A few questions about FE

Hi there! I'm thinking of buying a FE11H but I some some questions and I would thank u if u can answer them to me.

1) Is is true that SONY is removing the webcam in all FE models because it causes stability problems with XP SP2? People who have a model with a webcam, have you had any problems with the webcam?

2) I've read that there's no drivers CD in the box, but it has a hidden recovery partition. Can some one explain to me how does this work exactly? Can you perform a reinstall from that partition? Or firstly you have to make some recovery CDs?

3) If I would like to make a clean installation, how could I make it? Can you extract the drivers clearly from the hidden partition and then installing them later when you reinstall XP?

Thanks a lot in advance. I've read the previous posts but I'm a bit confused. Thank you for your help!

 

1) No.
2) The recovery partition can made into 2 Recovery Disk DVD's which is pretty easy and recommended as after this you can delete the partition and free up around 7GB space that the hidden partition takes.
3) With the recovery DVD's or the partition. A member on this forum came up with a "partial-clean" install which allows for you to basically install the drivers and no bloatware.

 

1) I don't know for sure if they're removing the webcam, but what I do know is that it is causing some issues in XP.

I have a FE11M and did a clean install of XP sp2. All is great, thanks to a tutorial on this forum, but the only thing that's not working is the webcam. Well, it is working great, but when restarting or shutting down, the laptop just freezes and I have to shut it down manually.

There is a hotfix for this for the American models, but until today I haven't found one for the European models.

Can anyone give a yell if they do find one?

Thanks!

 

At me the same problem with camera. reinstall media center has not solved a problem. i think trouble by way of installation drivers.

 

Yeah, the error occurs after you (successfully) install the webcam. We need a European hotfix for this. Tried calling Microsoft, but they wouldn't help me because Windows Media Center is, of course, OEM licensed.

Anyone?

 

Thank you for your replies. I think the computer itself is great, but I don't like at all the idea of not including CD's with drivers, OS, etc. And even worse, you can't get all drivers from their web.

You have to work a lot to get a clean install, and after that, some people say they have problems with the webcam and preinstalled software. It's a pity for a Sony product.

Another model I'm considering is the LG P1 Dual Express. It seems to be better than the Sony, except for the screen (I think Sony has the best screens). But I still have to read more about it.

Again, thank you very much for your time and your help. Metalinc, good luck with the driver! Hope they release it Bye bye!

 

aerOsense said that:

"The recovery partition can made into 2 Recovery Disk DVD's which is pretty easy and recommended as after this you can delete the partition and free up around 7GB space that the hidden partition takes."

Can anyone tell me please how to identify and then delete this 7GB partition? I have made a recovery disk, so it would be helpful to know how to delete this hidden partition.

Thanks, Fred

 

The short answer: Reformat.

The long answer: Use Partitionmagic at your own risk.

 

Thanks Xantax for your prompt reply. When you say use Partition Magic at your own risk, what can go wrong? Does Partition Magic actually identify this hidden 7GB partition?

Isn't there a setting somewhere in Windows that would allow you to see this partition and delete its contents, just as you would with any other hidden contents of a hard drive?

It seems to me that it's a waste of valuable hard drive space having this hidden partition in the first place, why not just supply a disk with the contents of this partition on it? Or, better still, why not just supply the original software disks and allow people to reinstall and delete software properly! I find this whole business of a 7GB hidden recovery partition to be extremely odd, frustrating, and unnecessary. Perhaps I will buy a Dell laptop next time, the same specs (except for camera) and hundreds of dollars cheaper (and no hidden partitions).

Thanks, Fred

 

It's hidden so people don't delete it by accident, then whinge at sony telling them that they never recieved any recovery disks with their notebook.

Make sure you have more than one copy of the recovery disk burnt, just in case.

Also, Partitionmagic is fine, but sometimes it screws up and everything goes awry.

As for unhiding the partition, i'm not sure you can 'mount' it like a normal partition (In computer management -> disk manager) seeing as the partition has a hidden flag applied to it.

Other software may be able to change this. Not sure on that.

As for shipping the original software, that would break both your, and sony's licences to the respective companies. Micrsosoft sells sony the licecences for windows xp, with stickers that are stuck to the bottom of your notebook showing it's cd key. The reason manufactuers do this, is that it lowers the price for production and reselling of the notebook. Retail windows XP is hideously expensive, but a volume licensing program such as the one that is used to give you windows xp on your notebook is quite cheap.

Also, the partition disk thing is a logical descision for sony in my eyes. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on getting a huge amount of CD's pressed for the end user, which will be expensive to produce, seeing as every time they release a new revision of a laptop, or a new model, they will need more CD's to be pressed, increasing the cost of distribution etc as all cd's will need to be held by the respective sony service centres. This would mean a cost to the end user, which they would whinge about anyway. Instead, since DVD burners are so mainstream, and the price of DVD's are hideously cheap and easy to use, they figured that the end user could save money, buy buying a DVD for $1.50 and burning it themselves, or burning two copies, for $3, themselves, saving say $28.50 per cd. Proper.

