Hi BigDaveOwl,

welcome to Questions & Answers..:smileyhappy:

Have you tried restoring your vaio using the hidden HDD recovery partition.?

To do this restart your vaio and when you see the Vaio logo press the F10 key repeatedly..

This should start the recovery process using the hidden HDD recovery partition.

Then follow the recovery instructions to complete the process

If this does not work you can purchase a set of recovery discs from  Vaio support which should allow you to restore the original Vaio  supplied OS and applications..

You can find the contact details  for vaio support by either clicking  Support at the top of this page or  by using the following link:Vaio support

Under Log-in option 1: Enter your vaio models serial number, which you should find on the bottom of your Vaio.

Then click Log-In

Once logged select Get In Touch