OMG! Can someone please help me?!!

[Sunne]

I apologize in advance - this will be detailed so as to limit the question of what I have tried so far...

I'm running Vista on a Sony Vaio purchased new in 9/08. I have never had any problems until this morning. My husband used my pc this morning to go to Tax Brain, and on his log on there was a Adobe Update ready to download. When I went to log him off, I decided to download the update; then the update stopped saying that there was a corrupt file on it. So I logged off his side and signed into mine (btw, he has NO adminitrative rights), I then tried to open my Windows Live Mail...it then prompted me for a password, which it NEVER does because it's already saved. Then another alert came up that a file in live mail was corrupt; I freaked out and tried to access Norton (which is up to date) and it wouldn't let me. Next thing I know a blue screen comes up and says that windows is to be shut down to prevent damage; it suggested I restart the computer and try to open in safe mode and determine what files may be at fault. {Incidentally, yesterday Norton detected "Backdoor.Trojan" or something of that nature; I looked up the detail report and it said that it was blocked and fully removed from my system, and I was ablel to use the pc until 9pm with no problem - after booting up this morning is when the trouble began.} Ok, so I tried rebooting in each and every mode available on that inital error screen. The rebooting goes down all the drivers until it gets to crcdisk.sys...then it quits and gives me that damn blue screen again that advises me to try rebooting in safe mode. I cannot reboot at all.

Now, I have downloaded an iso file of Vista recovery to my thumb drive using the tutorial on this site; and I have plugged it into the pc upon startup...with same result as before. Nothing. I am not able to burn a DVD because the old laptop I'm on right now only has a CD-R and a DVD-Rom. I don't have any blank CD's here and my husband is at work; we're pressed for cash also...so I'm pretty screwed all the way around. To make matters worse, I have an assignment and my finals (I'm finishing school at 31) due today, tomorrow and this weekend. I don't have a vista recovery cd, none was provided when i bought my pc. And now i have absolutely no idea what to do...I need help guys, please, PLEASE help me.

Thanks soooo much.

Sunne

 

[dinesh]

Hi Sunne and Welcome to Vista Forums.
First of all, do not panic as there's nothing unresolvable here.
Ok so turn on your computer and on the Sony Logo, keep tapping F8. On the Advanced Option Menu, select Repair Your Computer . Thats how you can access the recovery partition for troubleshooting. Just try this and let us know if you were able to access the recovery environment.
Dinesh.

 

[Sunne]

Dinesh! I've done what you suggested and it doesn't give me a Repair choice. I get the advanced boot options and I'm sure you know what those are. What do I do now?

Thanks!

Sunne

 

[Sunne]

Dinesh, also...when I tried to boot up in the mode that attempts from the last successful reboot - I actually get to the microsoft logo and status bar at the bottom of the screen before I hear the pc make a tiny noise and then the blue screen starts again. Not sure if that helps...

Thanks again!

Sunne

 

[dinesh]

Is there any way you can get online using another computer. Atleast once you have the recovery disk, we can get to WIN RE and try to fix this problem.

 

[Sunne]

Dinesh, yes; I am on a 5 year old HP right now online. I don't have the recovery dvd; all I have is the thumb drive with the recovery .iso file on it. What's next?

Sunne

 

[dinesh]

Hi Sunne, try this to get a recovery cd, How to Make a Windows Vista Repair Disk If You Don't Have One :: the How-To Geek

 

[Sunne]

Dinesh...ugh, I've tried that; and I've already downloaded the .iso file; my problem is that the laptop I'm on is only a CD-R and I don't have any blank CD's. I've got the .iso file and I've successfully put it on a thumb drive; do you know how to boot from that?

Thanks again,

Sunne

 

[mansrm81]

Try this tutorial.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/181538-usb-bootable-vista-installation-flash-thumb-drive.html

 

[Sunne]

Ok, that was the tutorial I used to download onto the thumb drive; however, in the "warning" section - I have no idea how to "enable Legacy USB storage detect" or change the "boot priority

 

[Sunne]

Ok, that was the tutorial I used to download onto the thumb drive; however, in the "warning" section - I have no idea how to "enable Legacy USB storage detect" or change the "boot priority order list in BIOS"....help!

 

[dinesh]

When you go to BIOS, what options do you see? There should be an option like Boot sequence, or Boot priority or something like that..???

 

[inc2000]

i thought it was the f6 key to enable those

 

[dinesh]

i thought it was the f6 key to enable those

It depends upon the BIOS make. On Dell computers, it F2 to enter BIOS and on HP, its F10....

 

[Sunne]

What the heck is a BIOS?! I'm illiterate when it comes to pc lingo...but I did see boot log options. Also, my pc is a Vaio and apparently the model I have doesn't have the "repair your computer" option.

 

[dinesh]

The BIOS is the hardware settings page outside windows. When the computer boots up, there should be a message saying Press F? to enter setup/BIOS. It could be F2, F7, F10, Del key, etc. Look for such message when you turn on the computer and you see the Sony Logo.

 

[pooch]

I think it would be best to do a complete system restore. Your personal files should be saved to a folder called .windows old. The computer will otherwise be reset back to how it was when you first got it.
If the files that you need have been saved before this crash they should survive, if they weren't saved then they are already gone.
I have never tried this with more than one user but it shouldn't make much difference as you will just have to look in .windows old for the old windows installation and look under your user to find everything. You then cut and paste all files to your new user folders
When you have saved everything you can delete the .windows old folder

Have a look here; Vaio : Support : System Recovery Instructions

I hope this helps

Pooch

 

[Sunne]

Pooch, thanks for the advice; but I had a couple of questions...first, I kept pressing F10 at the Sony Logo screen and I got to the VAIO Recovery Center..YEY! However the "Restore C: Drive" looks pretty ominous. I don't have an external hard drive big enough for the "Rescue Data" function. If I do the Restore Complete System it says that the "new" drive will use all available disk space unless I create a second partition.

How do I save my files, as you previously mentioned?

How/should I create a partition?

Should I just do a Restore C: Drive?

Ugh...thanks!

Sunne

 

[inc2000]

the computer will do it for ya and save all ur stuff in another spot so u can get it after all peachykeen. i hope she has a vista disk and a hour to spare. we might have to guide her a bit.

 

[inc2000]

ok im gonna cheer for SUNNE cause i know she can fix it ...sunny sunny sunnyyyy !!!