Recovery fails to start - both from disks and hard drive partition (VGN-FW31M)

[mardillo28]

I would really appreciate some help on this. Sony Customer Support's solution is to buy new recovery disks for £50 which is a rip-off as I made my own upon purchase and do not believe they are faulty as Sony suggests. I'm using Windows Vista 32bit Home Premium.

Problem:

I have tried to perform a recovery a few times, both from my recovery disks, and from the partition using F10, but neither works. Using Disk 1, I saw the message "Starting Recovery Tools, but it then permanently hung on the Teal coloured screen with white pointer. Recovery from the partition did not even get that far.

Start of problem:

The problem started when my VAIO just hung one day for no reason (I didn't install anything or make any changes) and upon reboot it kept hanging after "Windows is loading files" message appeared. After a few reboot attempts, I took out the battery, and, upon reinsertion, some kind of recovery seemed to initiate (VAIO recovery or some Windows recovery??). The first prompt was for "Language", which I selected, but unfortunately I then turned off the laptop as I hadn't intended to perform a recovery at that stage. This may have corrupted Windows (?)

--------------------------------------------

I would buy a new set of disks if I thought they would work, but there is no  guarantee they will! And if not, Sony say I will have to send my laptop  to them for repair (on top of the cost of the disks!). All this on top of the €1000+ cost of the laptop!! I am really at a loss as to what to do and stressed out at not being able to recover any of my backed up data from an external hard drive as my old PC has Windows XP and doesn't have the Windows Backup and Restore software.

I am really frustrated with Sony and will never buy a Sony laptop again. With other manufacturers I could at least reformat the hard drive and reinstall software, but Sony doesn't provide any disks. Plus, if recovery fails with your own recovery disks, they blame your disks and demand an exorbitant fee for more disks which should have been provided for free in the first place. And at €0.35/min their customer care is another rip off. A half hour conversation (for which I was on hold for some of it while the agent probably had to check his script or ask a colleague) cost about €12 (£10.50), just to be told to buy new disks. I have no problem in paying for support - but I want a solution in return!!!

Many thanks in advance for any help. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

[Blencogo]

Unfortunately, it could be many things.  If F10 does not work, it is llikely that the hard drive is corrupted or faulty and needs replacement but try a few things first.

I assume you do see the Vaio logo splash screen when you turn the Vaio on?  If yes, then try resetting the BIOS default values and saving them.  While you are in the BIOS, check if your  your Hard Disc is recognised.  Full instructions are available here: -

http://genesis.sony-europe.com/instranet/ccil_sony/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=34786&l=en_GB&m=VGN-...

Try using F10 again (using the same procedure as forF2 above).

Try inserting Recovery Disc 1 and closing down the Vaio with the disc inside and try rebooting.

Let us know how that goes and then we will know a bit more.

[mardillo28]

Many thanks for your speedy response. Yes I do see the VAIO logo splash screen, and I have tried F2 from there to view the BIOS. The Hard disc is recognised i.e. I can see the size of it (if that's what you mean) and of the memory. I will try your suggestion to reset the values and will retry recovery in the morning. I'll check out your link too.

Thank you again

Maria

[pankonto]

If you tried to do what the Blencogo said to his reply and failed then do what I did to my friend’s laptop.

After shutting down the laptop I unplugged it from the power and took out the battery, left it for 5 minutes then put the battery back, plugged it and start it (pressing F8 while starting it).

After that choose [Last known Good Configuration (advanced)] and then it will boot to windows(no problems found after this attempt).

Hope this helps write a reply saying what happened.

[mardillo28]

Thanks for your reply pankonto but this doesn't work.It just hangs. I did try it before but not directly after removing the battery. My laptop is at the stage where it needs recovery.

Thanks for your help too Blencogo but nothing works.

I just got new recovery disks from a Sony guy based in Egypt (after posting on cnet.com and getting in contact with Sony USA who forwarded my query to Sony UK!! Imagine that's what it took to get attention from Sony!). Anyway they don't work either as I expected so luckily I didn't have to pay for them. I am disgusted with Sony as their Customer Support gave me no option but to buy these CDs which I knew wouldn't work and I was right. Now I have to wait for my covert contact from Egypt to get back to me next Tuesday before I can tell him they don't work.

Does anyone from Sony read these posts????

[-Cass-]

Thank you for posting on the Sony Forum.

  In an effort to give a quick and correct answer to your question, one of the forums experts has escalated your post to our Technical Support team, who will provide them with the information required as quickly as possible.

You can expect one of the forum experts to get back to you with the answer very soon.

Best regards

The Sony Massive

[Blencogo · Accepted solution]

Hi Maria,

Does anyone from Sony read these posts????

The answer to this question is no.  If you read the 'Welcome' at the top of the page you will see this is a User Forum and is not the official Sony Support channel.

From what you say, it is clear that your Vaio will need an inspection by an engineer and almost certainly a repair.  It sounds to me that, at best, you will need a new hard drive and, at worst, a new motherboard.

You can speak to Vaio support again on the premium phoneline 0905 0310006 and ask them to collect your Vaio for inspection - make sure you ask for an idea of costs as the inspection will incur a charge - but as your Vaio is out of warranty, you may find it easier to speak to one of Sony's Service Partners in the UK near to where you live.  You will find a full list of Sony Service Partners in the UK here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/contacts/asc.aspx?l=en_GB&m=VGN-FW31M

Good Luck!

[mardillo28]

Thanks Blencogo. Yeah, I feared as much myself! Unfortunately I'm in Southern Ireland so there's no service here at all, apart from a TV repair placed listed for Belfast that don't even mention Sony on their website!

My VAIO is only just over 2 years old so a major hardware problem like that is very disappointing when Sony is supposed to be a good quality brand that people pay extra for. Even the hinges on the FW31M are badly designed and my power button broke a year ago after a minor tap. I read lots of reports of the same thing happening to others, and the hinge design has been improved since.

It'll be an Apple for me next time! My brother has never had a problem with any Apple he's had over the years, not even a malware problem.

Thanks everyone for the help! I appreciate you taking the time.

[peshyxp]

From my experience I would probably say the issue is with the hard drive. Have you tried installing a new hard drive and you dont necessarily need to buy the recovery discs

If you can get hold of a copy of Win7 you can do a clean install and many of the drivers to make the shortcut buttons and other functions are on the Sony website under Support for your model

From what you said about the recovery discs not working on your computer, this would indicate a hard drive issue

My advice would be bite the bullet, buy a 320gb or 500gb SATA internal hard drive (2.5inch) and try the recovery discs then. It should work

Keep us informed how you get on and totally agree with you re Sony Support - they are really a bunch of muppets at times

Hope this helps

[mardillo28]

I was shocked today to be quoted an estimate of €420 to replace the hard drive (if that's the problem) and power button hinge. That doesn't even include the cost of collection & delivery which they're not charging me.

Thanks for your suggestion peshyxp. I probably will have to go somewhere to get the hard drive replaced myself but if I don't know for sure that's the problem then it will be a waste of money. If I do so, would the recovery disks replace ALL the software that's on there at the moment?

I also know someone with Windows 7 VAIO recovery disks. Could I use those instead?

If the disks didn't work after replacing the hard drive, and I was to do a clean install of Win 7, is all the Sony software  on the Support site? I had a look but don't know if it's all there.

Thanks again!