Solved! VAIO GRT 800 Series Documentation & Recovery Disk

Solution
Your best bet is to get in touch with Sony. You can also ask Sony to see if there is a recovery partition on it, which will save you the trouble of the recovery disk. Try holding down zero with the laptop off and then while still holding it down, turn it on. If there is a recovery partition you should get an option to access it.

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/support-contacts.pl

jomacavaio

Distinguished
May 9, 2011
2
0
18,510



Thank you for your reply. In fact, I have been in touch with Sony Support Europe / Sony VAIO Link. In their generosity, they have delivered a Recovery and Documentation disk for free via DHL Express Delivery. It arrived last Monday, and I have been able to verify that it is a straight replacement.