It’s not sluggish as I was afraid. The screen is wide and bright. I need to test the battery life, though. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase as it was only $429.00 at BestBuy.

Considering I paid over $1,100 for my old Toshiba, it was a good deal.

One thing to note is that this laptop comes with 32bit version of Windows Vista. I have a friend who bought a higher-end Compaq Presario with 64bit Vista, and she’ been having problems installing her old software. So far, all the software I have got installed without problems on my new laptop.

My laptop wasn’t working well, so I restored the factory default settings. It’s working fine now, but I am now in search of my next one. I noticed that laptop prices have been going down dramatically. So, buying a new laptop is not too big of a deal these days. Still, I had to check out eBay to see what’s available there. Not bad. They have some nice ones there. Here are some listings for HP/Compaq.

US $15.00 (2 Bids) End Date: Monday May-21-2012 14:17:06 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $52.00 (2 Bids) End Date: Monday May-21-2012 9:08:01 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $49.00 (16 Bids) End Date: Monday May-21-2012 17:00:01 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $260.00 (20 Bids) End Date: Monday May-21-2012 16:15:25 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $22.50 (11 Bids) End Date: Monday May-21-2012 16:00:17 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

All Right. I restored the factory default from the restore CD that came with my laptop. I had time to back up all my personal files, most of which are music and video files, to an external HD, so there was no loss of data. The restoration process was tedious but not difficult. After the restore, my laptop has been behaving well, and I am determined not to clutter the lap top with lots of evaluation software. (Not sure how long it will last, though.)

I reinstalled most of the programs that I use frequently. I’ve got a few more to go, but I can wait until the weekend.

Toshiba Satellite A305-S6908 15.4-Inch Laptop ($679.99)

My 3-year-old laptop, Toshiba Satelie, started to malfunction. It automatically shuts down after splashing the dreadful blue screen. I thought it could be overheating because I had it on my lap and could feel the heat. After several rounds of rebooting, it still doesn’t work properly. It boots into a normal mode for about 2 min. then, it starts to reboot automatically.

When I booted into a safe mode, it works fine. So, my plan is to do a system restore. At this time, I am copying most of my data to an external HD.

The similar thing happened about a year ago. It became so unstable in a normal mode, so I did the same. Moved the files to an external HD and did a system restore. I know it’s going to be a pain becase I need to reinstall a lot of software but I don’t want to spend too much time troubleshooting this old laptop. I hope I can finish everything over the weekend.

It’s probably about time to replace this though. But I don’t want to buy a new computer with Windows Vista on it. Oh, well. Let’s see what happens after the restore.