Go to the below Toshiba support page.. choose Downloads from top of the page..

Then choose Satellite & your model number.

You should find all driver downloads there.. make sure you set it for vista once on the downloads page.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/home.jsp

There is a listing for ACPI Flash BIOS. Will that cover both the driver & the control? I clicked 'download', was asked whether to run, save, or save & run. My 'guess' is Save & Run.

I'm a complete novice and want avoid making a mistake.

If you intend to flash the BIOS be sure the weather is good so the likelihood of a power failure is minimal. A power outage during a BIOS flash means the computer becomes garbage there is no fix for that. So unless you have a real reason you might consider not doing the flash. Your choice of course and the risk is quite low but.......

Thank you for that bit of info. I am obviously WAY out of my element here. This machine is heading to a repair shop!

"Program can't access SMBIOS system info. Please ensure that the TBIOSDRV driver & SMBIOS control have been installed."

Toshiba Drivers Update Utility updates your system drivers for Toshiba Laptops automatically with just several clicks.

I'm guessing Toshiba Drivers Update Utility is the program trying to update the drivers and causing the error.

It's probably an exercise you don't need to worry about, up date the drivers only when needed or a problem exists related to a driver issue.

I agree with Zep, if things are working well why do you need to update any drivers? Generally I keep the original drivers unless there is a real need to update.

did you mean you can not do any updates or just the toshiba driver ones?
You do need to do your windows updates and any listed when you do the Secunia scan, as long as you do those and keep all of that part of the pc updated and things are working I would not mess with flashing the bios.

Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI)

Hello again. I had an unexpected trip & couldn't take my computer along :(

So, back to this problem...it's the Toshiba updates that I can't access. My Windows updates are done regularly, seems like almost daily.

I've always just ignored the fact that I couldn't get the Toshiba updates. I have so many little nuisance problems with the 'puter that I decided perhaps I should pursue getting the updates. Thinking perhaps some of these problems might be eliminated by the updates.

I will do this Secunia OSI now and see what it says.

BTW, what is the bios? an operating system? flashing the bios???

Here's the results i got with Secunia. If I do these three downloads will that correct the seven applications?

Results of scan:

Detection Statistics:

7 Applications Detected in Total

3 Insecure Versions Detected

4 Patched Versions Detected

Running For:

4 Minutes, 15 Seconds

Errors with the scan:

0 Errors Detected, scan result should be correct

Scan Options:

Enable thorough system inspection
Display only insecure programs

Status / Currently Processing:

Detection completed successfully

Programs / Result

Version Detected

Status

Adobe Reader 8.x

8.1.4.200

This installation of Adobe Reader 8.x is insecure and potentially exposes your system to security threats!

The detected version installed on your system is 8.1.4.200, however, the latest patched version released by the vendor, fixing one or more vulnerabilities, is 8.3.0.

Update Instructions:
Download

Installed on Your System in:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe

Apple QuickTime 7.x

7.69.80.9

This installation of Apple QuickTime 7.x is insecure and potentially exposes your system to security threats!

The detected version installed on your system is 7.69.80.9, however, the latest patched version released by the vendor, fixing one or more vulnerabilities, is 7.7.

Update Instructions:
Download

Installed on Your System in:
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QuickTimePlayer.exe

Adobe Flash Player 10.x

10.3.181.23 (ActiveX)

This installation of Adobe Flash Player 10.x is insecure and potentially exposes your system to security threats!

The detected version installed on your system is 10.3.181.23 (ActiveX), however, the latest patched version released by the vendor, fixing one or more vulnerabilities, is 10.3.183.5 (ActiveX).

Update Instructions:
Download

Installed on Your System in:
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\Macromed\Flash\Flash10s.ocx

"The BIOS software is built into the PC, and is the first code run by a PC when powered on ('boot firmware'). The primary function of the BIOS is to set up the hardware and load and start an operating system. When the PC starts up, the first job for the BIOS is to initialize and identify system devices such as the video display card, keyboard and mouse, hard disk drive, optical disc drive and other hardware. The BIOS then locates software held on a peripheral device (designated as a 'boot device'), such as a hard disk or a CD/DVD, and loads and executes that software, giving it control of the PC.[2] This process is known as booting, or booting up, which is short for bootstrapping."

"BIOS software is stored on a non-volatile ROM chip built into the system on the motherboard. The BIOS software is specifically designed to work with the particular type of system in question, including having a knowledge of the workings of various devices that make up the complementary chipset of the system. In modern computer systems, the BIOS chip's contents can be rewritten, allowing BIOS software to be upgraded."

Up date the software Secunia finds out of date. I would not worry about Toshiba up dates for now. I would not consider flashing the bios it's basically an up date to bios as explained above and probably is not necessary and could cause major problems if done incorrectly.

Toshiba Drivers Update Utility that program seems to have an issue on your machine and that's why your getting the error. If you find you absolutely need to up date Toshiba drivers or software and I don't think you need to you can always visit the Toshiba site directly.

Yes as zep said go ahead with those updates on secunia scan then reboot and do a rescan and see how it is looking. That will really help you stay protected too because most of those are security updates.

Thank you both for your patience regarding explanations that this 'puter challenged grannie can understand! I will do the updates as advised by the secunia scan. Thx again.

Sheila :)