Slow/freezing VPCSA2Z9E with i7 and RAID SSD??

Hello everyone,
Before Christmas, I bought my first Sony VAIO model VPCSA2Z9E. It should be a flash lightning computer, with i7 processor and SSD Raid setup.
I bought this from a guy who only had it for a few months, but claimed he hardly used it. It looks brand new, and to start with I was very happy.
Now I found the laptop somhow have a defect. I'm convinced this is software related, but can't isolate the error.

When it has been powered on for 20-25 minutes, all four cores goes to 98-100% and everything stops working. Sometimes it locksup so bad, I have to press and hold the power button to power off. It freezes completly.
Since ths laptop is still under warrnty (bought march 2012) I contacted Sony and told them about the problem. And I was happy when UPS came and picked it up three days later.
After 10days I had it back, restored to it's original point, so identical to when I bought it. Well, I powered it up and thought everything was all right and installed +100 updates from microsoft and Sony. Quickly I discovered the error was still there. My light speed, 2000$ computer was slower than my old Lenovo and totally useless..

Then I have had some writhing back and forth with Sony support, who now claims software installedon the laptop is not under warrenty. This really pissed me of. I bought the computer well, yes used, but still less than one year old, with Windows 7 Pro OEM installed. And now they claim that any software related problems making my computer useless is not their problem? Can this be true? Btw, I'm from Europe/Denmark.

I have tried recovering several times. Tried updating everyting, bios, windows, all drivers etc.. Nothing seems to help. No matter what, it locksup after 20-25minutes. I have taken some screenshots I will try to attach to this post. I would really appriciate any suggestions or if anyone konw of others having the same issue.
Also I'm chocked by the amount of bloatware installed from Sony. This really should be illigal! So if anyone has a link to a clean install guide, I would be gratefull..
Sorry for any incorrect spelling!

 

Run LatencyMon and which one has highest DPC count (under drivers) ?

I had similar issues, very high CPU usage on idle ~50 % and it turns out i had loose connector under keyboard, more specificly ODD connector was not properly attached. After fixing it CPU usage was back to normal.

 

Pohmell,
Thanks a lot for you answer. Please see the attached screenshot where ndis.sys seems to be the highest DPC count score, besides the program itself?
Is there anything else I should look for in the LatencyMon program?

Where do I find a clean install guide?

 

Guides for SA http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...al-sony-sb-sa-sc-sd-series-owners-thread.html
Another really goot thread where you find all guides http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...rces-vpc-z1-faq-windows-7-install-guides.html

Used this simple program to create bootable usb

Using assist key i entered Bios or pressing F2.
I changed boot option from UEFI to legacy which allows USB boot.
Then i chose USB boot option and magic happened.

But don't make same mistake i did. Back up windows serial key + office, additionally preinstalled software or anything you don't want to loose. Also the recovery partition might come handy in future.

 

Pohmell,
Thanks again. I will look into doing a clean install.

What about the DCP count? Is my count for ndis.sys high? I got the idea to update my Intel drivers by the automatic driver detector on Intel.com.
It hasen't solved the problem, but the computer behaves and feels better... (I don't believe it will cras totally any longer, but I will test..)

How about windows log files? I'm convinced Microsoft could isolate this problem in a few minutes, and I did try to call them, but since the computer where bought with Windows 7 Pro, as an OEM install, they say I should ask Sony.. :-\

 

The ndis.sys count is very high. It's most probably a netwrok driver that is causing it to be that high. or it's just a bystander. Rare cases using wired connection and disabling wifi may fix it.

Altho you could do it yourself using windows tool: Resource Monitor to find the problematic file and Event viewer to see all errors / warnings / information logs.

 

Pohmell, everyone..
Thx.. I have now done a lean install of Win 7 Pro, and laptop boots fine. I now have to figure out the correct order to install all drivers to get it working. Again my model is VPCSA2Z9E I guess it's the SA that's important? I have looked the links you provided, but don't see a list with explicit order to follow?
Can someone help? I will be grateful!

 

Just a quick update.
I did a clean install, and installed drivers in the order specified here http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...b-windows-7-clean-install-backup-restore.html
I have everything working except multi gesture touchpad. But I can live without this
I did activate by phone, but it worked fine..

The cause of my above failures still remains as unsolved, but now it's gone. I however have a driver for a GOBI -something- which I dunno what is..? I have see in the txt file with the driver, it has something with the ndis.sys thing to do, but as written I followed the driver install order, and didn't find it necessary to install. Maybe my luck?

Getting rid of all the bloatware was a blessing. Unbelievable some people can cope with that..

Greetings from Denmark.!

 

Gobi could be your wireless LAN /3G / Bluetooth connection device. Some even support GPS.