Installing Windows 8 Release Preview

The object of this thread is to collect in one place tips, tricks and recommendations for installing Windows 8 on VAIOs. These will be in addition to the excellent guides for installing Windows 7 that already exist for several VAIO models. For the most part, users will follow the guide for installing Windows 7 on their VAIO model. This thread will highlight what needs to be done differently for Windows 8.

1. Disconnect from the internet. Stay disconnected from the internet until you have finished installing the Sony-specific drivers. Win8RP offers to set up your network during setup. Do not set it up then, or switch off your router until the drivers have been installed by you. If Windows Update installs drivers that it thinks are suitable, it will cause you a lot of grief.

Once you have finished installing the drivers, you can connect to the internet for activation, etc. Windows Update is smart enough not to break the drivers that you have installed.

2. Don't restart as soon as you are prompted to do so. Sometimes the restart prompt appears while the disk activity LED is still lit. It is advisable to wait until the LED goes off and then restart, lest the driver installation is prematurely interrupted. (Note: I have a HDD, not SSD, so this might be unnecessary in your case.)

3. Make a driver CD or folder. It goes without saying that at this stage all Windows 8 installations should be clean installs - I am not in favour of upgrading from an earlier OS, even if it is supported. Go to the driver support page for your VAIO model and download all the utilities there and save them in a folder somewhere for easy access (not on your C drive - you'll be formatting that. ) I like to organise the files in my driver folder by adding numbers to the names of the files (01, 02, 03, etc.) so that they are in the order that I need to install them in, but feel free to use whatever system works for you. Get the updated drivers as well, but be aware that some updates need the older driver to be installed first.

4. You don't need to install all the drivers. This is especially true for older laptops which have devices that are supported in Windows 8. E.g network adapters - the drivers Windows 8 installed for me from the setup DVD work just fine.

5. Use the compatibility troubleshooter for stuff that won't install. Try compatibility mode for Windows 7 first, then add 'run as administrator' to the options as needed. For me, these needed special settings:
Event Service Update: Windows 7 and admin
Control Center Update: Windows 7 and admin
Vaio Power Management: Windows 7
Vaio Power Management Update: Windows 7

6. Do a bare metal clean install. By all means try it out in a VHD first to see whether everything works, but then do a direct install on the HDD/SSD. This will enable some very cool features like fast start and Hyper-V. Even the Windows Experience Index assessment won't complete if you're running off a VHD.

7. If you don't want to install the .NET Framework from the internet (it is a 200MB+ download, so people with slow internet speeds will appreciate this), you can install it from the Windows 8 iso. Quote from MSDN:

8. Don't install Microsoft Security Essentials - it is incompatible. Use the built-in Windows Defender instead which does the same thing.

If you have any suggestions/recommendations, please reply here and I'll add them to this post.

 

Sony support page for Windows 8: Sony eSupport - Electronics

 

Thanks, coolguy. Nice to know they are 'planning' to do something.

 

For some very annoying reason, Windows 8 insists on downloading the .NET Framework 3.5 from Windows Update, and Windows Update only. I have tried several times to download and save the dotnetfx35.exe installer file from Microsoft, but Windows 8 just doesn't seem to want it from the downloaded file - it makes me download it all over again from Windows Update. This means that every time I install Windows 8, I have to have internet access on the machine that I'm installing it on, and wait impatiently while it downloads the 200MB+ update.

Does anyone know how to get around this?

EDIT: Found it on Microsoft's MSDN site http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh506443(v=VS.110).aspx

added to main post

 

A 200 MB download is not going to take that long. When I installed Win 8 RP, I was connected to the internet, I didn't notice any slowdown during the installation.

I didn't install the .NET framework 3.5.

 

Windows 8 uses the install on demand method for this - if an application requests .NET framework 3.5 (includes 2.0 and 3.0) then you'll be prompted to install it. For me, if I go to control panel and try to set up fingerprints, I get this prompt.

It is some 231MB as a standalone download - not sure how much for the online install. Takes almost an hour on 512Kbps. If you have a 10Mbps connections, you might not notice it, but I don't have that everywhere, which was my gripe. (Installing Windows is a great way to pass the time while travelling - LOL).

 

Added new info to main post.

Microsoft Security Essentials corrupts files if installed on Windows 8 CP or RP. Even the Windows 8 iso downloaded from Microsoft is considered dangerous, and burning the iso results in a corrupt DVD.

If in doubt, check the file hash against the file hash posted on the Microsoft website where you downloaded the iso from.

 

I´m looking forward for the official drivers for the vpcz series. let´s hope sony will give us this pack in future

 

i think that might be wishful thinking...im worried they wont even provide w8 drivers for the z3 i just got. Granted i bought the z3 knowing im not tied to sony overall (i can use intel drivers etc), but I'd like to use their fn keys, battery charger etc.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not very hopeful. The problem is the graphics driver - we Z guys are stuck with hybrid graphics technology that has been abandoned in favour of Optimus technology. To make a new hybrid graphics driver we need Intel and nVidia to get together - it is a joint exercise with little incentive for either party.

I shouldn't worry about the Sony utilities and stuff. That is already working properly just like in a clean Windows 7 install. You have to use the Windows 7 compatibility mode and/or admin mode for some files, like I've mentioned in point 5 in the first post.

 

Had a crash - BSOD 0xC000021a a couple of days after installing latest nVidia and Intel drivers and running in Optimus mode. Rebooting didn't fix it, so pressed F8 while booting to get into repair options. To my dismay, Windows 8 RP went straight into system restore and restored my system to an earlier state (before the new drivers were installed). It got my system up and running, but I lost a lot of data as system restore deleted anything it thought might be suspicious, including some downloaded files. Even srt subtitle files (they are basically text files) that I had placed on my desktop disappeared.

Even worse, programs that I had previously uninstalled were restored, but their uninst0000.dat files were not, so I couldn't uninstall them. I had to re-install them (this created fresh uninst0001.dat files) and then I was able to uninstall them. There still seem to be a few orphaned services floating around in the system, probably as a result of incomplete/buggy system restore.

 

I installed W8 on VHD for my S13A.
I didn't have to disconnect from internet.
I installed all needed drivers and utilities from W7 drivers without a problem except BT.
However, W8 BT driver works. There still is another Other Device says Bluetooth Peripheral Device.

 

At what stage of the setup did you configure internet access? I once configured it at the first login screen, and it gave me a lot of trouble, especially with the Sony stuff that is needed for the function keys. I ended up formatting and reinstalling, this time without internet access.

It is possible the the S series is immune to this problem. I have a VPCZ1.

 

Yes, I connected to internet at setup stage.
I also installed W8 on my old SA and it ran just fine.

 

Protector suite can't be install, anyone?

 

The old protector suite can't. You need either the new paid version, or the new free version (TrueSuite) which is good enough for everyday use but lacks the premium features.