Downgrade Any Sony Vaio To Xp (very Important Thread)

no it didn't.

Is there any way to get the drivers for the docking station ?

thanks

 

I belive that the only way is to get support from the manufacturer, and sony usa support team is realy poor, try looking in the asia site for drivers for a model with the same specs as yours to see if you can find anything useful

 

Wow 21k views!

 

A 'BETTER' way to downgrade to XP

I would recommend using the latest drivers from the each component manufacturers rather than the ones from the Sony support pages. (Intel, ATI, Nvidia, Realtek, Marvell, Atheros, Ricoh, Synaptics, etc.)

The only 'Sony' drivers I use are the ones that are actually Sony specific, Sony Utilities, Event services, Fn keys etc.

Starting with a 'clean' XP SP3 install CD, I use Driverpacks.net to slipstream the 'text mode' SATA drivers into the XP boot CD with a single click. (Driverpacks has the latest drivers all pre-packaged and ready for download from their site, no need to extract drivers from Intel downloads.)

Driverpacks also has the option of putting the latest OEM drivers for SATA controllers, chipset, graphics, sound, wifi, and ethernet into your XP CD so that most things are working on the first boot. (Having the network connections up from first boot is great as it means you can get online straight away!)
There's a lot of voodoo on this site about getting drivers installed in the right sequence and not installing unnecessary drivers but I see no evidence of problems, in XP unused drivers just take up hard drive space, not CPU cycles.

Then I use RyanVM integrator to slipstream the latest windows updates (post SP3) and some useful 'addons' (Firefox, IE7, .NET etc.) into the XP CD and to create a bootable CD.

Then install XP. I find that most hardware is working immediately, and the computer is already usable.

Finally install your 'Sony' software:

• Bluetooth Software (AFAIK there is no 'generic' Bluetooth stack)
• Sony utilities (extract and install separately, as some of them may not work or cause problems) The most important ones seem to be 'SNC driver' 'Event Services' and 'Sony Utilities DLL'

 

Not sure how many different guides are in this thread already, but you can have a look at mine if you're having trouble:

It's a complete clean install and dual boot guide for XP and Vista on AR series machines. All drivers are included, and all Sony Functions are working:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=344027

Cheers
RFE

 

Lol! nice guide too

 

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the Sony supplied XP Pro SP3 downgrade disk? I bought this Vaio Z-530N believing the XP disk was inside the box. But inside was directions on how to order the downgrade disk from Sony, which I followed. I now have the disk. Made the 2 DVD Vaio Recovery disks, and now want to do the XP downgrade. I tried reading up on the Sony site, just to make sure I am well armed before proceeding, but the site would not recognize my product code / serial #. Weird. Purchased from Micro Center, Cambridge MA. I did register the computer at the Sony site. So I couldn't read the Sony tutorials and now I am here. I haven't called them on it yet . . . so might wait to upgrade till Monday. What a sweet machine this is, wow. Rocketfish wireless keyboard and mouse are workikng sweet. 22" Gateway monitor waiting in the wings. I am a lucky girl. Just . . . this XP thing. Argh. Gotta have it.

 

I just want to give testimony of the GREAT GUIDE you had put out there and what a nice and useful blog this is for VAIO Users.

I had trouble after trouble for sooooooooo loooooooooong! thinking "experts" could help me out to Install anything but Windows Vista Home. Until I decided to do it myself.

Thank you for making our world an "easier" one and sharing all of this. You have done a great job and all the bloggers as well. I was almost ready to throw this computer to the trashcan.

I have my VGN-FE850FE working now with Vista Ultimate and all drivers working thanks to what I have learned here. I found the drivers in the Asian site and install them not to downgrade but to install a clean upgrade system with english language instead of spanish.

Cheers to all!

 

Lol! Thanks

 

hi to all whom have shared their success about downgrading their sony vaio from vista to xp!

im not that good in downgrading laptops,
could anyone help me in downgrading my sony vaio laptop from vista to xp?
the guides in this thread was great! but i don't seem to understand how to really do it.. sorry for my english..

my sony vaio is vgn-cr323.
i hope someone could help me, i really don't know what to do and where to start.. im a newbie in this stuff..

thanks in advance! \m/

 

I need sata drivers for Vaio PCG-7164M , is there anyone to tell me where to find them , thank you in advance !!