Problem started when tried to reinstall original factory
settings because of missing files when starting various
programs. I was getting so frustrated that I decided to
just start from scratch and didn't care about losing data
files. Anyway, I used to system recovery cd's that came
with the pc from sony. The booklet told me to insert the
cd before starting pc, and it would restore factory
programs, data would be lost, etc. I did this, and about
15 seconds into it, it gave an error about the disk, quit
the utility and just kept restarting the system to this
point over and over. I took out the cd and started up the
system, only to find error: operating system not found.

I talked to some support lady, who didn't seem to know
what she was talking about, and she told me I needed to
get a boot disk from microsoft. I think I need to
reinstall windows, from somehow other than those damn
cd's from sony?? Any ideas on this one?

My friend has a sony vaio laptop, could i use boot disks
from her?
My brother has a dell laptop, would I be able to use the
windows xp reinstallation cd from him? (it says for use
on a dell computer)

any help appreciated! thanks!!

On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 02:05:36 -0800, Christine wrote:

> Problem started when tried to reinstall original factory
> settings because of missing files when starting various
> programs. I was getting so frustrated that I decided to
> just start from scratch and didn't care about losing data
> files. Anyway, I used to system recovery cd's that came
> with the pc from sony. The booklet told me to insert the
> cd before starting pc, and it would restore factory
> programs, data would be lost, etc. I did this, and about
> 15 seconds into it, it gave an error about the disk, quit
> the utility and just kept restarting the system to this
> point over and over. I took out the cd and started up the
> system, only to find error: operating system not found.
>
> I talked to some support lady, who didn't seem to know
> what she was talking about, and she told me I needed to
> get a boot disk from microsoft. I think I need to
> reinstall windows, from somehow other than those damn
> cd's from sony?? Any ideas on this one?
>
> My friend has a sony vaio laptop, could i use boot disks
> from her?
> My brother has a dell laptop, would I be able to use the
> windows xp reinstallation cd from him? (it says for use
> on a dell computer)
>
> any help appreciated! thanks!!

It's impossible to predict how using the CDs from the other systems would
work on yours. If the other Sony disk is for a system that is the same as
yours, it may be worth a try. You wouldn't want to use one for another
model as the drivers that would be installed for the Sony provided hardware
would most likely be different on the friend's CD.

Dell provides customized CDs for some systems and a generic OEM XP CD for
others - so again, can't predict the outcome. If it is the generic OEM CD,
this could be useful for "touch up repairs" in the future but it's not very
helpful at the moment.

Is your Sony CD free of scratches and smudges? Does your CDrom tray need a
cleaning? I think I would try to work through things with this CD since it
is the major recovery item provided for your system and your hardware.
Suggest giving Sony another call. You may get a better tech this time
around. If they still seem unable to help, ask to speak to a senior tech.

Also, you may find out that the persistent missing files problem is due to
a hardware problem. For example, a failing hard drive or bad RAM could
cause these symptoms. If this is the case, you want the Sony tech on the
phone to document the trouble so that these items can be replaced under
your warranty.

--
Sharon F
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User