Man I don't believe the time you are spending on this with me...I really am so grateful and learning so much for the next time...
Yes I am paying for the specific disc and shipping $26,75 within USA (2/52 delivery)... They did NOT ask about language nor 32/64 ; presumably they will send English, updated to the present with both 32 and 64...

I did have a mouse attached a week ago but that is now removed The Laptop is without battery on straight AC...

There is NO info about BIOS in the Manual (NO tech info at all) there is an update for bios from Feb 2008 to solve recovery from sleep mode...

Laptop is on a flat hard surface...good ventilation...

DISCWIZARD 2003 v10.45.06 (Seagate) Runs... then Stops at {virtual disc drive : C : (600Kb, 512 bytes, 512 entries)}

There is a Blinking Cursor on the next line... Tried 'Enter' nothing Else after 10 minutes

Heinz

Is there any particular reason not to use the laptops battery?

I'll "explain" my question. I still want you to use AC power, and there are situations where is better to use "only" AC power and take out the battery. But there are also situations where the recommendation is to use both simultaneously.

Did you take out the battery because some (electric) problem? Can you use it simultaneously with AC power? Does the battery loads (charges) when plugged in simultaneously with AC power cord?

About the manual and BIOS info not being present, it's odd. Try "navigating" the BIOS and look at anything that seems to be related to USB options; write down the title of the particular option and the available possible settings, together with the currently selected one at each option.

For now, and after writing down the info, quit/escape/exit the BIOS without saving any changes.

According to your reports about the USB options in the BIOS, we'll disable the ones that may be causing the BSOD you wrote about. I'm not sure this will solve the problem, but it is one of many possibilities.

About reporting the HDD partitions, there are many methods included in UBCD. I have no idea why discwizard 2003 failed to start. I'll search for a simple one with "low" risks of accidentally changing something and I'll give you instructions about it.

In the meantime, try searching the USB options in the BIOS and report back.

To find the partitions, use Hardware Detection Tool (HDT).

Boot UBCD -> System -> "Hardware Detection Tool"

Then "Menu Mode" -> with the keyboard cursor keys, select "Disks".

For each disk, write down its properties. When you see its properties, if there are partitions (according to its MBR), you will see "Partition1", "Partition2"... depending on the amount of partitions. Select each of the partitions of each disk, and write down its properties (except for serial number).

Using the keyboard cursor keys, go back to "Exit" and when the "boot:" line is displayed, simply press [Enter] to return to UBCD.

I hope HDT can detect the "hidden" partition (that one that should be use for repairing), aside from detecting the partition where you have Windows installed.

Report back the info you wrote down for each disk/partition and for USB options in the BIOS.

Partition 1Type unknown
Bootable no
Start 2048
End 15 456 255
Id 27
Partition 2
141.67 GiB
Type OS/2 IFS (eg HPFS
Bootable Yes
Start 15456256
End 3122579759
Id 7

Still working on USB Bios

Id 27 -> this means the recovery partition
Its size should be [MiB]: (15456255 + 1 - 2048)/2048 = 7546 MiB



Id 7 is your Windows partition.
But the "End" number here doesn't seem to be correct to me. I'm sorry to ask you, but could you check it again please?



Ok. Specifically, we want to temporarily deactivate the usb controller from the BIOS options (so to try to avoid the BSOD). Maybe this can help you identify the specific option.

What about the battery? Is there any particular reason not to use it at all? I'm not saying you "must"; I'm just trying to cover more possible causes of troubles.

Quick reply: The Battery Has not been holding its charge for a long time

You are right partition 2 is end 312 579 759

Heinz

Sorry, but what are the steps for getting into Bios to disable the USB Controller?

I can't tell you the exact steps for getting the BIOS options for USB. I thought you were still working on that, according to your own words.

The reason is simple: I have no knowledge about the specific BIOS that your specific laptop is using. Each computer has its own BIOS; specially when talking about laptops.

Since your laptop's manual doesn't include screenshots about it, or which option it includes, then you have to get into the BIOS and "navigate" through it (with the keyboard's cursor keys, function keys, PgDn, PgUp, "+", "-", "enter", "esc",...), reading the tittle of each option and the available settings for each one.

You already got into the BIOS before, so use the same method again (press the specific key immediately when powering up the system).

***

The manual must have at least the appropriate key to get into the BIOS. I'm almost sure that Sony's support can tell you which keys to use to get into the BIOS, and maybe even the specific options related to USB. If they ask for a fee for the the key to get into the BIOS, hang up (and IMHO do not buy anymore from them).

***

While navigating through the BIOS, write down any of the options that says something about USB and report them back here. We'll try to identify which specific option you need to change using your report.

About your second partition, the one with ID 7, where Windows Vista is installed, its size (in GiB) should be:

(312579759 +1 - 15456256)/2048/1024 = 141.68 GiB approx., which is now reasonable.

With the "start" and "end" numbers you reported, we can identify those 2 partitions when you'll need to repair your Windows installation.

I'll wait for your report about USB options in your BIOS to continue.