How can I "factory restore" a new HDD???

[HiGhGuY]

Hi, first of all, sorry if this is not the correct category, I know this is not technically a hardware issue, but it is specifically about a laptop and doesn't really fit in any other category either... I have a Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G). I just ordered a new 750GB hard drive and I need to figure out how I can do a "factory recovery/restore" on the new drive. I do NOT have recovery disks, and I am NOT able to make any. I was going to order some from the Sony parts store but they are out of stock (and this computer was bought in 2006, so don't think they'll be getting anymore)

I had a blue screen of death, which is why I couldn't make my own recovery disks. So I backed up all my important data to an external drive. Then I tried to use the F10 key (at startup, when Sony logo appears) to "restore" C drive directly from the recovery partition, which IS still in tact. However, I got an error and this did not work either. I'm not sure why this will not work, because all the files are there and fully intact. I ended up using a friends OEM windows disk and got windows (XP) back up and running, however because its not from the Sony recovery disks, it does not include any of the Sony recovery tools like the recovery and restore wizard that allows you to make your own back up disks.

When I get my new hard drive I want to have it returned to the "new from factory" state because with this version of windows (even after downloading drivers from Sony's website) I'm stilling having some compatibility issues and missing some software.

I was wondering if I can simply clone the recovery partition to the new drive then use the "F10" method to restore it...although not sure if that would work as it won't even work on this original drive??? Or is there anyway to make recovery disks from the recovery partition WITHOUT having the recovery and restore wizard? (not sure what files would go on which DVD though, there is about 7-8GB's of data) Or would it be possible to somehow extract the recovery and restore wizard program from the recovery partition, install it on this partition, then make the recovery disks from this version of windows XP so I could then use those disks to restore the new drive to factory condition????

Please, if anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it. Or if all else fails, perhaps someone reading this actually has a Sony Vaio VGN-FE770G and could make iso's of the recovery disks and FTP/torrent them to me?

Hey, I have a Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G) and I just ordered a new 750GB hard drive for it. I don't have the original factory restore disks and was thinking about trying out windows 7. This laptop was bought in 2006 and came with Windows XP MCE 2005 and on also on the box it said "VISTA READY". When I go to the Sony website where I can download drivers it lets me choose between XP MCE and vista for a list of drivers.

I'm wondering if I will have any compatibility issues with drivers and windows 7, considering this computer is ~5 years old. Should I use the XP or vista Drivers? Note: a lot of the vista drivers I don't recognize, for a computer having the same hardware, seems like there shouldn't be so many different drivers???

Been debating windows 7 for a while... and still not sure if I want to use it on this older computer because even though my hardware qualifies to use 7 (minus aero theme) I've heard on older computers it can significantly slow it down. Anyways.. I'd still like to know if its a realistic option as far as the drivers are concerned. Thanks.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Re: Older Drivers + Windows 7 compatability issues?

Hey, I have a Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G) and I just ordered a new 750GB hard drive for it. I don't have the original factory restore disks and was thinking about trying out windows 7. This laptop was bought in 2006 and came with Windows XP MCE 2005 and on also on the box it said "VISTA READY". When I go to the Sony website where I can download drivers it lets me choose between XP MCE and vista for a list of drivers.

I'm wondering if I will have any compatibility issues with drivers and windows 7, considering this computer is ~5 years old. Should I use the XP or vista Drivers? Note: a lot of the vista drivers I don't recognize, for a computer having the same hardware, seems like there shouldn't be so many different drivers???

Been debating windows 7 for a while... and still not sure if I want to use it on this older computer because even though my hardware qualifies to use 7 (minus aero theme) I've heard on older computers it can significantly slow it down. Anyways.. I'd still like to know if its a realistic option as far as the drivers are concerned. Thanks.

You can use Vista drivers on 7. If it does not work, try going to the manufacture's site, of the actual chip, not the motherboard's.

 

[office politics]

the following link opena page offering a download by Microsoft which helps identify if a pc is ready to upgrade to 7

Download: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

 

[KSoD]

Hi, first of all, sorry if this is not the correct category, I know this is not technically a hardware issue, but it is specifically about a laptop and doesn't really fit in any other category either... I have a Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G). I just ordered a new 750GB hard drive and I need to figure out how I can do a "factory recovery/restore" on the new drive. I do NOT have recovery disks, and I am NOT able to make any. I was going to order some from the Sony parts store but they are out of stock (and this computer was bought in 2006, so don't think they'll be getting anymore)

You cant. The Factory Restore Image is put on the hard drive by the manufacturer and cant be used on a different hard drive. So your only hope is to do a fresh install of Windows using the install Media.

