How to Install Sony VAIO SZ Drivers and Utilities on a Clean Windows XP Pro OS

How to Install Sony VAIO SZ Drivers and Utilities on a Clean 32-Bit Windows XP Pro SP2-Integrated OS

If you need more help than what's provided here, watch this video before you begin, but use the updated links below rather than what's used in the video. Use Universal Extractor on Sony's installer packages (executables ending in -US/-UN/-XP), since it's always better to have full control of the installation process by running the actual setup wizard.

The first thing to install is the latest Intel chipset driver/INF Update Utility: Napa (Refresh) (info) / Santa Rosa (info). Problems with the Santa Rosa SZ6/SZ7's brightness control, sleep or SATA/IDE controller can be solved by updating the BIOS to R0122S5 (the latest Napa & Napa Refresh SZ1-SZ4 R0112N0 BIOS can be downloaded here). And if you're using AHCI, install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager AHCI drivers, preferably by slipstreaming them in your Windows installation disc with nLite.

Drivers

These are compatible with any SZ version and can be installed in any order.

ALPS Touchpad - v5.5.1302.12. This version has the option to disable the touchpad when a USB mouse is inserted. Note: If your touchpad is a Synaptics model ( check the hardware ID and Google the Vendor ID), download the latest XP driver here.
SONY NOTEBOOK CONTROL (FIRMWARE EXTENSION PARSER) - v7.0.0.5 - Uniextract to get the drivers.
SONY PROGRAMMABLE IO - v7.0.4.229 - Uniextract to get the drivers. Choose this option when installing this in Device Manager, then click the Have Disk... button and select the driver's inf file.
Bluetooth - Use this WIDCOMM stack if you have an Alps device with a Cambridge Silicon Radio chipset (on SZ1-SZ6 models). The installation steps are shown in the video. Be sure to rename the bt*.inf files in %windir%\inf and modify the inf to include your BT hardware ID before installing. If you have an Alps device with a Broadcom chipset (on SZ7 or later models), download the latest bluetooth stack here or here.
nVidia GFX - Latest LaptopVideo2Go driver with modified inf under SPEED mode. (I understand this hasn't been updated in a while, but you may still retain the brightness controls with updated video drivers by installing this first then updating with the latest recommended LaptopVideo2Go 32-bit XP driver. Do not clear the registry entries in between installations, however.)
Intel GFX - Use the latest GMA driver from Intel under STAMINA mode. Napa GMA 950 link or Santa Rosa GMA X3100 link
Camera - Ignore the inf edit shown in the video -- it won't work. Instead, find your camera model in this collection and make sure the hardware IDs match (shown in Device Manager).
Memory Card Reader - v2.0.0.18
Memory Card Icon Fix - link
Intel WLAN - link
Marvell Yukon Ethernet LAN - link
Infineon TPM - v2.0.0.0
UPEK Fingerprint Reader - link
Conexant 56K Modem - v7.62.00 - Do not install from the Device Manager; run the setup wizard.
Audio - MS UAA driver must be installed before the audio driver is installed. If you have a Sigmatel device (check the hardware ID and Google the Vendor ID), download and install this driver. If you have a Realtek device, download and install the latest driver here. Do not install either audio driver from the Device Manager; run their respective setup wizard.

Utilities

These must be installed in a certain order for the Fn hotkeys and S buttons to work properly.

Download Sony Notebook Utilities v1.0 and use Universal Extractor to extract all the sub-utilities packaged in it. I don't recommend running Sony Notebook Utilities v1.0 directly; instead, only install the sub-utilities that are needed after you have extracted them, which are listed below. They each have their own setup wizard.

Necessary utilities inside Sony Notebook Utilities:

SNYUTILS (Sony Utilities DLL)
SUS (Setting Utility Series)
VES (VAIO Event Service) - Use this version for Napa SZs
VPM (VAIO Power Management) (temporarily stop VAIO Event Service in WinKey+R -> services.msc before installing/uninstalling) - Use this version for Napa SZs

Optional, but recommended, utilities also contained in Sony Notebook Utilities:
VCCU (VAIO Camera Capture Utility) - Use the updated version, v2.7.03.09250, contained in this package after extracting with Universal Extractor.
WSSU (Wireless Switch Setting Utility) (only if you choose not to use SmartWi)

The order in which you should install the utilities is similar to what's in the video:

• SNYUTILS (Sony Utilities DLL)
• Sony Shared Library XP
• RESTART AFTER INSTALLING SONY SHARED LIBRARY
• SUS (Setting Utility Series)
• VES (VAIO Event Service) - Use this version for Napa SZs

The rest of the utilities can be installed in any order.

Other recommended utilities:

VAIO HDD Protection (temporarily stop VAIO Event Service in WinKey+R -> services.msc before installing/uninstalling) - link
VAIO Central/VAIO Control Center - link
VAIO Battery Care (not tested; compatible with SZ6 or later models only) - link
Protector Suite QL v5.8.2 - link
SmartWi XP (adds Fn+F1 WLAN/WWAN/BT toggle; temporarily stop VAIO Event Service in WinKey+R -> services.msc before installing/uninstalling):

v1.2.0.020706 for SZ1-SZ3
v1.3.0.052506 for UX1/UX2
v3.0.0.082706 (RC2-GM) for SZ4/TXN2
v3.2.0.113007 for SZ6/SZ7/TZ1/TZ2

Some of these may not work on your model. Try all four to see which works best for you. Use Universal Extractor to bypass the model checker, if one exists.​

Important Hotfixes and Updates

- KB896256: Computers that are running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and that are equipped with multiple processors that support processor power management features may experience decreased performance [Download]
- KB909667: A Windows XP-based computer stops responding during standby or hibernation operations or when you try to use the Shut Down command [Download: Search for 'KB909667' and register to download]
- KB936929: Windows XP SP3 Standalone Update [Download]

 

Can Any One Help!!!
I bought a VAIO SZ240P recently and starting having problems with the ALPSs ynaptics touch pad. When the system goes into standby, and is restarted swping your had over the touchpad and trying to move the cursor moves in the opposite direction!!!! Has anyone had a problem with that. I've been onto Sony's site but there is no upgrade for the driver. Can somone direct me to a proper driver to use????
I have read some other post that there is a Toshiba driver which is compatable and I installed yeterrday but that still has not fixed the problem. I have also reinstalled alll programs etc but that still has not fixed the problem.

HELP!!!!!!!!

 

Press WinKey+R then type main.cpl. Go to the orientation tab and make sure that it's set at default.

 

The both dont work. I tried downloading the driver but its for vista. I'm using XP pro.
Anyways more ideas? The command when initiated opens the preferences for the mouse, not the ALPS controller.
I'm all lost for now..

 

If you are using Windows XP, try this driver: http://tinyurl.com/36s6fg . You'll probably get a "<!> Error: 403 (Request Forbidden)." error, but just press enter in the address area and the download will start. And if you'd like to update your BIOS, try one of these latest updates:

R0094N0
R0096N0
R0112N0

 

can i apply those bios updates to a SZ2?

 

Yes, if any update is not compatible with your SZ, it will notify you and cancel the installation.

 

thanks a lot. it's weird that they are posting the updates on the product support pages.

do you know if there's a change log available anywhere?

 

It is interesting that Sony now have a 'downgrade' folder on their FTP site apparently for business users who want to downgrade from Vista to XP. See ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/

 

Yes, I'm not sure why they decided to put the SZ downgrade files in a temporary directory, though.

 

Is this FTp for the SC420 as well? It says it's for a BX4 as the zip. I also have a SOny SZ420NB with Vista Businesss. laptop is greta but I can't f'n stand Vista, What a wasted product and I can't do anything with my software, my wireless aircard (PCMCIA) doesn't work, webcamerros, can't get on some chat sites, nothing but problems.

I also want to downgrade back to Windows XP as well, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Uncle D

 

hi, i used the xp drivers and got almost everything to work.. my only question is, i don't want to install all of the sony software so i haven't actually installed much of the 'utils' since most of them seem like unnecessary sony software. however, i was wondering if maybe one of them was the key to controlling volume, screen brightness, etc with the fn button on the keyboard, and how i could get that to work?

nevermind... found an answer to my question... you have to install these 4 utilities:
* Sony Utilities DLL
* Sony Setting Utility Series
* Battery Check Utility
* VAIO® Event Services
to get the hotkeys to work.

 

The battery check utility isn't really needed.

 

So, what do you all think needs to be done to install drivers in the Sony SZ650 w/ nVidia 8400M GS?

 

What type of problems are you having and for which devices?

Can you download devcon and type "devcon hwids * > hwids.txt" in the command prompt and attach the text file here?

 

It just stops on install saying something to the effect that the hardware is not compatible.

 

You will need to use a utility called Universal Extractor to bypass that model check, which is shown in the video.

 

Thanks for your contribution Bogart, I have one problem though:
when I try to download, the download process stops few kB short resulting in a damaged archive. I've tried do download ~5 times, the result is the same.
Could you please reupload the file, or upload it to rapidshare or something?
That would be MUCH appreciated!

 

plz some on help me

 

Hi I just got my Sony VAIO SZ483NC laptop ( http://www.sony.com.au/vaio/catalog/product.jsp?categoryId=30411) and would like to downgrade to XP. Which one should I use?? Bogart's http://www.mediafire.com/?fsmxzzb0czt or the ones provided by Sony on their FTP site in the quote above?

