...it took a lot of doing - but I got there in the end.
1. Boot from GParted CD to copy Hidden System Partition to USB Stick (copy and paste).
2. Install Vista (or Windows 7) on new target disk.
3. Run the Autorun application in the USB Stick Autorun directory.
4. ...follow the instruction prompts to restore 'Factory Original' from DVDs
This takes a while (and may cause a 'blue-screen' crash) but you will get there in the end!
n.b. I created a fully operational disk and USB stick, as a permanent archive. I now use a big, fast disk...
...this may work for other Vaio's?
