Hey, I have a sony vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G) running windows xp sp3. Lately when downloading files, I've been getting a lot of cyclic redundancy check errors. I want to run Spinrite, but I have no dvd's and my dvd burner doesn't always work. My laptop has a built in memory stick pro duo drive (reader) it shows up as removable drive "D" in "my computer". Can I copy the necesary files for the spinrite utility to my memory card and boot from that, to run spinrite? If yes, how do i do it?
check in bios or manual to see if can boot off usb device as i presume yes. http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm
My Bios has 4 optons. Boot from....CD/internal drive/external drive/network It doesnt say specifically usb device, so i don't know if "external drive" will include that? In order to boot from "external drive" besides moving it in the boot order before your "internal drive" you also have to change an option "enable booting from external drive" I did both of those things, and tried booting from an external hard drive I have (USB) and it just started window like normal. Also, i don't have a usb flash drive, I have a built-in memory card reader. I'm guessing its hardwired to the motherboard, but i know for sure, its NOT usb.