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Sony Vaio Reload problems

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Hardware:
Sony Vaio PCG-R505dl

OS:
Windows XP Pro (hopefully)

I have a potential client who has this Vaio. They set a BIOS password on it and forgot it.
He has proff of purchase
Sony wants like $300 to recover the password.
My client is unwilling to pay
He just wants OS reloaded
It has no docking station and only an external usb cdrom which it will not boot from.

I want to be the hero here and reload it for him but cant seem to do it.
I have removed the HDD and put it in a desktop PC and loaded XPPro. I also manuall loaded all the drivers i could get form sony’s website for that model

after all that replacing the HDD in the laptop and booting results in the boot process proceeding to where the windows xp logo and status bar shouold be and apparently stops. no hdd activity no blinky lights nothing on the display

I dont really care about the BIOS password as long as i can get the OS on there and get him rolling again.

Any help would be great!

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to Sony Vaio Reload problems

Clarifications

Re: Sony Vaio Reload problems

In reply to Sony Vaio Reload problems

Loading the OS on the drive slaved to a desktop won’t work, all the wrong drivers will be auto detected and loaded. The best bet would be to find a similar laptop and install the hdd into and wipe the drive clean and reinstall.

Failing that you could try any old laptop, but you will probably have to be able to get into recovery console and disable some services before it will load in the Vaio.

HTH,

Wade

Create a Partition in FAT 32 on the HDD and copy the

In reply to Sony Vaio Reload problems

XP Install files to that. Leave the rest of the HDD blank and boot and allow the HDD to pickup the Install Files and run with those and install the basic Windows Install off the HDD onto the remaining part of the HDD. Once that is done you can then proceed to install the necessary drivers and other items.

But to be perfectly honest here you should have left things alone as these have a hidden partition on them which allow you to do the above without the need to enter anything and they will fully reinstall the OS and all software that came loaded as new.

Of course you need to have XP installed in the first place to do this. Or you’ll end up with the original OS installed.

Col

no hidden partition

In reply to Create a Partition in FAT 32 on the HDD and copy the

I actually did check for the hidden partition and there wasnt one. Its an old laptop and had recovery cds ubt as stated couldnt change boot order etc etc

I will try the fat 32 trick…thats a good idea.
thanks

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