My toshiba portege m400 cannot install any os. it says that the hard drive cannot be recognized. but when i tried windows 98 it seemed to work. then i tried booting it and the os did not load. please help me. thanks

Here is a guide toremove windows passwordwith Windows Password Recovery Tool Professional from http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com/Step1: Download and install Windows Password Recovery Tool.
Step2: Burn CD/DVD/USB Flash Drive. (Namely it is to burn a Windows password reset disk.)
Step3: Set the target computer boot from CD/DVD or USB.
Step4:Remove the forgotten Windows passwordwith the burned CD/DVD/USB. Then log on to Windows without a password.
Of course, you can also finish Windows password remover if you have a password reset disk in advance. That's also an easy solution.

Source: http://www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com/windows-password-remover.htm

i did find this manual for it
http://support.toshiba-tro.de/tedd-files2/0/userman-en-20070720154127.zip
maybe it might be somewhere in it of how the bios sees the hard drive. normally a bios will boot to the DVD drive first then a hard drive so make sure you dont have anything connected like a USB or a cd in the DVD drive unless it is the OS software. also disconnect the network cable if it is plugged in.

Go to the Toshiba Mobile support web site for you exact model. Select Drivers download. Select Windows 7 32bits or 64 bit and download the latest versions of all that relate to the Tablet module, and that includes the Wacom driver.

If you Windows is genuine you can uninstall all the Wacom drivers then execute the Check new hardware wizard ( of Hardware changes) or even Windows Update

this should be what you need
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?ct=DL&os=&category=&moid=1362642&rpn=PPM40U&modelFilter=M400-S4031&selCategory=2756709&selFamily=1073768662

If there is no hard drive found, there may be an issue with your hard drives firmware, you should check online for any updates then try again.

You haven't said whether you installed Windows from the original factory discs which came with the laptop. If you haven't done that yet, open the cd tray and put the 1st disc in. Shut down the laptop. Reboot the laptop and it should boot off the disc and ask you if you want to "format" the hard drive. At this point you should be able to follow the on screen instructions until everything is loaded, including all hardware drivers. Any other software you had on your old drive will need to be reinstalled on this drive from the disc. If the software is old you may want to go to the appropriate website for the driver and download the newest version. That should complete your install. Let me know if you need more help.

hardrocko

Thanks for using FixYa and the generous rating.

touch screen pan tablet window xp driver free download

You need to activate the Raid diver. This can be done by slipping it into the XP install or adding the Raid Drivers at the time of installing the operating system. See Toshiba.com support pages for a copy of the Raid drivers

Did you look at the BIOS setting? Try hitting Esc then F1

pls get ur cdrom service & try again but prior to that pls check ur data cable which is connected to ur pc