P1 No Bloatware Vista Recovery Disc for Vaio TZ Series

Hi Guys

I just recently purchased the Portable One Recovery disc for the Vaio TZ series from www.portableone.com. I actually bought the XP version and the Vista version. They use Acronis Home Edition to deliver the image to your PC from the 2 DVDs that are supplied. I got both XP and Vista because I wanted to have the two options available for me. There are so many people that have gone through the downgrade process and have had hiccups so I decided to cheat and use someone elses hard work. I have a TZ195 and was worried about the space issues due to the large footprint of Vista and also the performance hit based on the specs of the laptop. After first getting the TZ, I did what everyone else does and uninstalled all the bloatware. The performance was great after that and I am quite happy running Vista with all the frills with no issues. Onto the discs...

After creating a couple of copies of the Sony recovery cd I used the P1 Vista disc and blew away the recovery partition on the C: drive to make one large partition. It's a very simple process. Boot up with disc one which loads up the Acronis environment. Change the disc and choose your partition options and whether you want to resize or keep them intact. After that you hit next and it took about 15 minutes to dump the image onto my TZ195. After one reboot Vista loads up like it was straight out of the box and you can get on with installing all the necessary applications.

My main reason for using this image CD was because I wasn't sure what was "necessary" and not in terms of "included software". I was afraid if I uninstalled a particular application that the features of the laptop would be impaired like the AV mode, instant on etc. After the reimaging of Vista, the only things included were the Toshiba bluetooth stack, drivers, Instant On, the general Vaio Utils set like camera, sony library, WAN, power management etc. No other apps like sonic stage or anything else for that matter. I was pretty suprised because I thought that there were more things that were required to drive the AV facility.

With that I have recovered HEAPS of space and with everything installed such as OS, Photoshop CS 3, full office suite, dvd software, skype, MSN and a few other things I'm left with about 25GB free space. Prior to getting the recovery space back I was left with 14GB with a similar install setup.

Onto the bad... I've never been a fan of the Toshia Bluetooth Stack. I have always uninstalled it (even on my SZ) and ended up using the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack instead. I find the Toshiba one to be very intermittent, it doesn't respond from sleep mode and I always end up needing to re pair devices. The Widcomm interface is much nicer and seems to be more customizable. I know that the Sony image includes the Widcomm stack, so I don't really know why Portable One used the Toshiba one. I've read on other forums that the Toshiba stack has problems with Vista but don't know exactly why.

So as an overall verdict I'm really happy with the P1 Vista recovery discs which are about $29USD including shipping. It's the same price for the XP recovery disc. I would definitely recommend it considering that it took me almost 2 hours to uninstall the bloatware from my TZ and in the end you're left with a system probably has a messed up registry due to that process. As mentioned before the reimaging process took 15 minutes and you have the option to resize partitions in the process so it's worth the low price you pay for it. For now I'm content with Vista so I don't think I'll actually use the XP recovery disc, but if I do I will update you guys.

For those of you interested in looking at it, their website is www.portableone.com

Cheers

Saj

 

I'm not good with pc's, my TZ-195 is on the way cant I just pop in the p1 disc on startup or do I actually have to do something before I reinstall vista with the P1 disc?

p.s hope ur enjoying the TZ!

 

Well it's always advisable to have a copy of the manufacturer recovery discs just in case something goes wrong or if you want to sell your laptop down the road. So when you get your TZ make a copy of the sony recovery discs using their utility and then go ahead with the P1 disc. It's up to you if you wish to keep the recovery partition or not. If you don't think you would ever need the Sony recovery disc then you could just pop the P1 disc in on initial start up, but I personally wouldn't. Worst case scenario, if your P1 disc doesnt work or messes up your PC you always have a safety net to restore back to factory settings

I'm loving my TZ 195!

 

Hey, im waiting for my disc's from portable one. Can you explain how to make a copy of my recovery partition, if thats what you have done, before you whipped the HD drive ?

