6 MONTH OLD Vaio NW20EF HDD HAS FAILED. WHY?? Recovery discs won't work

[dabanni87]

I spend around 10 hours a day online. I was advised that this laptop would be ideal for my needs. I do not download music or files and only have a printer and camera. I must admit I have been delighted with it until yesterday. On turning it on in the morning it had a warning that my HDD could be about to fail and to back up my data. I was unable to do this as no matter which way I tried I could not get windows to start. I tried the recovery discs but it would not go past 42% on the recovery dispite several attempts. When I turned it on again it said no operating system is installed. What has caused the HDD to fail? I know it is covered by warranty but is there anything else I can do myself? Most important was I recommended the right machine I dont want this to happen again, is there anything I can do to stop this happening a second time. I look forward to hearing from you.

[dabanni87]

Well no replies to my post so I have returned the laptop to Sony for repair. I must admit they were very helpful but I would still like to know if this machine is as good as it looks for prolonged use. Also why do the recovery discs not work? Is this likly to happen again?
I would appreciate your help.
Thank you
Dave

[Blencogo]

Hi Dave,

Difficult to diagnose the problem here but it seems very likely that your hard disc has failed in some way. Hard Drives are very reliable these days but like any high tech mechanical device, they can occasionally fail or be damaged by a sharp knock when the Vaio is switched on.

If the hard disc is faulty, this would explain why the Recovery Discs do not work.

It sounds like you have just been unlucky - which can happen with any computer.

[dabanni87]

Thank you so much for replying, I was worried I may be overusing it. It has never had a knock and I polish it every day, it is such a nice looking machine! I must say Sony repair service have been excellent up to now. I had changed from Acer because I found them too concerned about themselves than the customer when things went wrong and being forced into using expensive (0844) numbers as well.