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Question

Factory reset of European Sony Vaio model PCG-GR315MP

Jun 9, 2013 1:35AM PDT

I recently found a discarded Sony Vaio laptop that uses a German keyboard configuration and belonged to a company of some sort and so obviously I can't log on and I'm trying to restore it to it's factory settings so I can make a new user profile. I've tried hitting Alt+F10 during boot up which was suggested to me but it didn't work and I can't access the boot menu.

I'd appreciate any help as the laptop is in good condition and I'd like to have a backup laptop with XP. Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Have you downloaded the user guide from Sony?
Jun 9, 2013 2:07AM PDT

In almost all cases the user guide contains instructions for restoring to factory settings. Go to Sony's web site and download it if it's not on the hard drive (as it usually is).

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Here's the link for the user guide
Jun 9, 2013 2:13AM PDT
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Thanks
Jun 9, 2013 6:27AM PDT

Much appreciated. Manual only points to a CD that came with the computer that's supposed to be used for system recovery but nothing about restoring factory settings. I can't log on to the computer because it has an existing user profile and is password protected.

Thanks for the help though

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You can boot from a Ubuntu disc
Jun 9, 2013 6:43AM PDT

You can download Ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop and make a bootable disc or flash drive if you wish to inspect the computer's hard drive. There's probably a recovery partition on it.
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Good luck.

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Windows passwords are cured in about 5 minutes.
Jun 9, 2013 7:02AM PDT

And for free too. I use NTPASSWD which is free, out on the internet and with so much written about it, that issue is a 5 minute task.

Why not NTPASSWD?
Bob