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How to install a Panasonic Toughbook CF-31 Fingerprint Reader

Begin by removing the Battery from the laptop.

Remove the following screws from the bottom of the laptop. There are 2 different length screws. The image below is labeled L for long screws and S for short screws.

Now remove the bottom cover of the laptop.

Next remove the large screw that holds the left side of the handle assembly. This is right above the word “Panasonic” in white in the above image.

You can now remove the bottom half of the handle retainer and move the handle out of the way.

Remove the 4 screws pictured below to remove the speaker cover. You will see where 1 of the 2 handle shims goes.

Now go into the inside of the chassis and remove the plastic cage pictured below. In order to do this you will need to remove the single screw to the left of the cmos battery. You can also unplug the cmos battery from the main board. When removing the plastic cage you will need to slide the plastic assembly slightly towards the main board in order to get the tabs from underneath the mouse board.

Now you can begin installing the finger print reader. 1st run the finger print cable between the chassis speaker and the plastic speaker mount as shown in the picture below. There is a slight groove the cable runs through so it will not be pinched. You should then be able to put the reader into the chassis recess shown with minimal slack left over.

Now you can reinstall the speaker grill cover, Assuming its ran correctly.

Take the other half of the finger print wire inside the chassis and plug into the outlet located on the ribbon cable pictured below. Gently pull up on the hinge retainer to open the port. Be sure the blue half of the wire end is rotated towards you. In the picture the wire is fully seated. When you have the wire fully seated push back down on the hinge to lock. If you slightly pull on the cable it should not pull out.

Now you need to tape the remaining cable along the chassis wall. Regular masking tape is used in this install.

Now you can reinstall the plastic cage and screw that the cmos battery is glued to. Be sure the 2 plastic tabs are going underneath the mouse board as pictured below. Be sure to plug the cmos battery back in too.

Now you can test fit the battery to make sure it does not rub or catch on the finger print cable. The laptop will auto power on since the cmos has been cleared. Pictured below is what the cable looks like fully taped into place with the battery installed.

Put the carrying handle back in place and make sure there is a handle shim on each side of the handle pin. Shim pictured below.

With the handle shims installed you can now install the new handle retainer and screw with the finger print cutout. You can see below the correct rotation of the finger print reader. You can now flip the computer over and test boot to verify that the finger print reader is seen. The easiest way to verify is by pressing F2 during startup to enter the BIOS. Once in the BIOS use the right arrow key to go over to the Security section. If the finger print reader is seen you will see a option in the security section regarding Finger Print reader. You can now power off the system and put the bottom cover back on. Be sure to install the long and short screws as labeled in the 1st picture of this how-to.

Once completely reassembled you can boot the computer into Windows and do the software side of the installation. Windows 10 will automatically install the device driver. Windows 7 will auto install the drivers assuming you have installed the Panasonic driver pack on a previous occasion.

Here is a link on how to configure Windows 10 to get the most out of your new finger print reader.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/set-windows-hello-fingerprint-login

Also a link to purchase a finger print reader kit from us.

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Panasonic Toughbook Windows 10 disabling WiFi after cold boot

https://pc-dl.panasonic.co.jp/dl/download/file/065388/s/3be144f7c836026e/WirelessSwitchUtil_v4.11l16_31W_31X_31Y_W764_ss13846.exe

Download and run this. After the initial run it will expand the program to the C:\util2 folder. Go into the sub folder and right click on setup.exe then left click on run as administrator. BE SURE THAT THE WIFI IS CURRENTLY WORKING BEFORE INSTALLING PROGRAM.

This works for CF-19 CF-31 CF-52 CF-53

The problem typically appears after Windows update runs

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100$ Flat Rate Toughbook Repairs

Excludes parts! We refurbish quite a few units a month so we know our way around a Toughbook. We are extending this service out to you. We will replace any broken hardware for 100$ plus the cost of parts and shipping back to you. This can be digitizers, broken LCD, bad mousepad, hole in top or bottom, you name it!

Hopefully no one will want replacement frames / chassis 🙁

Custom Rugged 
102 Jones Street
Landrum, SC 29356

(864)-457-1206

sales@customrugged.com

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M Bios Panasonic Toughbook

There are a lot Toughbooks out there on eBay and thru some refurbishers that have a M at the end of the bios version model number. This M stands for modified. This means the bios was modified by Panasonic to turn off certain features when “load bios defaults” is selected in the bios. These defaults will also load when the Cmos battery is disconnected, along with the regular battery and external power. Here is something that some people don’t realize, this CAN set a bios password! Most of the units that come from Federal Governments will set a password when defaults are loaded. You can test this by going into the bios selecting “Load Setup Defaults” then pressing the left arrow key one time to go to the security tab. Arrow down to “Set Supervisor Password” and press enter. If the prompt asks you to “Enter Current Password” then your bios defaults has a password built in. At this point go back to the exit page and select “Exit WITHOUT saving changes” and select YES. The system will then reboot with the last bios setting that should not include a password.

The good news is that we can remove these default values for you, the disabled features, the default passwords and so forth. Of course this depends and the exact unit type. We can also program your systems to load your own defaults. We do this for some of our current clients already that are refurbishers.

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Bios Locked Panasonic Toughbooks

Do you have a bios locked Panasonic Toughbook? If so we can unlock about 90% of them. This service starts at 50$ per unit plus shipping each way. The unit must be shipped to us in order to have this service done along with proof of ownership. Along with this service we can add missing bios options. For example, missing wireless submenu in the bios.