Hi,
I have a VAIO E-series, and the original HDD collapsed about a week ago. I managed to just get my data off before it completely bit the dust, but was not able to burn recovery disks. Got to DVD2, after which it collapsed, and no longer boots up, and BIOS does not recognise the drive as being there, so I think it's fair to say its toast. I noticed some advice on this board about trying to access the recovery partition via ASSIST button, which I haven't done but will try separately tonight.
I've bought a new HDD, which the BIOS recognises as being there (without giving too much detail as the VAIO BIOS seems to be very very basic on the detail level and changes available...). I've then tried to boot and install Win7 via a DVD, but I get the following error when trying to install: "Required CD/DVD driver is missing". I've tried to "feed" it a few of the drivers from the Sony Support site (SATA etc), but having no luck. Any ideas if this error is fixable?