Best regards

Kim

 

Yes, that's what you should do before you run the clean install discs. Simply go into the Sony Recovery Center and choose the option to make recovery discs. It takes 2 DVDs or 1 DL DVD. The wizard will walk you through the process. Good luck!

 

To elaborate a little more on the point, once you follow the steps that voipben mentioned to create the sony recovery discs, I suggest you make a couple of copies. Once you blow away your recovery partition those discs are the only thing you can rely on to restore it to factory standard. There are ways to "copy" the recovery partition as is, but that is a bit more advanced so you're better off just making a couple of copies of the Sony recovery disc.

Day 3 and the P1 install is running great.

 

I know they have recovery discs for the TZ series, but do they have them for the FZ series also??

I continue to hear good things about P1's trimmed down images and I would like to try it out on my FZ 180E.

 

I'm pretty sure Sony has recovery discs for all their laptops models. It's been a very long time since manufacturers have "included" the actual disc with laptops. Have a look in the Vaio menus... you should see something along the lines of recovery center. Maybe even look through the FZ manual. In the TZ one it states the process required to create the discs.

 

The whole reason of getting recovery images from P1 is because it doesn't have all of the sony crapware on it. P1 goes through and deletes all of the crap off.

I sure as hell don't want to put my lappie back to a Factory "Sony" state.

 

That's very true, Nate. However, you may decide you want certain applications that P1 deemed unessential or you may need to reinstall applications down the road (Protector Suite, Vaio utilities, etc.) and may not want to wipe out your hard drive in order to do so.

That's where having the recovery discs comes in handy. They don't only allow a restore to the factory state, they enable you to install/reinstall individual drivers and programs.

 

It also comes down to when you want to resell the laptop... most people would kick up a fuss if you dont have the "original" drivers and setup...

Plus its a failsafe if for whatever reason the P1 disc doesnt work for you...

 

I already have two sets of RD's that I made, so going back to a factory state won't be a problem if I choose to do so. I just want to know if P1 has recovery discs for the FZ series.

 

Hep, cool.....have just made a set of recover discs.

If o choose to recover, will these dics make up the HD with a hidden install partition, or will it just install the system again ?

Kim, who wait for my P1 recover discs

 

I just got my TZ198 and I used PortableOne's XP disk to install Win XP Pro on my lappy and it went off without a hitch. Easiest thing I've ever done. And it did it so fast, I was amazed!

 

So once u've made ur recovery disc, pop in the P1 disc and it will automatically blow away your partition and just resintall xp with all the TZ drivers? Alos once u do an install with the P1 disc does the "instant on dvd" player mode still work where u dont have to boot up the OS? and does the fingerprint scanner still work?

 

Yes you just put the disc in and follow their instructions. You have to choose to blow away your partition and resize. By default it does not.

All the features work like instant on, fingerprint scanner etc. As mentioned before, I don't like the Toshiba bluetooth Stack that they use in the image so I uninstalled that and installed the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack.

 

hi mr Makaveli dude sr.
I am going to buy the TZ soon (not soon enough) here in Japan, and want to downgrade to XP, now I have 2 questions,
1, do you know if Portable1 will ship to this sides of the world (japan)
2, since the lappy comes with Vistas, do I need an XP licence for the downgrade?
3, uhh yeah 3 sorry, I read somewhere in here that you need to keep some drivers such as batterycare and WinDvd installers, wassup with that?

Thanks much in advance

 

I think it blows the restore partition away by default, if I remember correctly.

Funny, I did the exact same thing. Uninstalled Toshiba stack and installed Widcomm. Toshiba had problems recognizing my Logitech mouse.

 

Hehe, three questions and you're out of favors!

1. I think someone else ordered from Europe.
2. Yes you need an XP license, P1's disk only installs XP Pro.
3. I needed to keep nothing, as far as I'm concerned. I never use Battery Care and WinDVD was installed properly.

