FS115Z won't boot - advice needed

[TheGrowler]

Hi there

I've had my FS115Z from new and never had any problems with it (until now). It was left idle at the weekend, and when I came back to it, the screen was frozen on the default Windows screensaver. The only thing I could do was force a shutdown, and now it won't restart at all - the lights come on, but that's about it, no Vaio loading screen, nothing.

Short of taking this to the repair shop and being charged an extortionate amount of money, is there anything else I can try, short of just powering it up?

Thanks!

[Blencogo]

Hi,

Does the Disc Drive make any noise? If so it may be worth borrowing a XP Pro installation disc and try booting from that. If it works, enter the Recovery Console and run the fix for Master Boot Record (FIXMBR) and Boot.ini (FIXBOOT).

The old trick for this sort of problem used to be: -

1. Remove Mains Power
2. Remove the Battery
3. Press and hold the Power Button for 30 seconds
4. Reconnect the Mains Power (without the battery)
5. Try to power up the Vaio.

The other thing to try is to reseat the memory modules as loose connections would give these symptoms.

However, it really could be a hard disc problem - which will need a repair.

[TheGrowler]

Thanks Blencogo, I'll give that a try tonight - I'm really hoping it isn't the hard drive failing