A few Toshiba BIOS versions have a bug that causes the password to be changed / set at startup randomly. This guide will show you how to remove the password from A100 series (A105 etc) laptops easily.
First we need to remove the keyboard from the laptop. There are usually a couple of screws on the underside but this varies from model to model, or there is sometimes a straight plastic strip that runs the whole width of the laptop, approx. 1cm wide, just above the keyboard. If this is the case it simply clips off to reveal a couple of screws holding the keyboard down. Either way the keyboard will need to be removed, guides to do this are available all over the internet for different models and shouldn’t be too dificult to find.
After removing the keyboard you should be able see a wifi card that just clips out.
Remove this card, making a note which way the 2x wifi antenna wires are connected.
Under the card you should see a marking on the board C88, with 2x solder pads. I apologise for the bad photo, the focus was out 🙂
Now all you have to do is remove the laptop battery, connect the 2x jumper points with XX next to them and boot up the laptop until it gets past the startup password request screen. You can connect these with a paper clip (rubbed down to remove any plastic covering), small pliers or simply solder a small wire like I did. Be careful not to touch any other parts, we dont want to short anything out do we…..
After it’s booted you password will be gone. It may be a good idea to update to the latest BIOS available on Toshiba’s web site (make sure you get the right one) to stop this fault happening again.