Sony FZ21S, Installing XP?

Hi guys.

I bought a Sony Vaio FZ21S last week and im not happy with vista as some of the software ive purchased previously won’t work on it.

Therefore im wanting to downgrade back to XP, ive tried this and i get a error message during the setup saying 'no disks can be found'. What can i do about this?

Also isit possible for you guys to provide me with the drivers which i will need to install after i get XP onto the laptop, in order for certain extra features to work (webcam, graphics card etc). Ive looked all over but can’t find them

Many Thanks for the help.

Michael

 

First have you tried the old software using the Vista compability mode?

Second, the no disk issue is because of the SATA drive. Use the search box at the top of the page. Search for "XP SATA Slipstream". Regarding the drivers search for "FZ XP". Do not include the quotes in either search.

Gary

 

Not getting any results which are relevant from those searches mate, am i doing something wrong?

 

Are you using the search BOX at the top of the page here? (Not one of the search drop downs. They stink!)

I did the first search for XP SATA Slipstream and immediately got hits on the issue and fix.

Gary

 

That search worked alot better.

Ive made some progress, i downloaded the FZ19 XP driver pack and used those SATA drives, which worked. So im now on XP.

The graphics driver in the FZ19 pack didnt work, however i managed to find one which did

However still having problems, the chipset drivers didnt work, so the USB and Memory Card slots arnt working. Also im lacking the bluetooth.

Any ideas where to go from here? Ive read all the posts in the searches here and on google.

 

On any Sony OS install the sequence of installing the drivers is very important. I can't give you the specifics of an XP install on an FZ machine, but I can tell you the order matters. Look at the XP FZ threads here and see if you can determine the correct order.

Gary

 

Had enough of this now, plus the power management thing is really not worth going down to XP. Battery is running low so quickly.

I never recieved a vista install CD with my laptop though, so how do i re-install vista?

The main problem i had with the vista install when i got the laptop was the amount of junk which was on it, isit possible to avoid this? I dont really need all those sony applications.

I think virtual PC will be the way forward for me now, so i can use the appz that wont install in vista.

Can i ask, what is the difference between 32bit Vista and 64bit?

Thanks

 

Did you wipe out the hidden recovery partition on the hard drive? You didn't get a CD, but you were given the opportunity to make a "Recovery DVD set" which is the equivalent. Did you do that?

See my signature below for a link to complete instructions for a clean install. It requires that you have the "Recovery DVD set" though. And access to a Vista install DVD. Or if you have the WAU directory you can create your own Vista install DVD. (Details of this are linked from the first message in the thread linked from my signature line.)

Gary

P.S. re: 32 vs 64 you can ask, but you'd be better served by doing a search. There is lots of info already posted here on that topic.

 

I think ive made the mistake of deleting that partition, i really had no idea it was there or it would be needed.

Where should i go from here? Am i snookered? Would it not be possible to install another copy of Vista Home Premium and enter my product code? Then install all the Vista drivers which sony provide on there site?

 

The problem you face is not the drivers. They can be downloaded. There are some auxiliary apps that are NOT available for download. They implement the function keys, power management etc. The same things you were missing under XP. First check to see if the extra partition is there. At boot up hit the F10 key and see if it finds the recovery partition. If so you can restore to the out of the box state from there. Then you can create the "Recovery DVD set" and check to see if you have the WAU directory.

Gary

 

F10 on boot up ant working mate tryed it 5 times now, at various points. Maybe summat to do with the chipset drivers not being installed.

I can remember when installing XP there was no partitions when i started the install, stupidly i deleted them thinking they werent needed.

Am i doomed?

 

Nothing to do with chipset drivers at all. The OS is not even running when you hit the F10 key. You ARE hitting it as soon as you power up, right? If not try it again.

I am confused by the second paragraph. First you say there were no partitions, then you say you deleted them??? Which is it?

Gary

P.S. you CAN order a reinstall DVD set from Sony if all else fails. They provide this in case someone has a hard drive totally fail.

 

Yeh its baffling me aswell, im hitting it directly on start up, ive also hit it at various other points with no luck at all.

Yes there were partitions, but stupidly i didnt realise what they were and deleted them. I thought there would of been a CD for that kind of thing.

I guess im going to have to order the recovery DVD then, how do i go about doing that?

 

Without the hidden restore partition, the F10 is useless. You need to contact Sony Support and buy the DVD's.

Gary

 

I actually got XP working fine on the laptop minus a few of the key functions (blueray + bluetooth), however the power management is really bothering me and I’m going to give vista a another go.

We have now put one of these out on display at work mate. So will it be possible for me to make a recovery CD on that machine to use on my laptop at home? If so how can that be done?

Thanks

 

As long as it is the same model, yes.

Gary

 

How do i go about doing that? Is it easy, i presume i will need a DVD. Cam it be done from within windows?

Then i just bring it home and boot from CD on load up.

Thanks

 

It requires TWO dvd's. On the Fz21 I beleive you run the VAIO recovery launcher and then from there you will se an option for creating the recovery DVD's.

Gary