It's necessary to re-load the Toshiba pre-installed software image (the complete set of software that comes pre-installed on the computer's hard disk drive) on the Portege 3500/3505 Tablet PC. This computer, however, does not support booting directly from the Recovery and Configuration Builder CD set -- which is ordinarily a prerequisite for re-loading the software image from those CDs.

It's possible to re-load the Toshiba pre-installed software image from the Recovery and Configuration Builder CD set by booting from a specially-prepared boot diskette in a USB diskette drive, per the instructions in the Procedure section of this bulletin, below.

CAUTION: This procedure includes re-formatting the Portege 3500's hard disk drive, which erases all programs and all of your documents and other data. This procedure should only be performed to recreate the original Toshiba pre-installed software image for the Portege 3500 -- on a new hard disk drive, for example.

You'll need the following items to complete this procedure:

1. The Recovery and Configuration Builder boot disk image file (attached to this bulletin, below).
   
   
2. A Zip/unZip utility program (the widely available WinZip, for example) to unZip the disk image file.
   
   
3. A blank 3.5" 2HD (1.44MB) diskette.
   
   
4. The Portege 3500/3505 Recovery and Configuration Builder CD set, which is shipped with the computer.
   
   
5. A USB diskette drive compatible with the Portege 3500/3505 tablet PC.
   
   
6. One of the following Toshiba USB optical drives:
   
   
   • Toshiba USB DVD-ROM drive -- PA3401U-1DVD
   • Toshiba USB DVD/CD-RW drive -- PA3352U-1CD2
   • Toshiba USB DVD/CD-RW drive -- PA3352U-2CD2
   • Toshiba USB DVD/CD-RW drive -- PA3438U-1CD2
   • Toshiba USB DVD/CD-RW drive -- PA3438U-2CD2
   • Toshiba USB DVD SuperMulti drive -- PA3402U-1DV2
   • Toshiba USB DVD SuperMulti drive -- PA3454U-1DV2

(Other USB optical drives may work, but have not been tested by Toshiba.)

The following drives have been reported to work:

• Iomega USB 2.0 CD-RW drive  -- CDRW9602EXT3
• Iomega Predator USB 2.0 CD-RW drive -- CDRW9602EXT-B
• Lite-On Slim USB 2.0 DVD/CD-RW drive -- LSC-24081MX

Creating the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette

1. Using another computer, click here to save the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette file (bootdisk.zip) to the Windows desktop.
   
   
2. Insert a blank 3.5" 2HD (1.44MB) diskette into the other computer's diskette drive.
   
   
3. Double-click the bootdisk.zip file that you saved to your desktop.Your Zip/unZip utility should start, and show the bootdisk.exe file within the bootdisk.zip file.
   
   
4. Extract the bootdisk.exe file from the bootdisk.zip file, and save it to the Windows desktop.
   
   
5.  Double-click the bootdisk.exe file, to launch it, and then follow the on-screen prompts to create the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette.

Booting from the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette

1. Connect the USB diskette drive to the Portege 3500's left-side USB port (as seen from the front of the computer) and insert the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette that you just created.
   
   
2. Connect the USB optical drive to the right-side USB port.
   
   
3. Power on the computer and press the F12 key on the keyboard. An orange highlight should appear beneath the representation of the hard disk drive on the Toshiba InTouch with Tomorrow page.
   
   
4. Press the eject button on the optical drive to open the tray, insert the first CD from the Recovery and Configuration Builder CD set into the drive, and close the tray.
   
   
5. Using the right arrow key on the keyboard, move the orange highlight to underneath the representation of the floppy drive, and press the Enter key.
   
   
6. The Portege 3500 will boot from the Recovery and Configuration boot diskette. On the first boot from the diskette, it will try to load the default CD-ROM driver and fail. This is normal.
   
   
7. After a delay of about a minute, you will be presented with a list of optical drive options. Press the 7 key to choose option 7. The computer will restart.
   
   
8. Eventually the Welcome to Toshiba Recovery utility screen will be displayed. Press the F1 key to continue with the recovery (or press F2 to cancel the recovery).
   
   
9. On the warning screen, press the C key to Continue with the recovery (or press A to abort). Once the C key is pressed, the system will restart, quick-format the hard drive, and begin the recovery process.
   
   
10. During the process of loading the software you will be prompted two more times to insert the other CDs. After inserting the next CD, wait until the access LED on the optical drive goes out before pressing the Enter key to continue the procedure.
    
    
11. Once all three CDs have been processed, you will be asked to insert the first CD again. Do so, and press the Enter key. Some additional files will be copied from the first CD.
    
    
12. Once this file copying has finished, follow the onscreeen instructions to eject the Recovery and Configuration Builder boot diskette from the diskette drive.
    
    
13. Remove the Recovery and Configuration Builder CD from the optical drive, and press the Enter key.
    
    
14. The P3500 will restart, and the Windows XP setup procedure will begin. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the setup.

^{- mm/wa}