My variant of semi-clean SZ Vista Install

Hi, All!

Note: This method was tested on SZ, CR and AR series

I bought Sony VAIO SZ460 two weeks ago. After playing with it for two day I decided to prepare it for work, so I did the recovery and saw all that software garbage (like Norton, AOL and etc.). So I decided to do "clean" Vista install.

I read this forum (topics about clean/semi-clean install) and found that those methods were not suitable for me - I did not want to loose some useful soft like Roxio or WinDVD, I did not want to download drivers and utilities and I did not want to remove recovery partition.

So after two hours of experiments I found the following way.

1. Make the recovery disks (they are not needed for "clean" recovery, but it is a very good idea to make them to be on the safe side )
2. Make a copy (use you flash drive or CD) of the C:\Windows\sonysys\vaio recovery folder (including all subfolders). It will be needed to finish the install.
Note: The recovery files for the AR series are located in C:\Program files\Sony

3. Now start the regular system recovery (reboot, F10, select Recover C: drive)
4. Your computer will start the recovery it will reboot several times (two or three) during this process. Wait for the blue screen with Vista icon and with the Window (with progress bar and message about copying files). Now press Ctrl+Alt+Del, you will see the menu, select Task manager, then found and kill the recovery program ( Note: you should be fast enough, and it is not easy to kill this program - I have "asked" windows two or three times before it asked me whether I really want to kill it ).
5. After that just wait. Vista will reboot once more, prepare the system for the first run ask you about your location and etc. - all just as with the regular recovery.
6. After finishing the recovery you will get the clean system with all drivers and sony utilities (like power management, sony events and etc.). I have found the only trash item is Napster (ohh and VAIO wallpapers ). You can remove it without any problems using the control panel.
7. Now it is time to install some useful utilities and programs that were not installed during our "clean" recovery. So restore the C:\Windows\sonysys\vaio recovery folder and run Launch.exe program in it. It is VAIO Recovery Tool. Select Reinstall software and drivers - you do not need any driver (they are alredy there), but you need to install Toshiba BT Utilities, Smart Wi Utility (this also will install CCM for your WWAN module) and any software bundled with your VAIO (but this time you will decide what you need ). Note: It is a very good idea to install one program at a time!
That is all!

Note: If your CCM refuses to connect and WWAN driver marked with yellow exclamation, click the right button on it and choose Uninstall ( but do not remove the driver files!), then turn off and on the WWAN. The system will install the WWAN driver correctly.

Kind regards,
Oleg

 

This sounds good.. and seems save lot of houres time...

So everything works like FN keys??

 

Yes everything works fine.

 

You think this will work on a CR?

Also, won't the files that installed before you ended the task still be on your system? Like fragments of programs and such?

 

I do not know if it is suitable for CR, so can not help you.

As for the fragments of programs. I have interrupted the process before the installation of programs were started. As far as I understand the recovery program will copy installation files to the temporary folder before the installation. It is easy to remove them by calling disk cleanup and I bet vista will clean up them as a part of the installation finalizing. The main thing - you should kill the recovery program before the installation starts (just kill it during the file copying).

 

Just did it today, worked like a charm. Thanks a lot - I freed up around 15GB.

One thing: My VAIO didn't have that directory you said to back up, so I didn't get things like the Toshiba BT Utilities, etc. Do I really need those?

Thanks,
Peter

 

Now that Sony has released a companion DVD for Vista all you have to have is a copy of Vista and the Sony comanion DVD has all the drivers and originally installed software. It is shipping for 9.99. Your way was good because you didn't have this disc but the companion dvd from Sony is the best choice for a seemless clean install to Vista and works will all there more recent laptops and desktops

 

Well, charm is a very loose term. I don't have VAIO Recovery or InstantON, among other things. But I found the directory I need to copy next time.

EDIT: Finally!

The CR recovery directory is located in C:\Program Files\Sony. Just follow these instructions with that directory and watch miracles happen.

Thanks to the OP,
Peter

 

I am glad you have a success .

Kind regards,
Oleg

 

I am glad you have a success .

