operating system not found...please help

[benwalk]

Last night i noticed my vaio making a bit more noise than usual so went to shut it down, but it froze up when the screensaver turned off...the only action i could take was to use the power button to turn it off. Then this morning it wouldn't boot, the sony logo comes up and i can get into bios but after that it just goes blank and says "operating system not found".
As i can see the hard drive in bios i'm assuming I'll be able to perform a system recovery but I'm away for the weekend so don't have the discs with me...can anyone suggest anything??
Thanks a lot

[JoeB.]

lots of possibilities... if their is no vital data on the drive... i would suggest a new installation or recovery... to find the fault is most of the time not worth the effort.

[kee-lo_]

Could also mean the drive has failed too, which would mean you need a new hard disk.

[benwalk]

thanks guys. I should have mentioned its a PCG NV105 and I've had it 2 years now so it's not covered anymore. I do have some data on there that i'd like to get back so would i be able to perform the system restore onto the second half of the partitioned drive (D) and then get to my files on the C drive?

[kee-lo_]

Space permitting yes.
Oh and if the drive works too.

[Kyo]

I think that's a good solution also. Good luck with it!

[benwalk]

thanks again guys. Since my last post I was able to boot up succcessfully - hadn't changed anything but had left it alone for a few hours. I'm not too sure whats going on but I keep hearing a loud click coming from the hard disk followed by an error message and then shutdown. After this it repeats the first message telling me "operating system not found", and I can't do anything until a few hours later when it will boot up again.
I'm assuming this means my disk is on its way out so i'm currently trying to back up as much as possible.
Is it possible that the drive could be repaired or is a new one my only option?...i'll try a system recovery in a few days just in case but i'm not too optimistic about that...

[kee-lo_]

I would be replacing that hard disk as soon as possible, it's dying and who knows at what speed.