I had a blue screen of death, which is why I couldn't make my own recovery disks. So I backed up all my important data to an external drive. Then I tried to use the F10 key (at startup, when Sony logo appears) to "restore" C drive directly from the recovery partition, which IS still in tact. However, I got an error and this did not work either. I'm not sure why this will not work, because all the files are there and fully intact. I ended up using a friends OEM windows disk and got windows (XP) back up and running, however because its not from the Sony recovery disks, it does not include any of the Sony recovery tools like the recovery and restore wizard that allows you to make your own back up disks.

Windows XP and Windows XP MCE are 2 different versions. I can bet you didnt use a MCE version of the OEM media to install XP again and as such you installed a different version, one that didnt include the Sony burning options for their recovery software, so therefor you will not have had that option. It isnt like burning recovery media was built into all versions of XP since Recovery Partitions was brought out right before the end of life of XP. Only PC's sold in late 2006 even had them and they became normal operations in 2007. XP was released in 2001 so there would be no way that it would have such options built in. You are now stuck trying to find your original media or contacting Sony to get replacement media for your PC since Microsoft no longer supports XP or MCE. They will not provide you with the media to install it.

When I get my new hard drive I want to have it returned to the "new from factory" state because with this version of windows (even after downloading drivers from Sony's website) I'm stilling having some compatibility issues and missing some software.

I was wondering if I can simply clone the recovery partition to the new drive then use the "F10" method to restore it...although not sure if that would work as it won't even work on this original drive??? Or is there anyway to make recovery disks from the recovery partition WITHOUT having the recovery and restore wizard? (not sure what files would go on which DVD though, there is about 7-8GB's of data) Or would it be possible to somehow extract the recovery and restore wizard program from the recovery partition, install it on this partition, then make the recovery disks from this version of windows XP so I could then use those disks to restore the new drive to factory condition????

Please, if anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it. Or if all else fails, perhaps someone reading this actually has a Sony Vaio VGN-FE770G and could make iso's of the recovery disks and FTP/torrent them to me?

Read my above posts. You will not get what you want. You will have to install fresh.

Hey, I have a Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE770G) and I just ordered a new 750GB hard drive for it. I don't have the original factory restore disks and was thinking about trying out windows 7. This laptop was bought in 2006 and came with Windows XP MCE 2005 and on also on the box it said "VISTA READY". When I go to the Sony website where I can download drivers it lets me choose between XP MCE and vista for a list of drivers.

I'm wondering if I will have any compatibility issues with drivers and windows 7, considering this computer is ~5 years old. Should I use the XP or vista Drivers? Note: a lot of the vista drivers I don't recognize, for a computer having the same hardware, seems like there shouldn't be so many different drivers???

Been debating windows 7 for a while... and still not sure if I want to use it on this older computer because even though my hardware qualifies to use 7 (minus aero theme) I've heard on older computers it can significantly slow it down. Anyways.. I'd still like to know if its a realistic option as far as the drivers are concerned. Thanks.

Do not double post the same question in 2 topics. Any system out there can have multiple drivers for it even for the same OS. The amount of drivers means absolutely nothing. Look at the dates. No manufacturer removes old drivers from their website so you have to manually read the dates to find the newest one.

Since they dont have Win7 then you will have to use the tool Office posted about. Only then will you know if Win7 can truly run on your laptop. If the machine is considered Vista Ready, then Win7 will fly on it. Win7 is by far faster than Vista in every way. So no it wouldnt slow down the PC as much as Vista would.

 

[strollin]

This file on the Sony site Sony Shared Library says it is specifically to be used after a clean install of XP on that laptop. From the web page: Installing the Sony® Shared Library on your VAIO® computer on which you have performed a clean install of the Windows XP operating system, enables you to recover applications using the Recovery Media Kit for your computer.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I think they mean to set it to factory defaults, with all its bloatware. Unsure, though.

 

[KSoD]

This file on the Sony site Sony Shared Library says it is specifically to be used after a clean install of XP on that laptop. From the web page: Installing the Sony® Shared Library on your VAIO® computer on which you have performed a clean install of the Windows XP operating system, enables you to recover applications using the Recovery Media Kit for your computer.

You didn't notice the part that said this though did you:

(i.e., installed from a commercial, off-the-shelf, version rather than using the Recovery Wizard or Recovery Media Kit)

Off the shelf version is a Retail version, you installed an OEM version, therefor you can't use the Recovery Wizard or Recovery Media Kit. So my point still stands, you must get the XP MCE Media from Sony and perform a clean install, there is not going to be a way to do it unless you can get your hands on a Retail copy of XP, which is no longer sold.

