Official Vaio FW Clean Vista Install Guide

Vaio FW Clean Vista Install Guide

Disclaimer: I don't know if this will work for you, it did for me. But I take no responsibility if something goes wrong with your system. There shouldn't be any reason why this would harm your system but one can never be certain. Proceed at your own risk!

Hey All,

So after days of internet scouring, and hours of mind numbing experimentation I've compiled a method of executing a clean install of Vista on the FW series. I can't take all the credit for this method as lots of different sources helped me in its development. This guide will maintain the complete functionality of the built in shortcut and Fn keys. So your volume and brightness control will be retained. That said, this isn't a perfect guide, I'm still working on a way to get some programs off of the recovery partition (like Roxio and certain vaio programs) and will update this guide once I find a way. You will need the following:

1.) Vaio Restore DVD(s). This is very important, if anything goes wrong you want to be able to restore you FW to its original state.

2.) A standalone Vista DVD with SP1. It can be downloaded, a retail copy or from another computer, as long as you have a valid product key you'll be golden. I recommend that you use the version of Vista that came with your FW because you already have a valid product key that will work for Windows activation. For example, if yours came with home premium, use a home premium DVD (your product key will work with either the 32 or 64-bit versions.)

3.) Drivers and applications from sony's support website. If you want to install 64 bit Vista, i recommend downloading the installers for model VGNFW170J, as this one comes with Vista home premium 64-bit. The only driver not available for this model is the radeon driver. If you need this the 32 bit driver for the VGN198U will work in both 32 and 64 bit Vista iterations. Now the problem with using the files you download from Sony lies in the fact that the installers check to see if you're indeed running the correct model number. However, after doing a little, shall we say 'creative' tinkering, i discovered that Sony's installers are actually installers within installers. In essence, after the Sony installers checks your computer to make sure its running the correct model number and Sony-fied Vista, it then proceeds to launch a separate installer. Our goal is to get to these installers without having to go through the vaio model check. To do this we have to use a program to extract the files from Sony's install packages using...

4.) Universal extractor. An awesome program that can extract the files from the Sony installers. Can be downloaded for free from http://legroom.net/software/uniextract.

5.) While not strictly necessary I recommend, having an extra computer handy to do all the extraction work, and so you can be connected to help should something go wrong.

Instructions:

1.) If you haven't already, create your restore DVD(s) using VAIO recovery center.

2.) Download all the drivers and apps from Sony's website.

3.) Download and install Universal Extractor. To use this app right click on the Sony installation files you downloaded and click UniExtract files. This will open up the app. Rename the destination directory to something you will recognize such as "Intel Wireless Driver", otherwise you will get a folder like "SOAOTH-43700000-64", which would be much harder to remember. After renaming the destination folder click ok. After the app scans the file, a new screen will pop up. For extraction method use the E_Wise unpacker, leave all settings as they are and click ok. The program will then extract the installation files. Then open the director where you extracted the files. In it you'll find some text files, CHECKMODEL.EXE(that lovely program that would stop you normally) and another folder called TEMPEXEFOLDER. This folder is where the installers you need are.

4.) After you've extracted all the drivers and programs, put them on a USB thumb drive, external hard drive or a cd/dvd-r, whatever.

5.) There is however one driver which must go on a usb pen drive or external HD, and thats the Intel AHCI SATA controller. After extracting the contents of its installer package you'll notice there is no functioning installer. Thats because the driver is stored in inf files and as such requires a manual installation. To make this clear YOU WILL NEED THESE FILES TO LOAD THE SATA CONTROLLER INTO THE WINDOWS INSTALLATION, OTHERWISE YOUR INSTALL WILL FAIL!!!!

6. Insert your original Vista disk into the computer and restart. When the screen pops up, hit any key to boot from the DVD.

7.) At the first prompt choose your keyboard, language etc and click next. At the next prompt click install now. Depending on the installation disk you may have to enter the product key, if you do go ahead, Accept the contract terms and continue.

8.) The Vista installer will then ask you what type of installation you want to do. Select custom.

9.) On the next screen you'll see your harddrives. Before you select your C drive click load driver.

10.) At the next screen hit browse. Now go to your USB pendrive (or external HD) and select the directory where the Intel SATA driver is located. (I named mine G:\Intel SATA\TEMPEXEFOLDER) Click ok and you'll see the intel driver listed. Click next and it will be installed. Now you won't have to worry about the blue screen of death during installation WOO!

