Boot from Atapi CD-Rom: No Emulation? Trying to recover Sony VAIO

[Scott]

Hello -
While this isn't totally a windows problem, it relates. My PC was infected
by a backdoor trojan 3 weeks ago and the bugger is so malicious tha the only
way to be sure it is gone is to wipe the drives and reformat. After backing
up and copying all my vital files, I pulled out all the original System
Recovery CDs packaged with my computer and followed the instructions to
insert the disc in the top (DVD-RW) drive, turn off, restart, and wait for
the "Downloading Progress" screen. Instead, I got the message below the PCI
device listings (after the Sony logo).
Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM:
No Emulation

I emailed Sony and was instructed to load the setup defaults in the BIOS
Setup Utility, but there was no change. I just went through a "Live Chat"
with a Sony eSupport tech and the only advice offered was to pay $270 minimum
and ship the PC to them and they'll reformat/repair it (after a little back
and forth of being told to use the System Recovery discs to repair the
problem.. the same thing I have been trying to do for days now).

So, anyone have any advice? I am a novice, but willing to try anything to
avoid buying another PC for a few months. The VAIO shipped with 3 System
Recovery discs and 4 Application Recovery discs. As far as I can tell, XP is
loaded on the System Recovery discs and was never included on its own, so I
have no Windows XP CD. I should note that I am running XP Home Edition
Version 2002 Service Pack 2 and I have not changed the internal hardware on
teh PC since I got it. I have added 2 external Maxtor drives and an external
Sony DVD/RW drive over the years.

Also, I do have a copy of WIndows XP Professional on CD that was given to me
at a meeting several years ago and it has a product key listed on the back of
the sleeve. I have never used the disc before, but I did just try putting it
in the main drive, shutting down and restarting. I got the same No Emulation
message, but it was followed briefly by a "Press Any Key to Continue..."
message that flashed for a few seconds.

So, does anyone have any advice? I really am a novice, but I'm willing to
follow any instructions. I also need to thank 2 members of this group who
helped me 3 weeks ago when I wasn't sure what was causing my problems.
Unfortunately, I could never find those messages after realizing I was being
Hijacked. I do appreciate their help and thanks in advance for anyone here
willing to throw out ideas. - Scott

 

[sgopus]

From the brief research I did, it appears to be related to your cd drive or a
non bootable cd disc, try replacing your cd drive with a known good one,
since you say the xp cd works in other pc's.

 

[Kris Haynes [MCTS, MCITP]]

Hi Scott,

No Emulation sounds like either the wrong disc you inserted OR it cant boot
from DOS, have you tried loading the machine into Windows and then running
the disc that way?

Also try booting in DOS from the External DVDRW? (The restore discs could be
DVD's)

Kris

 

[Scott]

Hi Kris,

I really am a novice, but do you know how I can get the system to boot from
teh external drive? The main drive listed in the BIOS is a DVDRW Sony drive.
Also housed in the PC is a CDRW drive (Samsung perhaps). I've had all of the
external drives disconnected since last week when I was ready to reformat. If
I plug the external DVD drive in via USB, would the system know to boot from
there? I do know the recovery discs are CD and not DVD, though. Sorry for all
of the questions, but I appreciate the help.