Vaio VPCEF3E1E Recovery Issue

[v23474]

How can I restore my Sony Vaio VPCEF3E1E? The three restore discs that I created when I first bought the Vaio do not work, despite getting a completed message after they were made.

The only disc the machine will read is the first one and that doesn't give me enough to restore Windows 7.

Is it possible to obtain a recovery disc from Sony and is there any way to contact them without calling the 0905 number?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Message was edited by: v23474

Message was edited by: v23474

[rich912 · Accepted solution]

Hi23474,

Tap F10 at boot when you see the Vaio logo. This should provide access the HDD recovery utilility.

If this fails to work then, assuming your notebook is out of warranty, there is no option to the premium rate number to order a set of recovery disks.

Rich

[fraheato]

Exactly the same problem happened with us when tryiing to recover a VPCF12S1E Vaio.  Luckily we had a copy of Windows 7 and installed this, using the microsoft licence number underneath the machine.

Several days later a message appeared on the screen, and we had to validate the number with Microsoft.

Good luck

[glbell]

HI

I need a

vpc-ef3 or vpc-ef2 reintsall CD - cant see the recovery partition in Win explorer (which id expect to see)

Anyone know the cost of the Cd's ??

I have win7 and can download off Sony although it is handy to have it all in one place. if its too expensive i'll do it manually?

thanks

[rich912]

Hi glbell,

Even if it exists the recovery partition will not show up in Windows Explorer as it is a hidden partition without drive letter.

If present it will show at the start of Drive 0 within Disk Management - open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management. It will be an EISA partition.

The recovery media is not available for download but can be purchased for approx. £50 from Sony Support.

Rich