XP will not install on clean/new HD on Sony Vaio laptop

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:

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.

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...

 

It could be worth flashing the BIOS. Hard to believe but usually the olly system that will go in an OEM machine is the OEM versions it began life with - especially a Vaio. Even the new hard disk wouldn't fool it into believing it's a new system so long as that BIOS remains in place.

Did you ever make a DVD set to recover the old Vista instalaltion?

 

Many thanks, etaf:

I don't know. It was installed by the shop and I have no details on it. Is it possible for me to find this out, given that the machine doesn't boot up?

The phrase "slipstreamed into the installation" is outside my technical knowledge, which is at "experienced but untrained amateur" level.

I don't know, because I can't work out how to get into the BIOS. There's no "press F8" kind of option presented when starting the machine, just "operating system cannot be found" or "press any key to boot from CD", depending on whether or not there's a CD in the drive.

Thanks, I'm going to look into UBUNTU - I do have another PC (this one) where I could download it and burn a CD.

I don't know the manufacturer's name and I don't propose to crack open the laptop to find out, as I wouldn't trust myself inside the cramped confines of a laptop. It's possible that the repair shop might have a record of it, but it's not shown on the invoice.

There won't be any datafiles - it's a new HD that has never had anything written on it, because we can't get an OS installed.

I expect that I'll be back with more questions when I've had a look at UBUNTU. Thanks again.

 

That means updating the BIOS, yes? At present, I can't figure out how to get into the BIOS, nor how to connect to the internet to update anything, as there's no OS installed on the machine and I can't see any way that I can interact with the machine upon boot-up to get access to the BIOS.

Some kind of internal "lock" to prevent installing any other OS is something that I discussed briefly with the repair shop, but they looked and were not able to identify any such protection - not that this means it isn't there...

Now there's an idea. Thanks for that, I had completely forgotten about them until you mentioned this. I have three DVDs labelled "full backup 19/3/07", which I obviously created immediately after I bought the laptop. I'm not clear about how to use them, but all I can do is to put DVD no. 1 in the drive and see what happens...

Thanks again - back when I've tried out the backup DVDs.

 

Unfortunately, there's nothing bootable on any of the three DVDs. I just get the "Sony Vaio" flash, then a lengthy pause, then "Error loading operating system". From there, it's unresponsive and I have to hold down the power button to power off.

 

Thanks: F2 gets into the BIOS. However, having got there, I am at a loss regarding how to flash the BIOS on a PC with no OS and no internet access.

All the BIOS has to say on the subject is "Hard Disk Drive: 250GB". No details of the manufacturer. Then it adds "Optical Disk Drive: Available".

Other information from the BIOS:

If there's a way to deal with this via the BIOS, that would be great, but I'm not seeing how to do this so far.

Thanks.

 

I don't have UBUNTU yet. I'll get to that when I've finished banging my head against the BIOS. ;-)

When I inserted the backup DVDs, I didn't get "press any key to boot from CD", which I did get with the XP CD-ROM inserted.

 

I think I'll follow your advice on this. I've been reading up on it and it sounds way too risky.

The only CD that provokes this message so far is the XP CD-ROM. I'm presently downloading the UBUNTU ISO. I didn't realise that UBUNTU is a whole alternative open source OS.

Indeed. So I thought too.

Nothing. I've basically copied everything from every page of the BIOS into the post above, except for Exit and Save menu options and the Security page for machine and user passwords, which are both "clear".

 

OK, I've downloaded the ISO file for UBUNTU successfully, but Windows won't recognise or open it and I can't get it to open in Nero either.

How do I use this file to create an UBUNTU CD? I can see that it's a disc image file, but I can't do anything with it

Thanks.