VGN-AR630E & XP Pro

Has anybody down graded their model AR630 from Vista to XP PRO?
If I'd have known how bad Vista was I would not bought this laptop.

 

i have the same question, i HATE vista i wanna XP in my lap

 

pleaseee we need it..!! i love XP! and i use some a program that ain't compatible with vista.

 

Yes here is what I did. Pay particular attention to the sound issue. This is the
gotcha but it seems to be worked out. You will lose the blu-ray but can read CD
and DVD.

1. Obtained nLite and read in XP install CD
2. Downloaded Intel chipset drivers, insert them into "new" CD with nLite
3. make disk image backup of vista in case you need it
4. use "new" install CD to install XP onto SATA disk
5. Nvidia driver - found 15655.exe on the internet - this worked
6. Intel for the 4965 wireless driver
7. marvell yukon pci-e gigabit driver from their site
8. Sound was a real pain - there are tricks - there are two sound systems
realtek and sigmatel. Give up on the realtek for now.

a. Get the sz640 XP sigmatel driver from sony
b. disable the realtek device (10EC:0262)
c. don't disable the sigmatel device (8384:7664)
d. if kb835221 (a microsoft update) is installed then de-install it
e. install kb888111 (a microsoft update)
f. install the sz640 XP sigmatel driver
g. you may need to disable \MEDIA\ROOT\000 if it shows up

9. Some misc devices (memory card, modem, pointing, bluetooth, etc) the
drivers supplied with vista may have worked - or XP supported them.

So I am still unable to get the camera to work - I have tried several of
the various Sony drivers for the camera. It looks like the same camera
is in the other Sony laptop models that Sony has released XP downgrades
for.

Others have spent time trying to get the S1/S2 buttons to work and are
reporting success but I didn't care about these.

Good luck!!

 

i did it !
i m french, i speak as i can

all is working and the camera too, i just disable modem and realtek because not necessary
for the sound the good is the same of ar31M

for the camera is :Sony Visual Communication Camera VGP-VCC6

driver agent found the other

 

Hi,

I've got the same laptop and have followed most of the steps, and get stuck at Audio. Now from what you've mentioned _Bugs its a little tricky, and I've downloaded heaps and heaps of drivers yet still no luck. Would it be possible to obtain the drivers that you've used?

 

for soundcard sigmatel
I THINK IT WAS I LITTLE BIT of chance
i searched for an old modele that works with xp and i found on united kingdom sony the ar21m and not ar31 as i said . I install before the update kb835221 that come in the folder, then the sigmatel install. And miracle, it works. the realtek driver doesn't work and make no sound, i dont need it and the modem too, so i disabled them
here is the url for the sound sigmatel
http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/down...d.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&c=0&s=VGN-AR&m=2420

curiously my model is the pcg-8z2L
but everest show me the vgn ar630E

 

Sorry but if you successfully install XP on the AR are you saying that the Blu-Ray player/Burner won't work anymore? eek, doesn't really seem worth it as it was one of the main reasons I went for the AR (and because it's beautiful )

 

hi guys, i installed the sound drivers of the ar21m provided by jodemace, i installed the UAA High Definition Audio Class driver first and then the sigmatel driver, but in manage devices realtek its not's listed, i can listen music but it's sound on the laptop speakers and in my audio system it's disgusting. What can i do? thx.

 

just wondering if I could get some help here guys!!
I really need to downgrade. I run protools (recording program for audio) and its horrible with vista....
Im having trouble with the installation process and Im unsure of the drivers to use once i get a successful install.
I keep getting the problem at the XP install screen about not finding a HDD for install. How do I get past this?? Sorry for the newb QS~~

Regards, desperate Dan.

 

i uploaded the drivers to rapidshare, there's the link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/140978857/Sony_Vaio_AR630e_Windows_XP_Drivers_2008.7z

Screenshot:

 

Thanks so much!!
I only have one problem, I cannot installwindows because in the installation it says there is no HDD. I believe I have 2?? How do you get around this>?

 

there's a tutorial that teach you how to integrate sata raid drivers to windows xp with nlite.

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives...e-floppy-sata-raid-driver-into-windows-xp-cd/

 

thanks so much for your help!!
only now my wifi isnt as reliable.... occassionally drops out and my ping in games spikes a bit. Any ideas? Perhaps a different driver

 

maybe is your isp, try opendns, it's free and secure

 

Hi Shaman,

I used NLite to build an XP Bootable CD that included the Sata Controller drivers for the AR630E, you can download it from www.nliteos.com, and you can then include the drivers on the disc and build your system with them already included.

It's probably better if you have some spare time, you can play around getting the system built, don't activate windows, get the drivers working perfectly, save those drivers somewhere, and format and build with the correct drivers, so you have a clean working system. I did it a few times and got it working, the only thing is now with XP it appears when I plug in head phones the audio still plays out the speakers and sometimes when the screensaver comes on the screen goes black and moving the mouse or pressing keys doesn't light up the screen again, I have to power it off and back on.

 

ElMaravilloso may i ask something? Are you sure this link hasnt any virus? nod32 had deleted it when it downloaded?