Sony VAIO - Operating System not found

Hi - I have a Sony VAIO VGN-N365E that worked great until my son knocked it to the floor. After that, it had trouble booting properly and was making that awful clicking sound.

I ran CHKDSK, and it identified several problems, so I ran CHKDSK /R but it also hung at 13% completed (after running it overnight).

I ran the VAIO Hardware Diagnositcs Quick test, which indicated no errors. But, I also did the Hard Disk verify & repair, and it got stuck at 1% (after 2 hours). When I stopped it, it did indicate that it found and repaired a problem, so I ran it again, only to get stuck at 2% (overnight). When I stopped it again, it indicated that it found and repaired an problem, but it still can't complete the test.

I was able to boot in safe mode and ran SFC /SCANNOW, which indicated there was a problem with WindowsCodecs.dll. I was also able to recover what I needed off of the hard disk, so at this point I am not concerned about reinstalling Vista and losing all of my data.

I built a Vista Recovery Disc and ran it. Could not do a System Restore or CompletePC Restore because I had no restore points (bad me!). I did run the Windows Diagnostic Memory Tool, which indicated no errors. I tried running Startup Repair, but my computer did not come with a Windows Vista installation disc (only pre-installed), so I couldn't do anything with that either.

I tried to do a Full Restore (back to the factory install), and things seemed to be going along just fine -- the drive was reformatted, the computer rebooted a couple of times, but eventually the only message I get on my computer is "Operating System not found" !!!

I waited for quite a while, but nothing was happening -- no activity on the hard drive, etc. So, I rebooted, and the computer gets stuck on the VAIO logo for quite a while, then displays "Operating System not found" and does not appear to do anything.

I cannot seem to get back into Safe Mode (F8) or Recovery Tools (F10) -- the computer just beeps and beeps at me when I try to use these keys, and they system displays VAIO logo for a LONG time before finally displaying "Operating System not found."

I can use F2 on reboot to get into the BIOS -- both the system RAM passed, Cache SRAM passed, System BIOS is shadowed and Video BIOS is shadowed. BUT the system thinks there is no hard drive!

Help! What do I do from here to get a working system back?

 

Unfortunately, it appears your hard drive has been damaged. A fall -- even from as little as 12" -- can knock the spindle around enough to damage the alignment of the platters.

Fortunately, you have been smart and recovered the data you needed first in the recovery process. Kudos!

Check that the drive has not become loose or disconnected inside your laptop. I'm not familiar with your particular model; however there should be a panel somewhere on the bottom of your laptop which is a bit larger than the size of a credit card. Remove the screws, open the access door and check that the drive is securely fastened in place.

If the drive is secure, you have pretty much done all you can do. Anything else will only aide in retrieving data if not hasten the death of the drive. A HDD Recovery service can only retrieve data, not repair the drive.

So ... you need to buy a need a harddrive and reinstall Vista with your recovery disks. Fortunately HDDs are inexpensive.

Budget - 120GB, 5400 RPM, no free fall sensor, $54.99
Performance - 160GB, 7200 RPM, free fall sensor, $63.99
Cadillac - 120GB SSD with TRIM, $349 after $30 MIR

Personally, I'd recommend the WD Scorpio Black (middle option) in either the 160GB or the 320GB for $93.41. It has a faster spindle speed and the free fall sensor, which parks the heads in the event of a fall. The Scorpio Blue (the first option) is a bit slower at 5400 RPM and doesn't have the free fall sensor however it is a bit cheaper. The SSD will not suffer from any drop related damage, is quite a bit faster, but it is also considerably more expensive.

Good luck!

--L.

 

Regarding the above drive recommendations, the faster spindle speed drives will consume more power and therefore give a bit less operating time when on battery. If that is not an issue for you then faster is better.

Gary

 

Is there an option to check boot priority. On my desktop if I configure the wrong drive for boot it will not pick up the OS ( naturally ) Your bios may have configured it to boot from an external drive or usb first instead of HDD.

 

Good point Gary.

A faster RPM does require more power, though the manufacturers are working to improve the efficiency with every new generation of hardware. For instance Tom's Hardware noted in 2008 that the WD Scorpio Black requires an average of .1w more power than the WD Scorpio Blue (NB - those are the non J drives -- no free fall sensor). Using telemetry from Vista and the early 7 betas, Microsoft learned that the average laptop using Windows needs about 5% of the power used for operating the harddrive - not a lot of power, indeed!