11.) Let the Vista installation complete, it will restart several times before you have control.

12.) Now begin installing the drivers from the extracted files, I recommend the following order

1.) Intel Chipset Driver
2.) Radeon 3400 or Intel Graphics Driver
3.) Ethernet drivers (Vista already should have a functioning driver for this automatically. Still go into Control Panel>System>Device Manager and update it.
4.) Intel® ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Driver
5.) Intel Wireless driver
6.) Realtek Audio Driver
7.) Alps Pointer Driver
8.) Ricoh Memory Stick Driver
9.) Modem Driver (Also needs to be installed via the device manager)
10.) Widcomm Bluetooth Driver
11.) The VAIO firmware extension parser. Go into the device manager and it will be called "Base system Component" or something to that effect. It will be in the unknown devices section, hard to miss. Update the driver. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT THE FN KEY FUNCTIONALITY!

13.) Now that the drivers are installed install the following applications in exactly this order:
1.)The Sony Shared Library
2.) Vaio Notebook utilities (the extracted download file contains several separate installers in the following folders: BC, SUS, VCC, VES,VL , run them all and don't bother trying to install SonyNBSetup.EXE in the TEMPEXEFOLDER, its useless)

14.) From here install any other software you wan't like the SmartWi connection utility.

15.) If you haven't already, enter your product key and activate windows.

And now you should have your very own, bloatware-free, clean as a whistle installation of Windows Vista.

 

Ohhh.....might have to try this as my FW just came in the mail.

 

Nice comprehensive guide, very pleased So the only down side is that none of the Vaio programs are available. Just basically a standard version of windows without Vaio programs?

I wonder now if I should think about 64 bit! hmmm! What are the advantages and would there be any problems running it on the Sony. Would there be problems with compatibility and such, and things just not fitting to the screen or something ! Bit of A newb as I said!! But this would mean I could use all of my 4 gigs of ram!

Sorry for posting this here as well ! Just that this is the “official thread” so I will be posting in here from now on!

 

Tristan with this method you'll have the basic vaio programs like control center. I'm working on the others though. I'll update soon.

 

Somebody asked why we were opting for a clean install rather than just uninstalling some of the bloatware. Two computers, one that had been uninstalled of all of its bloatware, and another that had some kind of clean install. I’m not sure it was the full install but still gives you the idea. The first had around 70 processes still running, and the clean version had around 45 processes running. This shows that there were clearly applications running in the background some ware, which cannot just simply be uninstalled. The matter of the fact is that the less processes running, the faster your computer will be!

I will post the results of my clean install when FW arrives! This will truly show how many process are taken out by the clean install! It should be even quicker being that I will install my WD Scorpio Black! Though I won’t be able to notice the difference between a clean, and crapware full system because of the performance gain from the WD!

Great ! I might wait until you’ve completed the full clean install guide! Keep up the good work by the way

 

hey ronin,
thanks a bunch for the guide, i'll be trying it tomorrow... at work!
LOL

i appreciate all the hard work ^^

 

great work, thanks!

 

Are you SURE about the sequence of installing things? I ask this because I am on my third Sony model (Z505, XGN and FZ190) and with every single one of them Sony recommended installing the "Sony Shared Library", the "Sony Utility" app and the "Setting Utility Series" before you install ANY drivers. Their instructions were VERY specific that these had to be done first.

Gary

 

Well if Sony says that, I will have to ammend the guide.

 

Have you looked to see if Sony has posted a clean install guide yet for your machine. I bough my FZ190 in July a year ago. It had not been out for long and they had a guide available that gave the proper sequence.

Gary

 

Here is a link for you:

Sony's "official" Vista clean install guidelines


This is the one the specifies the Sony recommended sequence. It is generic for all models.

Gary

 

During my experiments, I tried clean installing 32bit Vista Home premium (the one that came with my FW), and couldn't get the sony installers to work without using the extraction method. Anyone have luck with that?

 

hello!
i just tried doing the fresh installation just now, im about half way through but im gonna go out for dinner...
i dont know why, but i cant get my vista theme to work (the standard black theme)

do you have any problems with this or with the video drivers? for whatever reason i think it's a video card issue

thanks^^

 

I just did this on my new FW. Only issue I had was with the video driver. I wanted to install the 32-bit Vista Ultimate, and had to manually install the video driver from the control panel, using the ATI video folder. Worked fine after that. Oh...and the volume keys at the top work, but the on-screen doesn't come up...not sure why.

Ok...as for performance stats...

Prior:
87 Active Processes, 47% Physical Mem Usage
After:
48 Active Process, 23% Physical Mem Usage.

Thanks OP....rep for you.

 

same here, i did the format and i have control of the volume buttons, but i cant change the screen brightness
oh! and during my installation process, i followed your suggested order and everything worked fine, however, i noticed that the "base system component" turned into an "unknown" after i installed a few things, i dont remember exactly which it was tho... hmmmm
do we know what it turns into after we update the drivers?
i'd like to retry installing it or something

and i also manually installed the vid drivers through device manager to use the windows aero theme

anyhow everything else works so far. i also installed the webcam drivers too
i havent tested the blue ray tho or HDMI

thanks again for the help, this guide is very helpful =)

 

Does anybody know where to get windows home premium 64 bit with SP1 ISO from? I wanted to download this straight from the Microsoft Website, and not just from a bit torrent that may be corrupt or messed with viruses! Where did you guys get yours from? I have decided to go with 64 bit as there is not that much more hassle than doing it with the 32 bit version!

Even though I have the European model Sony Vaio FW11S, would I be able to use the drivers for the US model VGN198U and it would still work on my notebook, or should I use the drivers for the FW11S? I also don’t know how drivers for the 32bit model can work for the 64bit as well The links here as follows are for the FW11S European and FW198U US! Just need some guidance before my FW arrives on Monday, and if 64 bit is a good idea???!

PS. I require windows home premium and I don’t know if this will be affected by the drivers used ?

 

OK Fn keys works

Model: FW11S, drivers from US Sony FW190

Instructions:
1. Install Vista Bisiness
2. Install SP1
3. Intel Chipset Driver
4. Sony Shared Library
5. Sony Notebook Utilities
a. BC
b. SUS
c. VCC
d. Sony Video Shared Library (from european site)
e. VES2
f. VL
g. VPM

Now Fn Keys works

6. ATI drivers
.
.
.
other drivers

 

That’s good to know as my FW should be arriving monday! Do you, or anybody else know what drivers would work on the 64bit version. On the main guide of this thread is says that some of the drivers of the FW’s run on both 32 and 64 bit I swear 64 requires its own specific drivers!

Also given this spec below, would i have to find drivers for that exact hardware! So a model with that exact spec!

I know I am asking for allot here but I just need some help

 

From this Sony guide, what is the stuff you absolutely don't want to install? What are the necessary drivers/programs to install to get everything working, without installing any bloatware?
thanks!

 

Ok...in case you are lazy and don't want to re-install again to get the FN and Hotkeys working, here's what worked for me AFTER the clean install, etc. Note: I used the Vaio Recovery tools to install these because I didn't want to have to download them again.

Essentially tried to work from this:
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/...ES_1_1&dialogID=10106959&stateId=0 0 15201652

Substituted:
1. (same) - Sony Shared Library, restart
2. (didn't see this one, so I made a guess) - Setting Utility Services, restart
3. (same) - Vaio Event Services, restart....Voila! Now the keys all work!

4 - wasn't necessary, worked after the 3rd step. Not sure if they will work by only updating 3, but the sequence definitely worked, and you won't have to re-install Vista, etc to fix it.

Hope that helps.

 

Does anybody know where i can get vista 64 bit drivers from ?

Edit: Ow ok found them, will post to say how it went! My Sony FW has just arrived so I’m about to start the 64 bit procedure

 

So can anyone give us the exact order in which things need to be installed for everything to work? Without any bloatware or crap slowing down your system? That would be very much appreciated

 

Hopefully the OP will update his first post, but in the mean time...

I used the sequence on the first post of this thread and it worked, with the exception of the function (hotkey) keys.

I ended up having to re-install for something else, and this time I used the FZ guide here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=145748 in hopes that it would fix the function keys. Since it's a different model, I had to skip some of the s/w or replace it with the appropriate FW s/w.

Again, both had basically the same results, as everything worked but the fn keys (S1, volume, AV Mode, etc).

To remedy, see my post up a couple in this thread (09-01-2008 06:59 PM).