You could buy a dell, but dells look cheap, are made with cheap components, and look poo

On a happy note, these are just my opinions

EDIT: Also, dell's have a hidden partition.

 

Thanks Xantax for giving your views on these issues. The main problem with not supplying the original software disks is that, if a program gets corrupted and needs to be reinstalled, I don't know how you can reinstall it using the recovery disk that you make. I haven't been able to access individual programs from this. It looks to me that, if you use this disk, you wipe all the contents of C drive and have to reinstall everything. If I am wrong on this, can someone please explain to me how you gain access to just one of the programs that came with the computer so you can reinstall it when required.

With other (desktop) computers that I have purchased, I have always been supplied with the original software disks, and these have been clearly labelled as OEM versions for distribution only with a new computer. I understand that this kept the costs of this software down considerably. I have always made considerable use of these disks from time to time, and I find the Vaio system to be very inadequate. I have also been able to use some of the programs on more than one computer, but you can't do this with the Vaio system. I would happily pay the extra cost of having OEM disks supplied, and I think Sony should give people this option. In any event, the cost of Sony Vaio laptops is considerably higher than many equivalent laptops, so it wouldn't hurt Sony too much to supply OEM disks.

Also, when you first install the software on your Vaio, you are not given the opportunity to select whether you want a partitioned drive or not. Although there are some advantages in having a 20gig C drive partition, there are just as many disadvantages, such as having to install all your new programs on D drive and to make sure that all your photo and video files are kept off C drive. If you don't do this, you run out of space on C drive really quickly these days! I think Sony should supply the recovery disk so that this data does not clutter up the small amount of space allocated to C drive.

Regards, Fred

 

Hi aer0sense,

Can you post the link to the "partial-clean" thread?

Thanks

 

The FE partial install in the same for the SZ. Pretty much reload the hard drive with the recovery disc 1. When you reoot after it has finished copying files immediately delete the sony file from your startup menu. Then hit reseal, and you should be good to go. Only thing thats gives me **** is the bluetooth mouse i have yet my bluetooth phone works fine. Using the semi install shaved at least a minute off my boot time plus another prog i use. later guys

 

Hrmmm

Fred: My recovery CD lets me choose partition sizes, where to install the sony-installed OS etc (I can even install on a drive labelled Z if I choose)... Possibly my recovery disk is slightly different to yours? (I am using an Asia-Pacific model of FE)

With my recovery disk, If I put it in when windows is running, it comes up with a dialogue box (Assuming autoplay is enabled) telling me to click ok to run the _application recovery_ tool, which opens a little window with tickboxes, and lets me reinstall applications that came with my notebook, or I can click cancel, reboot the machine, and do the whole nine yards recovery.

Is this the same for your cd?

 

I wish I could agree with this argument... The cost of supplying a couple of CDs would be under $1 USD, especially for someone with Sony/BMG's clout (I understand they get a few audio CDs pressed )... even on fairly small runs of a couple of thousand. Since the CDs are designed to be fairly automated for end-user use, I don't see why the Sony service centres would need them. I'd assume they would have the technical knowledge of their product to manually repair/reinstall items from a unified driver/application pool. In fact, it would not be unreasonable for your local Sony service centre to be able to make a new set of CDs to order for any particular model, including updated drivers if required.

My biggest concern with recovery partitions is that a catastrophic (non-physical) failure of the HDD would also hose the recovery partition... say damage to your partition table. I'm assuming that Sony's documentation strongly recommends making a set of backup discs for this very reason.

My opinion is that Sony would rather you pay for the cost of a set of recovery discs than them, and on an item which can cost as much as $3000 USD this seems miserly in the extreme.

 

Thanks Xantax for these comments. I agree that the Sony Vaio Recovery Utility lets you choose partition sizes, but if you do this, you lose the entire contents of C Drive. In addition, you are NOT given the option of selecting partition options when you first set the computer up.

Yes, there is an application recovery tool which runs if you put your disc in while Windows is running, I hadn't thought of doing this, I had only used the recovery disc from a cold start. It does seem, however, that not all the original programs can be recovered, such as the Adobe programs, Norton antivirus programs, and Roxio DVD burner software. Is this correct?

This Sony recovery disc did not allow another computer (my desktop computer) to "recover" any of these programs, so this recovery software is nowhere near as good as having the manufacturer's original software discs. So you are paying for a rather limited use of this software, and this fact is certainly not advertised by Sony. Failing to do this might breach fair trading legislation in some countries.

Another odd thing about the software that Sony supplies with the Vaio is that the main video editing program is Adobe Premiere Standard. Yet Sony owns and markets far better video editing and DVD creation programs known as Vegas 6 and DVD Architect 3. Come on Sony, why not include these programs as standard with the Vaio laptops, you know how much better they are than the Adobe ones!

Regards, Fred

 

Has solved a problem with camera.
My Computer -> Device Manger -> USB controllers -> USB Root Hub, in properties (on tab "power") Sony Visual Communiaction Camera, go to Power Managment, turn off "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"