Sony VPCELE1E1 replacement Hdd

[Sammvi]

Hi,

My niece has a Sony Vaio VPCELE1E1W with a damaged and in need of replacement HDD. I tryed to replace it but when I get to windows instalation it says I cannot install the system on the new disk due to bios driver.

I guess that as the bios is H2O it is configured to the hardware specs that the laptop came with.

The problem with this Bios is that it's locked and there is no update available on Sony's websites and even the search for any drivers for this model is unavailable. The only search return i can find is for purchase of the laptop.

Unfortunaly my niece didn't do any recovery disk and since the HDD is damaged the ASSIST key doesn't work so i can go into recovery mode.

What options do I have? (besides throwing t out of the window)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[rich912]

Hi Sammvi,

On the assumption that you are trying to install Windows 7 using a retail version there should not be a problem. There are however compilations when installing the original Sony media on a new hard drive if it is not of the same sector format as the original – i.e. it needs to be 520-byte sectors not the newer Advanced Format that has 4,096-byte structure. This does not apply to a retail version of the OS.

Try returning the BIOS to ‘Setup Defaults’ (F9 in the BIOS setup menu) and then run the install.

BTW you are quoting the chassis reference and a search on the Support site will not recognise this. The main page of the BIOS will give the correct product number – possibly VPCEL1E1E/W.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCEL1E1E_W/updates

Rich

[Sammvi]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your reply.

In fact i quoted the product name and the W only means it's the white casing. The Model reference is PCG-71C11M.

I didn't do anything yet but as soon as i do i'll post the results, although I can say that I tried enumerous versions of Win7 and none with the expected result.

I'm not a person that gives up without a good fight so when i get it right i'll post the result and steps here (whether it is with the method you posted or not).

Once again thank you for your help.

Sammvi

[rich912]

Hi Sammvi,

I realise that the \W is the colour of the casing but neither VPCELE1E1W nor PCG-71C11M is a reference that will be recognise in a search on the support site when you are looking for drivers or anything else for that matter.

I realise that Sony make this difficult and confusing but once again, have a look in the BIOS for the correct product model number.

Rich