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    Reformatting an SZ

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by teatime0315, May 7, 2008.

  1. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I just ordered an SZ691 from amazon. It comes with Vista Business Edition and I was wondering what is the best way to reformat it. I've read that Sony doesn't supply you with the Vista disk so is there an alternative way to reformat? Is it possible to DL the Vista Business from a torrent site and use the Key that was assigned to my laptop. And if I do do this then is there a specific version of Vista I need to get (ie: OEM version?). Thanks :D
    pS. All the drivers are located on the Sony website correct? Thanks agaain :D
     
  2. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    Grab any Vista disc to reformat. Drivers are on Sony's website, but also on the computer if you don't want to download them.
     
  3. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oh yeah... are there drivers for Windows Vista 64 bit?
    I'm thinking of upgrading it to Ultimate later on if Vista isn't a pain.
     
  4. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the quick reply Lithus :D
     
  5. Jamste

    Jamste Notebook Geek

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    hey there,

    My SZ laptop came with business also but i've formatted it and installed xp. In your case, the best way to format it is create the vaio recovery discs and every time you want to format your laptop and have a clean installation just whack in the recovery discs and it will wipe your drive and put everything back to the way you bought it.

    I'm based in Australia and my laptop had no bloat-ware what so ever. So i don't know what your computer is like. If you wanna do a clean install without the bloat-ware I recommend installing xp professional and downloading the xp downgrade drivers from the sony website. XP is still the best in my opinion now that SP3 is out!

    Good luck!
     
  6. nobscot6

    nobscot6 Wise One

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    yes, there are plenty of drivers for x64. you'll like it. Don't let folks scare you off....
     
  7. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for your recommendation Jamste. I think our SZ's in the States have a bunch of bloatware. I'm just going to play it safe and reformat. I just checked the Sony site for drivers. They have the 691 but only have drivers for Xp Pro and Vista Business. On the other hand the 780 has Drivers for all versions of Vista. Is it safe to assume that I could use the drivers from the 780 on my 691? Since they are almost the alike except for CPU? (penryn vs Santa rosa). Also I noticed that they do not say if the drivers are compatible with 64 bit vista. Does anyone have an SZ running Vista x64? If so please shed some wisdom, Thanks :D
     
  8. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    PS - Where is the "search". Haha. It seemed like it disappeared. Wish it was there, it would've been very helpful. :)
     
  9. teatime0315

    teatime0315 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Has anyone successfully installed Windows Vista 64 bit on the SZ yet? If so please shed some light on your experiences. (where to obtain drivers? faster than 32 bit?) Thanks :D
     
  10. J Untitled

    J Untitled Notebook Consultant

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    ... What's worse about Windows Vista Business versus Windows Vista Home Premium?