ROM boot msg at start up

When you talk of "replacing the battery" I assume you mean the small coin-shaped CMOS battery which is clipped to the mainboard inside the laptop? That's the only battery that's likely to cause that boot error if it has expired - not the large operating battery. If new CMOS battery makes no difference, test the hard drive. It may be starting to fail, causing the non-fatal boot error (non-fatal at present, but it will get worse). You can test it with the drive manufacturer's disgnostic software for DOS which runs from a bootable CD. Links here: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm...

specifically, the Toshiba boot menu and setup option screen loads, then an error message which mentions the RealTek Ethernet controller (technical specifications or DMA address or something) but indicates no errors with it The error message closes with; PXE-EX1; Media test failure; check cable PXE-MOF; exiting PXE ROM then Windows loads (win7) It is a Toshiba Satellite 455- laptop with a Celeron uP

error message begins with Intel UNDI closes with PXE-E61: media test failure; check cable PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM This is a L455-S5975 Toshiba Satellite LAPTOP with c. 2GB RAM and 2.2Ghz clock (uP) HDD size is irrelevant here The primary Laptop Battery is shot (indicator messages recommend replacement as it no longer is able to hold a full charge)

error message opens with: Intel UNDI PXE-2.1 ....

Intel UNDI PXE-2.1 (build 082) then copyright info then a line with RealTek Ethernet numbers and garbledogok PXE-E61: media test failure; check cable PXE-MOF: exiting PXE ROM ... then Windows 7 HOME PREMIUM loads and runs fine this is a heavily used c. 3 year old laptop

For Realtek RTL8101E/8102E(L)/8103(L) PCI-E Ethernet ... is the text of the line with Ethernet info in it