Question New Replacement Charger for old Sony VAIO laptop

[SP1000]

Hi Guys, I am new to this forum.

Hope everyone is staying well.

Just a quick question if possible. I have a 2011 Sony VAIO laptop that I last used in 2014, and don't have the charger. Sony stopped manufacturing laptops, so I bought a replacement charger of Amazon. Can I use this charger on my SONY VAIO laptop? I don't want to risk trying it out and damaging the laptop as I have some old family photos on there. In particular, I am confused about the polarities of both.

I have attached pictures.

https://ibb.co/sgJJx8m

20220117-171709 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20220117-171709 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

https://ibb.co/XstNJrC

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys !

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i would usually only use manufacturer certified replacement laptop parts.
if it's a 3rd party product with no Sony certification mentioned i would be wary.

it's possible that you can contact Sony support and they would give you a list of trusted/certified products.

 

[punkncat]

Your image link appears to be broken.

Check your model number in a search, or documentation if you still have it and find what the output voltage and amperage of the OEM charger is supposed to be. Match that with a good quality aftermarket product. Voltage MUST be the same. The output amperage must be the same or higher.

I would suspect that the battery for this unit is likely gone as well. Probably will not keep it from working, but obviously not unplugged.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

From the labels in your photos you should be OK. The voltage matches and the brick has a max output just over 1 amp above that called for by Sony. However, those cheap chinese power bricks tend to run very hot and are prone to catch fire. Just be wary.

 

[SP1000]

Hi Guys, sorry i reuploaded.

Hi, The reason why I am not contacting SONY is because as I said they have stopped manufactoring SONY VAIO laptops, so the only option was a replacement charger. I don't know anything about electronics, but from what I googled and read the Volts + Amps is fine, but I am confused about the polarity, is that okay?

The main reason I haven't tried it out, is because as I said, I have around 500 old family photos on there, that aren't backed up anywhere else! So I really don't want to risk it without someones advice. If i try it and it damages the laptop, will the hard-drive be fried?

Whats the best way to go about this guys?
Thanks

 

[punkncat]

99.9% of the time the inner portion will be + and the outer will be -

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Take a close look at the polarity diagrams on both the laptop and power brick. They match. This means it should work just fine.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

The reason why I am not contacting SONY is because as I said they have stopped manufactoring SONY VAIO laptops

stopped manufacturing doesn't mean also stopped offering support.
if there are any downloads pages or any other forums related to their VAIO product line still available then they do still offer support.

 

[sizzling]

If all you want are the photos I would take the drive out, put it in a USB caddy and connect it to another pc. Then copy/paste.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

stopped manufacturing doesn't mean also stopped offering support.
if there are any downloads pages or any other forums related to their VAIO product line still available then they do still offer support.

Sony does not offer any support for Vaio products and hasn't for quite a few years now. What's left on the Sony site is what existed at that time and hasn't been updated or refreshed since. The entire Vaio line was sold to a Japanese company many years ago.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

If all you want are the photos I would take the drive out, put it in a USB caddy and connect it to another pc. Then copy/paste.

The problem with that is that many Vaios from that era were equipped with 2 small (usually 64 or 128GB) SSD's in a RAID 0 configuration.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Sony does not offer any support for Vaio products and hasn't for quite a few years now. The entire Vaio line was sold to a Japanese company many years ago.

quoted directly from Sony's current website:

"Though we are discontinuing the sale of PCs, we will continue to offer after-sales support for all Sony branded VAIO PCs.."

i would guess this means depending on the last warranties offered with the last line of products, support would still be available.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

quoted directly from Sony's current website:

"Though we are discontinuing the sale of PCs, we will continue to offer after-sales support for all Sony branded VAIO PCs.."

i would guess this means depending on the last warranties offered with the last line of products, support would still be available.

That statement is YEARS old. Everything Vaio that was manufactured by Sony is LONG out of warranty.

 

[SP1000]

Wow!

Thanks guys for the replies, but now I am truly confused on the best way to do this, Yes the main aim is to get the photos out of the hard-drive, I don't need to use the laptop.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

An 8 year old drive (or drives if this is one of the models that used a RAID 0 configuration) may be the issue here. There's a very good chance that it won't work at all after sitting for that long. All you can do is try. Start with powering up the laptop and see what transpires. Do not connect an Ethernet cable or enable wireless. If you are successful with the boot then attach an external drive and start copying. You may only get one chance at this so do not waste time once it boots.

