Missing System 32 Sony Vaio Notebook Windows 8

[rulejunior]

Hello once again Tom's Hardware, I have a fun one for you guys today. Friend of mine has a Sony Vaio notebook he purchased about a year ago. Recently started displaying on boot up Missing System 32, or something along those lines. Now it should be a simple fix if I am correct, just use a Windows 8 install cd and activate the repair function. Now 2 questions here
1) Can I use the function from a 8.1 cd if it is possible to repair it this way if he hasn't updated to 8.1 yet
2) Would I actually need to get recovery media from Sony since it is an OEM copy of Windows

If you guys have any questions, let me know

 

[USAFRet]

2) Yes.

 

[Jacob McIntosh]

1) No.

 

[rulejunior]

Ok, by some chance do you guys know what may have caused this? He was also having problems with his wifi earlier (no connection, stuff like that), and could that be attributed to it?