VPCZ1 + BIOS HACK Windows 10 clean install

This is the thread for VPCZ1 users who have set the switching mode to STATIC. I will try to keep this updated with your tips, suggestions and links.

If you are taking advantage of the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 offer, you have to do an in-place upgrade of your existing OS and get Windows 10 activated. Once that is done, you can proceed with a clean install using DVD or USB installation media, which is what this thread is about.

With the MODE switch set to STAMINA, install Windows 10 from external boot media - DVD or USB.
When you select the partition on which Windows will be installed, format it to get the clean install.
Once Windows is installed, Windows Update will get you most of the remaining drivers. If you are doing this only once, or if you have a fast internet connection, don't bother installing those drivers yourself.
For the rest of the drivers that need to be installed, go to the Sony support page for your model and download them from there, or as advised below. I go here: http://www.sony-asia.com/support/product/VPCZ115GG

WU - Let Windows Update install it for you.
Sony - Download from the Sony support page for your model.
CM-7 - compatibility mode for Windows 7
CM-7a - compatibility mode for Windows 7 with administrator privileges.

1. Chipset driver. Not really needed, but does no harm. Get it from Intel.
2. Intel HD Graphics. WU If it is taking a long time to download, install the rest of the stuff while you wait.
3. Realtek High Definition Audio. WU
4. Ricoh MS Card driver. Sony.
5. Ricoh SD Card driver. Sony.
6. Pointing driver - Synaptics. WU
7. SFEP. (Sony firmware extension parser). Sony.
8. Bluetooth driver. Let Windows Update install this for you.
9. IME (Intel Management Engine Interface). Get it from here:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...r-Intel-5-Series-Chipset-Based-Desktop-Boards
This doesn't do much in a standalone scenario except get rid of the PCI Simple Communications Controller entry in Device Manager. Avoid if you don't care.
10. Setting Utility Series. Sony.
11. Sony Shared Library. Sony.
12. VAIO Event Service. Sony. Reboot.
12a. VAIO Event Service update. Sony. CM-7a
13. VAIO Control Center. Sony. Reboot.
13a. VAIO Control Center update. Sony. CM-7a
14. Battery checker. Sony.
15. VAIO Power Management. Sony. CM-7 Reboot.
15a. VAIO Power Management update. Sony. CM-7 Reboot.
16. VAIO Smart Network (optional). Sony. CM-7 Shows up in tray after reboot.
17. Fingerprint reader. Get it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/where-can-i-download-protector-suite-12.745182/#post-9747218
EDIT: see third post below for fresh instructions.

Download the NVIDIA GeForce driver for 300M from here: http://www.geforce.com/drivers
Download ComputerCowboy's patcher from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/latest-vpc-z1-330m-drivers-for-the-bios-hack-people.602497/
Run the driver installer. It will fail, but it will leave behind the extracted files in c:\NVIDIA\
Run the patcher. Patch VGA or 3D Vision, whichever you prefer.
Enable test mode - the patcher does it the easy way, but you can do it through Windows if you prefer.
Now flip the MODE switch to SPEED and reboot.

After reboot, browse to C:\NVIDIA\ and drill down until you come to the \DisplayDriver\341.74\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International folder. (the driver version will depend on which driver version you downloaded). Run setup. Click 'install this software anyway' when prompted about the unsigned driver.
Recommended: do a custom install, clearing old settings. De-select the 3D Vision driver if you don't need it (I don't have a 3D monitor).

Enjoy.

I need to adjust the settings for the touch pad as per my preference. Double click the tray icon to bring up the settings dialog.

 

Windows setup installs a decent driver for the RAID controller (Feb 2015, IIRC), but if you like you can get the latest driver from here:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/55005/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-
Thanks, Visioneer.

 

The fingerprint reader doesn't work out of the box, which is why I recommended using an older driver and software. Here's how I got mine to work, finally, with the Windows Biometric Foundation WBF.

1. If you have installed the old software and driver, uninstall it.
2. In device manager, uninstall and delete the fingerprint reader driver and let Windows reinstall it.
3. Press Win+R to bring up the 'run' box. Type gpedit.msc and click OK to bring up the group policy editor.
4. Navigate to Computer configuration -> Administrative templates - > Windows components -> Biometrics.
5. Double click 'Allow the use of biometrics' and select 'enabled' and click OK.
6. Double click 'Allow users to log on using biometrics' and select 'enabled' and click OK.
7. Close Group policy editor. Reboot.
8. Start menu -> Settings -> Accounts. Click 'Sign in options'.
9. Set up a PIN. I'm not sure why Microsoft felt this step was necessary, but that's how it is.
10. Now the Windows Hello options to use fingerprints will be enabled.

