Installed SP2, Now Laptop Won't Boot.

Hey guys,
I'm hoping some of you may be able to help me, my problem (as succinctly as I can describe) is as follows;
Laptop started to freeze frequently, decided to back up my data and do a clean install using the Recovery Partition. All went fine. 2 days later I had to restart after installing SP2... next thing I know the laptop won't boot. I got the following error message;


~
Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
If Windows files have been damaged or configured incorrectly, Startup Repair can help disgnose and fix the problem. If the power was interrupted during startup, choose Start Windows Normally.
Launch Startup Repair (recommended)
Start Windows normally
~


(1) If i choose startup repair Windows looks like its loading. The screen goes black for 5mins and I have a cursor, then it goes green plus the cursor, then Recovery Mode is launching please wait window pops up and thats the way it stays for hours on end with no changes.
If i choose Start Windows normally it goes back to the "windows failed to start" and loops.
Using F10 at boot i get the following;


~
Edit windows boot options for: Vaio recovery environment
Path: \windows\systme32\boot\winload.exe
[/DETECTHAL /MININT /REDIRECT RDIMAGEOFFSET=8192 RDIMAGELENGTH=3161088 RDPATH=multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\sources\boot.wim
~


If i hit enter it goes to the Recovery mode launching please wait and gets stuck, as above.
I tried changing the partition number to 2 and 3 incase it was a hal.dll error which it wasn't.
I can't enter safe mode or any other options whatsoever, laptop just tries to reboot after each failed option choice and i end up back at the windows failed to start screen


So.... i feel like im rambling i hope im not boring you guys!


I rang sony, out of warranty, paid €55 and got some fresh recovery discs sent out to me. Next I changed the BIOS boot order from Optical Drive and disabled the other options. Popped in the disc, restarted the laptop, exact same sequence of events as (1) above happens.
Then i tried to install Vista from a Windows disc, same sequence as (1) above happens except after some time the warning "Recovery Partition or Disc cannot be found".


Finally I tried to boot knoppix with the hdd in, but disabled in BIOS and received the warning;

~
Operating System Not Found
Press Any Key To Continue
~

Tried it again, this time with the hdd completely removed, exact same error.

And that, unfortunately, is where I stay. Could it be an Optical Drive error? If so I could try boot from an external Optical Drive, but having said that I find it hard to believe as I had only been using it earlier in the day when the laptop crashed. I'm Stumped. I feel like I've exhausted every avenue, and according to google i'm not alone in this issue with Vaio. Can anyone please shed some light on this issue. I'd be eternally grateful.

Thank you in advance,

Lar.

Welcome Lar
Anything here that can help?
http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-debugging/285015-computer-will-not-start.html

thank you for the welcome richard, unfortunately i've tried everything from that previous post.

Is it ok if we get you going, but dont save your stuff or do you have stuff to save?

have all i need backed up, all i need is a working laptop don't care about any losses

OK, you probably have a restore to factory setting partition
Usually hit f11 or f12 or even f8 during boot. If that does not work the correct key is in your computr manual or can be found on line for your specific computer model.

LarM said:

Using F10 at boot i get the following;


~
Edit windows boot options for: Vaio recovery environment
Path: \windows\systme32\boot\winload.exe
[/DETECTHAL /MININT /REDIRECT RDIMAGEOFFSET=8192 RDIMAGELENGTH=3161088 RDPATH=multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\sources\boot.wim
~

Click to expand...

This is the message i receive when i try to recover using the partition.

Do you have or can you get an installation DVD? If so do you have a key number?

LarM said:

I rang sony, out of warranty, paid €55 and got some fresh recovery discs sent out to me. Next I changed the BIOS boot order from Optical Drive and disabled the other options. Popped in the disc, restarted the laptop, exact same sequence of events as (1) above happens.
Then i tried to install Vista from a Windows disc, same sequence as (1) above happens except after some time the warning "Recovery Partition or Disc cannot be found".


Finally I tried to boot knoppix with the hdd in, but disabled in BIOS and received the warning;

~
Operating System Not Found
Press Any Key To Continue
~

Click to expand...

i have tried a few different boot techniques, none have worked, this is why im in such a pickle

Have you tried to boot in safe mode?

LarM said:

I can't enter safe mode or any other options whatsoever, laptop just tries to reboot after each failed option choice and i end up back at the windows failed to start screen

Click to expand...

im afraid not

Try to boot as you boot many time quickly hit f8
You can then get in.

when i do this i get to see the boot menu yes, but when i make my selection for safe mode or safe with networking etc, the drivers load to a point, then stop, theres a one minutes freeze and then loops back to "windows failed to start"

Sound like it may be hardware.
When you boot, do you get any beeps? If so describe
one long and two short or 3 long etc.

Sounds like it may be hardware, beeps may tell us what.

just turned it on again, no beeps, perhaps two short ones but i think that noise had always been there. the harddrive is still purring (ive tried removing the hdd and booting linux from cd but that deosnt work so i dont believe it to be the hdd) the optical drive does not make any sounds which are out of the ordinary.

We Cant guess, if there are beeps, it means hardware. If you can tell me how many I can tell you the problem. You say it was always there, you may have had the problem for a while and now it got worse.

then i would say the beeps are just hardware, moving parts, they are almost inaudible. in any case i hear 2 short beeps separated by 1-2seconf pause.

i'll look into that, thank you for your time, its nearly 3am here i gotta get some sleep!

Take care. Hope it works out.