H E L P - Sony Vaio Recovery Cd

[ETatBKK]

A perfect working Sony VAIO SZ17SP suddenly crashed due to windows registry problem. 5 minutes respond to any click. restore previous sessions not working.

I lost the Recovery CD and Sony not carring it anymore. couldnot find Win XP Thai OS in shop, it is an antique.

any advice where I could buy or I could borrow this recovery CD ? I still have the Win XP licence code. thanks !!

[manarak]

Assuming you didn't repartition the hard disk(s), all Vaios come with a recovery partition that allows for reinstallation of the OS.

At system startup, hit F10 to start up the recovery options.

[ETatBKK]

thanks manarak, this indeed helps the bottomline when I need to rebuild the entire notebook, then I recover the original Thai OS in it.

also nice that the recover option allows C-drive recovery only, I could keep D-drive data untouch ( although I already backup all data ).

question :

does the recovery CD perform the same recovery options ? or someone said with the Recovery CD, I could restore the Windows XP without deleting all the applications ?

Assuming you didn't repartition the hard disk(s), all Vaios come with a recovery partition that allows for reinstallation of the OS.

At system startup, hit F10 to start up the recovery options.

[manarak]

You asked for the recovery options, so I gave info about these.

If your Windows just has a registry problem, it should be able to start anyway in "safe mode".

Press and hold the F8 during boot to access a boot menu that will ask you in which mode to start Windows XP.

There may also be "repair options" available.

If it doesn't boot in safe mode, then I fear Windows has to be reinstalled.

If you didn't make any changes to the registry yourself and if you are sure no changes were made by some newly installed software, I would also check the disk. Maybe it is corrupted.

(that's where my recommendation to also run RAID 1 on laptops comes into play)

Regarding the options offered by the Recovery Disks, they should be pretty much the same as what the recovery partition offers.

Please note that the recovery disks will only work with your machine (they are locked to the Sony Vaio parts serial numbers).

[ETatBKK]

I was told that the recovery CD could REPAIR the Windows XP without rebuilding the entire disk partition. that's why I start with it. yet the F10 also solves my problem in case I need to reload and I don't have the recovery CD.

it happened on Jan 03 after an automated windows update, the computer slowdown to the point not usable. safe mode startup alright, and behave well, but recovery points not working. scanned no virus, and cleaned registry, and no hardware issue.

in the worst scenario, search and backup the important data in C, then reload C-drive from the F10.

[manarak]

I was told that the recovery CD could REPAIR the Windows XP without rebuilding the entire disk partition. that's why I start with it. yet the F10 also solves my problem in case I need to reload and I don't have the recovery CD.

it happened on Jan 03 after an automated windows update, the computer slowdown to the point not usable. safe mode startup alright, and behave well, but recovery points not working. scanned no virus, and cleaned registry, and no hardware issue.

in the worst scenario, search and backup the important data in C, then reload C-drive from the F10.

You should be able to uninstall the updates. If it starts up fine in safe mode, you can save it without reinstalling. It might just take some time to figure out what's wrong.

Also, I am doubtful the disks can do something the recovery partition can't, except reinstalling when the recovery partition has been wiped.

[ETatBKK]

I was told that the recovery CD could REPAIR the Windows XP without rebuilding the entire disk partition. that's why I start with it. yet the F10 also solves my problem in case I need to reload and I don't have the recovery CD.

it happened on Jan 03 after an automated windows update, the computer slowdown to the point not usable. safe mode startup alright, and behave well, but recovery points not working. scanned no virus, and cleaned registry, and no hardware issue.

in the worst scenario, search and backup the important data in C, then reload C-drive from the F10.

You should be able to uninstall the updates. If it starts up fine in safe mode, you can save it without reinstalling. It might just take some time to figure out what's wrong.

Also, I am doubtful the disks can do something the recovery partition can't, except reinstalling when the recovery partition has been wiped.

with the recovery partition, I think I would reload the C-drive and re-install all the applications.

now copying all the C-drive local data into a temp folder in D-drive. in Win XP safe mode, everything is not so smooth and I forget the XP for awhile :-)

it is pain, and I find it is a thorough cleanup !

[Jiu-Jitsu]

You don't need a Sony Recovery Disc to do a Repair. Just the same version of XP that is installed to the laptop.

I uploaded my recovery discs so I would have access to them. Unfortunately, I did so to MegaUpload, so can't help you there.

Though....you might be in luck. I have an unlabelled disc that just might be the Sony XP Home SP3 disc. Unfortunately, I have no way of checking, as I would have to download it to do so. I'm using mobile broadband, so it's a no go. I have sent it to you.

[astral]

This just emphasises how important it is to do a backup of your system,

not just the data but the OS as well

After all this time I am not sure how much help a recovery disk will be

that just takes you back to the time when you bought the computer

minus all the upgrades etc the MS has issued,................

IMHO totally useless in the long term

Acronis offers a good tool for system backup at the current time

and I have used it successfully for many years, with XP.

However since I move to Win 7 the basic Acronis package requires an "extra" to support Dynamic Disks

which almost double the cost, so I now use Paragon Backup and Recovery.

Sorry not to be more helpful.

[ETatBKK]

thanks for inputs and generosity from everyone.

I fixed it by using the recovery partition of the Sony VAIO, reload the system ( winXP SP1 ) and then updated it to SP3. reinstall the applications and customised some settings. 1 big day with a slow machine.

now I am happy that it is a clean machine clean config. and YES, I will backup the system on a DVD for a time being. until HDD returns to normal pricing, then automate the backup.