An example: on my FZ470, that 5% translates to ~2,664 mWh on my 53,280mWh battery (53280 x .05 = 2664). Per Tom's Hardware, the power difference over the 5400 RPM drive is ~8% (1.3 / 1.2 = 1.08) which equals ~2877 mWh (2664 x 1.08 = 2877), a difference of +213 mWh. That difference is ~0.004% of my total battery capacity (213 / 53280 = 0.0039). My battery currently discharges at a peak rate of ~25,000 mW. The additional 213 mWh represents ~0.009% of the discharge rate (213 / 25000 = 0.0085) which translates into roughly 30 seconds of additional battery power used per hour.

Every laptop configuration is different, everyone uses their laptop differently, no two batteries behave precisely the same way: there are a lot of variables which could skew that number, though I think it would be hard to conceive a scenario that adds tens of minutes, for instance.

For me, the loss of 30 seconds of run time is negligible compared to the performance boosts I see from the higher spindle speed. That doesn't mean that a 5400 RPM drive is bad; for me it wasn't right.

--L.

 

lbohn,

30 seconds! I'd say that qualifies as TOTALLY insignificant! I had not seen any recent numbers and had no idea that it was down that low now. I know earlier 7200 versions consumed much more than their 5400 brethren.

Gary

 

Gary,

I recall reading an article which showed that under the right circumstances a 7200 RPM drive will actually be more power efficient than a 5400 RPM drive. Essentially, the 7200 drive was running less total time due to the higher RPMs, translating into longer, more efficient run times. The 5400 was running longer overall, using more power to complete the same tasks. It was highly artificial (I believe the test was in part a synthetic HD diagnostic tool and part repeated file copying), but an interesting read nonetheless. I can't find the article anymore, even after searching some of the usual suspects: tomshardware.com, anandtech.com, maximumpc.com, arstechnica.com and several other Windows-centric blogs.

My Google-Fu has failed me today.

--L.

 

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions!

I did try reordering the boot priority, since that was an easy thing to do. Unfortunately, that just gave me false hope!! I was able to use F10 to get back into the Recovery Tools, and I was able to prove (at least to myself!) that both partitions were still there, and the partition -- E: -- with the operating system installation files was supposedly undamaged (according to Hard Disk verify & repair).

So, just for kicks, I tried the "Restoring C: Drive" command from the Recovery Tools again. Things seemed to be going along just fine until the "VAIO Module Installer" portion of the program, which installs the programs and drivers. The thing gets stuck at 0% progress ("copying the software to the C: drive"), and every once in a while I hear those sad clicking noises. Eventually the program gives up, reboots, and I'm the same state of "Operating System not found" that I was in before...

So, it's a new hard file I will get.

The hard file that came with my VAIO is a 120GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA drive, so replacing it with any other laptop serial ATA, such as those described in an earlier post by lbohn should work, correct? I am planning on purchasing the Scorpio Black with the free fall sensor -- that will come in very handy, as my kids are the primary users of the laptop. I really appreciate the suggestions and explanations of the different options out there.

Now the only other thing I'm waiting for is the "Recovery DVD Set" I ordered from Sony -- they promise me that I should be able to install Windows to a new hard file with that -- it's supposed to be CDs that will allow me to use my product key for the pre-installed Windows that I already paid for on my laptop.

Thank you again for all of your help!

 

DLBW,

Yes, you should have no problems replacing the drive with a different / faster SATA drive. Again, I'm not familiar with the particulars of your system, but even if your system only had a SATA 1.5GB/s controller, any of the SATA 3GB/s hard drives I recommended would fall back to a SATA 1.5GB/s compatibility mode. That's unlikely as your system appears to be 2007 model, but I thought the info might be nice.

While you are waiting on your new drive, you may want to locate the access panel for your HDD and try removing the drive. You will need a small #1 or #0 Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws. Inside you should find a few more screws securing the drive holder in place. Remove those screws and should be able to pull the drive, in its drive holder, out of the bay. If you have any questions or problems specific to the Sony hardware, try searching the Sony forum for threads specific to the N series, or failing that, start one and see if another N series owner can help you specifically.

Do keep in mind that the free fall sensor only works when the drive is powered. It will not work if the drive (laptop) is dropped when off. The free fall sensor simply parks the drive heads to protect them from smashing into the platter surfaces, creating bad sectors or damaging the delicate heads. The clicking noise you are hearing is likely a misalignment with the platters on the spindle or worse, a stuck or misaligned arm. Unfortunately, the free fall sensor tech would have done nothing to mitigate that type of damage.

Being careful with the laptop will still be the best course of action.

--L.