Laptop does not start after normal shut down

[sonyproblem]

2 years ago i bought my son a Sony Vaio. No problems until the beginning of this year.

 

He shut down the laptop and the day after he could not start up.

 

We do not have a back-up disk. tried all the available options but no errors found in hardware and/or software.

 

I created a recovery CD from a site and booted from there but it ended with no errors found but the system does not start up.

 

Can it be the BIOS?

 

I don't know how to get entry to the BIOS and/or how to change things in there.

 

Can you please help?

 

Henk

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to ExTS

 

When you switch on - do you get any LEDs lit or hard drive / fan sounds ?

=====================

 

Switch on - constantly tap F8 about once per second.

Try "Last Known Good Configuration" from the list of options.

=====================

 

Will it boot up in Safe Mode ( from the same list ) ?

[Aalya757]

HI

 

Agree with KenB, While starting the system keep on pressing F8. It will take you to safemode .Try to take out all tha data backup by booting the sytem in safemode.If system will not allow you to enter in safemode then you need to consult to expert.

[sonyproblem]

sorry

 

Sorry for coming back late but I was very busy

 

I switched on the laptop and hit the F8 several times.

 

Nothing happened.

 

When I use a recovery CD it comes after several f8 up with a screen where I can select.

 

What's next?

 

Henk

[KenB]

I have to ask again - are there any LEDs lit or hard drive / fans rotating ?

 

hit the F8 several times.

If you are going to get to the Advanced Startup Options you will need to tap F8 once per second for a while or until the machine freezes or displays an error message.

 

When I use a recovery CD it comes after several f8 up with a screen where I can select.

I don't understand.

Are you saying that if you use the recovery CD that you can get to the Advanced Startup Options where you can select

"Last Known Good Configuration"

"Safe Mode"

If so - try them in this order.

[sonyproblem]

selection

 

Yes I can get to the selection panel.

 

What do I see when the screen is 'freezing'?

 

Henk

[KenB]

Yes I can get to the selection panel.

"

I have already explained what to do when you get here.

 

Select "Last Known Good Configuration"

If this fails

Select "Safe Mode"

 

See if you can boot up with either of these options.

 

What do I see when the screen is 'freezing'?

???

If you are refering to my previous post - this is irrelevant now as you can access the Advanced Startup Options.

[sonyproblem]

both done,

 

Hi

 

I first tried the last good known (advanced) route. I selected repair your computer. I selected microsoft windos vista. did start up repair. Result start up repair could not detect a problem.

 

Then I tried the safe mode alternative. The same steps were done and the result was the same.

 

What now.

 

Thanks for helping me with this problem.

 

Henk

[KenB]

Last Known Good Configuration

This is not "Repair your computer" it is an option to start the computer with the most recent settings that worked.

 

Safe Mode

The same steps were done and the result was the same.

??

You system should have attempted to boot with minimal drivers.

 

What now.

Confirm that you have tried Last Known Good Configuration and Safe Mode as suggested from the Advanced Startup Options

[Starbuck]

Hi sonyproblem

 

If you are following KenB's advice correctly, you should see a screen like this:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/starbuck50/13-07-201106-46-41.png

 

can you just confirm that you have clicked the option highlighted in the pic.

[sonyproblem]

Yes I selected that option

[KenB]

You have tried the Start-up Repair.

It will not boot up in Safe Mode.

Last Known Good Configuration does not complete - so no boot up.

You do not have an installation disk or a Recovery Disk.

 

Please confirm that all of the above are true.

 

============================

You may have a recovery partition.

Try tapping F10 after switching on.

 

See here:

http://genesis.sony-europe.com/instranet/ccil_sony/selfservice/index.jsp?DocId=35564&l=en_GB&m=VAIO

 

Be aware - you will loose data. This will restore the system to how it was when you bought it.

If you need to recover data DO NOT use the recovery partition - let us know which way you want to go.

[sonyproblem]

I already saved my info so I go for the option using F10.

 

Are problems to expect?

[KenB]

Not really - if the Recovery Partition exists.

 

This is assuming that there is not a hardware problem.

Give it a try - nothing to lose.

[sonyproblem]

still not working

 

Sorry for the late comeback. I was on holiday.

 

I first did the Quick hardware test. All parts (Hardware, memory and HDD) gave "no errors detected".

 

At the end this message came up "no error was detected on this vaio".

 

After this I did repair c:drive

It started with formatting, then restoring and then exiting

 

After this the Vaio text came up and a little later the curso was blinking on a black screen in the left hand corner about 2 cm from the top.

 

This is still the case (about 10 minutes later).

 

What to do now?

 

Henk

[RandyL]

After this I did repair c:drive

 

Did you mean restore c:drive?

[sonyproblem]

I was wrong

 

Sorry I did

 

Restore C: Drive

 

Henk

[RandyL]

As Ken may be away I'll offer my thoughts.

I created a recovery CD from a site and booted from there but it ended with no errors found but the system does not start up.

I believe you created a Vista RE (recovery environment) disk.

 

As you can run from the disk and the Sony F10 options and diagnostics work I'm thinking you have a defective drive rather then bad memory. I know they found no errors but they are limited as to what they can find. If you know the make of the drive the manufacturer probably has a much better drive test program that you can run from a disk. These are much better.

 

Keep in mind the average life span of a laptop drive is 3 to 5 years so this is a real possibility.

 

You would of course need to contact Sony about purchasing the recovery media. Perhaps VAIO After-Sales Support would be the place to start. I don't know your model or serial number so I can't check it. Or perhaps this link. http://ciscdb.sel.sony.com/info/recovery.html

[sonyproblem]

Thanks

 

Any idea how I can retrieve the model of the drive?

 

Henk

[RandyL]

Device manager might show you. The Sony site might document it too but we would need the numbers off your Vaio.

[RandyL]

Sorry. I guess device manager is no longer an option. Can you give us the model number and serial number please.

[sonyproblem]

numbers

 

Hi

 

On the bottom of the laptop there is a service tag with number c600xchf

 

also a barcode 28281761 6001143

 

model pcg-3d1m

 

Laptop model is VGN-FW21M

 

This is all the info on the laptop. Hope this helps you to get more info.

 

Henk

[RandyL]

Well Sony support really is bad. Their spec sheet doesn't say what brand it is. The BIOS might say though. Look at this link for how to get into the BIOS. http://www.ehow.com/how_4761693_access-bios-sony-vaio-laptops.html

[sonyproblem]

F2 info

 

This is the info I get:

BIOS version: R1100Y0

Machine name: VGN-FW21M

Serial number: 28281751-5001143

UUID: f71fee80-99ba86884f

system memory: 4096MB

Hard disk drive:400GB

 

When I go to the boot tab it gives more info:

External device boot: disabled

Network boot: disabled

 

Boot priority:

select 1st boot priority Internal optical disk drive

select 2nd boot priority Internal hard disk drive

select 3rd boot priority external device

 

This is all I can find.

 

Is this enough?

 

Henk

[RandyL]

That tells me the size but not the brand. I was hoping it would show something like WD followed by numbers. WD for instance would be Western Digital. ST would be a Seagate.

 

The only other way I know how to tell is to open up the laptop and look at the drive. Not everyone is comfortable doing that.

 

You might want to wait for Ken or someone else before you proceed.