davidmatzdorf
Thread Starter
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2009
- Messages
- 31
OK, it's a long one...
The laptop is a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ4MN/B. It was bought in March 2007 with Vista pre-installed. I don't like Vista, but I put up with it. Over a period of a few months this year, the laptop started seizing up gradually (sloooow) and eventually ceased to function, displaying a variety of blue-screen error messages and refusing to boot up. The blue screen error messages usually referred to PFN (page frame number) errors, but the details differed from one attempt to another.
As the warranty was long-expired, I took it to my usually-trusty local PC fix-it shop - down to earth guy, has always managed to sort out hardware problems in the past and makes up own-brand machines that do the job. He did his diagnostic routine and found defects on the hard drive. He installed a new 250MB HD. I said that I didn't particularly like Vista and I have a legit, licensed and unused copy of XP Professional, so I took it back with the HD unformatted, so I could install and configure XP myself, something I have done a number of times before on a variety of machines.
Using the XP CD-ROM, it wouldn't complete a format of the new HD. It would go through the whole NTFS formatting routine, right through to 100%, and then announce that it was unable to format the HD. Messing about with different-sized partitions to see if there was a HD error, e.g., some bad sectors, made no difference. So I took it back to the repair shop. They were unable to install either XP or Vista on the machine, despite multiple attempts, and were also unable to find a fault on the new HD. Eventually, they gave up and returned the laptop to me without any further charge, amidst a general atmosphere of collective head-scratching.
When I insert the XP CD-ROM, turn on the power and "press any key to boot from CD", the CD starts up the installation routine by loading scores of setup files and then announces "Starting Windows". After a brief pause, it shows this error message:
Is there a file on the CD-ROM that has become corrupted, in which case how do I get Microsoft to replace my XP CD-ROM (bearing in mind that the shop couldn't install either Vista or XP)?
Or is the HD defective, in which case why doesn't it show on the shop's diagnostic routine (I can't tell if the HD has been successfully formatted)?
Or is there a problem with the laptop itself, in which case can anyone suggest what it might be and how to fix it?
Go for it, guys...
The laptop is a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ4MN/B. It was bought in March 2007 with Vista pre-installed. I don't like Vista, but I put up with it. Over a period of a few months this year, the laptop started seizing up gradually (sloooow) and eventually ceased to function, displaying a variety of blue-screen error messages and refusing to boot up. The blue screen error messages usually referred to PFN (page frame number) errors, but the details differed from one attempt to another.
As the warranty was long-expired, I took it to my usually-trusty local PC fix-it shop - down to earth guy, has always managed to sort out hardware problems in the past and makes up own-brand machines that do the job. He did his diagnostic routine and found defects on the hard drive. He installed a new 250MB HD. I said that I didn't particularly like Vista and I have a legit, licensed and unused copy of XP Professional, so I took it back with the HD unformatted, so I could install and configure XP myself, something I have done a number of times before on a variety of machines.
Using the XP CD-ROM, it wouldn't complete a format of the new HD. It would go through the whole NTFS formatting routine, right through to 100%, and then announce that it was unable to format the HD. Messing about with different-sized partitions to see if there was a HD error, e.g., some bad sectors, made no difference. So I took it back to the repair shop. They were unable to install either XP or Vista on the machine, despite multiple attempts, and were also unable to find a fault on the new HD. Eventually, they gave up and returned the laptop to me without any further charge, amidst a general atmosphere of collective head-scratching.
When I insert the XP CD-ROM, turn on the power and "press any key to boot from CD", the CD starts up the installation routine by loading scores of setup files and then announces "Starting Windows". After a brief pause, it shows this error message:
The following value in the .SIF file used by Setup is corrupted or missing:
Value 0 on the line in section [nls] with Key "DefaultLayout".
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.
Pressing F3 (or any other key) has no effect. Powering off has to be done by holding down the power button.Value 0 on the line in section [nls] with Key "DefaultLayout".
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.
Is there a file on the CD-ROM that has become corrupted, in which case how do I get Microsoft to replace my XP CD-ROM (bearing in mind that the shop couldn't install either Vista or XP)?
Or is the HD defective, in which case why doesn't it show on the shop's diagnostic routine (I can't tell if the HD has been successfully formatted)?
Or is there a problem with the laptop itself, in which case can anyone suggest what it might be and how to fix it?
Go for it, guys...