VGC-JS1E/s Problems ...might be end game ?

[davsmith3551]

My VGC-JS1E/S  4 or so years old,has gone badly wrong after I have tried using my recovery discs.  I got as far as the 3rd disc and was stopped with an Error report.  Since then I am informed my drive C is not large enough to continue any further attempts to correct.  I am told to contact manufacturer,  My local Sony Repair require a £36 deposit.   Fair enough I suppose, but before I go ahead what are the likely outcomes and costs of geting back to normal.   It sounds like a re build job ??   Would I be better going for a new PC although money is tight I do need a PC.

I do not use the PC fully and just tend to surf the net, use MS Office and do the occasional photo printing.

It does fill my retirement days.

Any hints ??

Rich912 saved my days some time ago with loss of sound.

[rich912]

Hi Dave,

Which option have you chosen when booting from the recovery media? Can you remember approximately how much free  space you had before trying a restore? I don't think this is necessarily relevant to your problem as, with a full recovery, the drive is first formatted.

It may also help if you could give details of why you needed to resort to a system recovery.

Difficult to say at this stage but there is a possibility that either the recovery disks are dirty/damaged, or possibly there is a problem with the hard drive.

To rule out the former try a recovery from the  hidden hard drive recovery partitiion - tap F10 at boot to access the recovery utility.

BTW the other thread you have posted in is not necessarily relevant to your problem so don't panic just yet...

Rich

[davsmith3551]

Hi Rich

I have done the F10 tap as advised in the Sony recovery guide.

I had to go through recovery as thing just stopped working.   "Windows Explorer failed to load.  When switching off ...it did not .. just hung there saying it was.  then I got the dreaded blue screen !

In fact I have tried everything twice.  I have cleaned the discs as well.

After all the attempts I now get the message not enough space on drive C ?? to attempt any further recovery.  Obviously formatting has done some damage.  I really just need  guidance on whether I should fork out £36 in the hope that Sony can bring it all back.  Anything  £100 -£150 range might not be a worthwhile cost.   I might just lose the £36 to be told It would cost a lot more.

Do I cut my losses and try for a smaller PC for my needs.I am using a very old laptop at present to get by.

Thanks for your time Rich.

Dave

[rich912]

Hi Dave,

I assume you have skipped all options for backup etc. when using the recovery utility (either F10 or disks) and have selected restore complete system?

I have only encountered the message of insufficient hard disk space when creating recovery media never on a recovery.

If you can detail the exact procedure you are following then we may have a better idea of the problem.

Rich

[davsmith3551]

Hi Rich

Had another go today but now find I "No operating system.  Tried the recovery discs again to find error reports.

Going round in circles so I think I will call it a day and start looking for something to replace it.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

[rich912]

Hi Dave,

I suspect, but can't be certain, that your hard drive has failed. If you intend scrapping it then fair enough but for less than £50 you could buy a new 500GB sata drive and fit it yourself.

Rich

[davsmith3551]

Hi Rich

That would be beyond my tech know how.  I might call at a PC repair shop and ask for a quote on a new 500GB Sata Drive fitted and a new operating system. Would all the fitted components still be ok,  DVD disc drive, camera, video card, sound card etc etc.   They were all loaded with the original so I assume they will be OK .Its the drives for them ?? that could be a problem,

You will see from my queries I am not a PC bod... just a user who loves browsing and doing a  lot a spread sheet work, printing my photes .  I do not play games, download films etc etc.

I hear so many stories of being ripped off by PC "repairers that I am a bit wary of going down that path.

I can only ask I suppose?

Cheers Dave

[rich912]

Hi Dave,

Rather than ditch what could be a perfectly good machine I would certainly at least ask for a ‘fixed quotation’ for a replacement hard drive.

If that proves to be too expensive you have nothing to lose (apart from maybe £50) in attempting the job yourself – DickyMint51 did, as you will have gathered from another thread you posted in, and he also claims to have little technical ability.

It is only a matter of removing a number of screws from the back of the unit to release the cover, releasing the carriage holding the hard drive and then unplugging the old and attaching the new. Hopefully DickyMint51 would be prepared to advise on the procedure as he has done just this on a similar model.

Rich