VPCZ21

[dicky.woollard]

I have had a gradual decline in Hard Disc and eventually it has given up the fight. I have replaced it with a new 256Gb SSD of the exact same spes/model. 

Problem: When I power up, with the BIOS set to read from DVD, so that I can reinstall Windows, the process appears to be running OK for a few seconds. I get the blue Microsoft flag up and the DVD is running. Suddenly the power shuts off. I try to power up again, but this time the power drops after a shorter period. I have new batteries, and I am connected to the mains. If I leave it for a while then the length that the computer stays powered increases again, to about 30 seconds, but then drops back each time I ty to power up. I have tried on battery and on mains, with and ithout the DVD attached.

When I had old Macs this seemed to happen quite frequently, and the CMOS battery needed to be replaced. The tell tale was that the internal clock was wrong. However, if I leave the laptop for a while, then power up and go to BIOS (F2) the internal clock is showing the correct time and date. I thought I would try to remove and reinstall the CMOS battery, but I can't see where it is. Any idea?

I would love to get my Vaio back up, so appreciate all suggestions

[Blencogo]

Hi dicky.woollard and welcome.

You have probably looked here to see what it looks like: -

http://www.genuine-cmos-battery.com/sony-vaio-vpcz21-cmos-battery.html

Does this help at all? I can't find disassembly instructions for later Z-Series Vaios: -

http://www.andyp.me/blog1.php/changing-out-sony-vpc21-keyboard

[PatrickP931]

Hi!

Did you ever get to solve this problem?

I have more or less the same issue on my old and beloved VPCZ21V9E and it is driving me nuts.

I have applied new cooling paste, cleaned the vents and fans with canned pressurized air, tried with another cmos battery - but the computer still won't start up properly, it shuts down after seconds.

If I start it in Bios it stays on for maybe up to a minute, but if I let it boot it shuts off sooner than that.

The ssd is in Raid 0 which makes reading it even more hard, not only because of the special lif that Sony used on these computers ssd.

I live in Stockholm, Sweden. Would love to try installing my disk in another functioning VPCZ2 (or SVZ I think use the same lif) and seeing if I can just recover my data.

Any help is gratefully appreciated!