Help Sony VAIO hidden partition

[markgb4413]

I hope someone can help me. I have a Sony VAIO PCV-RZ46G. After years of stuff I thought I would format everything and start from scratch. I have the recovery disks. The machine came partitioned with a 15GIG C: and the rest of the 200GIG HD was D:. I thought I would be smart (yea right) and used Partition Magic to make C: 50Gigs and D: the rest. I have sence found out that Sony uses a hidden partition for recovery files. Well the brainiac I am, I deleted it when I partitioned it. After many times of trying the recovery disks I finely got Windows MCE 2004 to reinstall but it will not load and of the original applications ie: Click to DVD, Power DVD etc.. I get the error: "disk can not be found" or "not enough hard disk space". I think it all has something to do with the missing recovery partition. Can anyone tell me how I can create the recovery partition using Partition Magic, Fdisk etc.? And is it possible to put the files back onto it using the recovery disks? Thanks in advance,
Mark

[Catweazle]

I'm sorry, but by deleting that 'hidden' partition and then continuing to use the drive you have most likely destroyed any chance that even expensive commercial data recovery services could get it back for you.

I'd suggest you contact Sony's support people, explain your dilemma and see if they have any provision for replacing the bundled software etc that you've lost. (If memory serves me correct there is a procedure to be followed for some Sony Vaio laptops whereby you make 'Recovery' CDs which store the bundled software off the hard drive and onto optical media, but if the partition has been deleted before that has been done then it's too late.)

Sony may be able to provide you with CDs to use for the job of restoring your system, but if so you can expect there to be a fee for service to pay for them doing so.

The most unfortunate thing is that, if Sony have a policy which is like many other manufacturers, they'll have provision for helping you get back running with OS and device drivers, but not one to replace the bundled software you've lost :(

[markgb4413]

Thanks for the reply,
I kinda figured that I Jacked it up. Oh well. I was able to get MCE installed and it works pretty well. I was having the problem of when I go into My TV it would give the error "Video Error, files to display video are missing or corrupt, please restart media center and/or computer". I senced installed Sonic CinePlayer. Now it will give me the same error but if I go into the "Guide" then back to "My TV" everything works fine untill I restart the computer again. If all else fails I do have a couple of backups I made with Norton Ghost (one a couple of years and one about 1 year old). Im sure I can get all the software back I was just looking for a way to do it with the recovery disks. Like I said everything works ok, it's just annoying getting that error. Any thoughts about that? Again thanks for the info,

Mark

[Catweazle]

I hope those old 'Ghost' images help you retrieve the programs you've lost.

The movie playing problems sound like your system is simply missing the codec files needed to decode and play back the video files. Some video files are encoded in ways which Windows can't natively decode. The most commonly found such problem is that the DivX codec is needed. See the following websites and perhaps they might help:

http://www.divx.com/divx/download/
http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/
http://www.divx-digest.com/software/divxcodec.html

[markgb4413]

Thanks Again,
The only thing is that it Does play the video. I just need to go to the TV Guide then go into My TV for it to work. Once I do that I can close Media Center and do whatever, then go back into it and every thing works fine. It's only when I restart the computer that I have to do it all over again. That's why it's so annoying. I did install Win DVD last night and when I tried today everything seems to be working ok (for now). Thanks for the links, I will check them out. That's kinda why I redone my computer to begin with. I had so much decryption, encryption, DVD stuff, Video stuff, on it that I started to forget what programs I used for what.
Thanks Again,
Mark

[markgb4413]

Update,
Just wanted to say thanks for the help. The Ghost images kinda worked. I was able to get my hidden partition back then use the recovery disks to well, recover. It booted up just like it left the factory. It even allowed my to make a second set of recovery disks (for the next time I want to play). Well I'm off getting all the updates for everything. Thanks again,
Mark

[Catweazle]

Great news! Congratulations on the success. It's a situation that a lot of other people haven't been fortunate enough to recover from!

[reyark]

Your Remote Technical Support Assistant

[andrewjho]

Hi, I just reinstalled Windows XP on my Sony Vaio VGN-FJ370. I noticed that you guys were talking about that extra partition that has essential recovery files in it. Fortunately, I left that partition alone. Now, my problem is that I'm not too keen with computers and I wondering if you guys can tell me how to retrieve those files. Thanks.