My laptop hangs during recovery

[SF2MJ]

I have a Sony Vaio laptop.Just recently i turned it on and got a message on a black screen saying "disc read error...press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to restart.

Which i did....the laptop restarted and i got the same message again.It just keeps going in a loop.

So i put in my recovery cd.

It says starting recovery ... then i go to a blue screen which is the bit when i should start getting windows popping up asking me do i want to format c drive etc.

But instead the laptop just hangs on the blue screen.No windows pop up asking me what i want to do next or anything.The recovery cd stops spinning.And that's it.

 

What i wanted to know is this...is there a way i can format c drive without using the recovery cd?

Is there a way to bring up a dos command screen during the start up process so the i can maybe type FORMAT C: and go from there?

[ken_cinder]

Use a proper Windows disc (If XP, pro......not home, eww) and try giving a clean format a go.

 

I HATE recovery discs, I understand they are good for people who know nothing about computers, but it's not like a Windows install is difficult to understand.

Companies use recovery discs to avoid paying for full licenses of Windows for each machine they sell. These recovery discs inherently make a damn mess of your system from the start.

[gavin19]

Use a proper Windows disc (If XP, pro......not home, eww)

 

I reckon 90%+ of XPs Pro users wouldn't know the difference if they had Home but with a Pro boot screen.

 

Definitely use an original XP disc though. As Cinder said, those recovery discs are usually full of crap. The only thing is that you may have to search out some drivers by yourself, or if you know how you could grab them from the recovery disc. It shouldn't be a problem anyway, as long as your ethernet card is recognised so you can at least access the internet.

[ken_cinder]

Not much he can do anyway......the recovery disc isn't even working.

If you can't get your internet working due to a lack of drivers for your network card, just hop on another computer and download the drivers onto a memory card/stick.

[LoRd_SnOw]

I have a Sony Vaio laptop.Just recently i turned it on and got a message on a black screen saying "disc read error...press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to restart.

Which i did....the laptop restarted and i got the same message again.It just keeps going in a loop.

So i put in my recovery cd.

It says starting recovery ... then i go to a blue screen which is the bit when i should start getting windows popping up asking me do i want to format c drive etc.

But instead the laptop just hangs on the blue screen.No windows pop up asking me what i want to do next or anything.The recovery cd stops spinning.And that's it.

 

What i wanted to know is this...is there a way i can format c drive without using the recovery cd?

Is there a way to bring up a dos command screen during the start up process so the i can maybe type FORMAT C: and go from there?

 

there is a way, but since you have a laptop im not sure if the way i have in mind would work. I could send you some files and try burning it to a regular cd-r and run it at boot up and then you can tell me if it works or not.

 

 

 

Pm me if your interested.

[SF2MJ]

Well as for the windows xp disc is concerned,i did try and use one.It loaded up to the bit where it asked me if i wanted to install xp pro.

I clicked enter to continue.

 

Then it said checking hard drive.....and then froze on that screen.

Could my laptop hdd have finally given in?

 

Would it be a better option to just buy another hdd?

[SF2MJ]

Never mind.....i went out and purchased a new HDD.My recovery disc worked straight away.Everything is fixed now.It was my old HDD dying on me.