hi do you know if you have a recovery partition try F10 on boot if it is there you will be able to restore to factory condition

 

Hi - Are you using a full retail version of Vista with a Sony OEM product key code? They do not mix well.

You can contact Sony for a replacement set of Vista Recovery DVDs. I don't know the cost from Sony, but HP charges ~ $25 - $30.

jcgriff2

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Thanks for the replies. Yes I have tried the recovery patition but I believe the system was badly infected with viruses and it's become corrupted as well so unfortunatly it didn't work. I'm using a full retail version of Vista yes although the key code from sony worked fine going through that part of the setup it's just not finding the hard drive. I realise I can purchase the recovery disks from sony but I am hoping there is a better alternative as paying out even as little as 25 dollars and waiting 3 weeks for shipping is a pain in the butt when I have both the software and hardware to do this in front of me. Just need to figure out why it's not seeing the drive. I did read that you can set the drive to work as an IDE in the BIOS as well but I looked and that option isn't available.. at least not without a bios upgrade. Another option I read about was to load a different o/s such as linux then do an upgrade to vista. I can try this if all else fails. Any other ideas before I ditch trying to find the drive?

 

Any other ideas before I ditch trying to find the drive?

Yes. . .

You can use that Vista DVD for installation, but it will only buy you 30 days - the grace period until it will be looking for a full retail product key code.

To be able to use the Vista DVD you will most likely have to wipe the entire drive. It is likely that the SP on the DVD and the SP on the HDD are different. Not sure here, but you may have booted with an "inferior" (not my words) version of Windows b/c the OS or OS SP is lower than that which was installed.

Wipe the drive with KillDisk, order the replacement DVDs from Sony, download Server 2008 R2 trial, burn the Server 2008 ISO to DVD then install it. Server 2008 R2 is the same build as Vista SP2. So... using Server 2008 R2 for a trial can buy you 6 months to get the discs from Sony.

Server 2008 R2 trial - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/try-it.aspx

KillDisk - http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

Make bootable KillDisk ISO CD w/ ImgBurn -
ImgBurn - http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

The worst possible outcome here is that you can't find the HDD - which is the starting point, so to speak. Booting w/ KillDisk will tell you in 1 minute whether that drive is reachable or not.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

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Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not worried about the key as the version of vista I'm installing is the same as what was previously loaded on the laptop it's just the original cd instead of the sony recovery cd. It accepts my sony key just fine. In my experience I haven't had it fail to activate once it's accepted the key. The main issue is just not finding the driver to load the software. The drive has already been formatted as I managed to get Windows XP to find the drive (with slipstreamed drivers) and was able to format the drive from there but then windows xp had many issues installing. (was just going to upgrade from xp to vista after). I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the hard drive because I tried to start the load of XP from another cd rom and again from the original cd rom and now it wont find it at all vista or xp. I"m going to have to remove the drive and test it on my tech machine. I'll update later. I'm sure ordering the Sony CDs would fix the can't find the hard drive issue as it will already have integrated drivers but that will be last resort since I have a copy of vista and just need the drivers to recognize the drive properly. I'm gonna go take the drive out and make sure I"m not working with a faulty drive to start. *sigh* wish me luck!

 

In my experience I haven't had it fail to activate once it's accepted the key.

I suggested vaidation b/c I have had systems that suddenly become "in/un-validated". Same has happened with Office 2007. I too enter keys during installation.

www.microsoft.com/genuine

The main issue is just not finding the driver to load the software.

Your system is a Sony Vaio that came with Vista pre-installed. There are no drivers to install. If needed for some reason, Vista has legacy drivers it can use during installation.

The drive has already been formatted as I managed to get Windows XP to find the drive (with slipstreamed drivers) and was able to format the drive from there but then windows xp had many issues installing. (was just going to upgrade from xp to vista after).

If Vista came pre-installed on the system... where does an XP upgrade come in? Placing an XP CD in and then formatting... please read on...

I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the hard drive because I tried to start the load of XP from another cd rom and again from the original cd rom and now it wont find it at all vista or xp. I"m going to have to remove the drive and test it on my tech machine.

. . . . you may have booted with an "inferior" (not my words) version of Windows b/c the OS is lower than that which was installed [would cause problems just as you are describing].

I would hold off on taking that HDD out... per my prev post re: "inferior" Windows OS qoted above.

I'm sure ordering the Sony CDs would fix the can't find the hard drive issue as it will already have integrated drivers but that will be last resort since I have a copy of vista and just need the drivers to recognize the drive properly. I'm gonna go take the drive out and make sure I"m not working with a faulty drive to start.

If you are using a retail version of Vista and have an OEM key... it will never work.

Please...... follow the instructions from my prior post. Use KillDisk to wipe the entire drive. That will tell you if the drive has a problem.

KillDisk - http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

Make bootable KillDisk ISO CD w/ ImgBurn -
ImgBurn - http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

`

Order the replacement Sony Vista recovery DVDs. I cannot stress this point enough.

Have a good day.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

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