Hi. I’m not a tech guru, I’m a freelance graphic designer who’s fairly new to ‘working from home’ without an IT dept a phone call away. I’m using a SONY VAIO desktop model VGC-RA810G which runs Windows XP Mediacenter. A few days ago the system froze up but powering it down and turning it back on worked fine. I got a message upon rebooting that the system had recovered from a critical state due to problems with the Graphics Card and/or driver. The message suggested checking into Windows upgrades which I did and upgraded everything the program suggested. The next day the system froze again. I shut down the system and it wouldn’t reboot again. The power button lights up, but the monitor is black and void. An online chat with SONY’s support tech produced little information. He wanted me to try a reboot that would reinstall the computer to the state in which it came from the factory – which would in turn delete much of my unbacked up data. I chose not to do that and am hoping someone can help me figure this out in a way that allows me to retrieve my data and maybe even save my computer. The graphics card in the computer is a Radeon X600 XT – SONY says that a bad graphics card could be the reason my computer won’t boot. Does this sound accurate and if so, what are my options for repair? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. It’s difficult if not impossible to continue my work on my laptop in the interim. Thanks.
