We have a Toshiba laptop that now refuses to boot up. The Toshiba title page comes up, then the screen goes black with a white curser in the top left corner, and it makes a clicking sound somewhere inside. When I press f12 I got:
Built in HDD1 Toshiba MK2035GSS - (S1)
Built in HDD2 Toshiba MK2035GSS - (S3)
CD/DVD HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N-(SM)
LAN


No idea what any of that means. If it's beyond repair, so be it, but would there be any way of getting the documents we haven't backed up.
Cheers in advance.You can use Puppy Linux to try and retrieve your data. See the 2 page link below on how to achieve this.
http://www.winhelp.us/recover-files-using-puppy-linux.html?#.UEmYsJZca0RThanks for a prompt reply.

Also, I forgot to mention that the computer only has power when plugged in, it doesn't seem to be holding power in the battery.If it works without battery as normally it should, you can proceed with the bootable linux disc. If not, then its either the hard drive needs to be put into a USB enclosure (SATA/IDE) and a WORKING computer instead.That sounds more technical than I'm used to. Would I be better off paying a computer repair person to help me?Which method is not clear? If you prefer the second suggestion, see this http://www.insidemylaptop.com/recover-files-from-broken-laptop/They both sound technical to someone like me! 

Someone we know has one of those devices you mentioned where you remove the drive and put it  in the device and connect it to another computer. Is this basically changing it from an internal drive to an external drive? Would the software still be there along with documents?

Update: I pressed F12 and SELECTED Hdd2 and it said:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-m0F: Exiting PXE ROM

And just repeats the same thing over and over.
Yes...all apps and data will be there connected externally....you cannot however boot to Windows that way...but you can retrieve your data.
As far as the other issue i'd replace your CMOS battery....Part# CR2032...available anywhere.
NOTE: Remove all power to do so.Cheers for the info. Hi Steve

you didn't say what Toshiba model laptop you have the problem with. I would recommend you take it to a computer tech that Knows how the 2 drives are setup in your laptop. It's not just a matter of treating each drive individually they need to be kept together as a set.
My experience with Toshiba hard drives is when they  fail as 1 of yours has the longer you keep trying things the greater the damage and the less likely someone will have of getting the data back.
Sorry for being the messenger  of all this doom and gloom.Thanks Lisa, all info is helpful - EVEN if it's BAD news!
It's a Toshiba P100 (I think) and it's pretty old in computer years (do they AGE like dogs? I've no idea). I'm still hoping that it's a simple battery replacement thing, but knowing my luck...

We're going to get in touch with a proper tech person I think, because I'm no good at this stuff, it's like watching a monkey trying to make a long distance telephone call.

Cheers.New problem. The old one was solved by a tech person. New problem is similar in that it won't boot up, but doesn't show any writing just a black screen.