Member Avatar for captcritter

I have a sony vgn s-260 that i replaced the hard drive. It will power up, the cd drive turns but then everything stops. I get no start up of the screen. For a while it seemed if i pressed f8 while it was starting i could get it going but now that does not work. I just bought recovery discs for it but as I can not get the machine to boot up I get no where. Any ideas on how to get it to boot up? Was working fine when I turned it off last time

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 112 Views
  • 9 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by mjdodd

Dani AI

Generated

Building on the thread (and ’s focus on the drive/boot side), here are practical hardware checks and quick diagnostics that were not yet covered. These are ordered from easiest to more invasive and help narrow whether the machine is actually getting past power-on self-test or is being stopped by a failing component.

  • Power-reset: disconnect AC and the main battery, hold the power button ~20 seconds, then try power with AC only.
  • Try without the new drive: remove the replacement drive and power on. If lights, keyboard LEDs or an external monitor show activity, the drive or its connector may be causing the hang.
  • RAM test: reseat modules; if two sticks, try one at a time in each slot. A bad DIMM or dirty slot often causes a no-video/no-boot symptom.
  • External display / flashlight check: attach a VGA/HDMI monitor to see if anything appears externally. Shine a bright light on the screen at an angle to look for a faint image (backlight/inverter failure).
  • Remove optical drive and any cards: a failing optical or loose card can hang startup.
  • Inspect connectors and the drive bay: ensure the drive is fully seated, no bent pins, no loose screws shorting the bay. Verify the replacement drive physically matches the laptop (2.5" form factor and compatible interface).
  • Listen and watch: note any beep patterns or LED blink sequences and compare to Vaio service notes if available — they give diagnostic clues.

Ground yourself (ESD) and disconnect all power before opening. If none of these isolate the issue, the problem is likely motherboard/video subsystem related and is best checked by a shop with a spare known-good drive to test boot behavior. These steps avoid re-burning media and focus on whether the machine ever reaches a visible POST.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for mjdodd

I have a sony vgn s-260 that i replaced the hard drive. It will power up, the cd drive turns but then everything stops. I get no start up of the screen. For a while it seemed if i pressed f8 while it was starting i could get it going but now that does not work. I just bought recovery discs for it but as I can not get the machine to boot up I get no where. Any ideas on how to get it to boot up? Was working fine when I turned it off last time

Oh Boy! There could be a number of probs. Firstly can you get to the bios on start up (usually pressing F1, del or whatgever!). If so does the new hard disk appear in the boot order as automatically detected? If not then you will have to enter it manually!
Secondly does the new hard disk have a MBB (master boot record) as it <ill not boot anything unless there is a boot record. if you havez formlatted the disk (some cme sqithout format) then you havbe to ensure there, is a MBR. This ca

Member Avatar for mjdodd

Oh Boy! There could be a number of probs. Firstly can you get to the bios on start up (usually pressing F1, del or whatgever!). If so does the new hard disk appear in the boot order as automatically detected? If not then you will have to enter it manually! ie does the bios know the new hard disk is there?
Secondly does the new hard disk have a MBR (master boot record) as it will not boot anything unless there is a boot record (MBR for windows, GRUB for linux). if you have formatted the disk (some come without format) then you have to ensure there, is a MBR. This ca[/QUO
oopssorry pressed the wrong key! Using a recovery disk / original windows disk or FDISK /MBR can replace the MBR.
Failing all this have you a linux or other boot cd disk (original or windows recovery disk) that can get the machine started?

All the above should at least get the machine back on its feet..!
BOL
M

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.