Blue screen, and an endless loop.

I have a Sony VAIO S360 laptop, that isn't working. I restarted it because my Rayman 3 game and Halo game weren't loading. Rayman would freeze when it tried to load and Halo was missing objects (like I couldn't see the rocks in the second level.) So I restarted the computer thinking this would fix it. But now it won't even start windows.

The VAIO symbol pops up when I restarted it, and then a black sreen with these options (or something along the line) appears: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Start Windows with Last Working Setting, and Start Windows Normally. I've tried all of these (minus Networking and Command Prompy because I don't know what they are) but when the screen that says windows is loading, I get a quick glimpse of a blue screen (I think I saw the word "disconnect" on it) and then it's back to the VAIO symbol and black screen with choices.

If it makes any difference, I had a Kenningston (sp?) wireless mouse and a Xbox 360 controller hooked up with my USB ports.

Please help me, the last thing I want to do is install Windows all over again!

 

Make sure you are totally shutdown, disconnect any and all external devices and then boot while tapping F8. Select last known good configuration and hit your enter key.

 

I may not be able to help much, only give you some checks.

You have disconnected any added hardware, yes?

Do the fans seem to be working well? Are the vents clear?

Go in the BIOS setup. There should be a temperature readout and maybe voltage readings (these should be within, say, 0.5 volts for the 5 volt, maybe a little more for the 12 volt).

If you can access the RAM module(s), pull and reseat them.

I do wonder about heat damage. Make certain that the specifications of the machine are well inside the System Requirements of the game. The games are probably meant to be run on a desktop system. Running a rather large game would generate a lot of heat from the graphics chip, the CPU and the RAM.

I see you have posted to a thread regarding a repair of Windows. Hopefully that repair will work. Your description though, sounds to me like a hardware problem. Suggest you run some hardware checks before you resume "fragging"

Matt
PS: Seems Rockster2U was posting at the same time so we may have covered some of the same ground.

 

Thanks for the relpies. The Sony S360 is quite a powerful machine (it plays Battlefield 2 nicely) but it does get quite hot. Luckily if something did happen, my Best Buy warranty should cover it. I'll try checking the volts and the RAM, as well as the method Rockster2U suggested.

Edit: Sadly Rockster2U's method didn't work for me. I got into the BIOS using F2, but I can't seem to find the voltage readings.

 

Honestly, I am 2 seconds away from switching to Mac. Windows will NOT install.

 

Sorry to hear that but it sounds like this is already going to be 50 minutes too late to save you from that 2 second switch. How much do you want for that old busted Vaio?

OK, Just kidding ..... just kidding.

On the serious side - you haven't really said what your problem is re: installation. I'll assume that you already tried Mattman's suggestion of reseating memory (that little window on the back with one ***** will get you to your memory). Most Vaio's shipped with system restore discs and if you use that, you will lose any data you had on your machine. If you can't run from the restore disc (put the CD in your drive, turn your machine off and turn it back on, thereby booting from the retore disc - and yes, there will be more than one with Vaio's) then you do have a real problem and its going to be a hardware problem unless someone reworked your hard drive at some point in this machine's history.

As a recommended alternative, if you have an XP disc - boot with that and head into the repair console - first R prompt you get a chance to enter. Try running the command FIXBOOT, then exit and see if you can boot from the hard drive. If no soap you can run it again and try FIXMBR and if still no soap, you can do a repair installation from the second R prompt which will leave your data files intact. Now for the fun part - If you have SP2 installed and your CD is pre-SP2, you will have to make a slipstreamed CD which includes the service patch or windows will keep telling you hat it can't run from your CD because its older than your current operating system. I suspect thst may be what you are encountering but you really haven't articulated what kind of difficulty you are having. That puts the ball back in your court.

 

If you get too head-up, walk away from it for a while. Even leave it for a day or so. Think about it occasionally in the meantime, other avenues may come to you. Banging your head on it will probably only hurt your head .

I walk away and come back to it later. I usually find a way to defeat it...feels good

Matt

 

I took a break, and I finally got the VAIO recovery disks to work. I've had to use them before this time, and they worked perfectly, but for some reason the time I got to the 3rd or 4th disk an error saying "Disk access denied" and "recovery incomplete" appeared. Well I tried the disks again and the recovery worked. But Windows won't start. I get another BSOD and it goes into the restart loop again. I do have another XP disk which I've tried on it too, but I doesn't give me the second "r" and when I try to get into the recovery console it freezes. I'm beginning to think it's a hardware problem so I'm taking it into Best Buy as soon as I get over my flu. And to top it all of now, the laptop won't even start. I press the power button and the power and battery lights light up, but the screen doesn't turn on. Oh my, what am I going to do??

 

"Oh my, what am I going to do?? "
"I'm beginning to think it's a hardware problem so I'm taking it into Best Buy... "

No prizes around here for answering your own question

Reread Rockster's suggestions for if there may be something that was missed.

Probably hardware. The only hardware you can "get at" is probably the RAM modules. Maybe just a loose connection from transport. Make Best Buy worry about it, but push for quick service. Don't get stranded without it for ages.

Have a look at Best Buy's website. Read about their warranty policy. Contact them if they have an "After Sales Support" system and let them know you are bringing it in. It could just speed things up.

Luck
Matt