Reading your blog - you can't use "Install" from our ISO. It's not a free copy of Vista, just the boot repair facility provided by Microsoft. There are no installation files on the disc, that's why it's so small compared to a Vista DVD.
Firstly try
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/
to see if you can rescue your data from the HDD.
If that can't see the partition structure you expect on the HDD, you could try Testdisk
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
to see if your problem is a corrupted MBR Partition table.
I recently spent a week or two (on and off) trying to fix a corrupted Vista (no urgency, it's one of 3 little-used secondary OSs to my main W7). It was working perfectly when last used, then was the subject of an auto-chkdsk when I was booting
W7 !
Despite all my efforts, and though it
looked like I was gradually nailing it back together, I eventually had to reinstall it from scratch.
That was on a shared HDD which checked-out as being in 100% perfect condition, yet somehow Vista died when it wasn't even in use ??
To this day I've no idea what happened to it, or how
, so don't get your hopes
too high about fixing it.
Is the Sony recovery partition still functioning ? (your User Guide should tell you the hot-key(s) used to access it at power-up.)
You should also visit the Sony site (or the appropriate OEM for your HDD make) and look for a HDD diagnostic download, which can tell you if the HDD is bad or just the data on it.
(Sorry for the blurriness, but it says: