cant install operating system on sony vaio

:cryok my kids seemed to delete the partican that the xp was on...so im trying to get another in it..either xp or windows 7 ..everytime i try xp i have to partican it but it either stays at 0% or goes to 100% but then fails..when trying to get 7 in it the dvd boots up i click install but then get a driver missing error it asks me to chose location but done work..is there a way of getting this laptop to take any operating system...

when i just turn on laptop all i get is error loading operating system so i have to boot from dvd drive...

 

all i ever get is setup was unable to format the partition the disk may be damaged..

 

How important is it to get the information that is currently on the disk. There is freeware software that will try to recover a deleted partition. But, since you have already tried to partition, I am not sure what luck you will have. Sony has a recovery partition on some of their computers that can accessed by hitting F10 or Alt-F10 during boot. This would recover your computer to the state it was when purchased. Also you could try to partition and format with a GParted Live CD. Just make sure to use NTFS as a file system.

Tutorial: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html

Freeware to recover deleted partition:
Partition Wizard bootable CD: you will have to burn the iso.

Good Luck

 

i download this

Code:

http://download.cnet.com/Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html?part=dl-6285158&subj=dl&tag=button

but i see no image file only a exe program?

 

That is not the one you want. That is for installing if you have an operating system and since yours does not boot, you will have to download from here. End of the page.

How to recover a partition.

The link I gave in my previous post explains the boot CD.

 

i have no operating system left on it as far as i know...i tryed this link http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html but same thing.


do you mean this one

http://www.partitionwizard.com/download/pwhe52.iso


F10 or Alt-F10 during boot
does nothing but give me a black screen.

 

That is the one you want. Just burn it with any burning software. I personally use Imgburn.

 

having a hard time getting it to boot from dvd drive....

 

Did you burn to a CD or a DVD? Also, when and if you get it to boot from the CD, how many partitions are shown? Also, I assume you can boot from a CD because you were able to boot the Windows XP CD, correct? Try burning the iso with Imgburn (freeware). I have had better luck with this software when it comes to burning image files.

 

i burned to dvd but i still cant get it to boot from dvd drive all i get is black screen saying error loading operating system..

when i got xp to boot i had like 3 particens when i got windows 7 to boot there was no partican screen just install setup..

 

Can you try burning to a CD, not DVD, using Imgburn? Also, not sure why it is saying error loading operating system because it should be starting to load the CD first. What is the model number of your computer? Also, I read that it might be possible to get to the restore partition by hitting the Fn and R keys during the Sony screen. When you boot, do you initially see a Sony screen?

 

its a sony notebook computor model PCG-971L

yea i do see a sony screen

 

That model is no longer listed on their website and it seems to be quite old. It is somewhat equivalent to the PCG-FXA36 which is listed. How much ram does it have? You probably will not be able to load Windows 7 on it. You have the XP install CD, correct? Can you try again hitting the F10 key repeatedly when you see the Sony screen? Can you try to boot with the disk you created in the machine you are posting with to make sure the CD is not corrupted? If you still cannot boot with the CD, get Gparted Live CD iso and burn that. Its the gparted-live-0.6.4-1.iso. You will not be able to restore the partition with it but you should be able to boot off of it and see the partitions. It has always worked for me.

 

ok all try it thanks...

 

ok how do i boot from it when i have to put in xp cd ??im running recovery wizard now?im really not sure what to do now.

 

You have now booted to the Partition Wizard CD correctly? If so, what partitions do you see. You are trying to recover the partition that was deleted. Are you sure the xp partition was deleted?. If so, follow the procedure below. Also, at the bottom of the page is a video tutorial.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/partition-recovery.html

You said you had an error loading operating system.

Before you partition and format the drive the drive, you might want to do a repair first. This will only work if you have not deleted the xp partition.

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp/

If you are not sure what to do, it would be best to let someone help you.

If the partition recovery or repair does not work, are you okay with formatting and doing a clean install of xp? Do you need any important information on the laptop?

 

Sorry,
I think I misunderstood. You are at the Sony Recovery Wizard? If so, just follow the prompts.

# In the VAIO Recovery Wizard window, click the Next button.
# Under Recovery Options , click to select the C Drive Recovery option.
# Click the Next button.

NOTES:

* A C Drive Recovery will return the C:/ drive to its original, factory-installed state. All software and data on the C:/ drive will be erased. If there is a D:/ drive, it is unaffected.
* Only a C Drive Recovery can be performed using the VAIO Recovery Wizard on the Recovery Drive. For a Custom Recovery with options for removing or reinstalling the Recovery Drive, use the Recovery Media Kit.

# Under C Drive Recovery , click the Next button.
# Under Click Finish... , click the Finish button.

NOTE: The computer will restart.
# Under Recovery Progress , when the recovery is Completed , click the Next button.
# Under The Recovery process is complete , click the Finish button.
# After the computer restarts, the operating system setup wizard will start. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup wizard.

 

when the program loads it asks me which to boot up ...

this is minitool partiton wizard home edition v5.2


are we on the same padge here.

 

i tryed to boot from local disk the com is just sitting there black screen with booting from local disk at the top but nothing is happening...so this must mean everything was erased?

 

but know everytime i reboot the com it says booting from local disk......

 

ok im in minitool partican wizard but i have no C Drive Recovery option...

 

You will not get a C: drive recovery option. You will have to select the disk with the missing partition and then select partition recovery. If a partition on the disk cannot be recovered, the partition recovery option will be grayed out. After the scan, it will list any partitions that will be available for recovery. Did you see the video tutorial on the link I gave? The link to the video is at the bottom of the page.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/partition-recovery.html

 

iv ran the program but the partican says existing no lost...at the bottom of the program it says please try power data recovery..

