Solved Assistance on Laptop required

[Plexx]

Hi guys, I need some help here as I am unsure if a simple rescue disk would do the trick since it seems she is unable to even load up the Bios. I will quote what my friend said:

Sony Vaio, OS: Windows Vista, froze all of a sudden and I pressed shut down. Wanted to turn it on again, the screen went black for like 5 min and this error message came up. No matter what I press: Enter or Esc, it restarts and shows the same things all over again.
Tried F5, F8 and F12, nothing works, can't restore, can't enter safe mode, Bios, anything.

 

[McLovin]

Have you tried the Windows Repair?

 

[Plexx]

Tried F5, F8 and F12, nothing works, can't restore, can't enter safe mode, Bios, anything

I am unsure how will she get to repair without the above working. Problem is I am no where near the laptop so I can't have a closer look.

 

[Valentin N]

try with what windows has to offer. I also suggest he gets win7; stable version of vista

 

[Plexx]

I told her already to get Windows 7 and she is getting it and will replace, but thing is that there's stuff that needs to be backed up.

Perhaps a live linux disk could bypass that error message?

 

[McLovin]

Try using Hiren's Boot CD. That might help some what.

 

[Plexx]

Hirens boot disk for a beginner is going be hard. I could try giving the steps by steps...

I could give the directions for a live disk, but if she ain't able to get into bios, there is no way to change the boot sequence... or am I forgetting something?

 

[Valentin N]

Hirens boot disk for a beginner is going be hard. I could try giving the steps by steps...

I could give the directions for a live disk, but if she ain't able to get into bios, there is no way to change the boot sequence... or am I forgetting something?

A linux boot cd will bypass the error. How is she going to back it up then? I have no experience in this matter.

 

[Dieselman]

When you upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista it creates and folder called "Windows Old". Your saved data will be stored in there.

 

[Plexx]

If memory serves me right, if a live disk can bypass that, should be able to access the C drive and she should be able to back up the pics and stuff to an external disk. If only I could get my hands on that Laptop I wouldn't need to break my braincells trying to find an easy solution and guide her through

 

[Plexx]

When you upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista it creates and folder called "Windows Old". Your saved data will be stored in there.

Hum so upgrading to WIN7 could be an option but how will she be able to change the boot sequence if she can't access the Bios?

Do you guys need more info on the actual laptop such as model etc?

 

[Valentin N]

When you upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista it creates and folder called "Windows Old". Your saved data will be stored in there.

Hum so upgrading to WIN7 could be an option but how will she be able to change the boot sequence if she can't access the Bios?

Do you guys need more info on the actual laptop such as model etc?

Well a win7 ugrade could solve it. I see this as a software problem than a hardware. How did she "produce" this issue?

 

[Plexx]

laptop froze and she did a force restart. And now that's all it happens (screenshot on first post).

Win 7 installation has to be custom but how will she be able to access the bios to change boot sequence priority?

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

When you upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista it creates and folder called "Windows Old". Your saved data will be stored in there.

Hum so upgrading to WIN7 could be an option but how will she be able to change the boot sequence if she can't access the Bios?

Do you guys need more info on the actual laptop such as model etc?

Who knows how many free space in the system drive is remaining? Maybe it will be less than the minimum space required, so formatting the system drive may be required.


Yes, I think Linux live CD does the job. I recommend you getting an Ubuntu ISO for ease of use. You can access the computer and copy the files from the laptop to an external HDD, for example.

Additional: If you want the ISO to be on USB and the laptop supports booting from USB, Get something like Unetbootin.

Hope this helps you

 

[Dieselman]

Doesn't this laptop have a hidden recovery partition? Usually its F10.

 

[Plexx]

I would assume it does but she doesn't know. She can be considered beginner in terms of PCs.

Asked her to try F10. Will keep you guys posted.

 

[Dieselman]

Doesn't matter if she is a beginner. Everyone can read a simple owners manual which came with the laptop. If not its online at Sony.com.

 

[Plexx]

Following F10 suggestion:

When I press F10, the following happens: Windows is loading files
Then the error appears again.

 

[Plexx]

I seriously doubt its a hardware issue.

Model:
Sony Vaio vgn-ns21m

 

[Dieselman]

Have you tried to Google that status code. Hard to make out from here? Seems like a corrupt OS to me. Does she have recovery cd's with it? F2 or F1 usually gets you into your bios.