[icecold400]

Hello to all,

I have a Sony Vaio PC which will not boot. Although I have had this Pc for a number of years it has been trouble-free for quite some time. Anyways to the point, last night after booting the Pc a screen titled 'Pc Device Listing' was displayed. I have tried F2 (bios menu) and restored to default settings with no luck. I have also tried F8 (Safemode) again no luck. Prior to the booting problem my computer was fully up-to-date in terms of windows service pack/antivirus/firewall etc. The only option I have is to use the Sony Vaio Recovery Disc. Thankfully I have this disc however before using it I would like to clarify a few things. The disc says it will re-install the factory settings to drive C:, does this mean I will lose all my data that was stored in the 'my documents folder' e.g. Word files, photos, mp3 songs etc? and if so is there a possibilty of backing up this data before resetting to factory settings?

Any help would be appreciated, Thankyou.

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*Problem Resolved*

If your faced with a non-bootable windows that either results in a blinking cursor or Pc Device listing screen and have exhausted yourself in carrying out the following to no avail:

1. Resetting Bios
2. Replacing CMOS battery
3. Resetting the CMOS Jumper

Then I suggest you install a new copy of xp. All is not lost, as there is a way of recovering your precious data 'My documents' even without a bootable windows bearing in mind you hard drive is not corrupted.

1. Make a Ubuntu Live CD by downloading and burning on CD, follow link and its INSTRUCTIONS
http://www.ubuntu.co...ubuntu/download

2. Change the boot order to CD/DVD in your bios (plenty of tutorials on youtube).

3. Boot from CD and on the main screen select 'TRY Ubuntu' that way it doesnt install it but runs the Ubuntu OS from CD.

4. Insert Usb pendrive and locate data which needs extracting...and backup!

5. Install fresh copy of windows xp.

6. Make a partition on your hard drive (Again plenty of tutorials on youtube).

6. Make the root folder of 'My documents' on D drive as windows xp installs only on C drive (note: D drive data is not affected even if you make a fresh installation of windows xp).
http://support.micro....com/?id=310147

This is how I resolved my problem, hope this helps!

[icecold400]

*Problem Resolved*

If your faced with a non-bootable windows that either results in a blinking cursor or Pc Device listing screen and have exhausted yourself in carrying out the following to no avail:

1. Resetting Bios
2. Replacing CMOS battery
3. Resetting the CMOS Jumper

Then I suggest you install a new copy of xp. All is not lost, as there is a way of recovering your precious data 'My documents' even without a bootable windows bearing in mind you hard drive is not corrupted.

1. Make a Ubuntu Live CD by downloading and burning on CD, follow link and its INSTRUCTIONS
http://www.ubuntu.co...ubuntu/download

2. Change the boot order to CD/DVD in your bios (plenty of tutorials on youtube).

3. Boot from CD and on the main screen select 'TRY Ubuntu' that way it doesnt install it but runs the Ubuntu OS from CD.

4. Insert Usb pendrive and locate data which needs extracting...and backup!

5. Install fresh copy of windows xp.

6. Make a partition on your hard drive (Again plenty of tutorials on youtube).

6. Make the root folder of 'My documents' on D drive as windows xp installs only on C drive (note: D drive data is not affected even if you make a fresh installation of windows xp).
http://support.micro....com/?id=310147

This is how I resolved my problem, hope this helps!