Kind regards,
Oleg

 

A copy of Vista you say, the copy that comes with the Vaio or an own purchased Vista?

 

I used this for my new AR570 and it worked. Thx!

 

will this work for FZ190

 

I can not answer because I had no FZ190. As you can see from the above messages it works not only for the SZ serie. Anyway if you choose to try this method you should locate and backup your VAIO recovery program before going further and it might live in different locations on different series...

 

Oleg, great job! It sounds like this is the best of all the clean install procedures I've read (and it doesn't take a day to read too ). I think forum moderators should make this a sticky, don't you agree?

 

MxMoney, can you provide a link for this companion DVD? Thanks!

 

I should clarify. The recovery files for the AR series are NOT located in dir windows/sonysy dir. They are located in dir program files/sony. I found out the hard way... I had to do a complete recover including the bloatware to find these files. It's amazing, recovering with the bloatware takes 3-4 hrs. If you recover w/o bloatware it takes 20-30 mins tops. Just shows how much crap they put on there.

 

VISTA UPGRADE COMPANION DVD

 

I don't mind. I am glad this information was useful .

Kind regards,
Oleg

 

will this companion dvd work for the sz600 series?

 

Anyone????

 

Hi All,

Does anybody tried this method of clean install in FZ series notebook?.

Regards
Raj

 

No, as far as I know it was tested on AR, CR and SZ series. If you choose to try please report your results here...

Good luck!
Oleg

 

Oleg, is there any way you can upload a zipped copy of this folder somewhere as it would come quite handy in my case. (I do not have any other way to retrieve original utils but to install XP again )

Would really appreciate.

Nickolai

 

Nickolai

The described method is for Vista only!

 

Oleg,

I get you.

I have fully funcional Vista that was installed clean using Mobilehavoc method, therefore I do not have the recovery folder with utilities.
If you could upload the contents I would be able to recover what I need without going all the way back to XP.
Hope this cleares the misunderstanding.

Thank you in advance

Nickolai

 

Do you have the recovery partition (with Vista) ?

 

I am wondering do we really need to order the companion Disc from SONY
What's that disc for? sorry about my bad English cuz I dun quite understand the function of that companion could do.

or the "VAIO recovery center--->reinstall programs or drivers" works the same as the companion disc does

 

just did the semi clean install by following OP's instructions. great! saved a lot of times

 

Is EVERYTHING working properly? Also, do you still have any bloatware installed?

Thanks in advance.

 

My best guess that I have a recovery partition for XP!

 

You will be unable to do semiclean Vista install using this method...sorry - you need to have the recovery partition with Vista.

 

I'm thinking of getting an SZ6 laptop soon and will of course want to have a clean installed version of Vista with all drivers working as well as the Sony software for Function keys etc. However, is the recovery partition needed for this? Or can't that be gotten rid of?

 

Yes. The recovery partition is needed for this method. You can try to use the same trick (Ctrl+Alt+Del and kill the VAIO recovery program) during recovering from the recovery DVDs (with recovery partition removed)... But I think keeping the every partition is a good idea...

 

Help - semi clean install vs. clean install

I just got a new vaio SZ450n/c, and would like to get rid of all the bloatware. I've read many of the threads about a semi-clean install but am still a bit confused.

What is the difference between doing that and doing a completely clean install? Can you make a clean copy of Windows Vista from the hard drive (using recovery disk), as well as a copy of all the necessary drivers? Or if you do that, will that just re-install all of the bloatware all over again (including all the free trials)?

What about the drivers on the sony website? Would those suffice? And do they include all the extra stuff (AOL, napster, trials, etc.), or just the nec. stuff?

Basically, I'm not the most tech savvy but would really like to clean this computer up a bit so that it runs faster. Not everything has to be gone of the excess software, but enough of it. I also don't want to risk losing some valuable drivers in the process, since I probably won't be able to fix the prob later, so am a bit wary about just trying the semi-clean install here and not knowing which software to keep....

