I cant do anything on my calculator.....when i turn it on it says "waiting... please install calculator software now." When i press the "on" key, it says, "ERROR! Press any key to turn the unit off. Then turn unit back on." I've tried to remove the batteries and everything, but nothing will help it. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I've got a similar problem...my ti 84+ doesn't turns on anymore...reseting device didn't change anything. the ti-support wasn't that big help..
but its right, how to communicate with a calculator, that doesn't want to get turned on!??!.

In grade 12 and the shotty calculator just failed! I'll have to get a new one ... RAGE

If it says waiting for download when its turned on you don't have to try and go into the 2nd link. Just proceed with the instructions for the working calculator.
(for the 2 calculator solution)

The above solution doesn't make sense, as you need to somehow be able to go to receive on the broken calculator..only, it's broken, so you cant'

This happened to me too on my ti-84 silver.i tried it and works. i got this from the trouble shooting section of the ti website. you can look there for more. heres what one of the articles say. If an operating system update fails or is interrupted, the calculator will be in an inoperable state with the message Waiting...Please install calculator software now. The most common cause of a transfer being interrupted, is updating the operating system on a calculator with low batteries. Follow the procedure below to restore the calculator's Operating System (OS): On a Windows® PC: ? Turn the calculator ON then connect the TI Connectivity Cable between the PC and calculator. ? If the message Error! Press any key to turn off device is displayed, turn the unit off and then back on. ? Click on Start> Programs > TI Tools > TI Connect > TI OS Downloader. If TI OS Downloader is not present, install the latest version of TI Connect?. ? Select the calculator model and Cable Type, click "Next". ? Select the OS File. The OS Downloader automatically selects TI Connect's default download location, however, this may not be the current OS for the calculator. ? Click "Start Download". For the Macintosh® platform (Using TI Connect 1.1 for Mac® OS X): To recover when updating the calculator, use the TI OS Restore tool. TI OS Restore lets restore operating systems to calculators that no longer have an operating system. TI OS Restore opens automatically when the software detects a device without an operating system. However, it can also be opened manually using the steps below: ? On the desktop, double-click the Macintosh HD. The Macintosh hard drive opens. ? Click Applications. A list of applications that are on the hard drive opens ? Navigate to the TI Connect folder. ? If the TI Connect folder is not open, click the arrow next to the folder to show a list of TI Connect tools and folders. ? Double-click TI OS Restore. TI OS Restore will open and detect the connected calculator. If the calculator is not detected, click the arrow next to Unknown Device and select the right calculator model. ? Enter the e-mail address and password used for the TI Online. New users who do not have account on the TI Online store will first need to become members. ? click Login. ? Turn the calculator Off and then back On. ? Click Proceed. The software installation will begin. Alternative Option: If the steps above fail or a TI Connectivity Cable is not available, the OS can also be restored using another calculator. Note: The sending calculator must be of the same family as the receiving calculator. An OS transfer from a TI-83 Plus family unit to a TI-84 family unit or vice versa will not work. ? Connect the two calculators a data cable. ? Select [2nd] [Link]. ? On the Receiving unit, place the cursor on RECEIVE. ? On the Sending unit, select G:Send OS from the Link menu. ? Make sure that the receiving unit still reads "Waiting Please Install" ? Press [ENTER] on the Sending unit then on the Receiving unit.