Vaio FW XP 32/64 GUIDE

hi all, i'm a noob in this forum and truthfully a noob in computers in general, but out of sheer luck and some rather lengthy trial and error operations, i believe i have gotten a near perfect installation of xp 64 into my vaio fw. now i purchased this thing around three weeks ago, and i was ecstatic at first, it was somewhat pricey but it looked great and had great features. i brought it home only to find that this brand new comp took round five minutes to boot up, had around 1.4 gigs of ram used up only by services and background programs and didn't support a whole gig of ram anyway. i was dissapointed, even more so when i saw there were no cds, and that you have to make five recovery cds in total. finally after lots of experimentation and bad mouthing towards the sony customer service, i've got a decent install up. ok so here are the instructions:

THE INSTALL
1] acquire a copy of xp, i got mine off the net and i found a genuine unused key at work. NOTE: there is a so called 'superior xp' out there,and it has some great tweaks and uses an impressive 248 mb ram, even after all drivers are installed and VES is running, but for some reason it takes more than five minutes to boot so i don't thinks its worth it.
Ok to begin with download and install nlite http://www.nliteos.com/download.html to slipstream [insert] ahci controllers into the installation so that you dont get a blue screen of death during installation . if 32 bit, download http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=17883&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng. if 64 bit, download http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=17884&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng. extract it, start nlite, insert original xp disk, choose where to store installation files, then choose drivers and bootable iso in task selection. insert the 'iaahci' file [which you just downloaded and extracted from intel download center] during the driver adding menu and choose 'ich9m' as the correct driver. now make an iso and burn it and you can install xp [and no more BSOD -yay!!!].

THE DRIVERS: [ORDER IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE]
to begin with, download http://www.softpedia.com/get/Compression-tools/Universal-Extractor.shtml. use it to extract the drivers from the sony packages. no use running them 'as is' because it wont work.

1] download and extract using uni. extractor ftp://download.sony.com/US/pc/SOAOTH-A4280000-XP.EXE
2] from here, install ssl
3]then install BC, then SUS, then VCC. everything till now is in that package.
4] now download and install the chipset inf utility http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=816&DwnldID=16026&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows%20XP%20Professional*&lang=eng
5]now download and install matrix storage manager http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=17882&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng
6]NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT. I HAVE UPLOADED THESE CUSTOM ATI DRIVERS FOR HD 4650 MOBILITY for xp x86 and 64. i couldnt find anything on the net which does the trick so i modified the drivers myself so its best you all use these http://www.mediafire.com/?fzwztjt4yzz
7]download and install hd audio codecs and ati hdmi audio device http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3
8] download and install this for ethernet http://www.marvell.com/drivers/driverDisplay.do?driverId=175
9] download and install this for wifi http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=3062&lang=eng
10]then DL and install modem drivers http://www.notebook-driver.com/sony-vaio/sony-vaio-vgn-fw100-notebook-windows-xp-drivers-and-utility/
11] from the above website, also get and install the bluetooth drivers
12]now you can isntall the touchpad, though i didnt do so since i think default windows drivers r fine
13] now go to device manger, and update 'base system device' with memory stick drivers from above website
14]now update 'unknown device' with http://www.filestube.com/60c312271aa2decb03e9/details.html
15]install VPM [found inside the first sony package you downloaded]

RESTART........................AND VOILA!!! i got an extra 960 in 3dmark 06 even when compared to windows 7 and uses on average just 300mb ram with no programs. lol now thats what this laptop should really perform like
KNOWN PROBLEMS:
1]VAIO CONTROL CENTER DOES NOT START, says something like 'run time terminate unusual way' blah blah blah....there is a fix for this but is only for xp x32 SERVICE PACK 2. therefore if anybody really wants to use vaio control center i advise not to install sp3 [especially for functions like battery care]
2] every now and then you can see the osd when choosing to change brightness but the bar does not increase or decrease. the only fix i know of is reboot.

 

awesome i love you

 

lol thanks, i wish i could say the same for the twats at sony though; i cant believe they would make their customers go through so much grief, especially when in the end, they know we're gonna get the job done anyway..

 

Hey i follower you guide using superior X64 revival, and i still cant get the screen brightness to adjust. nothing pops up


'run time terminate unusual way' I got that error trying to install Vaio Power Management

also I still have unknown device listed on the device manager. I tried to update the dirver pointing it to the SonyNC.inf file that was included in that link you provided but it said its incompatible. I right click and hit install and nothing happens.

edit, i got the sony device parse driver by extracting the vista drivers from fw465j driver site from sony.com. still no luck on the screen brightness

 

well if all else fails you can try the failsafe.....that is i have a dual boot with windows 7, and before what i used to do is boot into 7, lower the brightness, restart and boot into xp! brightness wont change

 

Mobility Modder
http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php

This will be absolutely crucial to anyone who wishes to install their graphic card drivers. Especially considering that the OP's video driver files cannot be unzipped.