Sony Vaio VGN-FE21M Recovery

[Rehan-Butt]

Hi,

I have a sony vaio vgn-fe21m, I need to reinstall my windows xp and I unable to do it since the recovery is not working. I have tried using F10 option but it does not work, I checked it if the recovery partion is available or not and found it is still there but it does not run the recovery process. I tried running it manually but still it does not work. I tried it through recovery disc which I had but it starts for a min and then it just stucks and do nothing. I have original recovery discs but I have 1 of them missing, can anyone tell me what exactly I can do?

regards,

Rehan

Ps: My Sony Vaio is out of warranty.

[Thalamus.]

Hi Rehan-Butt,

welcome to Questions & Answers..:smileyhappy:

If your Vaio is still using the original Sony supplied OS have you tried creating another set of recovery disc's.?

Does the recovery process start when in Safe mode.?

What happens when you try pressing the F10 key after the Vaio logo appears.?

If all fails you can, if you wish, purchase a set of recovery discs from Vaio  support which should allow you to restore the original Vaio supplied OS  and applications..

[Rehan-Butt]

Hi Thalamus,

Thanks for your reply. No I do not have original windows on my VAIO as my silly friend installed pirated windows on it so I can not create recovery disc's. I have tried safe mode as well but the Recovery process does not start. If i press F10, nothing happens, it just continue loading windows and yes VAIO logo does appear. So do you recommend that I do not have any other option other then buying recovery disc's even I have recovery partation available. Also if that is the only option how much will it cost me and who I can contact to buy the disc's. Also what if the recovery disc's did not work?

regards,

Rehan

[Thalamus.]

my silly friend installed pirated windows on it

Hmm your friend may have removed the recovery partition during the installation..

You can check if the recovery partiton is still present by doing the following..

Click Start then click Control panel.

In  Control Panel click on Performance and Maintenance, then click on  Administrative Tools and finally click on Computer Management..

A new window should open click on Disk Management and maximise the window.

The recovery partition should be an EISA configuration, check the capacity and Free space quoted..

So do you recommend that I do not have any other option other then  buying recovery disc's even I have recovery partation available.

The recovery discs should allow you restore the original Sony supplied OS & pre-installed applications onto your vaio..

Also if that is the only option how much will it cost me and who I can contact to buy the disc's.

You'll need to contact Vaio support to purchase a set of recovery disc's as to the cost I'm not sure as the price is different for each series..

Click the following link - Contact Sony

Then click on Vaio & Computing & follow the instructions..

[Rehan-Butt]

Hi Thalamus,

Thanks for your reply again. I have attached a screen shot for your reference as well. I do not think he has deleted the recovery partation as you will be able to see that in attached picture. As per picture you can see that recovery partation do exist, but I am not sure what you meant by ' EISA configration ' Although recovery partation is only 7% free. Let me know if there is something I can do.

regards,

Rehan

[Thalamus.]

Hi,

it appears your friend may have converted the EISA recovery partition to NTFS, that could explain why you are not able to access the hidden partition during the recovery proces..

This is similar (XP is slightly different to this image) to what you should be seeing -

[Rehan-Butt]

Hi,

Well it is XP but when i start my vaio it shows it as Windows Vista blackdream, anyways can i convert recovery partation back to EISA or not? what is the solution?

regards,

Rehan

[Thalamus.]

Well it is XP but when i start my vaio it shows it as Windows Vista blackdream

Hi Rehan,

I think the simplest solution may be to contact Vaio support & purchase a set of recovery discs which should allow  you to restore the original Vaio supplied OS and applications..

I'd also be inclined to ask your friend to pay for them..:smileywink:

[Rehan-Butt]

Hi Thalamus,

Thanks for your time. Well I wish I could ask him for money but that will be only possible when I will go back home (Pak) again and that will cost £650 minimum 🙂 so I rather buy recovery discs.

[Thalamus.]

Hi,

I doubt that would work to be honest, but feel free to give it a go..

Have you checked what's available in the old recovery the partition to see if you are able to run the recovery program.?