Toshiba Tecra S10 – Virtualization Is Disabled By Default in BIOS

We just received a new Toshiba Tecra S10 laptop that does not even have a product page on Toshiba’s site yet.

The unit is a new model Tecra S10 with a Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz CPU and 4GB of RAM. The principle reason for sourcing this model is the high resolution 1680x1050 LCD along with the extra processing power presented by the Intel C2D T9600.

We will be installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on this laptop as we require XP Pro Mode. Toshiba seems to be a bit behind Acer on the architecture front as the Windows Vista on it is x86 (32bit). Acer has started factory shipping all of their laptops with Windows Vista x64 versions which means 64bit Acer drivers are available for their products.

The lack of 64bit drivers for the Tecra may present a bit of a problem with Windows 7 x64. If it does, we will back off and install the x86 version of Windows 7 Ultimate x86.

Since we require XP Pro Mode, we need to verify if the BIOS on this laptop has the Intel VT enabled. The chipset is Centrino 2 vPro (previous blog post on Windows 7 XP Pro Mode and hardware requirements).

To get into the Tecra’s BIOS, we need to do the following:

• Press and hold the ESC key then power up the laptop.
• Press the F1 key when requested to do so.

Once into the BIOS, sure enough the Intel VT setting was Disabled. We also took note that the Trusted Execution Technology was also Disabled. Since both are required, we enabled them.

One other note of interest, both the TPM and Intel’s AMT (vPro) management were disabled in the BIOS out of the box. The TPM is required for BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. Intel’s AMT is required for remote out-of-band management of the laptop. Both will be enabled as well.

Now we’re off to set up a USB flash drive to install Windows 7 (TechNet Magazine article) with.

We use the OCZ ATV Turbo flash drive for all bootable and high data volume usage because time is money and they are soak the USB bus fast!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer