How To Do a Clean Install 64bit on Sony FW

I just got my Sony FW today and I noticed that my system type is at 32bit.

Now I got a custom ordered one that has 4gb RAM and it would be a waste on the 32bit.

Is there anyway to install a 64bit onto the Sony?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I believe if you go to the sony support site

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/select-system.pl?PRODTYPE=24

find the FW and there should be vista 64bit drivers.

 

I've done a clean install of Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my FW and I used the 32-bit drivers on the link below and for those that didn't work I used the ones on the link that ascariss posted.

http://www.vaio-link.com/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_gb_cons

Still, there were some drivers that didn't work and I downloaded them from the manufacturer sites (such as Intel Wi-Fi Link drivers, Broadcom Bluetooth etc.). Now I've got everything working: the camera, touchpad, media and Fn keys (with the exception of the brightness and sleep Fn keys with S1 and AV Mode buttons, but that doesn't bother me), media card reader, Ethernet and so on. I'm a happy 64-bit FW user, that's for sure!

 

Hello ascariss,

I'm aware there are 64bit drivers for sony, but I'm looking for an upgrade from 32bit to 64bit. Or a clean 64-bit install.

Will I have to buy a brand new Windows Vista 64-bit? or can I use my recovery discs?

 

well if you are doing a clean isntall of 64, would will vista 64 bit since the laptop comes with vista 32bit, and you will have to it buy.

 

I have a quick question, what are the benefits of using a 64bit OS over a 32bit, ive been thinking about upgrading but i dont really understand the difference thank you

fact: with the release of SP1 vista 32bit is capable of using all 4GB of RAM (see image for proof)

 

32 Bit windows does NOT and can NOT use 4gb of ram.

After SP1, 32 Bit windows shows the installed amount of ram (assuming the BIOS provides the support) and not the available anymore.

 

hi, i am thinking about installing the 64 bit version of vista onto my FW11, but can you please tell me what are the pro's of a 64 bit version compared to the 32 bit.

 

The pros of 64bit are that it might be marginally faster for certain niche applications that are optimised for 64bit architecture. Also, it can address much more memory. So if your hardware/firmware supported it and you had the cash to spare, you could install, say 16GB of RAM and Windows x64 could access all of it. (With 32bit OSs, anything above about 3.2GB is not accessible to the OS. Although Vista SP1 correctly reports that the extra RAM is installed, it can't use it.)

However, there are some issues with 64bit: namely, vendor support isn't as great as it could be (especially from Sony, unfortunately). Hardware drivers might also need to be found/made/scrounged and that can be a faff if you can't get some of other of your hardware working.

If you don't have either a valid need for, or pathological desire to use all of, your 4GB RAM, I would suggest sticking with 32bit Windows for the time being because it's more supported and drivers are easy to come by. Just my 2p.

 

My opinion is that it's worth it if you know what you're doing. If you don't, you might end up with not working hardware and many errors, but if you're into it, you could get it all done in about a day. Also, the pro of the 64-bit Vista is not mainly the use of 3GB+ memory, the more important thing is that it supports your 64-bit processor architecture. As a consequence, the programs that are optimised for 64-bit Windows (and it's not an issue that there's not many of them, because almost all companies also offer 64-bit versions of their programs) work much faster and games also tend to get a boost. My 3p.

 

Hi!
I'm sorry for my English (It isn't my first language).

What driver did you install for SNC (Sony notebook control)?

I tried to use about dozen of different kinds and verssions of this driver and none was compatible with vista 64bit.