 

what about recovery partition , will not be affected?

 

Not sure. Windows 10 creates its own recovery partition out of the partition that you install it to - in my case it created an 800 MB partition for itself and put drivers in it so when I did the clean install, the driver installation phase of setup went really fast. It did not, however, install any of the drivers mentioned above - just what's bundled with the ISO. Whether or not it will mess with any pre-existing recovery partition, I could not say. You should create recovery disks before installing Windows 10 if you really want to keep your old OS.

 

This doesn't work for me in RAID mode. I've tried about 12 times to boot Windows 10 setup (and Windows 8) in different ways.

All I see is the blue Windows logo, the spinning loader-cursor, and the hard-drive light blinking and that's it.

If I switch it to AHCI mode, it gets into Windows 10 setup, but then, I can't install to my raid SSDs, catch-22.

0xC1900101 - 0x20017 in SAFE_OS w error during BOOT

 

Are you upgrading or doing a clean install? From a DVD or USB?

If you are taking advantage of the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 offer, you have to do an in-place upgrade of your existing OS and get Windows 10 activated. Once that is done, you can proceed with a clean install using DVD or USB installation media, which is what this thread is about.

A clean install involves formatting your drive. A change in mode, from AHCI to RAID might involve deleting the partitions on your drive and starting over.

Ok. Now that those disclaimers are out of the way, are you saying that when you boot from DVD or USB and install Windows in RAID mode, you just see the 'press any key to run from CD or DVD', then the Windows loading rotating circle, and the HDD LED blinks, but nothing else happens? How long does this go on? Windows setup is trying to make sense of your RAID configuration, so it could take a while while it tries out different drivers and then examines your drives for errors and any operating systems there, before showing you the screen where you choose 'upgrade' or 'custom'.

 

This guide really helped me on my Win10 install on a VPCZ13M9.
I suggest adding version numbers on each driver just to be sure.

 

So, yes to all. I've tried ( with hacked BIOS and graphics set static, stamina [aka Intel]):
* MediaCreationToolx64.exe upgrade
* MediaCreationToolx64.exe install to USB drive, then fresh-boot
* MediaCreationToolx64.exe install to DVD iso, then fresh-boot
* slipstream latest RST v14.5.0.1081 into boot.wim index 1 and 2, and fresh-boot
* bcdedit on USB drive to "boot log" and show "os boot information" on "Windows Setup" boot (shows nothing) from clean-boot
* Windows Update upgrade to Windows 10 and reboot (tried twice times)
* waited 15 minutes after Windows logo
* waited 6 hours after Windows logo
* boot Windows 8.1 setup from USB drive, stalls in same place as Windows 10 setup
* boot Windows 7 setup from USB drive, works fine and loads the setup UI
* Upgrade reinstall Windows 7 Pro onto Windows 7 Pro, then Windows Update upgrade to Windows 10
* sfc /scannow in between the various above sessions
* trolled ntbtlog.txt and cbs.log for something obvious
* waited on forced chkdsk after each time Win10 touched the Raid0 SSDs (smells like it's not using the RAID driver with the chkdsk corruption)
* messed with IDE configuration to turn off 32-bit I/O, block I/O, and ultra100

edit:
* turned off Link Power Management in the RST UI. No setting available in the bios for LPM.

I can't get even get into Windows Setup after a fresh-boot to choose between Upgrade or Clean install.

 

I think you now need to break the RAID and rebuild it from scratch. Man, I'm glad I don't have RAID.

 

Right, I think that's my final option, image the raid, break it, reimage onto the AHCI setup, and then run Windows Setup and wherever that goes, thanks.

I'm more surprised nobody else has hit this, although it's hard to tell with all the other boot-loops, black-screens, microcode start-up issues for Windows 10 that resemble this.

 

I think you're beyond that stage. Go for a totally clean install now. Break the RAID, clean the SSDs, create the RAID afresh, then install Windows 10 on that.

If you have already gone through the upgrade and activation stages, Windows 10 clean install will be activated automatically - don't enter any key; just 'skip' and 'do this later'. If you haven't, don't worry about activation just yet. Just get your Windows 10 working, then you can go back to Windows 7, upgrade to Windows 10, get your upgrade, then do the final clean install of Windows 10.

 

Hi,
I am not sure but I thought EVERY VPCZ1 has a RAID configuration (at least in Europe).
I am thinking about updating.
But as I am having RAID as well I am a little bit anxious now after reading.
Is this a dangerous path?
Or was the reported RAID issue only a single issue whatever the reason was?
What would be a step by step guide to avoid any bigger RAID issues?
Thanks for a short feedback.

