One way to fix the problem is to purchase a retail copy of XP media edition
and use it to perform the repair installation. During the process you will
be using the serial number / license of the new version. This would be
essentially throwing away the OEM license you got with the PC from Sony, so
you would be losing money. However, you must first be certain that you have
all required Sony-specific drivers on floppies or CDs.
A less drastic option would be to save personal files from the PC to a USB
extrenal hard drive, then unplug the USB drive. Next use Sony recovery
wizard, which will restore the hard drive to condition you received it.
Then, boot into XP and copy the files back.
HOW to copy files off of an non-booting PC? Download a free LINUX "live CD"
using any working PC. Such a CD will boot the PC into LINUX without writing
to the hard drive. Then use LINUX to copy the files to the USB disk. There
are many such CD images available for download:
http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
My favorite is KNOPPIX, which is a large download, but very easy to use,
somehting like XP (or maybe more like a MAC). It can handle NTFS formatted
hard drives, whihc is what XP uses. It also handles FAT32, such as used by
Windows 98. It usually self-configures everything, just set the BIOS to
boot from CD, insert the CD, reboot (or power on). Note: Most live CDs are
available only as ISO images. To write them to a CD use software like Nero
or Easy CD Creator, which support "burn from image". Never simply drag&drop
the ISO to a CD.
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Main_Page
As for complaining to Sony or obtaining a lawyer, you might to first check
all your PCs documentation, including all those "terms and conditions", some
of which might be on files like PDF, TXT, HTML, etc. It is highly probable
that as part of the sale/license you agreed to accept the recovery wizard.
It is common practice for major PC makers to provide only one option to
"fix" the PC, really to fix the software, and that is to restore it back to
day one. It is your job, not their's, to have backups of your files. As
far as I know there is no law that compels them to provide an XP CD. And,
if they did, they would provide an OEM version of the CD, which can not do a
repair installation. The reason is that a repair can be used to transfer XP
from one PC to another, and that is prohibited with an OEM license. But, be
aware that OEM licenses are cheaper, and in this case you got what you paid
for. The unfortunate thing is no PC salesman ever explains exactly what you
are buying in such clear terms.
In the future, if you want a PC with a retail windows CD which supports
repair and the ability to transfer to another PC, then do not buy a major
brand. Instead make a PC yourself, or go to a mom&pop PC shop, and be
specific about retail vs OEM. Or, buy the major brand without any operating
system (save a few bucks), then buy a retail copy of windows and install it
yourself.
Another suggestion: Get a good backup program and do occassional backups of
C:. That is also your responsibility, not Sony's. If you had a recent
backup you could restore the PC and lose only things added since the date of
that backup. Better yet, partition the hard drive to leave XP and programs
on C:, and place all user files on D:. If the PC already has files on it,
you will need a third party program like Partition Magic to do this. That
way restoring C: from backup would not impact persoanl files on D:. (But,
the Sony restore wizard would probably still erase the entire hard drive.)
Backup program are things like Norton GHOST and Acronis True Image. Do not
waste your time with the Microsoft program called NtBackup.exe.