Hi samuncle,
welcome to Questions & Answers..:smileyhappy:
What version of windows do you have installed on your Vaio.:smileyconfused:
The VGN-S3VP should have a hidden HDD recovery partition, do you know if this is still intact.?
You can check if the recovery partiton is still present by doing the following..
Click Start then click Control panel.
In Control Panel click on Performance and Maintenance, then click on Administrative Tools and finally click on Computer Management..
A new window should open click on Disk Management and maximise the window.
The recovery partition should be an EISA configuration, check the capacity and Free space quoted.
If the recovery partition is intact you should be able to restore the Sony supplied Windows XP Pro and the pre-installed applications.
To do this Start your Vaio and when you see the Vaio logo press the F10 key repeatedly, hopefully this should start the recovery process using the hidden HDD recovery partition.
Then follow the recovery instructions to complete the process
Failing that you have two choices either purchase a retail copy of Windows
Or
Contact Vaio support and purchase a set of recovery disc's for your vaio.
You can find the contact details for vaio support by either clicking Support at the top of this page or by using the following link:Vaio support
Under Log-in option 1: enter your VAIO's serial number
Then click Log-In
Once logged select Get In Touch..
