SZ1XP/C (almost) clean recovery

I wanted to remove the recovery partition and also resize the partitions the way I want them to be. I also did not want to use separate WinXP install disc, but the one that comes with the laptop, installation of which is found only on recovery disks. Thus, after two tries, this is the procedure, for the UK version of SZ1XP/C.

0. Backup pall your stuff. Whatever happens is your fault only, so make sure you do backup properly. I copied both C and D partitions to other computer

1. Made your recovery DVDs. It uses two discs

2. Put disc number one into DVD drive, restart, it will start recovery from there

3. Choose whatever option you need, I chose the second one, to resize partitions, then made c: 25GB and d: rest of it. 25GB is the lowest VAIO recovery will let you set. After all, it needs so much to install all the bloating crap.

4. Let it go as it can, it will recover C disk (lasts 1h), then restart, then it goes through Windows setup (~30mins) etc. It will briefly ask for disc #2 - give it to him. Then remove disc from the drive and restart.

5. When it finally restarts and logs you in, it will immediatelly pops in full screen for you to insert disk #2. DO NOT DO THAT.

5. Open Task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), look for VARU.exe in the processes and kill it. Then go Start/Run/regedit, HKLM / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentControlSet, click on Run and kill the line which has VARU in it - this will prevent it appearing after each restart

6. At this moment, you have all required Sony utilities for the laptop, all switches work. Everything is installed, expect Toshiba Bluetoosh stack for Windows. However, since new version of that has come up you can download it freshly from VAIO Update site. After that, you are all set to go. There were 6 updates for me, apart from this BT update, among them nVidia graphics and Intel wireless driver.

7. None of the Sony-made bloatware is installed from recovery disk #1, but you get:
Adobe Acrobat Elements
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
Adobe Reader Update 7.0.3
Adobe Reader Update 7.0.2
Adobe Reader Update 7.0.1
Adobe Reader 7.0 - restart?!
Google Toolbar for IE
Norton Internet Security 2005 - restart
Norton Security Center (offensive piece of ****)
SafeGuard PrivateDisk 1.00.6 Try and Buy - restart
Yahoo Messenger 8.0

I deinstalled all of this (restart is written next to stuff that requires it - Adobe Reader really pisses me off asking that - it's a *reader* for heaven's sake).

There are also VAIO wallpapers that come in 20 different sizes - I deinstalled all of them. The only useful software is: Intervideo WinDVD for VAIO (v5.0) because it gives you free DVD playback.

After this, I ran Symantec's own removal tool + Registry Mechanic to clean the mess left by bad uninstallation programs.

So, that's that. Again - the most important thing - do not let him install anything from disc two, after you have logged in into Windows - all the Sony bloatware and bunch of other trials and sh*t is on disc 2.

I really wish Sony to kick out entire software department and hire normal people who would do this differently: install only Windows + requried utilities for all the laptop functionality and then let me pick if I want any of the other software offers. It is good that Sony packs so much, but it is real **** it forces you to have all that.

 

well, they'd lose an important revenue stream if they removed the software... so you'd ultimately end up having to pay for it.

When uninstalling things... just select "reboot later" and continue the removal of software. Reboot after you've removed them all. It's just that they want to reload the Windows registry to make sure everything's happy. It's window's fault, not Adobe's

 

No, it's Adobe fault, 100%. They wrote the reader to work that way, not Microsoft. I have seen 100s of products working just fine without restart. Hey - MS Office installs without restarts. The reason Adobe does it is because they install startup items and wants to make sure they are started.
A *reader* or viewer should be blazing fast and without any hassles - virtues Adobe Reader has none of.

I also did not suggest that Sony removes the software - only to give me an option when I'm doing reinstall, like HP does (just one example). All that crap can happily be there on the first startup, but do not force me to install it when I'm doing it all from scratch.
There's really no excuse for that. None.

Oh, and I'm not saying that I really did restart at those points, just noted what asks user to restart. Your experience will help you to decide what to do.

 

I have just got a Vaio (VGN FE790G) from Costco and I was considering your reinstallation to get rid of the bloatware and useless programs. Thanks for your note on this.

How important is the part "After this, I ran Symantec's own removal tool + Registry Mechanic to clean the mess left by bad uninstallation programs"

Is this automatic with the right program and start or does it require going after each deletion? I don't feel capable of doing this manually.

If I just skip this part would I keep getting messages popping up, etc. or is this just being tidy.

Thanks

 

For the most part, you probably don't need to delete the Adobe software. Elements allows you to make PDFs, and is a program I've been hoping to get for some time now. Photoshop might only be a baby or trial version though.

As long as you run Norton's uninstaller (I think it is on the CD) and run a registry cleaner (CC Cleaner maybe), Norton shouldn't be a problem. I've done a few upgrades/removals of that software without too much trouble .

 

Use CCleaner, after the Symantecs own removeal.

 

Just what I was looking for, hope it works for me..

When you say "Run Norton's uninstaller" do you mean through add / remove programs, or is there a secret location I don't know about?

Ta,
VM

 

So is the main difference between your clean install and this one:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=44587

...that the one in the URL above doesn't require you to keep the recovery partition? If so, I'll try the former technique first because I only want a C: partition.

 

Did not check this thread in quite a while...

By Norton's uninstaller I mean the utility which is downloadable from Symantec's site. It does pretty good job and the only stuff registry cleaner found (after it) was dead links towards trial software and similar stuff - nothing major really. No leftover .dlls, .vxd etc. I'm 99% that one would not get any popups and dialogs if registry clean is not done.

ubercool - with this you can still do repartitioning stuff, any way you want. I think the only restriction is that minimum size for the C is 25GB, anything else is at your will. It was a long time ago, so can't really recall, but pretty sure it's that way.