SZ600 and TZ100 Series US Downgrade Disks Available

same here, got mine 5 min ago. fedex overnight.

 

Wow they splurged on overnight? Nice.

 

got mine this mrning too. overnight =D

 

as promised here are the pixs

 

Is anyone really planning to downgrade? I considered it, but I did a semi clean install and Vista is more appealing now. I'm still glad I ordered it just in case I decide to in the future.

 

i already downgraded havent used the sony cds though I see no point upgrading to vista. I was waiting for SP1 to go Vista but only a small improvement I rather install SP3 on my XP

 

From personal experience, XP and Vista perform identically assuming you have 2GB RAM. Of coz, after you tweaked Vista by disable all those non-essential services and use ReadyBoost + SuperFetch. My Vista loads into desktop in 48sec with 1.06Ghz cpu and 4200rpm HDD.

But again, what is point of running Vista if you disable all the features XP doesn't have?

 

Sorry I didn't read too much of the thread. Whats the difference between these official discs and the ones from PortableOne? Both of them install a clean install of XP on the TZ?

 

AH I got mine from portable one, had it the P1 optimized and recovery discs
ordered wednesday28th, it went out monday3rd and Im looking at it right now its to the right of my Tecra, what a difference in the screens I will NEVER buy another laptop or LCD monitor without LED backlight

 

Im glad to report that my recently acquired TZ150 is running P1's optimized XP with no issues that I am aware of as of yet. I also have the Vista DVD so I might try a dual boot to learn the ins and outs and arounds of Vista and see if can be of any use to me. I am just happy with the TZ period...regardless of OS.

 

Considering it... my semi clean install never quite worked right. And my T4010 with XP that I recently sold was noticeably faster doing the same things as the TZ. That bothers me a bit.

Mines set to come on the 12th... Shipped FedEx

 

And do the downgrade disks provide the full functionality of the notebook we get with Vista? I know the Sony site still lists a host of incompatibilities with XP, but I'm assuming thats not so with their distributed disks? If thats the case I'll jump ship to XP asap.

 

same here, i might do the dual boot

 

when you make the request for the Downgrade disks, the confirmation email arrives when? just after you asked? because i asked thursday and the confirmation email still didn't arrive.

 

i say re-do it, i got the email within minutes... Once i get mines on the 12th, i'll make an iso image and upload it somewhere so people can download it and burn it... anyone knows where can i upload two 4+Gb files?

 

I just received my disks yesterday, a pleasant surprise since I forgot I got them under the "free" plan!

The good news is I have my TZ90, which has to go back to Japan to be repaired (spilled-on keyboard and VGA out not working), so I thought I would test the Sony disks on this TZ!

I can then compare it to the TZ198 I have, which was downgraded using P1's disks. While the P1 process was nice and smooth, I did have to install the Widcomm Bluetooth because the default Toshiba stack would not work.

And I still have not entirely solved the sleep/shutdown issue, although I seem to have no problems now due to the videocam driver, so it will be interesting to see if the Sony disks provide a problem-free install.

 

I have ordered the disks, but I'm curious how this will work. Does this do a "clean" XP install - i.e. do I loose all my installed apps, etc?

Does the XP install disk install all the Sony bloatware?

 

BTW, to answer the question asked upthread, I'm Canadian and entered my Canadian address, and it accepted my order and sent me a confirmation. We'll see how long it takes to get here - the confirmation says it will ship Fedex ground.

 

Yes, both the P1 and Sony XP "downgrade" recovery disks install a clean version of XP, so you will have to reinstall your favorite apps, and back up all you docs.

While P1's disk was specifically designed to eliminate "bloatware," the Sony disk also warns that "many of the software applications originally shipped with Windows Vista will not be available after you downgrade to Windows XP Professional." I understand that to mean "no bloatware."

 

So has anyone downgraded yet? Is there any issues (fingerprint, i.e?) Share the knowledge guys

 

I will do it on monday, I get my laptop and the dvds in on monday! I CANT WAIT!

 

yes someone do please tell once they have done it ..is it just bloatware it removes..?..i have difficulty matching as in uk where the models offered seem different and i am about to buy one...we have TZ 11/21 !

