Official Sony VPC-Z2 (VAIO Z 2011) Series Owners' Thread

I know that some have said here that they have been able to successfully perform a clean install, but I'm having a problem doing that. When I install the video driver, the system acts like it installed just fine, but when I go into device mananger I see that I am still running the standard VGA dispaly driver.

For anyone who has done a clean install, could you please check what driver is indicated in device manager without the PMD connected?

Thank you.

 

OMG! Is it just me hearing this VERY high-frequency whining?

 

you know....when you make these sound recordings....you need a reference sound file to compare it to...

i hope i don't need to explain why....

 

Have you tried to manually installing the driver or uninstall all video drivers then reinstall?

I believe it should say "Intel HD Graphics Family" under Device Manager.

 

Although I decided on a 15" MacBook Pro over the Z2, the gold Z2 still makes me a little jealous. It is absolutely GORGEOUS... my god.

Hopefully Sony makes the Z a little bit more competitive next year, Quad-Core processors are going to be the norm with Ivy Bridge, and perhaps they will add a bit more powerful of a GPU into the dock. Otherwise it is the perfect laptop worth paying $2000 for.

 

Nope i can hear it too.

 

Not exactly the same category of laptop.

The Z3 is 1.3kg lighter...


I'm in the opposite situation. I just sold my 15" Macbook Pro in order to get one of these.

 

Uhm.. Macbook Pro 15" against Z21 ... it's like a comparison between a car and a motorbike: two completely different products.
Ultraportable against a desktop replacement still portable.. 13" against 15".. different material.. different OS.. one is.. an all in one, the other is made of two pieces. An there's a complete different concept behind them. Sincerely there's no way to make a comparison. Usually if a person buy a Macbook Pro 15" or similar means he has really different needs against a person who buy a Z21 or a MBA.. MBA it's his competitor "de facto" (even if they're a little different).

So.. my curiosty.. why did you chose MBP? And why did you compared them since they're so different and they're for completely different category of customers?

PS. NO Ivy Bridge quad core. It's impossible to put a quad core inside that chassis. in the main part where there's CPU there's the same space of MBA so you can understand why... and MBA has a Ultra Low Voltage CPU (17W), Z has a normal one (35W). So there's no way, since quad core Ivy Bridge will start form 45W.

 

Ummmm quad-core Ivy Bridge processors are going to be 35W just like the current Dual-Core Sandy Bridges.

I realize the 15" MacBook Pro and Sony Z2 are totally different beasts... the reason I compared them was for the simple reason: I wanted the best computer for $2000.

The Z would be a better choice if I needed a certain niche product, a MacBook Air with more power and Windows, and with an external GPU for when I need to do serious work.

 

As for news I read.. no. In addittion, dual core will always be divided into ULV (17W) LV (25W) and normal (35W) .. so normal dual core won't be one but some... so I find difficult to see a quad core @ 35W... it's possible only with a LV or ULV.. maybe.

So you started from the budget.

 

I wouldn't call the Z or even the MBA a niche product. Everyone has different needs in a laptop. Portability is a factor in all laptops and it pretty much comes down to, do you want something portable or not, and if so, how portable.

I can't see myself deciding which laptop to buy solely on price. Most people would look for something that fits their needs. Most people on this forum went with the Z series because their was a need for something portable, powerful and complete and they wanted it to be classy. This might be why people here, including myself, are having trouble understanding your logic, but to each their own.

 

I don't think quad cores would go in the direction of 35W but it's not impossible sometime in the future. The current set of Sandy Bridge mobile quad cores run at 45W, which has been the case for all QM series processors. I think 45W will be the consistent trend for quad cores for the next 2 years IMO.

Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)

Intel® Core? i7-720QM Processor (6M Cache, 1.60 GHz))

 

^ I completely agree.

But in the case they would chose to put come 35W quad core, they would be for SURE LV processors... with lower frequency than standard.

 

You are correct - That is what it should say but doesn't. I think I see what is going on. It seems to be an issue with the US driver. In the US both the ATI and Intel driver are bundled in one package and it doesn't seem to want to install the Intel driver because it's all installed by the ATI installer. It's possible it might work with the PMD installed. In any case, I notice that in the UK the AMD and Intel drivers are 2 seperate drivers. Installing the Intel Driver from the UK site worked.

