Sony Vaio Running Linux, Locked Out

Just like the title says, I have an older Sony Vaio Model PCG - 7G2L to be exact. It's currently running on Linux which I've been wanting to change back to a Windows OS, but somewhere along the line while in the boot mode trying to find out if it still has the Windows OS on the hard drive, I got locked out and can no longer get into the laptop.

My main question is, if I change the hard drive and OS, would I be able to get back into it??? I'm stuck right now on what to do with it.

Any help is appreciated

 

You can take the hdd out, put it in an external case (or use an adapter to hook it up via usb), copy whatever files you need, format and then put it back in the laptop to install windows. that's assuming you have restore cds or have a windows install cd. if neither is the case, does the laptop still have the recovery partition? if not, maybe you can contact sony to send you recovery cds/dvds (may cost some).

you basically need something to put back onto it, but once you have that, it's really simple.

 

What exactly do you mean by locked out? Do you mean that Linux boots but the root password appears to be changed? Or do you mean it doesn't boot up at all implying an issue with the partition? or something else entirely.

In any case, if you were tired of that install and you just want to put it back to Windows, if the recovery partition is intact, most Sony's holding down the F8 key would restore the computer to factory default state.

If that is not available (because the recovery partition was wiped), then insert a windows disk in the dvd slot and do an install of windows.

If you want the original restore disks for that machine, Sony will sell it to you for $17.95 at:
https://servicesales.sel.sony.com/e...hLxxhvT&modelNum=VGNFS830&searchText=VGNFS830

 

F8 is to get the Windows boot menu, which won't help if the boot loader has been replaced by grub (or LILO).
F10 is what Sony usually uses to boot directly into the recovery environment, but this is an older machine, so it might not have one.

If the "locked out" is not being able to log in to Linux, this can be remedied.
If the boot loader is "grub" (the most common choice for Linux), you can do the following:
At the list of operating systems, hit e to edit. After this, navigate to the line that starts with "boot", and hit e again, to edit that line. Add " single" (without the quotes, but WITH the space) to the end of the line, and hit return.
Hit b to boot, and it will boot you into single user mode.
After a quick boot, you will get a command line prompt that ends with #
Now type:
mount -o remount,rw /
passwd

Enter a new root password.
If you know your regular user, you can also change the password for that user:
passwd username

Finally, enter "reboot".


An alternative is to boot from a liveCD.