chefjohnnie

i was given a sony vaio f430 with win 98SE i tried to do a full system recovery. becaus it had a lot of porn and stuff and its intended to be a gift for a 10 year olds birthday

i stated the recovery which i have done on many other computers but got a error that the disc was to small or something and needed to boot dos to delete patition or something now i messed up since it didn't complete i figured i would restart and rollback big mistake . Now when i start the laptop it flashes the windows flag then gos to a black screen with flashing cuser

Now i shouldnt of even messed with it for it was working perfect befor i put my grubby hands on it
thanks for the help in advance

OldGrayGary

Hi chefjohnnie


You should be able to try again, since everything the Vaio needs for the recovery process is included on the Recovery Disk set that came with the laptop (there might be just one Recovery Disk, or several).

To try again - have the Recovery CD in the DVD drive, and restart the laptop.

If the Recovery procedure doesn't start: restart the laptop again, this time pressing F2 to enter Bios Setup. Then select Exit, then Get Default Values, then Exit (Saving Changes). This should allow the Vaio to boot from the DVD drive.

If the Recovery procedure starts OK:
You have three options, only two of which seem likely to apply at this point:
1) Full Recovery with Format
This will repartition and reformat the hard drive (choose just one partition if given the choice, the original 6gb hard drive is quite small), and then Windows and all bundled software are restored onto the drive. This takes up the most space, and has a lot of old and unecessary clutter that will need to be removed [AOL, ATT Worldnet, Prodigy, Netscape, CompuServe, 1999 Quicken, 1999 McAfee, ridiculous Sony software, etc.]. But it would preserve the still-useful Word 2000 and Adobe PhotoDeluxe.
2) Operating System Only
This will also repartition and reformat the hard drive (once again, choose just one partition if asked). But only Windows 98 will be present on the hard drive, and a few Sony laptop utilities. This option uses the least space, and is a good choice if you already have all the Win98 compatible software that you want to install.

For both options 1) and 2), you'll still need to update Windows with the Critical Updates through mid-2006. You can download them ahead-of-time to a CD, to install them offline. Or else: install an antivirus - and from behind a hardware firewall connect to Windows Update. It will take a fair amount of time, depending on the connection.

Another Alternative:
3) You could also try a light version of Linux, such as Xbuntu, that is meant for older computers. It is a good choice if the primary use of the laptop will be to visit the Internet. Less malware is directed at Linux, and most Linux installations have a form of software firewall installed by default. And both Linux and all the open-source software written for it are free.
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Hardware Limitations:
The Vaio f430 will need a lot of care to be able to visit the Internet at a reasonable speed. It's system memory maxes out at 256mb (very low by today's standards). Many online games popular at websites for youngsters will have trouble playing on your Sony (just not enough firepower). Even just navigating from site to site might be painfully slow.

Another limitation is the hard drive. If it is the original drive, it is only 6gb. This will not be a problem if the main purpose of the computer will be for email, a little light browsing on the net, and some homework duties. It will be a big problem if the tweener wants to play 3D games (very light titles from 2000/2001 or before might run OK ... but not much else).
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Security Note: if browsing the 'net under Win98, the fastest experience will be via wired Ethernet (a cable connected directly to the broadband router/modem device). The broadband router/modem will likely have a hardware firewall enabled, saving the overhead of a software firewall.
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You can always give it a go, and test the performance under several different circumstances. If it looks acceptable, then mission accomplished.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

chefjohnnie

Thank you Gary for your response .
I tried every thing you had posted i am enclosing 3 attachments of screen shots of the screen so maybe to better explain what i see
after doing this i got this screen
i tried both OK and cancel each time i came to the next screen
it keeps bringing me to this screen
im stuck and dont know where to turn my daughter is the most precious thing to me and i know she really wants a laptop but seeing i cant afford a new one this is my only hope please what ever you can figure out will be most appreciated

OldGrayGary

Hi again


Sony's recovery procedure looks like it's a little rough around the edges. Evidently it doesn't repartition and reformat the drive (though it should, really, to be effective for a FULL recovery). It apparently only offers to reformat whatever system partition it finds. So, OK, we'll help the Sony out by deleting the current partition.

The Sony PCG-F430 originally ships with a floppy drive right next to the DVD drive. It is removeable, however: it can slide in and out of its "multimedia bay" (you have to move a lever under it to remove it). If it is still there, you can start the computer from a bootable Win98 diskette (which starts the PC in DOS) and run a little utility called "fdisk". It's a handy little program that sets up and deletes partitions. If you don't have a bootable Win98/98se/Me floppy diskette, you can download a program that will create one from Radified's downloads page --- http://radified.com/Files/bootmec.exe --- just put a blank floppy in your floppy drive & double-click the file to produce a bootable floppy diskette.

Put your bootable floppy in the floppy drive of your Sony, and restart the laptop. It should boot to a command prompt. Once at the A:> prompt, you'll type the command fdisk. Then you'll choose selection #4 to Display the current partitions. Make a note of the partition type and number (there will likely be only one partition, but might be two). Then choose selection #3: Delete Partitions or Logical DOS Drive ... you'll delete any partitions you find, starting with Logical DOS partitions, then Extended partitions, and then the Primary DOS Partition. Then use option #4 again, to make sure the drive contains no partitions at all. You will then be ready to use option #1 to Create a Primary DOS Partition. Let it take up all the hard drive space.

Once you've created the new Primary DOS Partition, which now consists of the entire hard drive, you can try the recovery procedure again. It should work this time.

If not, I think coffee & chocolates are a good choice as a nice break from your tech chores. Then post us a little note & we'll adjust the procedures until we get you going again.

Best of luck!
. . . Gary

P.S. if you want to read more details about that mysterious fdisk program, there's a well-know guide on Radified's webpages for fdisk. Here's a link --- http://fdisk.radified.com/fdisk_partition.htm

And if you'd like a link to the manual for your Sony laptop, here's the main manual in the Adobe Reader format (".pdf") --- http://www.docs.sony.com/release/PCGF430.PDF --- ... you'll need the free Adobe Reader to open the file (you can grab it from adobe.com if you don't already have it -- most PCs already have some version of the Reader)

lailai

Just want to say thanks, I don't have the exact problem but I don't know how to format that. :D

chefjohnnie

Thank you so much im in your debt

Before

You get the point

Enough said