I did a semi-restore using recovery discs with SZ

Hi Mike,

I also had this problem with my SZ1VP. Using the drivers from Sony for my model always resulted in failure. However, I tried the utility that was intended for the 120:

http://rapidshare.de/files/16523064/Sony_VAIO_SZ_120_PB_Drivers_Part_A.zip.html

originally posted by ronin.achilles and it successfully installed the drivers.

Maybe you can download just the audio update utility instead of having to download the whole Part_A zip file, but I haven't checked it.

Skrunch.

 

no prob, glad it helped you guys.

 

For people who are not comfortable using the Registry Editor, I have created a registry file which will make this change for you.

It can be downloaded from page one.

 

Awesome BlackG35..thanks.

 

Hey everyone,

I did the semi-clean install as was detailed by BlackG35 and it worked great! My only problem is now, the Brightness Functions on the keyboard aren't working. EX: When I hold down the FN key, then the F key for brightness up or down it doesn't do anything. I noticed this specifically on Stamina mode, but Im pretty sure it does it on Speed mode too.

Did I not install one of the Sony Utilities properly?

Any and all help is truly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

I love this one. Been using this for years and years and years...
Its not the desktop version as its too big to upload, but it looks like this

 

Hey Skrunch,

thanks a lot for that one! I tried to download the zip-file a few times but i couldn't finish ist so far (i have a bad connection here in japan at the moment). i will keep on trying it to get the file and i hope ist wil solve my problems!

thank you very much!!!

mike

 

Hi... If you want, I could mail you the required driver...

Alternatively, you could just download it from this site...

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNSZ120PB&UpdateType=Everything

Download the Audio and Modem Drivers from here...first install the Audio Driver and then the Modem driver... you will keep getting prompts for 'Add New Hardware'... don't do anything with that... leave it alone... just install the drivers...

I don't think the PCI device is the audio driver... looks like its the memory stick driver... this one... http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNSZ120PB&upd_id=2090&os_id=7

Have you installed this??

You might want to check out my post on clean install here...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=46619&highlight=download+complete

See if you have installed all of these drivers...

 

hey guys, i just purchased the vaio sz120pb and it will be here tomorrow. i have gone through this thread back to front and cant seem to find where it says i would get the recovery dvd's, do i just burn them from within windows on the SZ or do i have to download them from sony? i didnt see them anywhere. also i was just browsing sonys support section and there is a section where it gives instructions on how to do a clean install from your own xp disk, i dont know if this is the one you guys are refering to that is wrong but i just thought i would mention it. heres the link to it and the instructions are in a yellow box.

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNSZ120PB&UpdateType=Everything

 

Hey Ronin,

The VAIO's we have are European versions. There's a directory with all the drivers when you get the computer and for some reason, they don't seem to work very well. We generally can't use the updates from the US site because they check the model number and the European site doesn't have anything useful. Oddly enough, I tried the file you posted for the audio and it worked for me.

I did a fully clean install (not following any directions), with the intention of seeing if I had everything, and seeing exactly what was necessary before doing things 'properly'. Things worked out so well that I didn't need to re-do the install. No issues with the wireless switch, graphics drivers, HD protection... No problems except the audio, which was fixed with your audio file.

Anyway, I appreciate all the info that people have posted here. I wish there was this much support for the Z505

Skrunch

 

Based on your input (that the audio worked) I just hoped/thought that the other drivers would work as well

And kudos for making the wireless switch work with clean install. No one here (US models) has been able to do that successfully yet. God knows what utility on the earth am I missing.

 

You can create the Recovery Disks from your SZ itself. There is a utility for doing so. Its pretty simple. Just keep 2 DVDs or 9 CDs ready. 2 DVDs are preferable since while recovering with the disks, your SZ will ask you to change disks a dozen times.

 

sweet thanks for the quick reply..now all i need is my vaio...

 

Ok finally I DID IT
clean install was my goal
http://esupport.sony.com/
all drivers are here

should be installed this way
1. BIOS update (if available)
2. Intel® Chipset (if applicable)
3. Sony Notebook Control
4. Sony Programmable I/O
5. Sony Shared Library
6. Video
7. Audio
8. Modem
9. Network
10. Wireless
11. MPEG
12. Memory Stick®
13. Memory Stick Registry
14. UPEK TouchChip Fingerprint Coprocessor
15. Infineon® Trusted Platform Module
16. Wireless Keyboard and Mouse utility
17. SmartWi™ Utility
18. Cingular Connection Utility
19. WWAN driver
20. Any other Sony Utilities

1. VAIO camera driver makes those changes in registry and prevents devices find their drivers - corrected
2. to make Wireless switching software work - download latest version from
http://www.css.ap.sony.com/vaio/downloads/Patches/WLAN/SOAWSU-01181800-UN.exe

 

ps intel has a newer driver version for wifi on their site too

 

i did the clean install too, but i didnt install in that order, i used the writeup from the other thread, everything seems to be working great...i will post if i encounter any problems..

 

How did you correct it? Does the Vaio Camera Utility work now?

Could you get the latest version of Vaio Camera utility also from the same location as to where you got the Wireless Switch Utility? or if you could provide the link. Thanks.

Also Thanks a Ton for the Wireless Switch Utility...Just wanted to see it working on my laptop and this one finally did work (though I have started to like the SmartiWi switching through Fn+F1)...

 

I noticed that the FE590 has a Media Center OS option, which does NOT have
the little superscript on the HD specification (on specifications page) for
recovery partition. Does this potentially mean that the Media Center option
for the FE590 actually gets you a real OS disk?

What about the XP Pro option for either the FE or SZ? Is there any way to get
an actual OS disk (not a recovery disk) with these things?

If I get a Sony, I'd like to do a clean install (for the Windows part) when I
repartition for linux (dual boot), but I do not have any XP disks at all...and I will
not go out of my way to buy any.

 

I have purchased one sony VAIO SZ90S (japan model) . Do not go away after hearing this model number. My problem is straight. I could install english os with all drivers without any problem. Because in Japan they have given the driver set separately which does not check the model number like US model. In fact i can put all the drivers for download if any body wants. But my problem comes after this . Since i cannot read japanese i cannot make a recovery DVD) . Now i cannot install the notebook utility software and Protector suite GL software. So i am not able to use any of the function keys (including S1 and S2) . In addition since the protector suite software is different then the software available in UPEK site i cannot use the biometric device . Can anybody put recovery CD having these software . I tried from US sonystyle . But here while installing the software it checks the model number and hence can not proceed. At least put the picture to do the recovey . SO that i can make my recovery DVD from japanese OS.
Desparatly looking for your help !!!!

 

Can you pls. give your serial number , so that at least we can download the required software. I have the japanese
version. I donot have probelm with drivers because these are included in a separate folders. But software like Protector .. for biometric and sony utility software are not available for us .


Anil patel

 

I think it is too much to ask for the serial number. But i think i can ask for the sony shared library . This can be downloaded by europe guys easily and since it is only 2MB , can be very easily shared. I think if i install the Shared library then i can put the recovery CD and install the UTILITY software. So can i expect any angel from europe to do the kind act to doanload and share the "Sony shared library" ?? I have downloaded from US site . But as you know these are model dependant.

 

great guide, thanks.

 

I dont understand. WHy do you have to do a restore? Can't you just uninstall the programs? Would that be the same as doing a semi-restore?

 

The uninstall utility usually doesn't completely remove the program.

Norton is known to be one software that can cause problems even after its been uninstalled.

It's better to have never installed, then to uninstall.

Also you can free up an extra 7gb of space on your hard drive.

 

What is the point of the recovery partition? Does it do the same thing as the Recovery discs? Sorry for all my questions.