 

Not dangerous for me so far. It has always reverted back to Windows 7 with no problems besides chkdsk.

 

My Z1 is setup with RAID. No problems so far with Win10 and Win7 (even clean installs). Older versions needed the F8 with a floppy disk hardware install option in order to identify the RAID partition

 

Great guide! Did the upgrade to 10 first. Then broke the raid, used a linux livecd and did the secure erase SSD thing . Now I have 10 clean installed and activated, everything works great! +rep!

 

So I tried this today: imaged my Windows 7 with Acronis, deleted the RAID volume, recreated the RAID0 volume, Windows 10 setup runs and clean installs JUST FINE on RAID0.

I'm posting from Microsoft EDGE now.

So something in my Windows 7 file layout is screwing with Windows 8/10 set-up. So I'm going to try restoring my Windows 7 by dir/file instead of by partition, and try to see where it breaks down.

 

Hi,

I upgraded Windows 7 Pro on my Vaio VPCZ11X9R using Microsoft utility with "Remove everything" option. Guess it's quite similiar to clean install - i didn't have any Sony drivers / software right after upgrade. I did BIOS hack and installed modified Nvidia 330M driver. Everything is working fine but I have some unknown devices under Devices Manager: Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 / Qualcomm Gobi 2000. Can somebody point me a driver for my 3G / WiMAX / WiFi hardware?

Btw WiFi is working fine and alows me to connect to 5G networks. As far as I remember i could connect only to 2.4G networks running Windows 7

 

So finishing my subthread up:
* deleted everything on the Win7 partition but Windows 8 / 10 still hangs scanning it
* chkdsk is clean though weirdly says there's still thousands of files even after deleted.
* Space usage is still a gig, mysteriously. vssadmin and other utils show no shadow-copies.
* robocopy'd everything to a freshly formatted partition, boots Win7, upgraded it to Win10 with no issues except no working NV drivers.

Now finally ready for an activated clean-reinstall.

 

Adding fresh info about the WBF fingerprint driver. Read third post on the first page.

 

Thanks for the guide, I used the erase everything option rather than a fresh install; it seemed to erase everything, all drivers, files except for the C:\NVIDIA file for some reason.

Some notes:
- The sony-asia link vs the Canadian/American support pages have different/inconsistent versions. I used Canada, since it seemed to have newer versions for everything except Power Management. What are the actual latest version numbers for:

Battery Checker (Canada: 4.2.0.13150?), VPCZ139GG 4.3
VAIO® Event Service (Canada: 5.2.1.05130), VPCZ139GG 5.3
VAIO Control Center (Canada: 4.2.0.15020), VPCZ139GG 4.3
Setting Utility Series (Canada: 5.2.0.14250), VPCZ139GG 5.3
VAIO Power Management (Canada: 5.1.0.13200 Asia: 5.1.1.06180). VPCZ139GG 5.2

Are there newer ones available then what I listed?

EDIT: For VPCZ139GG, version numbers added above. I will try to update mine (even though its Z12) and see what happens!

- The Canada link installs all the above in one file "Sony Notebook Utilities", and one upgrade "Sony Event Service Update" rather than the separate steps you listed for the Asia files. I did both in Windows 7 admin.
- Windows update didn't install Realtek. I downloaded the generic driver from the Realtek site. Other drivers you listed installed automatically (Ricoh, Synaptics).
- I have the BIOS hack from before, new drivers installed flawlessly. Shortcut brightness works again woo!
- Fingerprint works, although I didn't need to reinstall it, the correct one was installed by default. I just enabled it as per post #3.

My thoughts: Impressed! update took very little time, everything runs smoother than before.

EDIT #2:
- I had to uninstall the Synaptics driver since the tray icon didn't want to appear. I just uninstalled from the Device Manager and reinstalled the same generic driver. All's well.

 

thank you @anytimer,

by following your guide I got Windows 10 v. 10586 installed smoothly, on my VGN-Z 58GG.

Just a few notes / recommendations. Update your guide if or where you feel like..

Windows version 10586:
doesn't need you to first execute an upgrade from Win 7, 8 or 8.1 anymore. We can directly install Windows 10 and the lower version product key will be accepted and upgraded automatically.
If your key is already upgraded, just skip the entry whenever it's asked.