 

The files contained in the ISO are exactly the same as the ones in the XPDOWNGRADE link. Choose what you want to use, but note that in the video I opted not to install some of the drivers and utilities or replace them with updated versions.

 

Thanks a million for your help, Bogart. Just finished downgraded to XP. There's one problem though. The driver for the integrated webcam (USB video device) couldn't work. As in your flash tutorial, I tried to modify the .inf file but to no avail. The hardware ids shows:
USB\Vid_05ca&Pid_1835&Rev_0100&MI_00
USB\Vid_05ca&Pid_1835&MI_00

I tried altering the .inf in a few variations:
[MicroVision]
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1835
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1835&MI_00

[MicroVision]
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1835&REV_0100&MI_00
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1830&MI_00

[MicroVision]
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1835&REV_0100
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1830&MI_00

[MicroVision]
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1835&MI_00
%Mvc25U870.DeviceDesc%=Mvc25U870.Device,USB\VID_05CA&PID_1830&MI_00

but none of them work. Please help. Thank you.

 

Oh that's silly of me. Ye. Now it works. You're a big help.

Have you got any ideas how I can set Windows Explorer to show the My Computer folder on default instead of My Documents? I've always wanted to make it this way but never found a way around this.

 

Also, is the webcam not able to capture colors? Mine seems to be monochrome.

 

How are you trying to access Explorer? Your start menu (or desktop in Classic mode) should already have a "My Computer" icon and if you want it to be in your Quick Launch area, just drag the 'My Computer" icon to it. Anyway, Google has the answer to your question. Be sure to read the comments in the first result page.

It should display in color. Try adjusting the camera settings in a bright room with Vaio Camera Utility.

 

so is there a noticable difference by semi-clean installing xp over just removing the selected programs for which one has no need? Also, I have yet to see a successful and fully-functional XP install on an sz6 series =/

 

I heard from portable one that sony will put XP drivers sometime this week

 

Thanks again Bogart.

 

any word on the drivers

 

i'm having the camera problem as well tho...
the hardware id is like this:

Vid_05ca&Pid_1835&Rev_0100&MI_00
Vid_05ca&Pid_1835&MI_00
-----------------
I changed the .inf to 1835 already but it doesn't work... same with the BT.. i follow the flash tutorial but doesn't seem to work for me tho..
using SZ4.

Apart from Camera and BT, everything seem to work fine for me

 

thege, another SZ4 user, was able to get the camera problem sorted by using the driver provided in the iso so maybe you should try that too.

The WIDCOMM 5.1 stack is already confirmed to work with the SZ4 series BT device so I don't know why it's not working for you. Try watching the video again and check that you had covered all the steps. If you still can't get it to work, you can always resort to using the Toshiba BT stack in the ISO.

 

thanks for the quit reply i'll retry all that

 

hm.... i've tried both WIDCOM and Toshiba, the one fromt he ISO.. both doesn't work and i follow everything from the flash... while camera doesn't won't work still.... both from ISO and the new one.. it still use the microsoft "USB CAMERA"

any reason why? i'm kind of lost.. bought SZ4 from thailand tho

 

I really can't explain why those camera and bluetooth installations won't work for you while they work for others, sorry. Perhaps you can try starting over from scratch.

 

Hmm.. i can understand that.. i just dun get it neither, i've formated my comp for this but doesn't seem to work.. i use the pre-install win xp tho.. maybe should try clean xp or something tsk tsk

thanks for the help btw.. greatly appriciated

 

now that everything worked fine apart from camera!!

 

Hi,
Can anyone please provide ONLY the driver of the USB Camera for it to work on SZ4.
Also can you provide a step by step guide to install only the camera.
The rest of the drivers have been installed succesfully and we are very grateful for all the help.
Thanks in advance.

 

Bogart:
I just clean install the xp pro on my sony sz450 according to your instruction(iso image, videos...), everything works on xp now, only one problem: when I close the lid, the laptop supposed to go to standby, but it does not, it restart and the screen show:"the system has just recovered from a serious error", how to fix this problem?
Also, I need the sony dvgate plus software, where to get it?
another problem is with the keyboard typing, the cursor jump around, cause a lot of typo, how to fix that?
Thanks.

 

I'm not sure why you're getting an error when you close the lid. Search on Google for the resolution and make sure that your Windows is up to date with SP2 and the latest hotfixes.

The latest DVGate Plus software can be downloaded here, and to install it you must unpack the executable with Universal Extractor and run the setup.exe file located in TEMPEXEFOLDER. Although it's originally for Vista, it should be compatible with XP as well. But if there happens to be any problems with it, you can try the previous version here.

Regarding the keyboard issue, if you have a tendency to always touch the touchpad with your palms while typing, try enabling the "Tap off while typing" option under the Tapping tab in the Alps touchpad control panel.