 

[HiGhGuY]

You cant. The Factory Restore Image is put on the hard drive by the manufacturer and cant be used on a different hard drive. So your only hope is to do a fresh install of Windows using the install Media.

Well there is an option to run the restore C: drive directly from the recovery partition without having the recovery disks or loading windows...by pressing F10 right at power up (even before pressing ESC to access bios) Because I don't have the recovery disks or the recovery wizard (or at the time, could not boot windows either) I tried that. and even on this original hard drive it didnt' work.

But I was thinking if anyone knew how to solve that... why I wouldn't be able to just clone the recovery partition to another drive and use that option (pressing F10) to install the files (factory restore) on new drive???

Windows XP and Windows XP MCE are 2 different versions. I can bet you didnt use a MCE version of the OEM media to install XP again and as such you installed a different version, one that didnt include the Sony burning options for their recovery software, so therefor you will not have had that option. It isnt like burning recovery media was built into all versions of XP since Recovery Partitions was brought out right before the end of life of XP. Only PC's sold in late 2006 even had them and they became normal operations in 2007. XP was released in 2001 so there would be no way that it would have such options built in. You are now stuck trying to find your original media or contacting Sony to get replacement media for your PC since Microsoft no longer supports XP or MCE. They will not provide you with the media to install it.

Yes it is XP MCE i'm using now, only its the 2002 version as opposed to the 2005 version that came on my laptop from the factory.

the things is all the recovery files are right here on a seperate partition on this drive and fully in tact (including windows XP MCE and the recovery wizard) The recovery wizard is simply another program, that among other things, is a dvd burner and program/file compiler. Normally when you use the wizard, to create your own recovery disks wouldn't it just use the files from the recovery partition to compile and burn them do disks??? So why is not possible to manually copy the "wizard" program from the recovery partition, install it on this OEM XP MCE 2002 version i'm running now, and then it should be able to compile and burn the recovery disks just like normal right? only thing is I cant find out how to "copy or extract" the wizard program form those files. I could also manually compile and burn the files myself to 2 DVD's except I don't know which files go on which disk, or if certain files may have to be unzipped re arranged etc....

Do not double post the same question in 2 topics. Any system out there can have multiple drivers for it even for the same OS. The amount of drivers means absolutely nothing. Look at the dates. No manufacturer removes old drivers from their website so you have to manually read the dates to find the newest one.

First of all, I did not double post same question in 2 topics... yes, the first few words are the same because I was just explaining my situation. But I'd prefer to get my computer back to the "from factory state" (just with new bigger HDD) but also I'm considering windows 7.

1st question/thread is about how to utilize the files in the recovery partition.
2nd question/thread was about how older (XP or vista) drivers work with windows 7, and trying to learn about any compatibility issues.

I don't see how you would consider that a double post? its 2 different questions and 2 different topics, which is why i made 2 threads. One is specific to sony vaio, while the other one is not specific to any laptop only Microsoft Windows OS. Which is exactly why I posted 1st question here in sony forum, and 2nd one in the WINDOWS Forum... makes pefect sense, as the people best equipped to offer intelligent answer would be most likely in those respective forums.

second of all, I know you can have multiple drivers. MY MISTAKE, was thinking it was just drivers but there is also other software and firmware updates in that same list. I was thinking it was only drivers. The way they have it arranged just confused me

Since they dont have Win7 then you will have to use the tool Office posted about. Only then will you know if Win7 can truly run on your laptop. If the machine is considered Vista Ready, then Win7 will fly on it. Win7 is by far faster than Vista in every way. So no it wouldnt slow down the PC as much as Vista would.

I have used that tool.... as a matter of fact it is installed on my laptop right now. The things is... When I installed this version of Windows, i didn't install any of my drivers. Everything works fine without the specific drivers... Only had to install drivers for the sound card/chip cuz i had to audio. But everything else works fine, plus this is just a temp fix until i get my HDD probably Saturday.

This laptop had a sticker (on the box) that said "VISTA READY" it was just manufactured a few months before VISTA went for sale which is why it came with XP. The hardware requirements are met, but just barely... and the onboard graphics processor is sub par (so I won't be able to use that AERO theme in 7, which is fine) that is why I was worried about the speed. As most people I've heard Vista was slow and buggy so I don't doubt that 7 is faster than that, but I'm talking about 7 vs. XP especially considering my Hardware (which again, qualifies, but barely)