So to summarize...I tried:
1. FW Clean - no FN keys
2. Modified FZ Clean - no FN keys
3. Modified FZ Clean w/ patch - everything works.

I would guess 'FW Clean w/patch' would work as well, and is easier to follow for the FW (duh ).

 

Hi
i've tried this guide on my FW 139E and it worked almost fine for me ...
my Fn keys work fine but some of them like brightness and those numbers on keyboard
also OSD doesn't show up when i'm increasing volume , etc ...

 

That's exactly the same problem I described in the previous post. Yes, the volume keys work, but the OSD and some of the others do not. Try the three steps below, and it should fix it.

(steps)
Essentially tried to work from this:
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/m...200 15201652

Substituted:
1. (same) - Sony Shared Library, restart
2. (didn't see this one, so I made a guess) - Setting Utility Services, restart
3. (same) - Vaio Event Services, restart....Voila! Now the keys all work!

 

On the FZ clean install, these last two items are packaged together into a single installer along with some other stuff labeled as "Sony® Notebook Utilities" on the e-support download site for the FZ models. Apparently on the FW model these need to be specifically installed individually. The OP should add them to the guide on the first page of this thread.

Gary

 

thanks it worked!
and i've just realized that i have to install SP1 before installing those drivers & softwares

 

If I was to do a clean install on a European Sony Vaio FW11J, what drivers/apps should I download? I don't understand because there are a lot of US models, the version numbers are not the same as the ones in Europe..

 

see which drivers are same in both models
for example i've downloaded FW 170 J/H drivers for my FW 139 E/H the only difference was my WLAN driver
--------------
btw one of Fn keys doesn't work ( that one next to increae brightness button)
what should i do?
it used to work in my previous clean install

 

Hi all,

I want to do a clean install of vista spanish. (my notebook came with dutch version), and i have got almost all drivers but i can't seem to find the correct drivers for the hotkey etc. The Shared library..etc...
My model is a FW11M, earlier i used the drivers for the US model which is the same for mine, and it worked perfectly. But when i formatted i lost them, and i don't remember which model it was. I was looking at the sony us models, and the closest one is the FW145E/W, but i can't find the drivers?

Can anyone tell me which drivers i need...because the FN keys are the only one not working.

 

Ok guys, I have reached the holy grail of getting all the fn keys working with vista 64. Its taken over two weeks to thoroughly sort out, and I have gone through countless installs trying to find a fix.

Having been through countless installs I have become less and less convinced that the order of installing drivers and software matters, or not to the extent people make it sound. I followed the process on the first page of this thread in terms of the order of drivers. Without installing any drivers (after Vista install only), the volume and mute keys worked, brightness and other buttons did not. I believe the key is the version of the Sony software that is installed and after a lot of experimentation I downloaded the Utils for the FW190U from the US esupport site (described as suitable for an OS downgrade from 64 to 32).

I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my original hard drive and all software and drivers, as I am currently running the new OS on a WD Scorpio drive in the search for a bit more performance. With the original drive back in the machine I noted the version number of each of the main pieces of Sony software to make sure I was putting it back on with the fresh install. I believe VES and VCC are the most critical and these are as follows:

VES: 4.0.00.17150
VCC: 3.0.00.16210

These versions come with the Utils pack for the model FW190U, the Utils for FW170J appeared to be older versions.

Post Vista install and with all drivers loaded as per post #1, I had no unknown devices in Device Manager. I installed the Shared Library from the recovery disk, then installed the VCC and then the VES and upon reboot I had full brightness and S1 functionality. The VCC has all the features originally available with the shipped hdd, which I had not been able to achieve with other versions of VCC.

The original hdd came with a number of other Sony Utils (like Music Box, Movie Story plus others I forget), along with Win DVD Blu-ray etc, a number of which would not install off of the recovery disk, and I am not sure why, but thats is a minor issue as I know have a bloat free, super fast FW11ZU running Vista 64 (System Vista score of 5.1 vs 4.1 now the Scorpio installed, which scores 5.9. Weak link is the graphics card. Scorpio runs hotter and uses more power but feels a lot faster)

Leaves me to say a grateful thanks to all those who have helped and provided input to the thread.

