Problem with Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit drivers on VGN-SR190 (please help)

Hey everyone. I own a vgn-SR190. I recently had HD failure, so had to buy new HD and reinstall vista. My original version of Vista was Business 32-bit. I didn´t make a recovery disc. So I went out and bought vista ultimate 32-bit. Figured I wouldn´t have problems, but I did. I´m having the driver issues that someone in another thread talked about, when you get the problem with vaio mode switch and the battery issue. I downloaded the drivers for Vista Business, figured it would be the same for Ultimate. But I just read someone´s post here that the home premium 32-bit drivers are the same as the ultimate 32-bit drivers. Is that true? if it is, I would just have to download the home premium drivers. I just wanted to know if anybody knows for a fact that the home premium drivers are the same as the ultimate drivers, seeing as the business drivers are obviously different.

I really appreciate any help you may offer. My comp´s been sittin around useless for four days now lol.

 

Vista 32-bit drivers - are Vista 32-bit drivers. It doesn't depend on edition. Also, there are some drivers, that are common for 32 and 64 bit architectures.

I believe, that you've found some different software which Sony provides for different editions of Vista. Yes, it could make you confused. But drivers are definitely the same for different editions of Vista.

I have SR190 also. And I can tell you how I've searched for the drivers... That's what I did:
1) I came to American support site
2) Said that I have SR590 (because it's the latest SR)
3) Choose my OS (which is Windows 7 x64)
4) Downloaded all drivers I needed
5) Unpacked them with 'Universal Extractor'
6) Installed the drivers

Everything is working like charm! Now, even with VT!

Good luck!

PS Don't download BIOS for 590! Search for your own 190.

 

Interesting solution, I´ll give it a shot.

However, the truth is that I am having driver issues, which makes me think there seems to be some sort of difference among 32-bit drivers. I recall someone in another post saying that Home Premium drivers were the same as Ultimate drivers (username Tony, I believe), and someone on that post was complaining about the same issues as me. I was hoping that person would show up and enlighten us, or maybe someone else who had the same problem.

I´ll try both solutions and come back with results. There are other threads that deal with the switch from 32-bit to 64-bit, but I´ve only seen one other person with problems switching between verions of 32-bit.

Thanks again

 

Not sure what the battery issue is, maybe the battery checker? But when you extract the install file (Notebook Utilities?), just don't install the battery checker. Did you want Mode Switch for the sake of having it work, or are you using it to launch applications? This stuff all worked fine before, right?

 

yes, the battery checker. After I install the utilities I get this annoying message that says there's a problem with the battery and that I need to take it out and adjust and if I click ok it will hibernate. When I installed the utilities, I couldn't choose which of them I could install, it just executed everything and didn't give me the choice.

As for the mode switch, I don't really use it, but I get another annoying message at startup saying that the mode switch didn't load properly and that I should restart the computer.

And yes, all of this worked perfectly before the old HDD died.

I'll attempt to fix it with what I've read so far. Soon I'll let you know. But please, if you have other suggestions, post here.

Thank you all

 

But battery checker is not the driver! It's just a software provided by Sony for it's notebooks.

With mode switch I've also had the same issue. But after I've installed new versions of everything all my problems were gone.

If I was you, I'd try to:
1) Make a clean install of your OS
2) Install all drivers, not utilities, but only device drivers
3) Install Sony notebook utilities one by one, not all together, in that order:
3.1) Sony shared library
3.2) Setting Utility Series
3.3) Sony Event Service (after this point FN keys should work)
3.4) Battery Check Utility (verify that you don't have any problems. If you do, your battery is really dead)
3.5) Mode switch (it should work!)
3.6) VAIO Control Center
3.7) VAIO Power management (absolutely unnecessary soft, especially under Windows 7, so I didn't install it. But if you really need it, it should work, I've checked)
3.8) VAIO Smart Network (Optional)
3.9) UPEK Protector Suite (Optional, under 7 perhaps you don't need it)
4) Check if everything is working fine (it really should)
5) Reformat your HDD. Install Windows 7 and forget about Vista LOL.

Really, everything is much more easier under 7. Especially with drivers.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for replying. But I´ve also had some problems installing drivers. For example, the synaptics touchpad driver. When I download from sony esupport, i run the .exe, and it apparently installs properly, but then I get this message saying that it didn´t install properly, and gives me the choice to reinstall correctly. After I do, I get a message saying that the driver only works on Windows Vista . The same thing happens with the utilities.

I actually went to the synaptics site and downloaded the generic driver, and it worked. But I get the same issue with other device drivers.

I want to follow your advice on Windows 7, but I´ll have to wait until it´s available in a more... free form

oh well, I´ll keep trying and post my results.

Thanks again for replying, and if anybody else has any ideas, please reply