Sony Vaio VPCS115FK Newbie Needs Help

Hello all,

Sorry if this post is long, but I am a little stressed and short on time before my warranty runs out.

I am a fresh out of college American expat living alone in Korea so my laptop is one of the main ways I can contact with the outside world and my family back home. Over 11 months ago I purchased a Sony Vaio VPCS115FK from a HiMart store here and it has been working fine up until a week ago. It has 2 2GB memory chips and runs on Windows Vista 64-bit.

At that time, the computer started to act a little bit slower, but still working fine. I am not the best with computers, but I regularly use Avast Antivirus, Firewall, Crap Cleaner, Ad-Aware, Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter. At that time I left to travel for a week and when I came back the computer worked slowly once, but the second time I used it this is what happened and only happens since:

1) Vaio screen quickly pops up for a second
2) Then a only Black screen stays on for 3 minutes
3) Next, a Black Screen with the words "Windows is Loading Files"
4) Then, a Black Microsoft Corporation screen with a green cursor moving left to right on a bar at the bottom of the screen
5) Finally, a Blue screen with white line and flower design and arrow (cursor) show ups
6) It stays like this forever and NO buttons work. All I can do is hold on button to turn it off.

I've researched the internet and tried:
1) Pressing F8 Save mode, F2 Bios, CNTL+ALT+DELETE, ALT+F10
2) Unscrewing the back and switching the memory ram chips a couple times
3) Installing Ubuntu Linux (Just black screen) by USB

None of these worked except Bios and pressing F10 which got me to a screen with a lot of Korean and saying Windows, and then eventually a turquoise blue screen and stuck.

I've also went back to the store, and they said that they can send it to Sony, but it'll take two weeks but they won't be able to tell me how much it costs until I get it back (I expect it'll be more than I can afford) and don't have any privacy policies. I don't have any bad files on my computer, but I dont feel I can trust them as they don't speak much English or can give me any clear answers to any of my questions even though we are using machine translators. So I have been just going to internet cafes trying different things.

Please help! No one speaks English very well at the store. I would like to get the files on my laptop, but Im at the end of string so I would rather reformat the laptop so I can have a working computer this week. I tried some old Windows XP reformatting disks but it got me blue screen so I dont know how to do it. The Vaio came with no Discs and I can't access Sony Recovery or anything else for that matter. Or should I just trust the store with my laptop - although they will leave me computer less for two weeks with no guarantees of fixing it, and will charge me anyway when I am on a tight budget. In need of advice, thanks to anyone who can help me with their expertise since my warranty ends in less than a week.

Thanks again.

 

This is a hard one to diagnose. My first impression is that the hard drive is dying. I think your best bet is to try a couple other linux distros in hope of finding one that works. If none work then its more than a hdd failure.
For linux, you'll want to use either a live cd or usb. Don't try to install, just run it in live mode. I would try knoppix or maybe puppy linux. Check distrowatch, there may be other distros made for recovery that support a variety of hardware.
If you need more linux help ask in the linux forum.
Linux Compatibility and Software

 

S. Prime thanks for the response. So do you think the HD is dying because I can't load Windows? If its dead does that mean my data is gone too? I'll try the Linux desktop version next, I only tried the netbook install on a live USB but didnt work just a black screen.

I'm a Linux newbie, so pretty much if I put Linux on there it will be reformating the computer right, or will it help me get my old data too? Worse comes to worse I can try to find a Windows 64bit Vista/7 desktop disk and reformat it right? I would throw out this clunker out the window but I cant afford it lol.

Thanks for the tips and links.

 

It might be, there is no way to tell. If you can get a windows vista 64 disc, try booting it and going into the repair console and type chkdsk /f . It might just be some bad sectors.

if you INSTALL linux, then your going to overwrite the disk and lose data. If you burn the linux .iso file to a CD (from another computer), and boot it, it can run as a "live cd", and function without having to be installed. linux has file explorers and can read the windows file structure. you would then be able to copy all your files to a usb or external drive.
Worse comes to worse I can try to find a Windows 64bit Vista/7 desktop disk and reformat it right?[/quote]
yes.