The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Should I be using new drivers for more Vaio Z?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by runee1000, May 10, 2009.

  1. runee1000

    runee1000 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    176
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Hi: I have a Vaio Z690 and am using the default 174.49 Nvidia drivers which sony provides. What I am wondering is if there is a better driver I should be using then this one. I have read http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=342947
    although could someone point me in the right direction of which driver I should be using, that has been verified that will still allow me to keep all the features such as the stamina vs speed mode switch, shortcut buttons, etc with everything working 100%.

    Thanks guys
     
    runee1000, May 10, 2009
    #1
  2. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

    Reputations:
    2,674
    Messages:
    6,039
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Unless a new Nvidia driver has been modified to work with the Sony utilities that control the function keys and on screen display of settings, it will not work correctly. You may be able to find such modified drivers on places like laptoptogo (I think that's the site) and others but you need to proceed with a little caution. Make sure you have a good image backup of your c: drive or a system restore point set BEFORE you attempt to install a non Sony driver. (Actually I do BOTH even if I am installing a Sony driver. Call me paranoid, but I can't afford to be without my machine for several hours while I recover if a driver messes things up.)

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, May 11, 2009
    #2
  3. Mujja

    Mujja Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    89
    Messages:
    414
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    If everything is working OK for you now then I would stay with the current driver.

    Also, runee1000 mentioned, some drivers will break the VAIO power / brightness controls. I had this issue several times with my previous SZ2 and SZ7. Although with my current AW every nVidia driver I've tried, official and beta, has worked with the VAIO controls.
     
    Mujja, May 11, 2009
    #3
  4. arth1

    arth1 a҉r҉t҉h

    Reputations:
    418
    Messages:
    1,910
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    The main reason I would not want these drivers is that they aren't signed, and you have to disable driver verification to run them, so you open a hole for viruses and trojans to exploit.
     
    arth1, May 11, 2009
    #4
  5. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I'd go with this - unless you have a performance issue - you don't have to, and its easier not to.

    On the Intel side - I upgraded a dtiver for the older X3100 on an SZ - everything works fine - the old one led to artefacts sometimes... don't know why...
     
    DetlevCM, May 11, 2009
    #5
  6. runee1000

    runee1000 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    176
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    okay thanks guys, i guess for now i'll stick with the drivers i have ^^
     
    runee1000, May 11, 2009
    #6