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

The difference between a clean install and a semi clean one is the clean install starts with a standard Vista DVD and applies the drivers and utilities. The Semi-Clean install uses the Recovery partition (or DVD) to get Vista installed and then interrupts the process before it has a chance to install the bloatware. It's not the same thing as a clean install, but pretty close IF you follow the directions to the letter.

Unless you have a Vista installation DVD or an Vista upgrade DVD (neither of which are supplied with your machine by Sony) you will not be able to do a clean install. And there is no way to create one from the hard drive. Without the Vista DVD your only hope of ridding your self of the bloatware are to uninstall the various pieces of bloatware or use the semi-clean install method. In EITHER case you should be certain that you have created the Sony Recovery DVD set (I assume it is two DVD's on an SZ, it is on the FZ series). DO THAT BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT ANYTHING. It is your "saftey net" should things go awry.

Now if you DO have access to a Vista DVD you can accomplish a clean install. There are instructions on this forum for doing so that spell out the drivers you need and the Sony Utilities you'll need for things like power management and function keys, etc. I created such a document for the FZ series and others have done so for the SZ.

Gary

 

Thanks so much, that really helps clear things up! I'll try the semi-clean install (and do recovery DVDS first of course).

 

I am having problems with this...whats the name of the process you kill? "Launcher"???

 

I do not remember the exact name, but in my case it was something like "VAIO Recovery", it was not the "Launcher". And use the "Applications" tab in the task manager, not the "Processes" one...

 

What if the recovery DVD's are made, would this partition then still be necessary?

 

As I said before you can try to recover from the DVDs and use this method, but I am not sure whether you will be able to install all the necessary drivers and programs (I think VAIO recovery will not be functional in this case)...

 

^ Maybe somebody could test that and post the results here

 

just followed the instructions and everything seems to work great for my sz680. the launcher.exe file is located in c:/programfiles/sony/comborestore though. when i tried to run it to install the necessary programs the OP recommended, it didn't prompt to ask which programs i wanted to install but seemed to proceed to install all the bloatware...i ended the process again but am going to start over again the the semiclean install again.

am i using the wrong launcher file?

 

Hi Sy0296,

It looks your problem should have some solution. I think it should allow you to select particular software to install instead of installing all softwares. Anybody have any idea ?

Regards
Raj

 

did the semi clean install on SZ and still have around 70 processes... All the bloatware is gone but why are there still 70 processes?

 

I had about 50-ish processes after the semi-clean.

Did you uninstall any other programs thru control panel (the semi clean process still installs a fair bit). DId you re-install any ?

I have about 68 processess running after a semi-clean, and reinstallation of the Fingerprint software, Bluetooth module, Kaspersky antivirus, Battery Care and advanced powere management, Camera Utility and Acronis True Image backup software.

 

Can you show me a list of the processes running in the background?
I"ll type mine up

 

Activation manager
apmsgfwd.exe
apntex.exe
apoint.exe
ccp.exe
csrss.exe
dwm.exe
explorer.exe
ISBMgf.exe
jusched.exe
mobsync.exe
MSASCui.exe
Powermanagement.exe
psqltray.exe
reader_sl.exe
rundll32.exe
rundll32.exe
sidebar.exe
sidebar.exe
SmartWiToggle.exe
SmartWiToggletproxy.exe
SPMgr.exe
taskengr.exe
taskeng.exe
taskmgr.exe
ThirdPartAppMGr.exe
TosA2dp.exe
TosBtHid.exe
TosBtHSP.exe
TosBtMng.exe
UIManager.exe
upeksvr.exe
VAIOUpdt.exe
VESMgrSub.exe
winlogon.exe

 

hi raj,

i fixed my own mistake. here's my post from another thread:

in case anyone who was stuck in the same boat as i was but was too ashamed to ask the question (re: launcher.exe), the correction laucher.exe app is found in c:/programfiles/sony/recovery fold which needs to be copied to an external source (cd, ext. hd, usb driver, etc) BEFORE you do the semi-clean recover. at least everything is sorted out now.

 

I just wanted to say thank you! I successfully used your method (with minor changes for my SZ650) to clean it out.