HELP Windows 7 clean install on Sony Vaio laptop w/o recovery discs

[newtechy]

I hope this is the correct Forum subsection to post this.

So I made a mistake while taking on a friend's problematic sony vaio laptop. They were wanting to install a newly purchased Kaspersky av, but after uninstalling the old version of Kaspersky there was a problem with an unresponsive usb mouse & mouse pad. I wasn't able to resolve the issue through various repair programs and manually reinstalling the driver, which was giving off the error code of not being properly installed or functioning. With owners consent, I decided to let Vaio Care to bring the computer back to factory condition. (I wish the owner had the owners manual to this thing.)

I made sure to backup all of the files that the owner needed saved, but failed to make any sort of backup recovery disk for the computer. Not sure if it's too late to do so, but the computer will not boot to windows any longer. I get a white blinking cursor on a black background immediately after Vaio disappears from the screen upon bootup, but cannot do anything with it.

I made a windows 7 home premium iso dvd, and when booting from it I reinstalled windows onto one of the 3 partitions on the hd (the largest of the 3 which was labeled "Primary" type). Of the other two partitions, one was labeled "Primary" and was named "System Reserved" but only 101MB, and the other was labeled "System" and was named "Recovery" and is 7.7GB. When installing, the computer does a restart but then boots up from the disk again starting the entire process over again. So I changed it to boot from the HDD, but still get the same problem of a blank cursor and windows not booting up.

When attempting the System Recovery Options on the Win7 dvd I'm given 3 different partitions (2 of which are 400+GB, labled windows 7 operating system, and located on (D: ) Local Disk). I'm guessing this might stand for the old windows 7 from the factory, and the one I installed. The other partition is 7.7GB and labeled Start VAIO Recovery Center located on (Unknown) Recovery.

System Restore, System Image Recovery, and windows Memory Diagnostic aren't doing any good. Startup Repair only gives me an issue for one of the 3 Partitions, the (Recovery Partition), and states that Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically, saying that the "Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline".

When going through command prompt I see that old data & drivers are still on the disc, but was wondering if it was too late to make some sort of a recovery disc for it? My concerns are that when I do a wipe of the drive and a clean install of Windows 7, I'm going to have many issues without having sony's factoryware installed.

Am I able to make my own disk to reinstall Sony's factoryware?

What's the best way of getting this computer back to fully functioning?

I have access to the drivers on Sony's support site: Sony eSupport - VGN-FW510F - Support

 

[marsmimar]

Hello newtechy and welcome to Seven Forums.

I think the best thing to do is a clean install following the instructions in this tutorial that was prepared by one of the Forum experts. There's a special note for Sony Vaio owners at the bottom.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

I have a Vaio and I followed these instructions. I can say from personal experience this will work. I eliminated all Sony factoryware (Vaio Care, Vaio Control Center, Vaio Gate, etc) and I haven't missed any of it. The most important thing is once the computer is up and running with all Windows Updates, make a system image. When all of the additional programs are installed and updated, all personal tweaks are made, etc and you're sure the computer is working the way it's supposed to, make another system image. This can be your go-to master image that would take the place of that hidden recovery partition. And it would be even better because it would be more up to date than a factory recovery partition ever could be.

Have your friend stick to a schedule of maybe one a week or once a month and make a new system image. The more frequent the images the more up to date a restore will be. This can eliminate the need for recovery disks as well. Depending on which imaging software you decide to use, it would be a good idea to create a "system repair disk". This is just a single disk that will let you boot the computer should the entire operating system crash. From this single disk you will be able to access various repair functions, including the ability to reinstall a system image.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

 

[newtechy]

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I will give this a shot and report back how it goes.

Do you have any recommendations on a System imaging software? I'm not familiar with creating system images.

 

[bigmck]

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I will give this a shot and report back how it goes.

Do you have any recommendations on a System imaging software? I'm not familiar with creating system images.

If you want one that is good and used by a lot of people on here and also is free, give this a try. Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download I have restored several times and never had a problem. Let us know how it goes.

 

[marsmimar]

I agree with bigmck. Macrium Free is a great imaging software and I use it. One of the Forum members prepared this tutorial.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

In addition to Macrium I also use the built in Windows 7 imaging tool. And I use an external hard drive to store the images, not DVDs, even though that's an option to save the image. If you had 50GB of data to image (just as an example) it would take 11 DVDs. If just one of those DVDs didn't burn properly you wouldn't be able to use the image. The external hard drive is a safer way to go. Here's another tutorial using the built in Windows 7 imaging tool.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

 

[newtechy]

Many Thanks for the helpful advise so far. I've got the Vaio up and running, just 3 issues so far as I can tell:

Going through windows update, critical updates only, everything installed fine with the exception of the 'ATI Technologies Inc. driver update for ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650'. It keeps failing to install and giving me the following error code: 80070103

The scrolling function on the mouse pad also is not functioning.

Via device manager, the only issue that it shows is under 'Other devices' -> 'Base System Device' stating that the drivers for the device are not installed. When clicking Update Driver, I clicked on "Search automatically for updated driver software" but windows cannot find driver software.

Any way else I can look for things that may not be running properly other than trial error? I'd like to get it all working properly before creating the first system image.

 

[bigmck]

Many Thanks for the helpful advise so far. I've got the Vaio up and running, just 3 issues so far as I can tell:

Going through windows update, critical updates only, everything installed fine with the exception of the 'ATI Technologies Inc. driver update for ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650'. It keeps failing to install and giving me the following error code: 80070103

The scrolling function on the mouse pad also is not functioning.

Via device manager, the only issue that it shows is under 'Other devices' -> 'Base System Device' stating that the drivers for the device are not installed. When clicking Update Driver, I clicked on "Search automatically for updated driver software" but windows cannot find driver software.

Any way else I can look for things that may not be running properly other than trial error? I'd like to get it all working properly before creating the first system image.

I would take the driver out and see if you can run the thing without it. When I installed my Win 7, I did not have to install any extra drivers. Everything that was on the Windows 7 disk took care of my PC.