Hello. I need to replace my hard drive due to a smart error on my sony vaio laptop. Once I purchase the hard drive and swap it with the damaged one, I plan to restore the computer to factory settings. If I use the recovery discs, will I be able to set my computer to factory settings??? Or is there any files on my messed up hard drive that I need in order to reset my computer??? Thanks

Well if the ol hard disk is damaged you can't do the restore factory setting. It's just like starting from scratch. Want A Weekly Update on Latest System Security Problem http://www.systemsecurityinstitute.org

Thanks for the email. So if I replace it, I can not use the recovery cds to set my computer back to factory settings?? Or will it will automatically erase everything and restore to factory settings???

That is exactly what the restore disks are for. What you may not have any longer is the hidden partition that could also be used to restore to factory conditions. So, you may want to make a second copy of your restore set. BTW, a smart error in itself is not a reason to scrap a hard drive. You should run a diagnostic from the drive manufacturer on it to verify the drive is failing.

Thanks for the email. How do you run a diagnostics tests on a sony vaio??? I think it is failing because I had to restore the whole computer due to an unmountable_boot_volume error. I also had trouble extracting all my information from it. When I set the computer to factory settings, the hard drive was unable to load most of the drivers and programs that are suppose to load during recovery. THanks

I don't know what brand of hard drive is installed. You need to get a diagnostic program from the drive manufacturer. Then you burn it to CD or copy to floppy and boot to it.

Well if that didn't work you can just try to retrieve some files that can be retrieved then install an OS to the new hard disk that you have installed. Want A Weekly Update on Latest System Security Problem http://www.systemsecurityinstitute.org