topic vgc-va1 unable to start in PCs & Accessories

vgc-va1 unable to start

rubyred52 — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:16:50 GMT

i have bought an old vgc-va1 all-in-one online

on turning on the power i can see only the vaio logo and nothing else happens

what could be the problem?

please help

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rich912 — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 05:55:56 GMT

Hi aliasger_jamali,

Unfortunately this could be caused by a number of things but for starters try tapping F2 at boot to enter the BIOS settings and check that the hard drive is recognised.

If recognised you could try tapping F10 at boot to access the HDD recovery utility and recover the machine to factory defaults. If successful this will format the hard drive and reinstall the original OS complete with drivers and utilities.

Rich

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rubyred52 — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:08:48 GMT

hi rich912

thanks for replying

i tried tapping F2 and it does recognise the hard disk

at least that is what i think

it shows the following

Auto-detecting 3rd master.....IDE hard disk

3rd master:WDC WD2500JD-00HBB0 08.02D08

ultra DMA Mode-6 , S.M.A.R.T. capable and status ok

but on pressing F10 nothing happens

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rubyred52 — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:26:02 GMT

also

when i press F10

there is a whirring sound for just a few seconds and then it goes silent

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rich912 — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:11:49 GMT

Hi alaisger_jamali,

It would seem that either the drive or the recovery partition is corrupt. I assume that you didn't receive a copy of the recovery disks with the machine?

You can order a set of disks from Support but you may want to first try installing a retail copy of Windows, if you have such a thing, just to check that the hard drive is OK and there is no other underlying problem that is preventing the computer from booting.

Rich

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rubyred52 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:54:24 GMT

thanks rich912 for your help

it was a hard drive problem after all

took it to a repair shop and got it replaced

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rich912 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:14:00 GMT

You're welcome. Pleased to hear that the problem is resolved.:smileyhappy:

Re: vgc-va1 unable to start

rubyred52 — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:26:38 GMT

had a bit of a problem getting the TV to run after the hard drive replacement

but downloading k-lite codecs pack resolved the issue

now one more thing :

i need a remote for the TV (media centre) any ideas?

thanks