VGN TZ330E XP Downgrade

Hi Folks

I have spent many hours trying to downgrade my TZ330E from Vista to XP. I need to load a couple of programs that will not work under Vista. I have all the XP files from Sony esupport ready to go and a valid XP installation cd. However, when the XP installer finally runs I get an abort message "A problem has been detected and Windows..." with the error message:
STOP: 7B-F78DA63C-C0000034-0-0. The disk is partitioned: C=20G, D=74G. The machine works fine under Vista.

I assume it is something to do with the disk, but I have tried downloading a variety of Sony drivers for Raid and SATA disks and using the F6 and S options but to no avail. Sony says the TZ330E disk drive is "ultra ATA" which I thought the XP installer should know about.

Has anybody struck this problem and found a solution?

Regards
ronkrem

 

Not sure about XP, but have you thought about upgrading to Win 7? I think it has compatibility modes for running XP programs.

 

If you're trying to completely replace your Vista setup with XP, why don't you format your hard-drive before running the XP install CD?

Of course, if you do that, there's no going back (unless you've made a backup), so be careful.

 

These programs do not work with Vista, so I assume they will also not work with 7. Also it would mean upgrading my MS Office - more expense.

 

Tried that. Removed all the existing partitions, reformatted, re-partitioned for the original hard disk size limits of XP. Same error. Slipstreamed my XP installation cd up to SP3. Same error. Very depressing.

 

Which programs are these ??

 

One in particular: Atmel AVR Studio 4

Atmel Products - AVR Solutions - AVR Studio 4

 

There's another way: did you try running XP within a VM?

 

The stop code 7B is a very common one when downgrading to XP. It means the mass storage drivers (usually SATA) are not included in the XP setup files and there are two common workarounds:

1) Attach a floppy drive with the drivers on it and press F6 during first boot

2) Use a tool like nLite to integrate the drivers into the setup files and burn a new XP CD

You can search and find more detailed instructions for either of those installation paths.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for that. However, I cannot find a disk driver for this particular sony (VGN TZ330E) anywhere on the sony site. I downloaded all their sata drivers and, using a floppy as you suggest, tried the F6 install driver with each one in turn. None worked. The 330E manual states the drive as Ultra ATA.

 

Hmm... I'm using AVR STUDIO 4 right now (for engineering at university) on Windows 7 x64, and it's running fine. And no need for Windows XPMode.

Though I have seen friends who ran into issues like BSOD and random resource hogging with W7 and STUDIO 4, but then they installed the atmega8 drivers when STUDIO 4 asked (I didn't, and I'm not experiencing any issues). I only need to script on my machine, but not too sure about yourself; atmega8 and most other AMTEL devices require a COM port which the TZ lacks, so I'm guessing you need only the software, and don't require your laptop to interact with any AVR device?

Also. You tried using the TZ's original XP downgrade disc? That might have special drivers a normal XP disc might be missing.