Hello Everyone,
This is my first post here... in regards to an issue with my Sony Vaio Laptop (VGN-A190 model.) I have spent the past six hours searching for similar problems but have not came close to a resolution. I hope that I can find my answer here.
Anyway, here it goes...
Intel Pentium M 735 / 1.7 GHz
512 MB DDR SDRAM
80 GB - 4200 rpm
DVD±RW - Integrated
Windows XP Home
Ownership 4 years
Laptop began having issues with spontaneous reboots and shutdowns.... at first I assumed that the system was overheating... soon after windows was no longer able to boot and I was presented with, "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press any key." At or around this time I noticed a very distinct pattern of "clicks and scrapes". Surely that must be the hard drive that has failed!
I went ahead and replaced the hard drive with a WD1600BEVE 160GB 5400 RPM ATA. I had nothing to lose on the original 80GB and justified the repair further with a larger hdd along the way. I was prepared for formatting and a fresh installation of Windows XP using the System Recovery Discs. However, I was still seeing the "Reboot and select proper boot device..." screen again. The "clicks and scrapes" sound did go away though... ;->
I have gone into BIOS to see what was going on with this whole drive issue and noticed that it was not detecting any of my drives, (which explained the error and issues with reading the CDROM) the entire "boot" tab is blank as well. I tried to search for further info on this version of BIOS (AMI 2.42 R0040F1) but have not found much... I did come across alot of forums stating that perhaps BIOS would need to be flashed... but how can flash if it does not even read any drives? Don't know if it matters... but it is still able to read memory at least.
I went over the simple solutions that Sony provides ifor BIOS in re-setting the date and time, restore defaults, save and quit.... but still no boot. I don't see any other options that I can "tinker" with and feel that I have hit a brick wall with this one. First I thought it was the hard drive, then BIOS and now I am thinking that it may be the mobo but I am uncertain... Sending it off to Sony is out of the question for the time being due to their high priced repairs.
If anyone can offer any help or ideas I would greatly appreciate it.... I am not ready to scrap this system just yet.
Thank you!
This is my first post here... in regards to an issue with my Sony Vaio Laptop (VGN-A190 model.) I have spent the past six hours searching for similar problems but have not came close to a resolution. I hope that I can find my answer here.
Anyway, here it goes...
Intel Pentium M 735 / 1.7 GHz
512 MB DDR SDRAM
80 GB - 4200 rpm
DVD±RW - Integrated
Windows XP Home
Ownership 4 years
Laptop began having issues with spontaneous reboots and shutdowns.... at first I assumed that the system was overheating... soon after windows was no longer able to boot and I was presented with, "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press any key." At or around this time I noticed a very distinct pattern of "clicks and scrapes". Surely that must be the hard drive that has failed!
I went ahead and replaced the hard drive with a WD1600BEVE 160GB 5400 RPM ATA. I had nothing to lose on the original 80GB and justified the repair further with a larger hdd along the way. I was prepared for formatting and a fresh installation of Windows XP using the System Recovery Discs. However, I was still seeing the "Reboot and select proper boot device..." screen again. The "clicks and scrapes" sound did go away though... ;->
I have gone into BIOS to see what was going on with this whole drive issue and noticed that it was not detecting any of my drives, (which explained the error and issues with reading the CDROM) the entire "boot" tab is blank as well. I tried to search for further info on this version of BIOS (AMI 2.42 R0040F1) but have not found much... I did come across alot of forums stating that perhaps BIOS would need to be flashed... but how can flash if it does not even read any drives? Don't know if it matters... but it is still able to read memory at least.
I went over the simple solutions that Sony provides ifor BIOS in re-setting the date and time, restore defaults, save and quit.... but still no boot. I don't see any other options that I can "tinker" with and feel that I have hit a brick wall with this one. First I thought it was the hard drive, then BIOS and now I am thinking that it may be the mobo but I am uncertain... Sending it off to Sony is out of the question for the time being due to their high priced repairs.
If anyone can offer any help or ideas I would greatly appreciate it.... I am not ready to scrap this system just yet.
Thank you!