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    My sister has a Sony VGN-FZ190...and i need HELP! Please?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by kazaam55555, May 29, 2009.

  1. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi,

    My sister has a sony VGN-FZ190, and we just put in a new hard drive...problem is, i need to update the drivers, and i cant figure out what she needs, and what she doesnt. the support site is terrible in contrast to dells site (for my dell E6400), so i am kind of lost.

    She definitely needs a GPU firmware update (1.0 in windows experience), but i have no idea what to get...nvidias website wont tell me what to download since its a laptop GPU. Are there any other important firmware updates or anything to install, or anything else i should know about this before i mess around with it? Do sony laptops use Intel matrix storage manager? I know that was an important update for mine.

    Thanks a ton!
     
    kazaam55555, May 29, 2009
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  2. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    No, she doesn't need a GPU firmware update. You do NOT want to do that. If you do the Sony Video drivers are likely to not work. See my signature line below for complete instructions on a clean install of Vista on and FZ190. There are no firmware updates for the FZ190. Do you have the System Recovery DVD's that Sony suggest you (or your sister) make when you first got the machine? You will need those to proceed. If you do not have them, you may want to put the old hard drive back in and create those disks. They use the hidden recovery partition for the source data written to the DVDs.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, May 30, 2009
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  3. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    thanks!

    i guess this really is different. the video driver from the sony support website for the VGN is from 2007! i'll check out your instructions, thanks again!

    well, everything seems fine, except that the brightness buttons dont work (havent since the reinstall). Any ideas about that??
     
    kazaam55555, May 30, 2009
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  4. aviray

    aviray Notebook Consultant

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    The easiest way is cloning the original drive with Acronis or similar app. They have those 2 week long trials so it is actually free. No need for transferring data or whatever else. I do upgrades this way since years.
     
    aviray, May 30, 2009
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  5. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    The sequence in which you install the drivers and libraries is important, and not that you need more than just the drivers. The libraries/auxilary applications spelled out in my document are important to get the buttons to all function. You must also use SONY supplied Nvidia drivers (or ones specifically modified to work on a Sony) to get the brightness to work.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, May 30, 2009
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