OK, lets start with the basics.
Sony Vaio PCG-FRV35
CD-ROM
NO Floppy

Initially I recieved a hard drive error and that a crash/failure was iminent. I ordered the same Hitachi hard drive that it came with, brand new. (Amazon)
I physically installed the new hard drive, entered the BIOS setup, configured the boot sequence to boot from the optical (CD-ROM).

When I turn on the computer, with a bootable XP SP1 disk, and I get the curser of death for about 30 seconds and then , "NO OPERATING SYSTEM"

I have tryed multiple bootable CD's to see if the disk is corrupt. I also configred, and re-configured the setup in multiple ways including returning it to factory setup. I do not have ANY of the original recover CD's and/or paper work. I did call sony and attempted tech support, but I think I would get more out of banging my head abainst a brick wall.

I am in dire need of assistance, I usually am able to install a fresh copy of windows without any problems but I usually have a floopy to run off a 98se BOOT DISK. Please advise the correct course of action.

i would say that your partion table is corrupted and it has affected the master boot record. try and get a windows service pack 1 cd and try the recovery console or use (cautiously) the fdisk of the windows98 SE cd or the floppy assumming you are using FAT32 not the NTFS to see how your partion table looks like

hi grock, you would received that error "no operating system" because the cd that you plug in to your drive is a service pack cd, you must plug in the win xp installer not the service pack, service pack is for updating only and you can use it once there is a loaded xp OS..