 

OT but important, how come sometimes I load this thread it doesn't render correctly? Sometimes it renders too wide and introduces a left right scroll bar on the bottom. Most posts are just one very long line making it hard to read. Most of the time the text will reflow and there is no scroll bar but sometimes it does this....?

im on ff6, if that matters

 

^ It seems to happen when people post very wide pictures. Drives me crazy when I'm trying to read on my phone.

 

Not sure if I have anything new to add to people's impressions on the new Z, but perhaps I can reinforce a few perceptions.

- The machine is fast, beautiful, light and sleek. I've had no hardware issues, bad pixels, etc after owning the machine for three days.
- It gets hot around the vents at the rear left - 70 C accrding to CPUID when installing programs or taxing the machine any harder than basic browsing or word processing. That being said, it does NOT get hot on the palm rests or key board.
-I'm liking the PMD more. It takes up little space on the desktop and it definitely cuts weight from the laptop. I'm not having issues plugging or unplugging the unit while the computer is running.
-Wireless performance is excellent at my house and in my hotel room on Thursday evening.
-Backlighting is interesting. It fades if you're not typing on the computer and comes back on once there's actiivity. I'm sure that there's some kind of adjustment for that behavior somewhere. If not, there should be, as it's potentially annoying.
-Machine boots up in 14-16 seconds consistently.
- Fans definitely come on, but they're not overly loud or annoying IMO
- The slice battery is nice for the battery life, but even though it's very light and thin, it manages to add considerable bulk (relatively speaking, the Z and slice together aren't much more than an inch thick) and weight when attached. I envision using it when I'm in a remote office, and since it's easy to attach I'll probably leave it in my bag until needed on long plane flights.

i'm glad I bought this machine. I fit more into the category of the user who wants something fast, light and sleek and who doesn't need a top end graphics card all the time. I won't be gaming in my hotel room as a matter of course, but may be doing some CAD drawing and basic business work. This machine will work wonderfully for that purpose.

My bottom line: it's expensive and it may not technically be "worth" the money you pay, but the Z has some great qualities that set it apart from every other ultraportable on the market, including the Z1.

BTW did anyone see the review of the Z21 on pcmag.com? It wasn't very good, and the reviewer ended up coming off as petty and ignorant.

 

You can't judge sound with a Youtube video... honestly I've been living with the Z21 for 6 days and even when the fan does get noisy when maxing out the CPU, it couldn't be called high-frequency. It's a low roar.

Actually there is no way to accurately describe a sound in writing. You'll have to find a quiet Sony showroom somewhere and give it a listen there!

 

Yeah I was surprised by that review, I detect an underlying dislike of Sony with this particular reviewer! There are of course some minor faults with the Z21, like any laptop, such as the large-ish bezel, lack of user-upgradeable components, poor speakers. But this reviewer seemed to focus on non-issues, such as heat (where exactly? This is a full-powered laptop that runs cooler than any of my previous laptops!) and noise (again the Z21 runs dead quiet unless you are taxing the machine - even then it wouldn't be any noisier than similarly specced laptops). I was also surprised by his criticism of the keyboard, but I concede that the trackpad takes getting used to and the textured surface may be leading to slight inaccuracy (however, I've had great results since increasing the sensitivity of the trackpad in the Synaptics device settings dialogue).

Still, you have to make your own mind up. I'm a very happy camper with my new Z21. It ticks all the right boxes.

 

Could someone please try to attach two monitors to the main unit (NO PMD!) and tell me if both external monitors and the internal laptop screen are working?

TIA.

 

quad core ivy bridge will be 45w

quad core will be offered in mainstream ultraportables starting with haswell in mid 2013

By the way, does anyone recall a 13" laptop with quad core currently? i swear i saw one but now i forgot all about it

 

I can do that for you when I get my Z tomorrow.

When people are saying 15 sec is this with or without fast bios? Have we decided whether or not fast bios could be potentially dangerous? Is there a large difference in fast bios and "slow bios" boot speeds?

Ahh, that makes sense. Then fellow commenters, can we PLEASE post links or attach images instead of using the img brackets?

 

^in addition to that, has anyone figured out yet how to enable fast boot option after doing a clean install?

 

Li-Ion Batteries.

Not sure the exact scheme Sony uses for charging batteries in the Z, but...

A typical approach for Li-Ion charging is constant current for about half the total capacity, which is quite fast, then constant voltage for the remainder. The constant voltage half can end up taking something like 60-70% or so of the total time to fully charge (since charging current tapers to low levels as full charge is approached).

Also, a new Li-Ion battery may not reach its full capacity for several charge-discharge cycles...

