Running Windows Vista on an SZ

Now that the Vista public beta 2 is available for download I'm considering upgrading or doing a clean install from XP Pro on my SZ160 with it I'm not using my SZ for anything important at the moment and I've already burned restore disks. From anyone who is currently running Vista on an SZ, what problems can I expect to have? Right now all I'm using the SZ for is web surfing and some Microsoft Word and Photoshop.

 

You shouldn't replace your OS, it is beta code and therefore unstable and unreliable. You could dual boot if you want to play, but not everything works - screen brightness, wireless switch and more which I can't remember.

I made a thread on Vista on the SZ a little while ago.

 

Thanks for the info. So there is no way to control the display brightness with Vista? Thats not great.

 

If the topic was "a while ago" ( end of may in fact), does that mean it was Beta 1?

Perhaps B2 addresses some of the issues... i'm grabbing the release from yesterday now, i'm going to give it a whirl, as i go into both Win98 and XP when it hit Beta 2 level... never had any stop-the-presses level of problems

 

No it was Beta 2, I have an MSDN Account.

 

Have you tried to install Sony's notebook control and shared lib and the utilities? I was able to get Hotkey to work in vista with my T250.

 

So i post this from within Beta 2 and IE 7... the OS is super slick looking, but i've got tons of hardware issues starting with my docking station.. seems like Vista is not a fan of it at all, i get "invalid signal" on my 19" Acer widescreen, but maybe that'll work out after i get some issues resolved

Actual install of the OS is painless as they ask yuo a few questions up front, then its hands-off until its ready to use... athough it never asked me for an Administrator password and i was able to click the Adminstrator account on login and it let me right in without asking for any password...

So off to resolve some hardware issues, but so far (like 30 mins worth so far) i definitely like

 

My issues with Vista beta2 (+ the office 2007 beta) are:

- Will install standard NVIDIA drivers, but can't upgrade these to the new NVIDIA drivers as it won't recognise the graphics card and therefore the NVIDIA install program gives me a "hardware is not supported" error.

- Bluetooth doesn't install. Not sure how to change the PID if someone can explain that would be very helpful

- Power management doesn't work, and therefore battery life sucks

- short keys don't work (S1, S2, volume, brightness etc)

- No way to turn down the brightness

- hibernation and standby with and without lid closed works only very intermittently

- get searchindex.exe stopped and run DLL as an app errors constantly, which ties up the system for minutes on end and often crashes it.

All in all, it's not really a great success I think. I'm keen to learn of your experiences to see if you've had better results.


Also, I didn't try the fingerprint scanner software. It does recognise the device correctly.

-Bastian

 

this may be a dumb question to you, but i don't know better: if i install vista in the future will it wipe out all the files i've saved up in the HD? or can vista copy it to its new OS?

 

Are you able to control the brightness of your display? Reading from others that this isn't possible with Vista on an SZ is the only thing stopping me from installing it.

 

If you "update" no, but they are recommending an install on a clean partition...

mentioned above -and- mentioned quite a few times in the first topic linked to: no, you cannot control brightness

 

And for people who just want to try it and see what Vista is all about, get a disk partition program, spin off a 15-20 gig partition, install the free Beta 2 OS on there.. You can now choose to boot into Vista or XP (the boot menu calls it the "older version of windows")

If you don't like it, you'd simply format the Vista drive from XP and use the partitioning software to fold back in the partition to your others if you want

This OS *in no way, shape, or form* is ready for primary and everyday use as driver support sucks, power management sucks, among tons of other issues (just check out some Vista forums)

 

Just now got it working myself... here's what to do

- Go here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9622
- Running that EXE will extract the drivers
- On that thread is the "Code" for Sony Drivers (last code group there), copy all that text onto the clipboard
- In the dir where the drivers extracted to, there is a file named "NV_SZ.inf", open that with notepad
- Paste in the text from the clipboard into the section towards the bottom
- Goto Control Panel, choose "Hardware and Sound", then "Update Drivers" (this will open Device Manager)
- Goto the video card, right click and choose "Update Driver"
- Use the second option (from Hard Disk), browse to the directory with the drivers and the updated .inf file
- Drivers will install, reboot and voila.... Aero Glass (which is very cool)


Also, for those looking to get IIS7 working:
http://blogs.msdn.com/david.wang/ar...stallation_instructions_for_Vista_Beta_2.aspx

 

Is it possible to run the 64bit version on 32bit hardware like the sz? Reason I ask is that my friend has a copy of the 64bit version and I don't want to wait for a dl to finish.

 

it should be pretty easy to understand that a 64-bit version will only run on a 64-bit system

 

@MorningZ: Very useful. It worked like a charm. Thanks!

 

I hope your Vista install lasts longer than mine..... as my install stopped loading, it just sits at the black screen "in between" the DOS animation screen and the actual Vista login screen, all the while absolutely hammering the Hard Drive...... even when it was running, it would not take the installs of Visual Studio or SQL2005..

So sticking with XP until Vista gets a little more mature

 

Hey, just wanted to give an update on Vista and the SZ120 laptop (i have no idea about other models)

The July CTP that was released it 1000x better than the public Beta 2, the install was much much much smoother (and faster), it picked up the nVidia 7400 right away as Aero-enabled, Network card right off the bat, hell, it even picked up my docking station and is allowing me to use my external Acer monitor, and this is all right out of the box....

 

now one issue that i didn't see addressed in the thread is the use of the integrated or stamina mode. i assume if you are going to be using vista you probably wouldn't be able to use the stamina mode any more, correct? especially not is you plan on running vista aero whatever

 

In my vista thread I mentioned that you can do Stamina OR Speed more with vista. Both will do Aero glass.

P.S. Integrated is Stamina.

 

I'd duel boot, Vista and leopard!

 

Ok i have a Sony sz120 and i want to get vista ultimate 64-bit. I want to know if anyone else is running it on an sz120 because it's not 64-bit. Is there any way of doing this or do you need to get 32-bit. Also, for the people who are running Vista, my friend has the beta OS on his Sony laptop which is an fj series, but none of the Fn or shortcut keys work. There's no real reason I need ultimate but I need at least the professional to connect to my school's network. Can some one recommend to me which Vista I should get or if it even runs smoothly on an sz120.