Black screen of death

[DuckDuckAmazing]

So I just got my new Toshiba Satellite for christmas and mostly I love vista.
Sidebar has a few hiccups but i can deal. Here is my big problem
My computer came already set up with Vista so I didnt input the product key
myself..its listed there as valid but my computer seems to be acting
differently. While using the computer it will randomly flash to a black
screen and nothing will respond causing me to manualy reboot. I read
somewhere that if you have a bum product key windows set up to do exactly
what is happening to me. So i went to their website but I cant use the free
help sessions because my product key is invalid... does anyone know how to
fix this problem or if I am even right about the problem??

 

[ScottyDog55, sniffing out critters]

I hope you are going to call toshiba. It should be covered by onsight
repair. So check into it
Scott

 

[Mick Murphy]

You have a pre-installed OEM Operating system, not a Retail disk.
Thus, no free help from microsft Tech support.
Toshiba does your Tech support for software and hardware issues.

Follow Scott's advice.

Bit, also go to toshiba's website, and check for their updates for your
model computer, especially updated Graphics drivers

 

[Peter Foldes]

If you just got it for Christmas then return it immediately to the retailer where it was purchased from for an exchange or repair. This should not be happening to a few day old laptop.

 

[Toshiba Tyranny]

That same thing is happening to me on a A215 Toshiba i just got last week.

Sorta upsetting. Does it totally randomly, but usually when trying to
access some part of the hardware or dealing with windows media player. it's
happened prolly 10 times in two weeks.

 

[Latitude North]

Same problem here. Several other new Toshiba owners have said that the
problem is in Toshiba's power management system. Until Toshiba admits they
have a problem and puts out a software fix, here's the "fix" folks have used,
and what seems to work for me. You'll need to change your minimum processor
power state to 100% (wide open) all the time. Here's how:

Go to Control Panel, then click on Classic View, then select "Power Options".
For the power plan that's selected, click on "Change plan settings"
Then click on "Change advanced power settings"
Scroll down the list to "Processor power management" and double-click.
Double-click on "Minimum processor state"; set both battery and plugged in
values to 100%.
Hit the OK button at the bottom of the popup window to save your settings.

If you change your power plans between Balanced, Power Save and High
Performance, you'll need to check each plan to make sure your minimum
processor state numbers are set to 100%.

When unplugged, your battery life will be reduced due to the high CPU power
consumption, but at least no more BSOD. So now you have a high-priced
version of a desktop computer until Toshiba fixes the problem.

Hope this helps. Cheers.