 

Maybe Sony made it that fasboot is only possible if the recovery partition is present?

 

^I guess there must be something else, because the fast boot option has to be enabled in Windows (not BIOS), so I think there must be some kind of application to be installed for that.

 

I ordered mine on the 12th August.

I don't think I've ever been this excited about a computer.

 

Here are some nice pics of the CKZ3:

????SONY VGP-CKZ3 ????? - Mobile01

 

me want now

 

hey, guys. I note that CTO is cheaper than pre-configured one even if I choose exacly the same spec. Is it normal? Also, is the pre-configured one made in Japan? What about the CTO? Made in China or US? I know in Asia, the pre-configured one is made in Japan.

 

When Haswell rolls, Sony may drop the PMD altogether.

 

My CTO unit was shipped from Japan.

 

I ordered mine at the same time as the laptop. It looks really, really nice. The price is a shame, but hey. Expensive laptop, expensive case?

Ended up ordering the pre-conf i7/8GB/256GB/DVD PMD. The site I ordered from doesn't tell when they'll have it in stock, so I'm a little nervous, because I must have this computer by the beginning of September.

But surely since most people are getting theirs now, the roll out has begun globally?

 

PMD really is a nice touch on a laptop, far more convenient and space effective that regular dock

 

All Z's are built in Japan.

 

Anybody try charging the Z2 with a Z1 charger. The Z1 charger only seems to maintain charge, but not add charge. Both are 19.5V, so I'm perplexed.

 

Most new laptop chargers (and batteries) now have a data line in addition to power. OEMs use this to authenticate their adapters and batteries. Usually, it is to notify you that you are not using a genuine battery or charger. Perhaps Sony has taken protecting your interests a bit further. . .

 

Sony generally changes the tip sizes, but anything is possible.

Once again, it will maintain the charge just not add to it. I ran at 72% for an hour on the Z1 charger. Switched it with the Z2 one and it started charging.

All battery care functions are disabled, btw.

 

Vaio Control Center.

 

If the charging circuitry will not charge a battery unless a genuine charger is present, software running on windows won't be able to modify that behavior.

 

neat, the Sony mini power adapter works fine (VGP-AC19V30).

Anyhoo, anyone want to help me decide between the 1600x900 and HD screens? I have the HD screen on the Z1 and either love or hate it, depending on my usage. Text is tiny on the HD flavor, making somewhat useless as a secondary monitor in a desktop config. If you are 4 feet away from the HD screen, it gets hard to read.

On the other hand, I like the extra real estate the FHD affords. Decisions, decisions

 

I don't think there are any around; if there's going to be a company who's going to push that envelope, I have a feeling it's going to be ASUS.

Is that due to the increased graphical performance provided by the Haswell chip? However, wouldn't it still be far below the performance level of a (then) contemporary graphics card?

 

^ Ivy Bridge will be designed to reach till 30% more then Sandy Bridge in graphic performance.. So it won't be a match even for an actual HD6650M.

 

Thats impressive. Could you enable fast bios and see if there is any difference?

 

My first Z was the Z11 and it had the 1600x900 and I thought it was great. I had no complaints and felt that it fit the laptop perfectly. Then I bought the Z14 with the 1920x1080 and noticed that everything was too small, even though it was detailed. I would be constantly resizing text and windows. I always had the feeling that the screen sizing could have been better but even with the DPI changes and configurations it was never perfect. With this experience I decided to go with the 1600x900 on my Z21. I haven't received it yet but I've made comparisons at the store and I still feel the same way about the 1920x1080. This is of course if you are not using the laptop for something that resolution is important.

 

So with my current laptop (an R600), when I use it in its dock, I close the laptop and use two external monitors. I'm expecting my Z2 on Tuesday. What are opinions on whether it's safe to use closed when plugged into the PMD, given that it appears to get pretty hot?

 

This is my first draft of a clean install document for the Z21 series. Any suggestions, comments, etc. are welcome.


Complete Guide to Performing a Clean Install on the Sony VAIO Z21 Series Notebook


Topics Covered

1) What is a clean install and why might you want to perform a clean install?
2) Things you may want to do before starting a clean install
3) How to create a bootable thumb drive from which to install Windows
4) How to legitimately reinstall Windows without needing a new license key or activating Windows
5) Installing drivers and applications
6) How to extract drivers and applications from recovery media that are not available for download
7) How to recover with Fast Boot mode enabled


What is a clean install and why might I want to do this?

