Recovery CD crisis

Hi, did a search but can't see an answer, sorry as I'm sure it's happened before.

Bought my VGN AR150g in Canada two years ago. Didn't make recovery cds. Now the hard drive has died (I do have a backup, no crisis there).

The machine won't recognise the new drive I bought and Sony helpdesk says it needs to use the sony recovery cd to do so. I told Sony I don't have them, and asked if they can sell/send me a recovery CD. They said no - they don't do that! They suggested I contact Sony Canada and when I did, they said the same! They don't supply/sell recovery CDs!

So if like me, you don't make a recovery cd before your machine dies, you have to junk your machine?! I don't believe that - there must be a way...

Any help appreciated.

 

What do you mean the HDD is not recognized.I am sure it's a driver problem.

 

I thought you meant Recovery CD for "Crysis"

 

uummmm....

what OS, what type hdd did you have (ide, sata), what did you buy (sata)??

thanks, that infor should help us a little!!!

 

Thanks.

- the machine is a vaio vgn ar150g (2007) notebook running windows XP. it is now out of warranty.

- the previous HDD was a Fujitsu (sata). it had a complete mechanical failure and I took the notebook to the local PC shop for him to replace with a new Fujitsu sata drive, and reinstall windows XP.

- when he tried to install a new copy of XP on the new HDD, he could not, as the system was reporting 'HDD not found'.

- He contacted Sony and was told that he needs to boot from the Sony Recovery CD to install any new HDD. (I've never come across this before, as it should be possible to boot and install on a new HDD straight from the Windows XP disc, but Sony insists it is so.)

- I don't have a Recovery CD for this unit. We tried to purchase one from Sony Australia and they said they do not have them, and to call Canada where I bought the machine. I called Sony Canada and they said they do not ship outside of Canada, so I am back to square one...

Is anyone aware of a way to install a new HDD on a Sony AR150g without using the Sony Recovery CD?

If I can find someone out there with a Sony AR150g, who does have a recovery CD, would I be able to use theirs?

I have a perfectly functional machine that just needs a new HDD but I'm completely stuck!!

 

The guy who you brought the computer to needs to freshen up on his computer skills. With SATA hard drives you need to install a RAID controller driver than isn't natively included with the Windows Installation CD.

The Sony CD must have come with one, but instead, you will need to slipstream it into a Windows install CD using a program called nLite ( http://www.nliteos.com/) OR if you have a floppy drive, during the installation press F6 when prompted to insert the driver.

I think this should do the trick:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...&OSFullName=Windows* XP Professional&lang=eng

 

Thanks Greg. I spoke with him and he said he is aware one problem is the raid controller driver which should be on the recovery CD, but as it is missing he does not know which driver to use. I have sent him your suggestion, here's hoping.

 

No worries man . The RAID controller I linked to will do the trick. That is the only thing preventing it from working guaranteed.

Let him know (for future reference) that the RAID controller is always linked to the chipset & always downloadable from the chipset website. For instance, the chipset in your laptop is the Mobile Intel 945PM Chipset... So it is easily obtainable from Intel's site: http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/ .

Many people get confused about this . Even professionals who have been in the business for decades.

 

It doesn't help that MS make the prompt for "press F6 to load a disk driver" so subtle... I have missed it myself before when not concentrating properly.

And the fact that you have to use drive A: (if you don't want to bother slipstreaming) is a complete joke.

I own a USB 3.5" floppy drive and I *only* ever use it for installing XP... :roll:

 

Thought I would get back with how this story ended (happily, but no thanks to Sony...)

To recap:

My Sony Vaio notebook hard drive died completely a month ago - no problem (I thought), I had a backup and bought a new hard drive.

BUT then I discovered it is impossible (for a mere mortal) to install a new hard drive without the Sony Recovery CD for the notebook.

Damn, where did I put it. Searched high and low before I realised it didn't ship with one! Instead of spending $5 on a few CDs Sony ships their Vaios without the Recovery CD - they put a Recovey partition on the HDD (which is useless if you have a complete HDD failure like I did.) You can make your own CDs from this partition but it takes 3 hours and 11 CDs (seriously), so, I didn't.

No problem, Sony website says they can sell them if you need them. So I rang Sony Australia, where I live.

"Nope, sorry, your machine is a US model we don't support. Try ringing the Sony USA. Besides you should have made your own recovery CDs (stupid) didn't you read the fine print?"

So I rang Sony USA.

"Heck yes, we can sell you those. But we can't send them to you because Sony policy says they can't be shipped overseas. We can send them to someone in the USA for you, and they can send them to you. Besides (stupid) why didn't you make your own CDs, can't you read the manual?"

Well, I also have a Dell and an HP and they both went to the extreme expense of actually providing me with the recovery CDs when I bought the machine! Grrrrr.

Rang Sony Australia again. Told them I can buy the CDs but Sony USA can't send them to me, maybe they could send them to Sony Australia as they seem so worried about whether I am a bona fide customer.

"Sorry, we don't do that. You really should have made your own CDs (stupid)."

So I contacted the IT editor of a paper I write for and he contacted Sony PR who contacted their service dept who got the CDs from Sony Japan and re-imaged my hard drive and hey presto, I GOT MY NOTEBOOK BACK!

Sony Buyer beware! Don't be (stupid) like me, make your recovery CDs. And if Sony tells you something can't be done, keep trying until you find someone who will tell you the truth. Most things can be done, if there is a will (and of course the threat of bad publicity helps.)

Thanks for the advice here anyway, it was great how prompt and helpful people here are.

 

@ heinkill

good job, just goes to show you, don't give up!!