Regarding Chipset drivers:
you may also use a tool like DriverBooster. For my VGN-Z it found and updated: Intel Chipset Driver 9.1.9.1006, Synaptics TouchPad Driver 19.0.17.20

Sony Apps:
This was the trickiest bit. You can use the orginal versions for your model, or you may try and find upgrade installs for some of them! (thanks for the hint @KrazyStuff).
The 6.x versions are all available for Windows 8 and can be installed natively instead of in compatibility mode!
Here is what works perfectly for me, in the recommended sequence.

1. Sony Firmware Extension Parser (SFEP) driver - Sony (your Model)
2. Setting Utility series - Sony (your Model)
3. Sony Shared Library - Sony 6.2.0.07020 (current version)
4. Vaio Power Management - Sony 6.0.1.07270
5. Vaio Control Center - Sony 6.0.1.08290 - Reboot.
6. Vaio Event Service - Sony (your Model) - Reboot.

Notes:
- with a newer Shared Library, it is possible to run newer Versions of the Sony apps.
- test your functions after each step. When your Fn keys stop working, deinstall and reinstall Vaio Event Service and it should be fixed!

RAID 0:
Now, that is a completely different story... in short - do a clean install, provide a good compatible Intel driver for your model at the time of installation (where you choose the volume to install on) and you should be fine. Head over here if you have SSD / RAID problems: http://www.win-raid.com

Good Luck!

 

Hi! I come from Spain and my english is a bit poor, but i need talk to you, that's very important for me because i have installed windows 10 in my sony vaio vpcz13MNE but i couldn't get install the drivers of nvidia GT930 M.
I have some questions:
Step 1: Download the NVIDIA GeForce driver for 330M from here: http://www.geforce.com/drivers
one version in particular? or do not care?
Step 2:
Download ComputerCowboy's patcher from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/latest-vpc-z1-330m-drivers-for-the-bios-hack-people.602497/
is this one? http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/341.74/341.74-notebook-win10-64bit-international.exe
Step 3:
Run the driver installer. It will fail, but it will leave behind the extracted files in c:\NVIDIA\
Which one, step 1 or step 2?
Step 4:
Run the patcher. Patch VGA or 3D Vision, whichever you prefer.
In my case, it falied but i imagine that i did anything bad.
Step 5:
Enable test mode - the patcher does it the easy way, but you can do it through Windows if you prefer.
In this step i don't know what to do exactly, please explain it a little.
Step 6:
Now flip the MODE switch to SPEED and reboot.
I understood this step perfectly.

I forgot one thing, do i need hack my bios? how can i do it.
You must understand that is so difficult do this for me because my english is bad.

Sorry for asking so many questions, and thank so much, I have long been looking for a solution, a greeting!

 

Read the instructions for the patcher. Some people are having trouble actually patching the driver, but the rest seems to be working. I have given instructions in the other thread you asked in. Once you have manually patched the driver, just run the patcher utility and:
Enable test mode.
Restart.
Launch nVidia installer.

These instructions are for those who have successfully hacked their BIOS. I read in the other thread that you have already done this. You need to go into the BIOS and set the VGA mode to STATIC.

 

I have done it!!!! I'm running GT 330 M on windows 10!!! Thank you so much!
Now, I have two questions, i'd like to install v 341.92 (the latest version) is it possible? have you the nvszci.inf file?
Is possible change the swift running windows 10? do i need to change something in bios?
My email is [email protected]

 

Well done.
Read my post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...bios-hack-people.602497/page-76#post-10181358
Two posts above that, NuShrike has uploaded the patched inf for the latest 341.92 version.

You need to go into the BIOS settings (press F2 while booting - just after you see the first VAIO screen. Or simply keep pressing F2 repeatedly after turning on the power button. When you get into the BIOS settings, go to advanced tab, then look for VGA switching policy. (AUTO/DYNAMIC/STATIC). Change that setting to STATIC. Save settings and exit (last tab).
When you are in Windows, move the SPEED/STAMINA/AUTO switch to either SPEED or AUTO and reboot. No point putting that switch into the AUTO position - it doesn't work. You want Intel graphics, move the switch to STAMINA and reboot. You want nVIDIA GT 330M, move the switch to SPEED and reboot.
These instructions are here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/latest-vpc-z1-330m-drivers-for-the-bios-hack-people.602497/

 

Hi all,

I tried the guide. Everything works ok except for the touchpad. Specifically, two finger scrolling can't be enabled, as the option does not appear in the menu with dri erfrom windows update. I can't install the sony driver I used with win8, as it is an older version. Could you get 2 finger scrolling to work?

Thanks!