 

I'll start off by saying that I did not use any external SATA driver during my 64-bit Vista Ultimate installation process nor did I extract the Sony driver executables even though the drivers were for FW170J and not for my FW11M, also I did not install the drivers in any particular order. So I suppose I should be in a mess judging by the first post, but I'm obviously lucky since the installation went like a breeze with no missing or unknown devices and everything seems to be working just fine

The only exception might be the OSD feature for a few FN/special keys, but I'm not sure myself which keys are supposed to trigger the OSD, so I'll just write down which keys display what and hopefully someone will be able to fill me in on what I'm missing if anything ( red parts are what may be missing/malfunctioning):

Caps Lock: Works, with OSD initially, now without OSD
Num Lock: Works, no OSD
Scroll Lock: Works, no OSD

S1: Works, no OSD
Vol+: Works, with OSD
Vol-: Works, with OSD
Play/Pause: Works with select applications, no OSD
Stop: Works with select applications, no OSD
Previous: Works with select applications, no OSD
Next: Works with select applications, no OSD
AV Mode: Works, no OSD

FN2 (mute/unmute): Works, with OSD
FN5 (brightness -): Works, with OSD
FN6 (brightness +): Works, with OSD
FN7 (external display): No reaction whatsoever when pressed, but have no external screen to test with
FN9 (magnifier +): Works with select applications, no OSD
FN10 (magnifier -): Works with select applications, no OSD
FN12 (sleep): Works, no OSD

So, basically, all special keys seem to be working except for the external display key which I assume is because I have no external display connected (though, previous laptops used to give some kind of reaction when pressing this key even without an external display). As for the OSD, it works in my case where it's needed the most (volume, brightness, mute etc), but I find it puzzling why I have no OSD for the magnifier for instance and I'm pretty sure I had an OSD for Caps Lock (even though it's not needed because Caps/Num/Scroll Lock have their own dedicated keyboard lights), so can anyone confirm whether these and other keys I've listed above should have OSD or not?

As for the Sony recovery partition and the recovery disks, does anyone know if there is any way to extract preinstalled drivers and software directly from the partition or recovery disks without going through any reinstallation/recovery procedure? I've changed the partition type on the recovery partition to NTFS so that I can access the contents in Vista, but I realized that the recovery partition contains the same cryptic contents as the recovery disks with no readable archives and drivers/utilities? I'm not interested in the preinstalled drivers, but since I did not keep track on the preinstalled utilities it would be nice if one could extract them from the recovery partition/disks and if possible/needed maybe reinstall them onto the newly installed Vista...

 

bgd, I have OSD working on my machine for the external display (OSD shows 2 options for 'LCD only' or 'setup') and I also have an OSD for the caps/num/scroll lock keys too.... All other OSD functionality is the same as yours.

As a record I did provide the sata driver on install from flash disk (from 170J), not sure whether necessary in light of last post. I seem to recall a previous thread where someone had extracted the installation files from the recovery partition, perhaps even the OP of this thread.

 

Hi maybe you can help me. I am doing a clean isntall of vista home premium 32 bit, on my FW11m, now i get everything working exept the FN 5/6/7 keys, those control the brightness, and the external monitor(didn't get the chance to try it, don't have a extra monitor.)
I download the utils package, which is a zip file. With the following files:
-Appmon utilyti.2.3
-Battery checker2.3
-Sony share library 4.1
-Sony video shared library3.3
-VAIO Control center2.1
-VAIO event service3.3
-Power management2.3

I have tried every possible order, but this dosn't do anything so wen i try of the FW145 but then i get all keys working exept the brightness, but with a battery error, which puts my vaio in hibernate mode. Untill i disconect the bat. so to can work woth the bat i have to deinstall everything again.
So now ill try the FW190.

If anyone can helop

 

See my post above for the fn 5/6/7 keys to work. Im sure its down to the version of VES and VCC you install. I have the same battery issue, so uninstalled BC, no big loss.

 

Thanks for the feedback...

So I wasn't imagining that I had the OSD for Caps Lock (probably also Num/Scroll Lock, but didn't bother testing them) initially after the installation. It's a mystery though why it suddenly dissapeared without me installing or uninstalling any drivers or Sony utilities in the meantime...

As for the FN7 key (external display), do you get this OSD also without an external display being attached or only after you've attached the external display to the laptop? Cause in my case, without an external display connected, there is no reaction whatsoever when this key is pressed.

Also, if someone who has managed to do this could shed some light on extracting software/drivers directly from the recovery partition/disks that would be highly appreciated

 

The FN7 key shows on the OSD with no external display attached.

