PCG-9L1M - Lightning Strike Aftermath

[tombal]

Newbie here...
AC adapter died. I replaced it. At boot time I got "Windows failed to start last time...". Whichever option I chose he died.
Booted 4 different XP CDs and the recovery CD. They ran but died at the point they should have done someting useful apart from load themselves. Same with the XP 6-diskette set.
Bought BootMaster and reset the MBR. Now, one time, after many boot attempts, I got "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system32\config\SYSTEM".
BootMaster can see the files on the C drive but he will only let me copy from C to A.
I have good data backup so I'd be happy if I could boot something that will let me reformat the HDD and try an XP reinstall. I have no idea what that something might be. Any thoughts? Thanks, Tom

[frannys]

Good Luck,FDISK is not for the weak hearted,its Hardcore,when your done you will be 'Born again Hard'.

[kee-lo_]

I would probably buy a new hard disk and then buy a 2.5" caddy to rescue as much as possible from the old hard disk.

[tombal]

 I'm out in a few minutes for nine days. I'll report back here after I return.

I'm back.

F10 at power-on did not give me access to the hidden drive.
I booted an ME diskette and ran FDISK. He sees the hidden drive (30 megs out of 60!) but he won't let me delete it.
I formatted C: as FAT32. I successfully installed and ran WIN98.
I still can't run an XP CD, Home or Pro. After they load the PC dies. Same with the Sony recovery CD and the Home 6xdiskette boot set.:smileycry:

[kee-lo_]

That's really strange

[tombal]

Closing the loop on this one, I posted the problem on the Sony site. After a couple of fruitless iterations I was told "We have identified that your unit may need to be repaired. "
It looks terminal...:smileycry:

[kee-lo_]

Make sure you get a quote, but seriously I think you can get a better VAIO for the money they'll charge to repair the motherboard.