 

Has anyone installed a clean version of XP pro? if so did you have shutdown problems? also where did you get the apps/drivers that are missing from the supports page?
Thanks! Dan

 

Restoring from the partition will be a faster, easier process than restoring from DVD's or CD's. The reason you want to make recovery DVD/CD's is that in the event of a catastrophic failure of the hard drive, and/or some sort of corruption of the restore partition, you can recreate the recovery partition as well as rebuild the OEM OS installation. If you have recovery DVD/CD's, you can then remove the recovery partition and retain the ability to recover the OS.

 

can i do this semi-clean install and then recreate the partition again with the recovery disks? because i know that to do the semi clean install i should remove the partition and burn the disks.

 

Yes, once you burned the recovery dvd's, you can always recreate the partition after you remove it.

 

can someone explain the usb fix to me?

 

Is MS HOME capable of utilizing the duo processor just fine?? I read that only XP pro can run *2 processors* but maybe that does not refer to the duo processor.

What are the major disadvantages of running xp HOME on this system (besides the already known differences between pro and home)??

I am looking for motivation to install my xp pro cd.

Can I just uprgrade to pro by plopping in the xp pro CD w/o having to go through all of the uninstall issues?

THANK YOU for your help!! email: alexwills @ gmail . com

 

I'm pretty sure with service pack 2, xp home has the same dual "core" capabilities as pro. I'm not sure about dual processors though.

 

Thanks for your reply... I am still hoping for some more answers if anyone has them also. thanks! alex

 

Help!

Just got my new SZ and released very quickly I would have to get rid of all the sony junk software. So after finding this thread tried the semi-restore method suggested.

However when I boot into windows the second time and get the sysprep program the reseal takes ages and ages to do anything. So long in fact that I've rebooted and it loads into windows and sysprep again. So I tried the whole semi-restore a over again, well a few times now. Once the sysprep went quickly and rebooted into the windows first run setup but then that took ages to do anything and hung after setting the time region.

So am I missing something here, or should I just try it again.

Oh and the SZ hardware is lovely but I think its an outrage sony make you burn your own recovery dvds or need to buy them off their website

Cheers

 

Update, got it working after using the online chat thing with tech support. A reboot of my Bios got everything working again. I think the new bios update once applied should also fix that, but hard to apply if you cant install windows

 

hi- 1st post! ok so i'm part of the club now- got my SZ140 yesterday- it's my first notebook. i am thinking of doing the semi-restore here's my question - if you don't use norton (b/c it's a sys-hog) what kind of protection are you all using? thanks... the semi restore is worth doing just for the xtra 8 GIGs!
thanks blac
-pan
**EDIT**
okay so i should have done a little more research, of course there is a huge thread already in software section...
neways thnx for all the info posted at this site, really nice

 

werd!
'if the semi-restore worked for me, it'll work for anybody!'
thanks.
also first thing i put on this baby is avast.
one thing that hasn't gone so hot is pro tools with mbox
maybe i'll start a thread about that one.

next up. oblivion

 

I believe this thread needs to be stickied.

 

I recently purchased a Sony Vaio SZ110 demo system off of ebay. Since it had a password, the seller reformated the hard drive and, with the help of CompUSA, tried to back up some stuff (I'm not sure whether it was from another Sony). Anyway, I received 2 DVDs and a laptop with XP Pro installed. I'm wondering what I should do to recover all the applications and programs.

I've put the disks in the laptop and restarted it, but the system goes through a wizard and tells my that the disks aren't for this model. From one of the disks I've found most of the drivers I need (I still haven't gotten the power utility to show up or the fingerprinting to work). I've also downloaded the stuff from Sony's website, but I still can't get these things to work and I can't get the applications. I've also ordered the recovery disks from Sony, but they'll arrive in a couple of weeks. I'm wondering what I can do to get the computer to a fully functional state with the stuff I have.

Here are some of the questions I have:
1. Does the version of XP that was installed have to be the same as the version used by the factory? (I'm using XP Pro, while they have XP Home, I think.)
2. How can I tell whether the recovery disks the guy sent me are from the correct model. I'm wondering whether they were made using the recovery wizard of this model computer or another one. I get a model error when I use the disks, but this could either be a problem with the motherboard chip or the cd. Are there some files I should look for on the CD to determine the model the disks were made from?
3. What should I do to get the system running with all the applications?

