EMERGENCY- Sony Vaio "Operating System Not Found" (friend's drive!)

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  1. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #11

    ...Why? Is there something hardwired on this mobo or bios or something that it won't accept anything except Vista? It's a rather weak computer and could barely handle Vista, even without the viruses.
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  2. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #12

    If the original operating system was Windows Vista OEM then that is tied to the computer by way of reference to the motherboard and that is why it won't accept Windows XP.

    If you have access to a Windows Vista disc that is the same version that was originally installed then you can use that to reinstall Windows using the product key on the COA sticker to activate it.

    Although this tutorial refers to Windows Seven, it should be good for Windows Vista too.

    Clean Install : Factory COA Activation Key
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  3. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #13

    I was afraid you'd say that.

    Win 7 said it couldn't find any installations, and while "looking for drivers to load," I saw that the drive is intact, but that there was another small 30MB drive/partition called "Boot X." It seems irrational to me that any company would make a laptop that is unable to be even upgraded...
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  4. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #14

    On the contrary, it's letting me install Windows 7... HUH???
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  5. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #15

    Miranova23 said:
    Yes, the COA is intact.

    Okay, first, cuz speed is important, I'm going to take it down the street to this repair shop.

    Once it's running something again, do you think I'd be able to, even painfully, reinstall XP and use the system image I have?
    What you could do is restore the system image, then partition the drive and dual-boot with XP.

    However, as you say, your first step should be to get it checked over, and then decide what to do from then.
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  6. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #16

    I found this on another site:
    Sony Vaio: Downgrade Vista > XP - General-Laptops-Notebooks - Laptops-Notebooks

    "Some of notebooks nowadays are setting its HDD to AHCI mode instead of standard IDE. In this case you should try to look for the AHCI driver for HDD first. During the setup you'll need the driver. Even worse you'll need a FDD to do this. I have (well, actually my office has) a USB FDD for this kind of things, it's working. This week I'd done downgraded to XP from Vista on Dell laptop, and it's working perfectly (after getting AHCI driver).

    It seems to me that the latest Sony VAIO laptop has some issues on downgrading due to drivers issue. You should check the availability of the drivers for XP. Last time my friend failed to downgrade since he couldn't find the XP drivers on his Sony Vaio."

    Ugh, drivers. I'm tempted to say screw it & I'll get my brother's Vista disc [but that's Monday at earliest.]

    2 things you should know about my friend though: He likes things customized, and organized. The Libraries of Vista made a mess of his files, so he'd resorted to saving everything to the Desktop. Also he had no use for any of the unchangeable names, as he only uses this laptop for audio production and web browsing, and nothing else. Secondly, he likes to use Windows Classic Style anyway, so that he can change any color of anything.

    I figured, I have my XP oem, it uses the basic real folder system, has a Classic option, and will run even faster. It's a dual core 1.73 GHz, 2GB ram. And I didn't have to wait til my family comes to visit on Monday to bring the Vista disc with them.

    Now, idk... If I did setup Vista again, would it be possible for me to obliterate the libraries in anyway? Or where would I put the actual folders... Somehow thinking of it in terms of 1 drive instead of 2, confuses me...
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #17

    If it's any help to you, one of the first things I do whenever I change my computer is to create a separate partition purely for all my personal data.

    1) I don't have to get my head round libraries.

    2) If ever I have to restore Windows my data is safe.

    So, in that sense, you could completely ignore libraries. Trying to delete them can cause more problems as they are a virtual folder for any data you put in them.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #18

    Excellent idea, the data partition- yes, he needs good simple-to-understand backup. (My poor friend here doesn't even know what Adobe Reader is.)

    I have since had lunch, am not so lightheaded atm, and thus was able to understand all these workarounds I've found. Best put, "These drivers are essential as Windows XP came before the invention of SATA disk drives. Now when you want to install XP on a computer equipped with SATA drive the SETUP process wouldn’t able to detect it and hence it will terminate. Get your sata drivers for this model from here and slipstream those into your xp installation cd using nLite (a very good tool)."

    [GUIDE] Sony Vaio SR XP Downgrade Instructions

    I've revisited the model's driver page on Sony's site, and found there is a drop down menu to select operating systems. I selected XP, and found exactly what these "hacks" say you need: Intel SATA non-RAID driver. I've used nLite a few years ago to install XP Prof after a crash on my dad's computer. Since then, you can find my old posts around here on how I've played with nearly every option in RT-7Lite.

    As I keep saying after every step now, the rest should be cake. Which means I'll be back in half an hour when something else won't work!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #19
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  10. Posts : 352
    Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #20

    Yes sir I do. =)
      My Computer


 
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