Major problem with Sony laptop

Howdy all.

I have a Sony VAIO laptop (model: VGB-A317M) and it's being a pain. When I power it up it goes straight to the 'Start Normally, Last know good config, Safe mode' screen. When you select ANY option it loads a bar at the bottom, which looks out of place. After 2-3 mins it loads the pretty WinXP logo with the little blue bar for about anoth min.

Now for the weird bit....

It halts and for a very very short moment it blue screens, too quickly to make it out but after that it reboots and the whole thing happens again, and agian, and again.

I have stuck a post on the Vaio support site but lets face it, there are more people on Bit Tech than the computer industry in Europe so hope you could help guys n gurls.

Cheers,

BG

Oooops: Sorry I wrote this in a hurry but it's Windows XP Home SP2 and no major software/hardware mods that need to be mentioned. Each option has been tested and again with and without battery running off the mains AC.

Also please please help if you can, it has coursework for college on I need this weekend. Thanks all...

 

Have you tried the recover cd, that probably came with your laptop?

I would try to access it using some kind of boot cd/dvd and try to backup your data on a memorty stick or something else.

But I think a recover cd should handlet this. It sounds like something is screwed up in windows (more then "normal").

Good luck!

L

 

It didnt come with a recover CD, only a Recover partition with all the original software and OS. It is partitioned as:

0 (Recovery) 1 (Main C Drive 40gb) 2 (Documents D Drive 40gb). If I loose the documents I am screwed. It has coursework, work I need to get paid, all sorts I cannot afford to loose. The recover process doesnt say whether it will earse both or just C.

At the moment I am attempting to see what is on that Blue screen that flashes. If I find out I'll post here.

Cheers all,

BG

 

Dude, you will get a better responce in the hardware and overclocking section


But It souds like some hardware is dogey, have u tried repairing the OS by the XP cd?

Good luk ben, that laptops nice...

 

Here is the Blue Screen of Death that is displayed. From this I'm guessing it's a problem with the hard drive, **** **** **** ****!!!!!!!!!! I am screwed if it is. From here on in anyone with a solution will be paid through PayPal cos this is a full blown emergency, no weekend for me till this is sorted:




Link to the Image



THANKS FOR HELPING!

bg

 

Maybe try something like Knoppix, I take it you can still boot from CD?

 

Yeh I can get in through CD but I have none that would do any good. What is Knoppix?

Cheers,

BG

 

Knoppix is a Linux distro that runs totally from CD. Boot from it and it should autodetect and attempt to mount your hard drive partitions. Should prove if the drive is still alive and let you copy your files somewhere else. Only thing is NTFS filesystem support, but I think reading NTFS files works ok, haven't played with it in a while

Good Luck

 

May have a look at that, however I am going to wipe C using the Vaio recovery process. Hopefully that will save all my files on D and not too much harm done. I will keep you guys updated but if anyone has a better idea please let me know!


THANKS

bg

 

I'd say go with BjD's idea of downloading a linux live CD then booting up to that. It'll give you a chance to get a backup of your documents then you can go about properly fixing the lappy.

 

I had this exact same problem with a machine that was in for repair yesterday,the harddrive was borked,it would pass the makers short diag test but failed the full test.
I've used knoppix in the past to network a lappy with a faulty HDD to my main machine and transfer files across.

 

A friend of mine had this problem, I fixed it by sticking his hard drive in my computer and running the error check/fix program thing

 

I'm gonna try the Linux distro tomorrow, I cannot loose any files and it's important it's done quickly. Thanks for all the help, I shall keep everyone posted on how it went.

bg

 

Don't use the recovery. My sister had a Vaio that was having major problems, so I used the recovery, hoping that it would just replace the OS on the C: partion, maybe wipe the drive. Unfortunately, it wiped both of the drives.

 

EVIL MONKEY! (cool, lol )

Apparently the recovery will give you the option but can anyone work this out?:

1) I have a new XP Proff installation disk with serial number. When in the laptop it starts, then when it comes to the part where you decide partitions it can't find the hard disk. Whats goin on?

All help appreciated dudes n dudets.

bg

 

The HDD must be borked.Have you tried the makers diag disk?

 

Just wondering how this is goin?

as a friend of mine has just bought a cheaper end vaio.


let us know dude

 

Update:

Well there was no luck with the data recovery as the drive is dead. Deader than marks sex life. I sent the laptop off to Sony Monday the 6th and it was back repaired with a new drive on Wednesday. Not too bad however I lost all data including coursework and my web design work. Oh well.

A lesson all must learn- BACKUP YOUR DATA!

bg

 

Hello,

I suppose you can try Uneraser (DOS) recovery tool to try to restore your corrupted system files. This method did helped me in a simmilar situation before, so try it out.

http://www.uneraser.com/

 

Collar... the last post in this thread before yours, was June!!

If you'd bothered to read any of the posts... you'd have realised the problem was sorted with a replacement HDD