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    Blinking Cursor on VPCZ1

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by globalist, May 15, 2010.

  1. globalist

    globalist Notebook Guru

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    Do any of you with VPCZ1s get a blinking cursor before Windows 7 starts? I do not recall getting a blinking cursor with the factory installed configuration and now, after a clean install, I get it. The blinking cursor reminds me of an old desktop PC!
     
  2. ZugZug

    ZugZug Notebook Evangelist

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    Do you happen to have an SD/MS card in reader? That would cause cursor flashing while laptop checks whether card is bootable.
     
  3. globalist

    globalist Notebook Guru

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    No, no cards of any kind are inserted. I take it that your VPCZ1 does not have a blinking cursor between the BIOS screen and the Windows start.
     
  4. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    That's the check for boot devices in the BIOS. Change the boot priority to HDD first. The blinking cursor is normal.
     
  5. globalist

    globalist Notebook Guru

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    Thank you. However, changing the boot priority in the BIOS to HDD first did not affect the blinking cursor behavior. The cursor blinks around 15 or 16 times before Windows starts. I could have sworn that I did not have a blinking cursor with the out-of-the box install.
     
  6. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    15/16 times blinking cursor is not normal. Did you install all the drivers after the clean install?
     
  7. globalist

    globalist Notebook Guru

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    This how my clean install went just a few minutes ago.

    1. Windows 7 Ultimate
    Disk 0 Partition 1: Recovery - 8.8 GB (OEM Reserved)
    Disk 0 Partition 2: System Reserved - 100 MB
    Disk 0 Partition 3: Primary - 348.8 GB​

    2. Intel® Chipset Driver Ver. 9.1.1.1020 (INDOTH-00208307-0042.EXE)

    3. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) Driver Ver. 9.6.0.1014 (STOR_allOS_9.6.0.1014_PV.exe)

    4. NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M Video Driver Ver. 8.16.11.8880 (NVDVID-00219322-0042.EXE)

    5. Realtek® High Definition Audio Driver Ver. 6.0.1.6015 (REDAUD-00217517-0042.EXE)

    6. Intel® 82577LC Gigabit Network Connection Driver Ver. 11.5.4.0 (INDETH-00215799-0042.EXE)

    7. Ricoh® PCIe Memory Stick® Host Controller Driver Ver. 6.13.2.11 (RIDMSC-00210941-0042.EXE)

    8. SD Card
    Ricoh® PCIe SD Bus Host Adapter Driver Ver. 6.13.2.7 (RIDFMC-00210944-0042.EXE)
    Ricoh® SD CPRM Memory Card Reader/Writer Driver Ver. 3.1.0.4 (RIDFMC-00204879-0042.EXE)​

    9. Synaptics® PS/2 Port TouchPad Driver Ver. 14.0.16.0 (SPDOTH-00218728-0042.EXE)

    10. Sony® Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver Ver. 8.0.1.2 (SODOTH-00212580-0042.EXE)

    11. Bluetooth
    Broadcom® Bluetooth® Firmware Update Ver. 2.2.3.593.596 (BRDBLT-00224082-1040.EXE)
    Broadcom® Bluetooth® Driver Ver. 6.2.1.500 (BRDBLT-00211508-0042.EXE)​

    12. Intel® Management Engine Interface Driver Ver. 6.0.0.1179 (INDOTH-00212500-0042.EXE)

    13. Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 AGN Driver Ver. 13.0.0.107 (INDWLL-00208136-0042.EXE)

    14. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Driver Ver. 1.0.1.1002 (INDOTH-00215760-0042.EXE)

    15. Sony® Shared Library Ver. 5.5.0.10160 (SOASSL-00209006-0040.EXE)

    16. Sony® Notebook Utilities Ver. 1.0 (SOAOTH-49200000-0042.EXE)
    VAIO® Event Service Ver. 5.1.0.12290
    VAIO Control Center Ver. 4.1.0.10160
    Setting Utility Series Ver. 5.1.0.13070
    Battery Checker Ver. 4.1.0.08270
    VAIO Power Management Ver. 5.0.0.12280​

    17. VAIO® Location Utility Ver. 1.1.00.06060 (SOAOTH-00179299-0040.EXE)

    18. VAIO Care™ Software Ver. 5.0.3.11130 (SOAVCA-00211305-0042.EXE)
    VAIO Care version Ver. 5.0.3.11130
    VAIO Hardware Diagnostics Ver. 3.9.1.091009.0
    VAIO Location Utility Ver. 1.1.00.06060​

    19. VAIO Care™ Software Update Ver. 5.1.0.13200 (SOAVCA-00218274-1060.EXE)

    20. VAIO® Peripherals Metadata Update Ver. 1.0.1.12090 (SOAOTH-00214325-1040.EXE)

    21. SmartWi™ Connection Utility Ver. 4.9.4.20091005.2246 (SOAOTH-00208945-0040.EXE)

    22. VAIO® Update 5 Software Ver. 5.0.0.10300 (SOAVUD-00210223-0040.EXE)

    23. UPEK® Protector Suite® 2009 Software Ver. 5.9.2.5974 (UPAPWD-00211929-0042.EXE)

    24. WebCam Companion® 3 Software Ver. 3.0.21.278 (ARACCU-00218331-0042.EXE)
     
  8. ckthepilot

    ckthepilot Notebook Deity

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    Mine does the same thing (15 blinks) before seeing the windows logo and this is after a fresh install. Think it's normal.
     
  9. drj55

    drj55 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Mine blinks a couple of times before the windows logo from the factory. Kind of reminds me of when you logged out of Windows XP and the screen faded to black and white - cool huh. You then hit OK and the screen jumped back to full colour before logging off. Not really a bug but just not very slick. Sigh, call me a perfectionist, but I just hate that blinking cursor.
     
  10. globalist

    globalist Notebook Guru

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    Did you keep the System Recovery Partition when performing the clean install? (I did.)
     
  11. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    Did you change your hard drive? In my FZ, the cursor blinks for a couple of times after the Vaio logo, but not 15-16 times, this is too long.
     
  12. ckthepilot

    ckthepilot Notebook Deity

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    Think I deleted all the partitions before doing the fresh install. Don't think it matters anyways. Sony bios clocks have always been on the slow side. Try putting a SSD in an Acer or Asus. Boot time for those machines take around 20 seconds. Sony bootup times are significantly slower.