SZ1 Failure?

[Wyvis]

I bought an SZ1-HP/B last week and it appeared to be working OK. Today I tried to boot into Windows and it just hangs.

The system boots OK and gets as far as the black screen with the Windows XP logo...and then stops. I can hear what sounds like a mechanical mechanism ticking every couple of seconds and the hard drive light is constantly on. When I switched it off and back on, I got the "Windows failed to start" screen and selected "Last known good configuration" but the same thing happened. "Safe mode" results in the same problem.

Any ideas on what the problem might be? Would a restore solve the problem or does this sound like a hardware problem (e.g. disk failure)?

[Blencogo]

Hi Wyvis and welcome to ClubVAIO.

It doesn't sound good - could be a hard disc failure.

You could try to recover your C: drive with the Recovery Utility (Either from the Recovery Discs you (I hope!) made or by tapping F10 at start-up). You will reformat C: and lose any data and non-original programs stored on C:

You could also phone Sony Vaio-Link tomorrow for advice.

However, as your SZ1 is so new, I would return it to the shop you bought it from and ask for a replacement.

[Blencogo]

Thinking about it - there have been a number of posts recently where the memory module(s) do not seem to be seated securely. This stops Windows loading into memory and it may try to load into a paging file on your hard disc (hence the light being on constantly).

Get the shop to check this - or if you feel competent, here are the instructions for upgrading memory. Just re-seat the module(s).

Accessing the Memory Modules SZ1

[Wyvis]

Thanks for the advice.

I returned the Vaio to my dealer and am now typing this from a brand new machine. Seems the disk HAD failed.

Hope that is just a one-off and not a sign of build quality issues.

Time will tell...

Thanks,
- Wyvis