A “clean install” refers to installing Windows from scratch without all of the additional software that is often bundled along with a system. You are effectively cleaning this unwanted software from your system in a manner in which no remnants of unwanted software are left behind.

In addition, performing a clean install will eliminate the space used by the recovery partition. This is a fairly good chuck of space that you can gain back (about 14GB).

A clean install will also allow you to upgrade your edition of Windows. For example, if you purchased a system with Windows Home Premium and you now have a need for the features of Windows Ultimate, a clean install is the perfect opportunity to upgrade.


Things you may want to do before starting a clean install

When it was shipped, your system came with a Recovery Partition that will allow you to recover and reinstall individual programs or drivers or even recover the entire system. You should follow the instructions provided by Sony to make a backup of your recovery partition. Should your system get into a state where it cannot boot from internal disk at all, for example if the recovery partition is damaged, you may just wish that you had a backup.

Even if you have a perfect clean install process, you may one day want a copy of the recovery partition in case you want to sell your system so that you can provide it to the owner in exactly the same configuration in which it shipped from Sony.

You will also want to make sure that you backup any data that you have saved to your system before starting the clean install process.
 
How to create a bootable thumb drive from which to install Windows

What you will need:

1) You will need a thumb drive of 4GB or larger capacity. This thumb drive should not has a “U3” partition on it.

2) You will need a Windows ISO image or DVD.

3) If you are using an ISO image you either need software to extract the files (latest version of WinZIP is fine) or software that lets you mount the ISO as if it were a DVD.

4) A Windows Vista or Windows 7 from which to follow the steps below. This will NOT work from Windows XP.

Creating the Thumb drive:

1) Insert the thumb drive.

2) Open a command prompt and run “diskpart”.

3) Run the command “list disk”. A list of all disks will be displayed. You should be able to recognize the thumb drive by its size. Note the disk number associated with the disk. If you are uncertain, STOP! The next steps will wipe the disk you select, so be sure it is the correct one.

4) Run the command “select disk x”. In place of the “x” use the number of the disk you noted above.

5) Run the following series of commands:

“clean”
“create partition primary”
“active”
“format fs=fat32 quick”
“assign”
“exit”

6) Now, copy all the files from your DVD or ISO image to the thumb drive. You can drag and drop all the files, or you can do a “xcopy d:\*.* /s /e e:\” where d: is the ISO image or the DVD drive letter and e:\ is the letter that the thumb drive now has. Whatever method you use, make sure to copy ALL files and folders.

7) Done! This is now a bootable Windows thumb drive.


 
How to legitimately reinstall Windows without needing a new license key or activating Windows

If you plan to install THE SAME edition of Windows that came from the factory, then there is no need to use a new license key, nor will you need to activate your copy of Windows. Again, note that this ONLY works if you are installing the same version that your system shipped with. For example, if your system shipped with Home Premium, and you are planning to install Home Premium again, this procedure will work.

How this works: OEMs such as Dell, HP, Sony, etc. ship massive quantities of computers and they don’t have time to activate thousands of systems. As a result, Microsoft allows this systems to ship “pre activated” by using 3 components that all prove that the system was licensed from the factory with a particular edition of Windows. There is license key, the activation certificate, and a matching signature built into the BIOS. All 3 must match in order for this work. In other words, you cannot take this certificate and license key to another machine and use it there.

Here are steps to accomplish this:

1) BEFORE you delete your original factory installation, download and install the “Activation Backup and Restore” utility from here: ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) | directedge.us. Important: For Windows 7 by sure to go to the section that says “ABR Beta With Windows 7 Support”.

2) Run the utility. It will make a backup of your license key and your activation certificate. Save that information somewhere safe!

3) Before you shutdown your computer, turn off the Fast Boot option if you have it enabled.
NOTE: Even with fast boot enabled, you can boot from external media by simply pressing F11 repeatedly while the system is booting. What I have not to determine, however, is how to re-enable normal boot once fast boot is enabled if you perform a clean install. I suspect it won’t be hard to figure out, I just have not done so yet.

4) Boot from a bootable Windows DVD or thumb drive that has the same edition of Windows that is installed on your system. NOTE: If you have an All-In-One disk or thumb drive that has all Windows 7 versions, that is okay as well. Just make sure to choose the same version that your system shipped with.

5) When you get to the point in the installation where you are shown the partitions on your drive, choose the advanced option and then delete all partitions. You will end up with one large area of free space. Choose that to install to. NOTE: You can actually partition this any way you want if you know what you are doing. I’m simply presenting the simplest and “cleanest” option.