 

iv loaded the xp pro disk it took me to the partican setup its on c patrition1 NTFS 19069MB 19004 MB OF FREE

ON 19078 MB DISK 0 AT ID 0 ON BUS 0 ON ATAPI MBR


THATS the info on the screen but its still at 0% its been 20 min.??

 

When you had the Mini Tool CD booted, how many partitions were shown and what are there sizes and the type of each? Either Logical or Primary. You may also have a bad drive.

 

Hi,

Please do let tgell know how many partitions and their sizes you see on the disk.

*******
Since the WinXP CD would be formatting and destroying all your old data anyway I would think that you might try using the PartitionWizard to attempt formatting the partition and then boot from the XP CD and attempt install on the newly formatted partition.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/format-partition.html

 

it shows 2


filesystem capacity used unused status type

NTFS 18.62 gb 65.21 mb used 18.56GB UNUSED ACTIVE PRIMARY

unallocated 7.84mb 0(b) used 7.84 MB UNUSED NONE LOGICAL

 

It doesn't look like you have anything worth saving on that hard drive at this point. I would try formatting the large partition with PartitionWizard and see if it can complete the process.

If it hangs I would delete the partition, create a new one and format it with Partition Wizard. Then try installing XP.

Or you could try just deleting the partition with PW and then booting from the XP CD and see if it offers to install using unused space on the drive. I believe it would then automatically create and format the new partition before install.

 

Well, it looks like you still have all of your data available on the partition. Please go here and follow the instructions to see if you will be able to repair your xp installation.

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp/

 

tgell, I read this

as only 65mb of used space on the C: drive which is not enough for the old WindowsXP installation. The old installation can't be recovered from what I see. I think a fresh install will be necessary.

 

ok i clicked on this NTFS 18.62 gb 65.21 mb used 18.56GB UNUSED ACTIVE PRIMARY
then clicked on format then apply it said successfull...

so should i try xp again

 

i dont have oringal disk..

 

I thought you said you had an XP pro CD. Do you have the Product Key for the Disk? Is this the disk you received with the computer?

I read the sizes of the disk wrong. sach2 is right. You will have to do a clean installation.

 

yes i do have a xp pro disk with key but its not mine. i just want to get anything in this computor then i can go from there ..i tryed a clean install but did not work.

i never got a cd with this computor..

 

You said the clean install did not work. You might have a bad hard drive if the clean installed failed. What happened. Well, if the person who gave the XP disk to you no longer has the operating system on his computer and it is not an OEM disk, you could probably call Microsoft to activate it. If it does not activate, you will have to purchase a copy of XP because Vista and Windows 7 will not work on this computer.

 

right now im at windows setup.....


should i set up windows xp on selected item partican 1


or should i create a partition in the unpartitioned space???

 

Well, you formatted the partition. I would say to continue to install to partition 1.

 

i did that its still at 0% for 25 min now.

 

I would say you have a bad hard drive. Do you have another drive to substitute? I am sorry that I cannot offer any more help than that. Maybe somebody here can offer some other advice.

 

no i dont...but why when i put in the windows 7 disk it goes right to install ..but i get a locate driver pop up while installing so that messes me up......but with xp it takes me to the partican screen??no install

 

The only thing I can recommend is to use the Mini Tool CD and delete all partitions. Then create one partition for the full hard drive and then format with NTFS. Then, boot with the xp cd and try to install. Maybe the XP CD is defective. You could also do a google search for a hard drive diagnostic tool for your particular drive manufacturer. I believe Seagate and Western Digital have bootable iso files to check the drive status. Maybe somebody here has another idea.

 

It has been a while since I did an XP install what is it trying to do when it freezes at 0%?

It asks where you want to install then you say Partition 1...and then what does it say before it freezes?

 

ok i got it to format 100% but then i get setup was unable to format the partition.the disk may be damaged.

make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer.if the disk is a SCSI disk,make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated.


you must select a different partition for windows xp.

 

One other option you might consider is downloading a LinuxMint Iso (Live CD 32bit) http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php and burning it to CD as an image using imgburn. (Note: It's a large download about 700mb)

That would let you run Linux which looks much like Windows off the CD rather than the HD. You don't have to know any technical commands. You could get internet, media playing and document processing.

If you liked it you could try and install it and see if it works or if any errors you get are more helpful in pinpointing the problem.

You can always try installing XP again later.

*****
I would try tgell's suggestion of deleting all partitions with PW and trying to install XP again first since it is simpler. Maybe even use PW's "Wipe Disk" option with the fill sectors with zeros selection. That will give a clean slate. Then see if the XP installation Cd can create and format a partition for install.

 

I'm reading through this guide http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx when you get to the screen in picture #6 on your laptop what does it show for partitions/space?

If you hit "D" you can delete any existing partitions. Which I would do. You should then get a screen showing unpartitioned space on which you would select the option to use the unpartitioned space (should be about 19000mb) to install XP and see if you get through picture #8.

 

on picture 6 i got

c partition 1 fat 32 19069MB 18471MB free

unpartition space 8MB

 

i think i got something here...i booted up from c drive and got disk check..ok know it installing windows...

 

ok windows installed but everything i click on say windows cannot access the specified device or file you may not have the appropiate permission to access them...

 

In My Computer if you click on the C: do you have more than one Windows folder? Like Windows and Windows1?

Can you get into any folder on the C: drive?

 

no it has 1(C) thats it...yes i can get in it..