Please Help -- SONY VAIO System Recovery Problem

I have a PCV-RX550. It shipped with Windows XP Home. I recently had to
clear the hard drive and I am trying to restore the system now. I
don't believe there are any physical problems with the PC. Windows was
just running poorly.

I was able to run System Recovery Disk #1 which appeared to
successfully partition and format the drive. The problem occurred when
it began restoring the C partition and asked for Disk #2. When I
inserted Disk #2 in the drive and pressed Enter, I got "Critical
Error: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail" to which all four options resulted
in termination of the recovery process.

Contacted Sony Support and received the instructions pasted below.
Tried all of these steps to no avail. Called their pay-per-use line
and was instructed to purchase a new set of recovery CDs. I have
cleaned Disk #2, inspected it for scratches, and loaded it in another
PC to ensure it can be read. It seems to be fine. Hate to take the
time to obtain a new set of disks just yet as I'm not convinced that's
the problem.

Anyone run into this before? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your
help!

Note: all peripherals have been disconnected and all internal parts
are the factory originals.

++++++++++++++++++++++

SONY Support Instructions:

1. Turn the computer off and wait for 60 seconds.
Try the recovery again.

2. Clean the CD by using a warm water and non-abrasive dish soap.
Move in a straight line from the inner edge to the outer edge.
Do not use circular motions. Dry the CD with a soft cloth.
A CD cleaning kit may also be purchased. Try the recovery again.

3. Reset BIOS Defaults. Try the recovery function again.
If you require the instructions for this process on your model,
please visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) website at:
ciscweb.sel.sony.com/TPM/diag_cs.htm

4. After booting to the recovery CD, cancel and exit to DOS.
Type: FDISK /MBR and press ENTER.
Turn the computer off and wait for 60 seconds.
Try the recovery again.

5. If additional system RAM memory has been installed, remove it.
Try the recovery again.

6. After booting to the recovery CD, cancel and exit to DOS.
Using FDISK, remove and recreate all hard drive partitions.
Try the recovery again.