6) When you are prompted to provide your license key, leave that field blank. On the same screen you will see a check box offing to automatically activate Windows when online. Uncheck this box as well.

7) Complete the installation by responding to any prompts.

8) Once your install is done and you are logged onto Windows, run the ABR utility again and this time restore the license key and the activation certificate. If you prefer not to install that utility on your clean installation, you can follow this manual process:

- A) Copy the Activation Certificate that ABR saved for you and place it in C:\.

- B) Open an Elevated Command Prompt (click on Start, type “CMD”, then press CTRL-Shift-Enter”. If you did it correctly the Window will have “Adimistrator: C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe” in the title.

- C) Install the certificate by running "SLMGR.VBS -ilc c:\BACKUP-CERT.XRM-MS" (or whatever name you saved the certificate as). Note that this operation might take a few seconds, so wait for confirmation.

- D) Install the OEM product key by running "SLMGR.VBS -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX" and substitute in your license key that was saved by ABR. Again, this operation might take a few seconds, so wait for confirmation.

- E) Finally, run "SLMGR.VBS -dlv" or right-click "Computer" and chose "Properties" to verify your licensing status. The Licensing Status should show "Licensed".


Installing drivers and applications

This section will deal with installing all of the drivers and applications that are available from the Sony Web Site. Please note that there are some items that you cannot download from the Web Site, most notably the Intel only display driver (in the US), the WWAN drivers (again in the US), and programs such as WinDVD, Roxio Easy Disc Creator, etc. The next section will help you to deal with those.

First, begin by downloading of the available drivers from Sony. In the US you can go to Sony eSupport - Electronics, and enter your model number. For example, the Configure To Order model is the VPCZ2190X.

Now install the drivers in the following order. Any time that you are asked to reboot, you can cancel the request to reboot unless I specify below that you should reboot. Please note that this is by no means the only order in which you can install these drivers. There are definitely some drivers and programs that require other things to be installed first so you don’t want to just install in random order, but my procedure is just one possible combination that works.


1 – Motherboard
- 1 – Intel 6 Series and C200 Series Chipset Family Driver 9.2.0.1021
- 2 – Intel Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller 10.5.0.1026
- 3 – Intel SATA Driver HIPM Disable Registry Patch 110801
- 4 – REBOOT
 
2 – Video

NOTE: It is very important that you understand this note before proceeding. The video drivers for this machine are exceptionally picky about how they are installed. First, please note that the AMD Radeon and Intel Graphics driver that is available from the US Web Site WILL NOT WORK UNLESS YOU CONNECT THE PMD FIRST. In fact, if you install it without the PMD connected, it can be a pain resolve the issues that will occur. If you do not have the PMD connected, and you need just the Intel drivers you need to be aware of some additional things. First, you will note that the Sony US site has no separate download for just the Intel graphics. To get this driver, you can either download it from Sony Europe, or you can install it by opening VAIO Care, choosing Recovery & restore, Recovery, and finally Reinstall Applications and Drivers. You could also extract it from your Recovery Backup as I will detail in the next section so that you will have a permanent copy of the driver.

Very important: If you install the Intel video driver, then BEFORE YOU CONNECT THE PMD, go to device manager and uninstall the Intel display driver, reboot, connect the PMD, then install the combined AMD Radeon HD 6650M and Mobile Intel Graphics Software 8.830.7.0.

- 1 – AMD Radeon HD 6650M and Mobile Intel Graphics Software 8.830.7.0
- or
- 1 – Intel Graphics Driver 8.15.10.2353
- 2 - Reboot

3 – RAID
- 1 - Generic Marvell 61xx RAID Controller for Docking Station 1.2.0.8200

4 – Audio

NOTE: After installing the audio drivers every time that you boot the system a screen related to settings for the Noise Cancelling Headphones will be displayed. To stop this, run MSCONFIG, go to the Startup tab, and locate "Noise Canceling Program". Uncheck the box next to this, and then click on "OK".

Note that noise cancellation will still work and that the tool for configuring it will still run in the task bar. This simply stops the annoying screen that comes up every time you boot.

