Sony Viao won't boot! HELP!!

[CRE]

Hey guys, this is my first post so bear with me!

Sony Viao F420 - Win Me

My coworker wanted to back up her laptop so she highlighted all of her folders then dragged and dropped them into a drive over the network!!! The computer froze so she rebooted and it wouldn't start up after that.
I checked the files on the other drive and it seems all of the folders were moved (including the Program Files folder) except for the Windows directory.
Now the laptop does not boot up at all (I dont even see any motherboard boot) nothing shows up on the screen. Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation?

I would try to format the hard drive and start from scratch, but I can't even get into dos. Windows / NAV boot disks dont work either.
I don't think its the video card because the laptop doesnt sound like its booting... it's practically silent except for the cdrom.

Any help would be appreciated....
Thanks, Alan

 

[Dctm]

tt

 

[ddeder]

Assuming you have access to another computer which has the same operating system on it, use that computer to make a startup disk. In Windows 95, 98, ME and maybe the others though I'm not sure, you can do this by going to the control panel, clicking on add/remove programs and then selecting the startup disk tab and pressing the Create Disk button. You will of course need a formatted floppy disk.

Use this disk to boot your coworkers machine into DOS and review the directories on her hard drive. You say she MOVED everything. Did she really move the files or just copy them? If she moved her system files off of the machine, you better start looking for the CD with the operating system on it...

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Sorry, didn't see that part about the Windows boot disks not working. Can you get into the bios to check the boot order?

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Actually I just reread your post and see that you say the screen remains blank (no bios or anything). I assume the power supply is working because you say you can hear the CD-ROM drive. Does the computer give any beeps when it is powering up? Can you hear the fan running as well?

 

[CRE]

ddeder,

Thanks for the immediate reply...

I don't hear any beeps at all, nor do I hear the cpu fan. I spoke to someone else who looked at the laptop before I did and he said my coworker had the laptop running (i.e. moving the files) without the laptop's "legs" up for a few hours straight (the bottom of the laptop was flat against the table). He also said when he picked it up.... it was extremely hot on the bottom. I'm thinking it may have overheated the mobo... which explains the silent laptop.
If anyone has any input about sony laptops overheating.... pls let me know. any reply would be helpful

Thanks again,
Alan

 

[CRE]

anyone have any other suggestions??

 

[Magicthyse]

I've had a veritable army of Vaio's so I think I can help.

First of all, the 'legs' don't do a hell of a lot in terms of cooling. The 'big' VAIO laptops seem to have very poor cooling and it's fairly normal for it to get hot on the bottom. However I've never had one actually overheat - and the inbuilt circuitry should help stop that happening. However your coworker may have done something stupid like block the vent ports - in which case, leave the laptop off for around half an hour then restart.

The power button needs to be depressed for at leased 4 seconds for the system to power off, if the laptop is currently on.

When you turn off the laptop, take the battery out and take out the power plug as well.

If that doesnt work, your colleague's laptop is toast.