 

Hey, they ship to europe.... i have just received my disc's from P1.


// Kim, Denmark

 

Wow thanks for the fastestes of replies, I tried to buy from P1 but the googl checkout said they don't support my address here in the nippon lands, AHHHH!!!
HELP!! what to do,
yeah Im technologically impaired, so I really don't think I'm going to be able to pull the "easy step by step" the masters have left here in this so great forums
ahhhhhgg!!!
HELLPPP!!!!!

 

Ain't the TZ models in Japan and US different? If Japan's TZs can use the recovery discs from PortableOne, does that mean their SZs can use PortableOne's recovery discs too?

 

How does it work? I don't see the disc's in their site...I have to contact them and tell them to ship the P1 Optimized?

Any link?

 

Search for 'recovery' in the search box in the PortableOne site.

 

I have not tried the Vista disc's yet, but XP is running fine, i had a small problem with my wireless, but fixed it, så now my Thai TZ is upgraded with 2 GB ram, and downggraded to XP ;o)

// Kim

 

Here's a link to the XP Recovery disks:

http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=P1TZ1XP&Category_Code=

 

Is it worth to purchase these P1 discs for the Japan's TZ? I heared that they have less bloatware than the US one's.

 

Only if you want to downgrade to XP.

 

After I do the P1 install can I just pop back in my vaio recovery disc that I originally made and choose the one program (windvd) that want? or will it just begin to reinstall the whole sony vista version again?! Also what is baterycare and whydo I need it? And last thing, how do I uninstall the Toshiba BT and install the Widcomm BT?

 

My TZ195 just arrived.... And I just ordered the P1 discs...

But what about the questions posted just above... anybody want to answer them? I've got the same question!

 

Yes, as long as you make your recover disc, you can go into the recovery center and choose to install only WinDVD.

As for battery care, I didn't bother to reinstall it because my TZ195 does an excellent job managing the battery through the Vista utility (with tweaked settings). I believe Sony's version allows you to set the battery not to ever fully discharge, which supposedly extends battery life--I didn't feel a need for this.

Finally, if you prefer the Wildcomm BT, simply uninstall the Toshiba version and download the Wildcomm software from Microsoft. There are several links to it in other threads. I've found the Toshiba version works quite well and I didn't encounter any of the glitches detailed in other threads.

 

Does anyone knows if the P1 recovery discs works with TZ36GN? With the P1 recovery discs, can i partition my hard disk and install both Vista and XP?

 

Battery care allows you to set the maximum charging you want on the battery. Research has confirmed that the optimal charge is 50% to maximum the number of charge cycles of your battery. 50% is too low for me so I usually set my TZ at 80%.

I am also considering these Recovery Discs.. Does anyone know whether or not it is possible to install the Battery care utility with the P1 Recovery Discs?

 

Can anyone also tell me whats the differences between a semi-clean and clean install of vista?

 

On thes TZ's you save alomst 20GB; which is great for machines with the SSD drives. Battery Care is fully functional on the latest Vista recovery systems by user request and/or people that previously used it to set charging limits on the battery which made it neccessary to add; Sony locked it out on XP though.

 

Hello Guys,

I was looking for a forum like this.

I own a TZ and wish to get rid of the bloatware. I went to the P1 site but could not find any reference to the recovery disk you guys are talking about.
Can somebody help me?

Thanks,

Vin

 

Here is the link for Vista Business: http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=P1TZ1&Category_Code=

Here is the link for XP Pro:
http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=P1TZ1XP&Category_Code=

To get XP pro key, all i did was call MS and they gave me one for free (didnt even ask for my vista business key!) P1 is nice software too!

 

Hello everybody, i have a big problem with my Vaio TZ3. My recovery DVD is broken, and i formatted the backup partition. I don't need all the softwares and drivers couse i just downloaded by vaio-link site. What i need is the "AV mode" software. I can't find it on the web. Can someone help me or give me a public ftp link to this software?

Thanks.