 

[SP1000]

An 8 year old drive (or drives if this is one of the models that used a RAID 0 configuration) may be the issue here. There's a very good chance that it won't work at all after sitting for that long. All you can do is try. Start with powering up the laptop and see what transpires. Do not connect an Ethernet cable or enable wireless. If you are successful with the boot then attach an external drive and start copying. You may only get one chance at this so do not waste time once it boots.

Hi ex_bubblehead,

I thought even though it hasn't been turned on in 8yrs, it should still work. no?

What do you mean attach an external hard-drive and start copying? I was going to try a bunch of passwords that hope will work first and then attach my SD card and copy and paste.

Why only one chance? I am confused, can you please advise when possible.

Thanks

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

even though it hasn't been turned on in 8yrs, it should still work. no?

i have plenty of drives that are over 10 years old, some even older IDE versions, that may only have gotten used once every 5+ years.
they still work fine.
dormancy does not deteriorate a drive's lifespan in any instances i've experienced, only the read/write activity.

I was going to try a bunch of passwords that hope will work first

is this system protected by a password that you do not have access to?
this could possibly make this thread, and any help offered, against Tom's forums rules policy.

What do you mean attach an external hard-drive and start copying? I was going to try a bunch of passwords that hope will work first and then attach my SD card and copy and paste.

same difference.
an SD card, USB, or any external storage can be considered an "external drive". doesn't actually need to be an HDD.

 

[SP1000]

is this system protected by a password that you do not have access to?
this could possibly make this thread, and any help offered, against Tom's forums rules policy.

Hi, no, this is my old personal computer. As I said I last used it in 2014, so I might not remember the exact password, so I need to try a couple I normally use.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Hi ex_bubblehead,

I thought even though it hasn't been turned on in 8yrs, it should still work. no?

Environmental factors over those 8 years may well make it unusable. Oh, the laptop may still POST but if that's a spinning drive in it it may well be seized.

What do you mean attach an external hard-drive and start copying? I was going to try a bunch of passwords that hope will work first and then attach my SD card and copy and paste.

A drive that's been sitting for that long may give only one shot at getting data off of it before it dies. Fumbling around with passwords may well be what pushes it over the edge. An SD card isn't going to cut it here.

Why only one chance? I am confused, can you please advise when possible.

A drive (especially a spinning drive) that's been sitting idle that long may well be either seized or very close to it. You may only have a single shot at getting anything off of it before the final failure.

Thanks

 

[SP1000]

Hi ex-bubblehead and JohnBon

wow, this is really difficult then. I am really unsure what to do in this case. As I said, I really want those pictures as they have high sentimental value to me.

In terms of password, I will have to try maybe 30+ passwords, in varying combinations, 8 years is a long time and its difficult for me to remember, do you think I should use one of those tutorials on youtube such as this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCInsJ6BLjY


instead of trying the passwords?

And I didn't get the part of saying an SD card isn't going to cut it? The SD card I am using is 32GB, and I'm pretty sure thats enough for all the photos.

Additionally, in terms of the replacement charger overheating or potentially catching fire, how do I exactly know before something might happen?

Thanks

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

well, what path you take is up to you.
you'll get varying responses on many questions due to different experiences, myths, paranoia, etc.

regarding the charger/battery;
you should still be able to find some mention of certified replacement parts that were in use and available at that time it was still a viable system.
and you can still always contact Sony; i've still had tech support for old cases, my old IdeaPad, my old Sony receiver, etc all well past 10 years after warranty expired.
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/personal-computers-laptop-pc

if you are really concerned about the outcome your best bet may be taking this system to a local shop that guarantees they can successfully recover your data.

you also may be able to determine through some online research whether this particular system came with 2x drives in a pre-set RAID array.
if they weren't, just physically remove the drive(s) and connect to your current system to retrieve the data.

 

[SP1000]

Hi JohnBon,

Sorry, I don't know anything about hard-drives, what shall I do? just google my model name and type of harddrive?

And can I really just remove the hard-drive from the SONY VAIO and connect it to my current DELL laptop? even though the sony is win 7 and dell win 10 and so on? I googled this, and from what I see it isn't that simple.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

And can I really just remove the hard-drive from the SONY VAIO and connect it to my current DELL laptop? even though the sony is win 7 and dell win 10 and so on? I googled this, and from what I see it isn't that simple.

you also may be able to determine through some online research whether this particular system came with 2x drives in a pre-set RAID array.

you're not researching the drives themselves but the actual system to find what type of setup it's drives inside are using.

the manufacturer of the system(Sony or Dell) or the OS(7 or 10) has nothing to do with what type of drives they are using.
it would be determined by the actual motherboard what type of interface it uses; SATA, IDE, etc...
the majority of them are interchangeable between systems.