My Sony VAIO laptop is 1 year and a few months old. OS is Windows Me.
It is having trouble booting up.
Virus scan says no viruses. ScanDisk and Norton Disk Doctor say the hard drive is fine but there have been changes to the boot disk. I had Norton correct these, but to no effect.
On booting, it normally shows a design with the word “VAIO” then the word “Sony” then the Windows Me screen. When it boots at all now, there’s only a flash of color instead of the VAIO and the “Sony” hangs, then eventually the boot continues. It says shutdown wasn’t normal and wants to do a scan disk. (Shutdown is usually fine.) Once it’s booted up, it’s fine.
But most of the time, it won’t boot. No “VAIO” no flash of color, just a flicker of white, then “Sony” comes up. Then… “Operating system not found.”
There’s one thing that works. Because it’s a laptop, I usually unplug it when it’s not in use. If I plug it in and leave it OFF for an hour, then turn it on, it’ll boot up, although as described above.
I don’t keep a battery in it. It has never worked well with the battery. So it’s always plugged into a surge protector or the wall when in use.
I’m trying to avoid having to ship it for repairs. Any thoughts on what might be wrongand how I might fix it myself would be much appreciated.