Enviado desde mi Nexus 9 mediante Tapatalk

 

@jesusrop multi touch gesture is on the list of features not supported by Windows 10:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/support-info.pl?info_id=1610

Unless Microsoft decides differently, this is probably doomed

 

Hi,

I think it is not windows' fault. I have another laptop wich supports multitouch with Windows 10. The synaptics driver installed by win update is dropping this feature for some reason I can't understand.

 

I have this driver:
Synaptics ClickPad V7.4 on PS/2 Port 1
Driver Version: 19.0.19.1
Firmware Version: 7.4
Interface: PS/2

Single and two finger scrolling is working.
Pinch zoom is working.
I don't use anything else, so can't comment on whether they work or not.

Windows Update broke my old drivers a few times, but this one seems to be working.

I got this from WU but you could try this one here http://www.synaptics.com/en/drivers.php

 

I upgraded my VPC-Z13 yesterday from W7. First I uninstalled old programms, NVidia Drivers,JAVA, Adobe Flash and so on. The Upgrade itself went trough pretty flawlessly. After final reboot the Fingerprint Software was removed and the Reader was not working. I activated it like it is mentioned in post #3 and after reboot it was working. I did not had to Setup a PIN. I would say everything is working smooth, except the touchpad. I will have to find a suitable Driver that will give me back scrolling. The Driver installed from WU so far is nt giving me any Scrolling, not on the right side of the touchpad, neither twofingerwise. The driver version at the moment is 19.0.15.2. I will report later on if I could manage the problem.

Timiboy

P.S. I did the BIOS-Hack before upgrading to W10!

 

I installed the Synaptics Driver mentioned in post #30 and now twofinger scroll is working!! My Z1 is now perfectly up and no reason to buy anything new

Timiboy

 

First of all thanks to you all guys because I was able to upgrade to Windows 10 without losing any of the things that made my laptop awesome. And sorry for my bad english, I'm from Peru so I hope you can forget if I made any mistakes.

Ok, I just install the Aniversary Update for Windows 10 and it makes the Nvidia driver to stop working on my Vaio VPCZ12LGX (I bought this in the US and it was working great with all the instructions you put on this forum). So I'm going to tell you exactly how I was able to install the Nvidia driver back again.

The Problem: The ComputerCowboy's patcher is not working anymore (at least not completely), because when I wanted to ENABLE TEST MODE it only reboots the laptop and nothing more and you need to be on test mode to install the Nvidia drivers, so to fix this you have to first put your laptop on SAFE MODE and I'm going to tell you how step by step. (Please take into consideration that my laptop had already the Nvidia GeForce 300M drivers v341.95 working before the update so I had the Nvidia folder on my C:\ drive already).

1- To put your laptop in SAFE MODE in Windows 10 you have to click the Windows icon on the botom left side of the screen and look for the restart button BUT you have to press the SHIFT button while you click on it.

2- If you did this correctly another screen will appear, there click on Troubleshoot.

3- Now click on Advanced Options.

4- And finally on Star Up Settings, the laptop will reboot and a new menu will appear, in it choose to restart on SAFE MODE (there are like 3 options to do this, I chose the first one, but I thinks any of the other will also work).

5- Now you are on SAFE MODE, you will be able to tell because your desktop will look different. Now you will be able to use the ComputerCowboy's patcher, just start it as Administrator and click on ENABLE TEST MODE, your laptop will reboot and you will be on TEST MODE, you will be able to tell because the will be a message on the botom right of your screen telling you so.

6- Open the ComputerCowboy's patcher as Administrator again, click on SELECT NVIDIA FOLDER, if you already had the drivers installed the folder will be on your main hard drive (normally C:\NVIDIA), now click on LAUNCH NVIDIA INSTALLER and install the drivers.

7- After the installation, click on RESTART WINDOWS on the ComputerCowboy's patcher, after that you will notice that your Nvidia drivers are installed correctly BUT you are still on TEST MODE and the ComputerCowboy's patcher can't seem recognice that you are in it, because of this there is no option to DISABLE TEST MODE, so you will have to do it manually, don't freak out I will tell you how.

8- Now on the bottom left corner look for the SEARCH icon and type cmd, the result of the search will display the command prompt BUT don't click on it just yet, you have to do it as Administrator or it will not work, so just left click on it and click on Run as Administrator.

9- In the Command Promt just type the following:

bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING off

10- Now reboot, and everything will be the way it should be, working. I know, I know, there are A LOT of steps but I wanted to be as clear as possible so I could repay you your effort.

Petition: Can someone please ask the guy that made the ComputerCowboy's patcher to update it?, that would make this process a lot easier.

Well, that is all, I hope this can help you.