Sony says there is a recovery partition...with the possibility of burning recovery discs...
That's a good news. Now, we have to find the way to actually do that, or if you prefer, try to use the DVD you ordered (or you already have; sorry, I didn't understood so much that part).
To clarify the situation about any Vista DVD:
_ For what it's called "Editions" (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise), the DVD is the same (so, this is not an issue)
_ For Language: There are specific versions for each language, but you may find also that important updates (like service packs, "SP") may come as multilingual
_ For Vista with SP1 or SP2: you may find DVD's already including those SP's, depending on when you purchased it. There are "slipstreamed" DVD's (unified version including all SP's), and DVD's that only updates the original DVD to SP1, or updates from SP1 to SP2.
_ For x32 or x64 versions: here there are also several possibilities. The original DVD (before SP's) was separated; 1 DVD for x32, another for x64. There are DVD's including both x32 and x64 versions of the SP's, or CD with separate versions, and there are also multilanguage SP's updates.
I'm not sure how much this actually "clarifies", sorry
If you already ordered the
most updated Vista DVD,
specific for your laptop (drivers and specific tools included), and you are going to pay for the media and the service
anyway, then wait for it and we can continue from that point.
If you already ordered the
most updated Vista DVD, but you can stop the purchase because you think you can do it by yourself using your "repair" partition... Well, then it's your decision.
My humble impression - and please, no offense intended - is that you could do better having an
updated DVD in your hands, that should be
specific for your Vaio.
Of course, I don't even think of paying a whole Vista license again (you already have a valid license when you purchased your laptop). If I understood correctly, you are paying for the DVD media and the delivery service alone, not the license. Correct?
About the BSOD message, it seems it is related to your USB driver and a memory area. Do you have anything plugged in, aside from your power cable? If you have an external HDD, or USB stick, or any type of flash card, or whatever "external" thing plugged in, then shut down your system and unplugged it. Leave only your power cord. Even if you have a USB mouse, then unplug it. USB camera? Unplug it.
Please use your laptop on a flat horizontal table. Do not use it on surfaces like you bed, or on irregular, not-horizontal surfaces. The heat that the system generates must go out, so the holes of the laptop must be clear and clean.
We can disable the USB support from your system BIOS. Go to Sony's support website, download your specific system's manual, and search for the BIOS chapter inside it. Everything that seems to be related to USB, report back here the specific info and we'll tell you what to set "on" and what "off" or whatever selection should be.
About DTF 4.16 giving your partition info, I'll try to check the specific screenshots somewhere and I'll get back to you with the exact procedure later. In the meantime, try to clarify/answer the questions I presented to you here (for example, search and download your laptop's manual at Sony's support website).
[
EDIT]
For the partition information, try the following (write down or print this procedure to follow it through) :
UBCD -> HDD -> INSTALLATION -> SEAGATE DISCWIZARD
2003 v10.45.06 (read carefully here, because there are other tools with very similar name)
Be patient and wait for the program to start (it may seem it freezes; again, be patient)
Now it
may say:
Code: Select all
The following drive is not set up for use in your system
and then it asks:
Code: Select all
Would you like to prepare this drive for use in your system?
For this step, answer YES
But for the next step that follows that first one, click on
CANCEL at the lower-right corner
(BEWARE, THIS "CANCEL" STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO OVERWRITE YOUR DATA).
Now we are at the screen we are looking for.
Now, select "HARD DISK INFORMATION", and at the next step select "DISPLAY TECHNICAL HARD DRIVE INFORMATION"
Click on "NEXT".
Select your drive from the list that appears.
Click on "NEXT".
Write down the 2 tables you see at the (default) "Translation Information" tab.
Click on "DONE" (lower-right corner).
Click on "EXIT" (upper-right corner).
Then report here the info you wrote down from the 2 tables.