Okay so I don't know where else to turn. I gave my 17year old sister my laptop for college and she broke it... Myspace or something and she caught a nasty virus. Now I bought a recovery disk designed for this machine through sony and nothing... Please help, she really needs this computer and I can't afford to buy her a new one. It's a Sony Vaio PCG-FRV27 Notebook; it runs on Windows XP; It has 40GB Hard Drive and 512 MB DDR; Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.66 Ghz (Probably too much info but I'm not sure what you need)... Okay so the problem; it was messing up big time and kept shutting off so I made a recovery disc (or so I thought) and did the sony recovery wizard. When I restarted this message appeared [ INF file txtsetup.sif is corrupt or missing, status 14. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit. ] then I press a key and it restarts only to show the same message. I called sony and ordered a new recovery disk once I put it into the machine it started to load (about 3 min or so) then it prompted me to take the disk out and hit okay, then it will restart  and configure or something. So I do and it restarts and the same black screen with the message listed above [INF file etc.] appears. I called sony and the lady told me to push F2 a whole BUNCH of times at startup so I do and computer configurations or whatever popped up she said to set it to default settings, so I did. And now when I pop in the disk it doesn't even recognize it or pretend to load it just goes straight to the message listed above. Sony offered to (try) and fix it for a minimum of $279 plus TAX, shipping and handling. and as I stated above I can't afford it; not to mention a new one doesn't cost mush more than that. I already bought her a new printer and laptop bag and router, wireless card etc. for her birthday (she turns 18 in Nov.) I really need help.... Any suggestions, I'll try anything.....Please and thank you... I know it's long so I apologize for that; just wanted to give enough info...SassyMom,Welcome to CH forums. Others will be along shortly to help you with your problem laptop.However even though you have provided most of the info required it will be necessary to answer a couple more questions. Does this computer currently have any data on it that if lost would be a problem? IE: personal important data or pictures,etc. Do you have the original Windows Operating System CD for that computer?Prior to it's present deteriorated condition had you ever attempted a "restore POINT" process? truenorthOkay to answer your questions. Yes there's a ton of stuff on this computer that would be great to save but at this point I have decided it doesn't matter... to save the computer is MOST important. (Sure I'll lose some pictures and files but I'll live) I was not given any discs when I bought this computer nor the computer I'm using right now (which is only a month old). They said you could make a recovery disc with the wizard which I thought I did (but it didn't work) And yes I had on repeated occasion tried the system restore to a previous date ( I went as far back as it would let me (which was May) but I don't think it worked because nothing changed. Let me know if there's any more info you need. and thank you so much for your help, it is greatly apreciated!txtsetup.sif problems usually point to a hardware failure such as a faulty CD drive or possibly a scratched or dirty or damaged disk. You have tried 2 different brand new disks is that right? (Which makes me suspect hardware problems. Simply put that may mean "busted computer".) You might be able to find a repair shop that could swap out the CD drive and see if it makes the problem go away, at a cost of less than $279 plus tax.


What I don't understand is it actually worked before I tried to run the recovery... The CD drive and everything... But it would shut off (because it detected a virus) is what it would say. But now that I've tried to use the recovery disc; nothing. Can the recovery disc break the cd drive or hard drive? I'm really stuck!Take a look here....

Keep in mind this will walk you though the steps to wipe the machine clean and start over as if from the factory....

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=148948

Kind of ironic, that the outcome of the thread that you posted, Spoiler, was that, having gone through all the steps, the OP's CD drive needed replacing, just like I said just now. Personally I think the least grief would be to take the laptop to a repair shop and for $50-$60 (deductible off the repair bill) get a repair estimate.

Thank you all for your help.. I am taking your advise and have an appointment to have it looked at this afternoon. I will let you know the outcome! Thanks again!can't hurt to download and burn some rescue disks:
http://dnl-eu10.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/kav_rescue_2008.iso
http://download.bitdefender.com/rescue_cd/
http://www.f-secure.com/linux-weblog/files/f-secure-rescue-cd-release-3.00.zip

using another computer.  Burn CD's as .iso, not data, then select the Boot Menu, and select to boot from your CD player.  Save and Enter.

There are plenty of other ways to access an unbootable system, if this doesn't help.  These are all free.  I hope you get this before you spend money.Thanks again for all of your help... Unfortuantely, I went the easy way and got it fixed by a professional; it cost $225. but he doubled the MEMORY! I think it was a good deal, I don't know But, thanks again all of you; it's cool to know that there's PEOPLE out there who just want to help! You guys Rock, and girls ... I will definetely be back again... Because I am very computer (not smart, hee hee)SassyMom, Well of course we are all pleased that you once again have a fully functioning computer.However it is too bad you had to pay out your hard earned dollars to the extent you did.As a point of interest and perhaps education to others did your technician tell you what the actual problem was?truenorth