 

Hi.
You can install clean XP windows in you SZ .just follow these step you lappy will be fine.
Here the link : http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=46619
Hope this help .

 

Interesting yet sucky thing I stumbled upon. When I did this semi restore method it restored Roxio as well before it gave options of using the reseal, etc. So only option for me was to uninstall Roxio.

When I was restoring, there was two options, one being restore C: only and the other was to do a 'full restore'. I tried both methods, but both methods still placed Roxio on the HD before allowing user to do anything.

 

My concern is if I have the right disks. When I put them in, though I was told they are the correct ones, it tells me to verify the model. Is this an XP issue? Or did the person I bought it from give me the wrong disks?

 

can somebody please let this noob in on how to create the recovery dvds?


Thanks in advance

 

nevermind i found it

 

Hi, I just received my SZ260 today. I've read thru this entire thread and I've made the recovery DVDs. I'm gonna follow the steps in the first post.

Has anyone with an SZ2xx had any problems doing this? I'm assuming it's all the same. If I do have problems, you'll be the first to know.

 

Just finished the semi clean install on my SZ260. Everything seems to be working fine so far.
One thing during the install, when I booted up the first time after all the files copied, the sysprep tool came on screen, but I then went to delete "ALaunchCombo" in the startup menu first. At some point the sysprep screen disappeared. I don't know which option it automatically clicked. I then proceeded by restarting and everything seem ok.

The only thing I've noticed in windows so far is in the taskbar. There are now 2 little computer to computer icons for LAN connections. One is the usual LAN and now there's a LAN 2. In network connections, it says the LAN 2 is "Bluetooth Personal Area Network from Toshiba."
Do you know how I can get rid of that? I always use wireless, so it's annoying enough to have the LAN unplugged icon, I don't need a LAN 2 unplugged icon as well.
Thanks.

 

Hello NotebookReviewers,

I just received my first laptop, an SZ240P. It is of course weighed down by all the pre-installed software so I'd like to start over in some cleaner configuration and I don't want to keep a recovery partition on the drive either... so this thread seems to be the best place for me to start.

The original post said:

"1) Insert DVD 1 and restart your notebook.

After you finish the whole process, it will ask you to reboot into windows. I removed the disc from the drive at this time."

I have burned two sets of recovery DVDs to be safe and when I booted off the first disc of my first set, I am presented with two options:

*Restore C: Drive*
This option deletes all files on the C: drive and restores the drive back to the original factory condition.

*Restore Complete System*
Use a set of recovery discs to restore the entire computer to its original factory condition. This option deletes all files on the hard disk drive. Use this option when the main hard disk drive is replaced, or to remove or restore the recovery drive partition on the main hard disk drive.

Lyshen mentioned encountering the same options at the top of page 15. The original post doesn't say which to use. The distinction between the two choices is not clear to me. Can someone please explain the gritty details of any differences between these options? I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
-Pip

 

After re-reading, it became relatively obvious that the first option is only restoring the C: drive from the recovery partition and the second one exclusively utilizes the recovery DVDs so that was the correct option.

The process has begun and will apparently take quite a while to complete. I guess I was confused that either option would restore the laptop to "original factory condition" but the second one is clear that it is using the recovery discs. Ah well.

Hopefully I'll have a tidy new machine sometime this weekend. =)

-Pip

 

Greetings All,

Anyone please, feel free to comment, no name calling please.

Did you guys get a copy of Microsoft Win XP Pro with your SZ's?

Mine is an SZ160P/C all I got was lousy cheap leaflets.

Could it be possible that the XP pro be part of the two Recovery DVD's that one make for future hicks up?

Much obliged,

Sommer

 

The SZ160 does not come with XP CDs -- XP is pre-installed on the hard disk. You can make your own recovery CDs/DVDs using the VAIO recovery tools. The recovery disks contain the XP operating system.