 

Can anyone provide a valid promotional code again? I tried all the ones that were mentioned in this thread, but none of them work. Thanks.

 

The code listed is still I1A17

If it doesnt work, try tomorrow. It might update tomorrow, so I will post it once i get it.

EDIT: NEW CODE IS O82O1 as of December 10th

 

OK, bad news folks. I tried these VAIO recovery disks on my Japanese TZ90 and it resulted in a Blue Screen, so that doesn't work.

My Dynamism recovery disks also didn't work, they ended up in a "swap disk 1 and disk 2" loop, so I couldn't recover Win Home Premium either.

I'm going to try P1 recovery disks now...

 

OK, P1's XP downgrade disk had no problems recovering my TZ90, but the Bluetooth problem remains. I will see if the unit can sleep/shut down without any problems.

 

None of the codes in the tread worked for me... where do you get the codes from? does anyone as a new working code? thanks..

 

The code is listed here towards the bottom of the site, it changes periodically.
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/page.do?page=/Support/vaio_support.html&name=VAIO Support

 

Thanks a lot for the info. The current code is not working, I'll try again tomorrow.

 

crap... anyone tried it on sz series?

 

The Sony disks do a model number check, so when it says TZ100 series, they mean it. I thought my TZ90 might be able to sneak by, but no such luck. As long as you have an SZ6XX model number, you should be OK.

 

I get my discs today, and my SZ680 today.. cant wait

 

New Code O82o1

 

So my disks are with me now and I'm using an SZ680.

Has anyone completed the downgrade with all of the features still working like FN brightness/volume ect?

 

Got my laptop, installing XP on it now

 

Congrats! Let us know how it goes!

 

I've completed my XP downgrade on my sz680 and am happy to report that I've had zero problems so far.

My Fn keys are all working and everything. I'll make sure to report back if I have any problems!

 

I installed it, I am having issues changing the brightness, I am gonna check the computer settings, but I hope I can fix it.

Well I checked the settings I am having issues changing them in the Vaio Power Management, any ideas?

 

Ryan do the Sony downgrade disc leave all the bloatware or does it do a clean install.

 

It is basically a clean install. Microsoft Office Trial comes with it, Norton and a few other programs. MUCH less than my sony intially came with though. I had 100GB free when it was done installing compared to about 85GB free with Vista Business.

All in all, well worth the 10$ I paid for shipping!

 

I figured out that I can only change the brightness when using nVidia 8400 and the brightness is stuck at highest with the X3100.. is this normal?

 

I think you can do a bios update to fix that

 

Hi uber,

I'm considering purchasing the P1 XP disks...Because I will take a japanese TZ I was wondering? So with the P1's XP disk, you had only the bluetooth issue? Did you solve it?

 

I solved it on my TZ198. I didn't have time to tackle the issue before I shipped off my TZ90 to Dynamism, I'm sure that installing the Widcomm driver on the TZ90 would solve the problem.

I talked to Dynamism about the unnecessary need of swapping disks 1 and 2 and the rep told me that that was completely normal and that I should have done it even more than the six times I tried! I pointed out that swapping was totally unnecessary with P1's disks and they should have a look at how Acronis should really work!

 

Yes, I agree with the BIOS update from Sony's FTP site. After that, reinstall Sony Notebook Utilities (if you're confused about the many Notebook Utilities, it's the one with the largest file size).

And I just got my downgrade disks. Funny that it says overnight shipping on the front.

 

well i dont see a bios update on the site, anyone got a ftp or a specific file?

 

ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/SZ6/BIOS

 

That fixed it, thanks!

 

Hi!

This is the R0091S5 bios for the Vaio SZ680.
Does anybody know if the newer version of this file (R0101S5) still correct the problem that has on tehsu's SZ?

I have the R0101S5 on my Sz680N01 and it works well with Vista. I never tried the XP.

Tehsu: is it possible to get the drivers from the XP recovery you ordered?
(not the full recovery (I want to use my own language), just the drivers and utilities)...

Thanks in advance,

Pdudas

 

mine came in the mail today