Hey Everyone, I have had a Sony Vaio Notebook w/Windows XP for a bout 2 years now and it has been working pretty decent until today. i was using my computer when it suddenly crashed and when i try to boot it up, it gives me the Operating System not found message. the only strage things i've noticed about it recently is the recycle bin. it shows to have something in it, but when i click on the icon, its empty. when i click empty recycle bin, it gives me an error saying it cant delete something. does anyone know how i can get my computer to boot again? i am fine with reformatting the hard drive as there isn't much i really need on there, but it comes with the recovery discs built in so i cant boot it from the discs... i have no idea what to do, and takin it somewhere usually costs alot! if anyone has an alternative please let me know thanks in advance for any help burner413
is the hard drive being detected in the bios? im sure that you should have like a recovery disk or something so that you can run the back up from the other partition
I think if you go to Sony's web site under support there is an option to purchase the recovery cd. Since you did not list the model or wether it was a desktop or notebook I can only point you in the general direction. I know this is a little late, I think there was an option to make a "disk set " from the recovery partition, at least there was on my Sony VIAO pgc - nvr23 notebook. here is a link to the general sony support web site http://esupport.sony.com/perl/select-system.pl?DIRECTOR=DRIVER also if your pc / notebook is still under warranty , you may want to contact Sony first before going furthrt.
hey everyone, sorry it took so long to reply. i just realized i had a few things on there that i DO need and if i purchase the recovery discs, i will basically be starting from scratch. is there anyway to save the data on my hd? btw, its a PCG-FRV35 notebook. thanks burner413
Yes there is. 1. you can take the HD out and connect it to another pc. Usually the easiest way is to connect the hd by itself to the secondary IDE. This way the jumpers on the hd do not need setting. Use windows to copy over the data. The downside is if you are copying a lot of data and you get an error, which is more than likely the process will stop and it is difficult to know where it stopped at. 2. you can do the above and use a file copy or directory compare program. Compare a folder on the old HD to an empty new folder just created. The compare will copy the data, when you get an error, it will ask what to do , and then go on. The program I use is ADCS by heatsoft. They have a full working trial ver you can DL http://www.heatsoft.com/ADCSv118.zip do not forget to use compare with subfolders 3. You can use a program like ghost. You can ghost the whole HD to CD's or DVD's or another HD. Wipe your HD CLEAN , then copy the data back to a folder as in one of the processes above. If you get ghost get the 2003 version, do not get any ver newer or before. Try ebay. I have had good results with ghosting to cds and poor results to DVDs, mainly I have a cheap dvd burner. So have it check the data after the burn, to a hd it's not needed. usually can get ghost at ebay.
well my computer is a notebook so i dont think i can take the hard drive out, but even if i could i dont have acess to another computer that i can put the hard drive into, one a regular desktop. is there any other way? thanks burner 413
It is simple to take the HD out of the laptop. Just unscrew 2-4 screws at the bottom of the laptop. However, you need 2.5" external case for laptop HD to connect to desktop PC through USB/Firewire port.
the only other option is to use ghost if you have a built in burner. Or as mentioned the external case.
have you determined if it's hardware or software issues???? if software I'd boot with a floppy and run scadisk, it can repair command.com if it's corrupted this way, you can also sys the drive if need be. as a last resort if drive space permits you can reload windows under a different directory (make it into a sub folder). the recovery disk will also allow you to recover without format, thats why it's called a recovery disk. kc
hi i dont think i can do any of that. as soon as i turn on my notebook it gives me the message. i have tried pushing the f2 key as sony says to do on their website, but it only allows me to change the bios defaults and that doesnt help at all, i still get the message. if you think you have a solution, please walk me through it step by step. thanks again burner413
in the bios set the boot priority to the floppy first then the HDD. it will then check for a boot record on the floppy before trying to find one on the harddrive. to boot the recovery disk set the CD drive higher up the boot list then the HDD. kc
thanks for the reply but my notebook didnt come with recovery discs it says it has 5 gigs reserved for it. whenever i wanted to acess the recovery portion before i would just hold f10 on startup but now that doesnt work. will placing the cd drive higher on the list still do the job? thanks burner413
no, it will only make the processor look at the devices in the order of priority till it finds a master boot record, then it will boot from there, if there is no boot record there it will simply go down the list to the next set device and look there, if none are found it gives the error you have. it in all honesty to me sounds like your HDD is dead, could be just stuck and taking the laptop and quickly spinning it back and forth (like your holding a stirring wheel) will sometimes free a stuck drive, if it's otherwise dead (bearing failure/read arm failure), your SOL unless you wanna pay some company a grand a gig to pull the data off your old drive. kc
dam thanks dude. i was hopeing for better news but i guess its better to know the truth. i tried both methods u suggested above in the BIOS settings menu and neither worked. i guess i will have to get a new hdd. how musch does that cost with installation?
it's all about size, the bigger you want the more it costs as well as brand name. also if your somewhat mechanically/electrically inclined it's not to hard to swap a HDD in a laptop, but if you have someone to do it for you it can be quite pricey, i charge 50 bucks to open one regardless of what i have to open it for. you can search online for the type/size drive you want and then shop around for the best price. kc [bold]EDIT[/bold] if it is failing to attempt to access the floppy with the floppy set in the bios as a higher priority then the HDD then you may have a motherboard failure, you should have access to the floppy............do you? I'd hate to see you buy a new HDD and that not be the problem.
when you insert a floppy into it that is bootable, it'll boot it. or if it's an unbootable disk you should still hear the drive start and seek an executable sys. same with the CD drive, you should see it activate and seek. kc
