Help restoring VAIO F from recovery DVD

gregrocker said:

Complete every step in Windows 7 Installation Failure - Overcome reporting back results as you go.

Thanks.

Went through the steps, then at Step 6, did the "Press Shift + F10" which opened the command window,
where I typed "DISKPART <enter>" it froze up. Here's exactly what's on the screen

------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]

X:\Sources>DISKPART

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7601
Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MINWINPC

--------------------------------------------------
What ever I typed on the keyboard, LIST or whatever, was not recognized and produced absolutely no response. The cursor came down below the O of the last line, but no normal key press after that was recognized.

I pressed "Shift + F10" again and it opened another window and there too the exact same thing.

Is the hard drive detected when you boot into BIOS setup, normally via the F1 or F2 key?

If not try reinstalling the hard drive to see if it makes better contact and will be detected.

You can often google videos for replacing hard drive for your exact model, but here is the best resource I find now for Vaio F since you didn't tell us the model number: How to Replace or Upgrade the Hard Drive HDD or SSD - VAIO VPCF Series Laptop

If the hard drive is detected then run the maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan on it.

Next test the RAM - Test with Memtest86+ for 7 passes or overnight.

Report back.

Thanks for your response.

Yes, the hard drive is detected in the bios.

When I boot linux cd, it automatically mounts the hard drive and I can read and write the ntfs C: partition okay.

Also, if I don't have a boot dvd or usb, it starts booting off the hard drive and then gets stuck.

The model is VPC-F12KFX/B.

Will do the memtest.

Test the HD as specified in last post.

Try another HD.

Thanks every one for your help.

Yes, it is the hard disk. I need to change it.

Here's what I did. Booted linux and started gparted. Tried deleting and re-creating the partition but it failed to format. Then I resized the partition, made it smaller. Then gparted created the partition and formatted it without error. After that I could boot Windows 7 and install on the reduced size disk.

That at least shows everything else is okay.

I think I'll go with a 7200 rpm one, not ssd.

Thanks again to everyone for help, advice and suggestions.