 

Thank you, bogart
The keyboard problem has been fixed and I also installed the latest DVgate software.
I googled "the system has recovered from a serious error" problem (closing lid to go standby cause it) , and I still have no clue how to fix it, hope somebody here can help me.
I am using XP pro SP2 with all latest windows updates.

Error information
Error signature:
BCCode:1000008e BCP1: C0000005 BCP2: A8B333B8 BCP3:F75560AC
BCP4:00000000 OSVer:5_1_2600 SP:2_0 Product:256_1
Error Report Contents:
c:\Document..\Mini090707-03.dmp
c:\Document..\sysdata.xml

 

Did you install anything else other than what's in the videos? Try reading the Mini090707-03.dmp minidump file by following these instructions and do some more googling about what you find in there. Also, try reading the event logs (Winkey+R -> eventvwr.msc) and see if there's any more information about the crash.

 

I checked the event log for failed event. here is microsoft explanation:
Details
Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 59
Source: SideBySide
Version: 5.2
Symbolic Name: MSG_SXS_FUNCTION_CALL_FAIL
Message: %1 failed for %2. Reference error message: %3.

Explanation
A component or manifest could not be activated.

Possible causes include:

The component or manifest depends on another program or component that is not installed.
The manifest contains XML content that is not valid.
The user does not have the correct permissions.

I checked my device manager, nothing wrong.
I noticed the activities when the lid was closed, the WLAN light which was on using smartwi fn-f1 hotkey now turn off, however, the BT light try to turn on,
then the fan run up, the WLAN light turned back on, I opened the lid after a few minutes, the display showed the windows log in, after finger scan in, the display show error msg" the system has recovered from a serious error", click ok, the laptop did not crash, I can continue using the laptop.
Don't know which component cannot be activated. I am wondering if the smartwi software cause the error.

 

The above error event (ID 59) has been resolved. I intentional disable some device when using battery.
I repeated the standby system error information early today, and checked the event log, I found 2 type of error:
event error ID: 7000 (Service Control Manager)
The XAudioService service failed to start due to the following error:
XAudioService is not a valid Win32 application.
and event error ID:1003(System Error)
Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2 a889d3b8, parameter3 ba78f0ac, parameter4 00000000.

 

bogart:
My laptop is sz450fn for south america, originally in spanish. I loaded it with US English xp pro sp2, I am wondering if the BIOS cause the problem and I may need to modify the laptop BIOS.
where can I get the BIOS for sz450n/c for US in US English?
I am also planing to do a system recovery from the windows xp pro sp2 CD.

 

You're still using the stock BIOS that came with your notebook? What's the version? See previous posts in this thread for BIOS update download links.

Also, although you have SP2, you may want to read this and follow the instructions in the workaround section. You can try applying the patch too. If those won't work, check the hardware, particularly your RAM with Memtest86+. As a last resort, uninstall each program and driver one by one and check for the crash each time, or do the opposite -- start over from the beginning and check at every driver or program installation. You'll eventually find what's causing the problem.

 

Thank you, bogart
My BIOS get updated from R0111NO to R0112NO
but standby problem is still there.
I tried the patch from microsoft, it is from sp1, my laptop did not allow it to patch since it is under sp2 now. I tried the work-around 1 time, but seems no luck. By the way, I loaded my laptop with J2EE with netbean, photoshop cs3, office etc for my college use.
Any way, I am quite satisfied with the laptop so far, thanks for your instructions. Hope eventually this little problem get fixed.

 

So this is starting to get a long thread, and i was thinking of it anyone can post a list of the best working drivers they use and a link?

I have now by myself experienced with installing xp, and so far i think it is going pretty well.

What I miss and would like some links to is:

FN brightness?
LCD / Monitor shift?
Hibernate?

And then i have a question about the sony notebook utility (event service and so on) and the shared library... are they neccesary when running xp? And where to download the best, because i think that i might be able to get more of my hotkeys working if i install another driver..

Best regards

 

As an aside,

to get the widcomm stack working with the sz6 it is a different Device ID

in the video the device id is 300C, for the sz6 it is 300D (so you need to change those values in the .inf)

 

Try watching the videos first and read the links.txt file, then come back with your questions. If you're too lazy to do those things or read through other threads, I can't help you.

 

Bogart:

Good news! I have solved the standby problem, it is totally accidental:
I installed my hp 1210, an old all-in-one printer from hp, because the original printer driver had problem with ie7, so I went to find the latest printer driver from hp web site and installed it.
I noticed that standby problem disappeared since.

I am a very happy owner of the sony VGN-SZ450 now, running windows xp pro sp2, which is the operation system supported by my college. I got average battery life 3.5 hrs with LCD brightness in 6, that is enough for my class.

Thank you and this forum!