Someone else might be able to help on the software/drivers side, but the recovery disk worked ok for me.

As an aside, my battery seems to only last about 1.5hrs from full on Vaio Optimised / screen brightness turned right down (with working FN keys ). Does that seem particularly poor? Thinking maybe this Scorpio really eats the power

 

Ok, i found out the VCC is the ssame as the one u used. But of ves my original installation uses version: 4.0.00.17121
Now my question is do you know how i can find the correct one, without needing to download them of ery model there is and extracting them???

 

So, can anyone make this guide easy-to-use, what steps to follow, to get all functionality of the FW working on Vista? That would be much appreciated!!

 

I recently bought a FW160E and I am amazed with it.

It had Vista Home Premium 32 bits installed, but since it is my main work computer (I am a software developer) and work in a lot of different locations, I did a clean install of Vista Ultimate 32bits following this thread. Windows installation was ok, but the Sony stuff was not.

I can't get the Firmware Extension Parser to install properly. I downloaded the driver from sony's support site (file SODSNC-14376700-US.EXE) but it fails to install (Windows show a message saying the driver wasn't properly installed). Using the recovery disc also doens't work (I create the recovery dvd before reinstalling Vista, when there still was Home Premium), it runs the installation, asks for a reboot and nothing. I also tried the Universal Extractor to update the driver from device manager, Windows says it found the software for Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device, but that there was an error since 'the system could not locate the specified file'.

At this point, I still have a Unknown devide in Device Manager. I can't use the battery because windows says it is not compatible, etc. This is my main problem since I can live without the FN keys, OSD, S1 and A/V Mode for a while.

I have uninstalled everything from Sony, except for Help and Support, Update 3 and Wallpaper contents. Removing that may help?

I don't know whatelse to do, and another clean install is my last option to try to correct this. I already have all my work programs installed and don't want to do everything again unless it's my last option.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

I just uninstalled Help & Support, Update 3 and Wallpaper contents.

And I found that I have a ISB Utility running at startup.

Browsing the \Program Files\Sony I found out these folders:
-comborestore
-isb utility
-vaio control center (the only one which is empty)
-vaio recovery
-vaio wallpaper setting tool

I have also uninstalled all services related to Sony. Or at least I think I have 'cause theres service that looks like Sony or Vaio...

Guys, any ideas will be much appreciated ...

---
EDIT:

Same thing after uninstalling Help & Support, Update 3 and Wallpaper contents: battery error.

 

Lonzo, make sure you have the right FEP version (ie 32 bit or 64 bit) from the Sony website and have used the Universal Extractor to take out the version check. IIRC its a case of right clicking the fun and running as admin. Theres no setup splash screen and process. I'd have thought that'd br simple to fix.

I would place a bet on the unkown device in DM as either being the bluetooth device or the wireless lan, check youd installed drivers for both, again in 32 or 64 bit versions as appropriate.

I have the issue with the battery, I simply deleted the folder and utility as it didnt seem to offer much (you might need to cancel VES in task manager and some of the battery monitoring apps before you can delete the folder), that will stop the popup. As for the FN keys across all you mention, the versions of VES and VCC I listed above should sort those.

 

Don't know whether this may be of help to anyone, but here's a list of all utilities on my FW11 recovery partition and their respective *.mod file names (a batch script I've made for patching of *.mod files available here):

Code:

