Most recently I restored the OS (Windows XP) from the restore disk and after a couple of days of using the notebook it didn't recognize my finger swipe. Therefore, I decided I had to find a solution to this. I ran a search on google trying to find a fix for this issue, lo and behold this was a known bug in the BIOS in some Toshiba laptops. With doing a cold start, when the BIOS password is not set, some settings in the BIOS gets corrupted and sets a password. The articles I read suggested to short circuit the CMOS_CLR1. Although I located CMOS_CLR1 on the circuit board, I wasn't sure which pins I had to short circuit since I had no visual guide and I didn't want anything nasty to happen to my laptop. After some researching around and contemplating I managed to figure out what needs to be done.
First make sure the power cable and the battery is removed. Open the memory compartment at the bottom and take out the memory module. What you see below is the memory compartment cover removed and the memory module in place, which needs to be removed. There's a clamp at either end which holds the memory module in place. You just need to push them little outward and the memory module should lift it self up.
Then lift up the black insulation and you should be able to spot the text CMOS_CLR1 on the circuit board. Do not put too much force when lifting the black plastic insulation or it may tear. Just above the CMOS_CLR1 mark you should be able to spot something which looks like a zipper. Hold a screwdriver or something metal on that zipper like imprint on the circuit board for 15-30 seconds. Then put everything back together and you should be good to go. When you boot it will prompt saying the time has not been set. You can hit F1 to go with default settings or F2 to go to the BIOS setup. I selected F2 and set the BIOS password with something I will remember.
