My friend dropped her Sony laptop. But it was turned off and the cover closed. And she didn't drop it too far, maybe a couple of feet. Now it gets hung up every time it tries to boot. Even in safe mode it only loads about 20 files or so then hangs. I haven't tried the recovery disc yet (she is looking for it...). Anyway, I thought when the the computer was OFF that the drive head was parked and the thing was protected somewhat. I took a couple covers off and everything looks good and tight inside. No damage outside either. She dropped it once before and after that it would no longer "recognize" the battery. The thing seems pretty fragile. I have banged and bumped my Dell with no ill effects. Anyway, could the hard drive get harmed even though it was off? What are my odds of the recovery disc working (if it can be found)?

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

At this point, you don't even know if the hard drive is the problem. If it won't boot from a disk either you may have another problem. If it will boot from another disk, run diagnostics and try to determine what's broken and if you can recover data.

Hard drives park their r/w heads in a "landing zone" portion of the disk(s) when powered off. The fact that the computer seemingly reads a few files is a good thing, meaning like Miracle Max in "Princess Bride" . . . it might be "mostly dead" but not completely dead.

I would suggest accessing the computer's BIOS menu on boot up and changing the order of the boot devices so that the computer seeks either a floppy or CD before the HD. There are tons of instructions on how to make a bootable CD on the web, including downloadable OS boot files. If the computer does boot, then you might be able to access the HD's file directory and see if it's still alive.

Does she have data that needs to be recovered off the drive? If so do NOT power it on again until you are prepared to begin recovery.

Also, the recovery disk will likely wipe the hard drive. If the disk itself is damaged it probably is not hard to replace, and new disks are not expensive.

-Jason

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

The problem is probably more related to the fact that it is a Sony laptop than the fact she dropped it. I was ALWAYS fixing sony laptops when I was a college student tech. They are the worst made laptops ever!

Anyways, sounds like the hard drive has been critically injured, or something in between. The thing is probably toast. They are quite flimsy, a drop like that probably gave it mortal injury.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Yeah, the extended warranty would have been a good one for this laptop... She can't remember if she bought that... Oh my. Still waiting for the recovery disc to appear. Yeah, changing the hard drive is easy, 3 screws. But putting everything back on it would take some doing. I don't think she anything too critical on it, but photos and stuff probably.

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

So just to confirm, you think the hard drive could be damaged even though it was off, or you think something else was damaged? Anyway, assuming I get the magic disc, I am sure I will be back for more questions.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Well, it looks like the recovery disc (and every other thing that came with the computer) will not be forthcoming. Have been "lost", "thrown away..." I mean why keep every disc that comes with an expensive computer, just throw them all away!! HA HA! So now what do I do??? I have one for my Dell, but will that do any good in a Sony?

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

I assume you can get the disc from sony, or from someone else who owns a similar computer.