MOD-CSUP: CSUP Installer
MODJ-118099: Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0
MODJ-119445: ATI Catalyst Installer
MODJ-120219: Click to Disc
MODJ-120274: VAIO Data Restore Tool
MODJ-120321: Sonic PX Engine Updater
MODJ-120334: VAIO Smart Network
MODJ-120365: VAIO Update 3
MODJ-120382: SonicStage Mastering Studio
MODJ-120383: VAIO Guide
MODJ-120384: SonicStage Mastering Studio Plugins
MODJ-120385: Software Info for VAIO Guide
MODJ-120390: VAIO Launcher	
MODJ-120413: Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 LJ
MODJ-120417: SonicStage Mastering Studio Audio Filter
MODJ-120418: SonicStage Mastering Studio Audio Filter Custom Preset
MODJ-120419: Create Recovery Disc Reminder
MODJ-120508: VAIO Original Function Setting
MODJ-120524: VAIO Content Folder Setting
MODJ-120526: VAIO Sample Music
MODJ-120527: VAIO MusicBox
MODJ-120531: McOEMAppRules
MODJ-120535: VAIO Media plus
MODJ-120540: VAIO Media plus Extension
MODJ-120543: VAIO Edit Components
MODJ-120546: VAIO Movie Story
MODJ-120625: VAIO Movie Story Template Data
MODJ-120626: OpenMG Secure Module
MODJ-120627: VAIO Content Metadata XML Interface Library
MODJ-120630: VAIO Content Metadata Manager Setting
MODJ-120631: VAIO Content Metadata Intelligent Analyzing Manager
MODJ-120638: Magic-i Visual Effects
MODJ-120687: VAIO Color Control Setting
MODJ-120823: Skype 3.6.0.244
MODJ-120826: VAIO Wallpaper Setting Tool
MODJ-120840: VAIO Entertainment Platform
MODJ-120845: McAffee Integrated Security 2.0.155.0
MODJ-120846: Google Desktop
MODJ-120847: Google Sidebar Pictures
MODJ-120848: Google BAE
MODJ-120849: Google Earth
MODJ-120850: Google Talk
MODJ-120851: Google Toolbar
MODJ-120852: VAIO Presentation Support
MODJ-120853: DiVX Installer 6.5.071003
MODJ-120856: Flash Player 9
MODJ-120858: MyClubVaio
MODJ-120859: Google Picasa
MODJ-120888: Microsoft Office Activation Assistant
MODJ-120905: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software
MODJ-120945: Corel bdtool
MODJ-121003: InterVideo WinDVD
MODJ-121436: Microsoft Works 9.0
MODJ-121475: Microsoft Office 2007 System
MODJ-121536: Big Fish Games
MODJ-122196: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0
MODJ-123594: WebCam Companion
MODJ-124814: Sony Vaio User Guide VGN-FW series
MODJ-125696: Click to Disc Editor
MODJ-Sony_Video_Shared_Library 3.3: Sony Video Shared Library
MODJ-VAIO_DVD_Menu_Data 1.0: VAIO DVD Menu Data 1.0

 

How did you access the partition out of curiosity?

 

It's a standard NTFS partition given an incorrect partition ID (27) which makes it "hidden" within Windows, so it's just a matter of changing the partition ID from 27 to 07 (NTFS) and giving it a drive letter. I've done that in the script using Windows own diskpart utility...

 

dmm1983,

I have already fixed the battery error. I deleted the ISBR folder, startup entries, etc and everything is OK now: battery charging and no popup.

I guess I have downloaded the right FEP version, because I downloaded all drivers from the same location and everything else worked out just fine.

I took a screenshot from my Device Manager, showing what is installed. I have the BT device and the wireless lan both showing there as installed. The wireless lan is working fine just as the BT device (I have paired my computer with my palm Treo 680).

When telling Windows to search for the driver inside the folder I have the drivers downloaded and extracted, it finds the software but says it can`t find the specified file. Weird ...

BTW, Since I am from Brazil, my Windows is the Brazilian portuguese version, so names and positions in Device Manager aren`t what you guys are used to. But I guess you will do just fine reading it...

dmm1983, I will try what you suggested and let you know if it worked.

Thanks!

 

Hi.
Lonzo , have you tried installing the Atheros Wireless Drive?
You can find the driver here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNFW139E&upd_id=3637&os_id=28[/URL].
Just make sure you extract the file first and install it through the Device Manager.

 

But, how did you find where to change the ID? (Sorry for what is probably a newbie question).
Thanks

 

Type diskpart in a command prompt window and enter the below lines (or enter the lines in a textfile and run diskpart /s c:\file.txt)...

Unhide and mount recovery partition:

select disk 0
select partition 1
set id=07
assign letter=X
exit

Unmount and hide recovery partition:

select disk 0
select partition 1
remove letter=X
set id=27
exit

Of course, disk 0 and partition 1 is the first partition on your system HDD where the recovery partition is always located. If you're looking to change partition id on something else than the recovery partition, then you should first type "list disk" and after selecting the right disk "list partition" in order to find and select the right partition...

 

Hello,

I'm starting with clean install I found drivers in C:\Windows\Drivers, there are two folders "EXE" and "INF". At first i will try to use drviers from EXE folder.