- 1 - Realtek High Definition Audio Driver 6.0.1.6353
- 2 - Realtek Audio Driver Registry Patch 110519
- 3 - Realtek ATI HDMI Audio Driver 6.0.1.6251

5 – Device Driver
- 1 - Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller 2.1.16.0
 
6 – Wireless LAN

NOTE: On the Sony US Web Site you will find 2 drivers for the Wireless LAN. There is the original driver and an updated driver. There is no need to install the original driver. You can skip right to the updated driver

- 1 - Update - Intel Centrino Advanced N 6230 Driver Update 14.1.1.3

7 – Bluetooth Wireless

NOTE: There are 3 Bluetooth Drivers on the Sony Web Site. The original and 2 updates. You can skip the original driver but you will need to install BOTH updates in the order shown below.

- 1 - Update - Intel Centrino Wireless Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed Adapter 1.0.81.20579
- 2 - Update 2 - Version 14.1.1.3

8 – Wireless
- 1 - Intel Wireless Display Software 2.0.31.0

9 – WWAN

NOTE: In the US, the WWAN drivers are not available on the Sony Web Site. Us the procedure that I provide in the next section to obtain these.

- 1 – Gobi 3000 Firmware
- 2 – Gobi 3000 Driver
- 3 – AT&T Connection Manager (Optional, install if you plan to use AT&T)

10 – Camera
- 1 - WebCam Companion 4 Software 4.0.21.392

11 – Memory Card Reader Writer
- 1 - Realtek PCIE Card Reader Driver 6.1.7600.80
- 2 – REBOOT

12 – System Components
- 1 - Sony Shared Library 5.9.0.03310
- 2 - Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver 8.0.1.2
- 3 - Intel Management Engine Interface 7.0.0.1144
- 4 – REBOOT

13 – Notebook Control and Utilities
- 1 - Sony Notebook Utilities 1.0
- 2 – REBOOT
 
14 – Sony Applications

NOTE: The Sony Web Site lists the VAIO Care Software and an update for this software. They are actually both the same version. Install either one.

- 1 - VAIO Location Utility 1.1.00.06060
- 2 – REBOOT
- 3 - VAIO Hardware Diagnostics Software 4.2.0.1428000
- 4 - VAIO CPU Fan Diagnostics Software 1.0.0.14140
- 5 – REBOOT
- 6 - VAIO Care Software 6.4.1.05290
- 7 - VAIO Care Software Update 6.4.1.05290
- 8 - Update - VAIO Gate Software Update 2.4.0.06210

15 – Network
- 1 - Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller 7.40.126.2011
- 2 - VAIO Smart Network Software 3.6.0.05180
- 3 - Update - VAIO Smart Network Software 3.6.1.07200

16 – Remote Software
- 1 - Remote Keyboard Software 1.0.1.03020

17 – Touchpad
- 1 - Synaptics PS2 Port TouchPad 15.3.2.2

18 – VAIO Update
- 1 - VAIO Update Software 5.4.0.15300

19 – Security
- 1 - AuthenTec AES1660 Fingerprint Sensor 3.1.0.62
- 2 – REBOOT
- 3 - AuthenTec TrueSuite Software 4.0.100.26
- 4 - Infineon TPM Professional Package 3.70.2281.0

20 – System Software
- 1 - Splashtop OS - Quick Web Access Software 1.4.6.2
- 2 – REBOOT

21 – Extras

This category includes any additional software that you may want to install such as WinDVD, Sony Picture Motion Browser, etc. Extract these programs using the method I describe in the next section.


 
How to extract drivers and applications from recovery media that are not available for download

Create a batch file called CAPTURE.BAT and put it in C:\. Place the following text in the file:

@echo off
:start
robocopy c:\windows\temp\sony\extracted c:\captured /e /w:1 /ndl /ns /nc /np /njh /njs > nul
goto start

What it does: When you run VAIO Care and then chose Recovery & restore, Recovery, Reinstall Applications and Drivers, the driver or application will be extracted to a directory under c:\windows\temp\sony\extracted. Once all the files are extracted, it is installed from here and then deleted after the installation is done. If you run this batch file while installing applications and drivers then the extracted files and directories will be copied to c:\captured before they are deleted.

Simply save the resulting directory, rename to indicate what the driver or application is and now you can easily install the driver or app without needing the Recovery Media.


How to recover with Fast Boot mode enabled

If you have Fast Boot enabled you can still boot from external media by pressing F11 repeatedly at startup.

 

This would be great for travel -- does it charge the battery OK, even if slowly? Thanks.

 

Talking about power: can someone that owns the Z2 tell me if the power adapter (the one for use without the PMD) is 65W or 90W?

Thanks.