What can i do

Hi, sorry this is my first post so please forgive me if i am posting in the wrong section.

I have just bought a Sony Vaio TZ31 WN/B. I am hoping to wipe the hard drive completely and install xp on it, however i cannot find xp drivers anywhere. I can't believe i have spent so much money on this laptop and that i can't find any xp drivers for it. I am very suprised at the lack of Sony support sites (where drivers are usually supplied by manufactures).

Does anyone else have XP on this laptop OR could someone please point me in the right direction, thanks in advance

 

remember, MS origonally wanted XP discontinued my this time. MS wants you to use Vista so that is what Sony is doing, they are just supporting the system the computer shipped with.

as for pointing you in the right direction... recovery CD's == Vista; install

 

Yes, i completely agree with you, i have no problems with Vista, however alot of the programs i run in work do not run on vista... anyone else know where i can find XP drivers

 

It seems simple and you probably already tried it...but have you tried getting the names and googling them?

 

Sony does offer a XP downgrade disc for the TZ series complete with all the utilities you will need. You can find it on the sony eSupport website. Here's the link to order a downgrade disc for the TZ100 series:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=VGNSZ650N&news_id=240

If you choose to downgrade from Vista, note that you will be losing some of the functions of your laptop (the website actually have a very specific list).

 

Those particular discs will only work for the North American TZ100 models, Ubercool had tried them on his Japanese TZ90 and it failed.

 

really? Did the OS failed to install or are the drivers simply not compatible? different BIOS?

 

Thanks for all the replies... I have searched extensively for these drivers but i still cannot locate them. I have searched on the esupport.sony.com site BUT my model is not listed.

I am based in Ireland and the model of my laptop is VGNTZ31WN/B - however i cannot find any support for this model... Is it just me or is this a really big mistake and bad service by Sony. Why can't they just use the same model number throughout the world. This is the first time i have purchased a Sony laptop... and i hope not the last BUT i really need to partition the hard drive and install xp and so far i don't think this is going to happen. Does anyone want to buy my laptop or swap for one that works... lol... thanks again for the replies... can anyone else help me out here...

 

Well, since rahulnirmal mentioned that you can't use the U.S. downgrade discs, I really have no other suggestions for you other than contacting your local sony support for the downgrade disc (they might be able to provide you with a compatible one with all the utilities you will need).
Good luck.

 

Ok, thanks for your help... I am very shocked and annoyed that such a high profile company (Sony) has not provided and catered for this service... Surely they must be aware that Vista is not the only operating system in world, and that other people need to use XP (as some apps, as in my case, don't run on Vista) There has been so much hype over Vista's cons and pros, that i thought any sensible manufacturer would have taken this into consideration, especially before putting a €2700 price tag on it..... anyway thanks to all that have tried to help

 

The P1 disk with XP it does not work for the Japanese TZ's as well as the US downgrade discks?

 

It does or doesn't work??? Does anyone have a solution for this problem

 

I'm thinking of buying a TZ31 WN. Assuming I wish to load up Office and some general software are there any issues that I should be concerned about with Vista? Is the HD partioned and if I wish to reformat, is a Vista disc supplied to reinstall? I presently have a Vaio VGN SZ1HP running XP, which is partioned. I don't lile the partioniong aspect but have never tried to change it.

 

What are the apps that you use at work that don't run on Vista?

 

Hi oo7ml, my UK TZ32 supplied with a full XP SP2 Installation DVD to allow the downgrade of the OS from the stock Vista Business - was your unit not shipped with this at all?

Gazza

 

Well worst comes to worst, get a disk imaging software and make an image of your entire hard drive. Then you install XP and a program like Everest Home Edition or PCWizard - something that tells you about the hardware inside your TZ. Then get to googling. Stuff like say the wireless card and the display might work if you tried drivers from other models as long as they're pretty much similar. It has worked before for me, except that it was on an HP. Still worth a try .

 

Hi, i have installed the xp professional downgrade disc that came with my Sony Vaio TZ31WN/B laptop, then i had to install xp drivers that i downloaded from the sony website however, there are still some drivers not installed. The following items are marked yellow in Device Manager:

Ethernet Controller
Fingerprint Sensor
PCi Device

Can anyone help me out here with this... I am really stuck, thanks in advance

 

Hi oo7ml,

For some reason Sony missed off the Ethernet controller driver. Luckily I have done this same process to a TZ21 and that uses the same driver so I used that.

The Fingerprint Sensor is sorted when you run the Setup file within the "11_Fingerprint" folder that is within the "Utilities" download (it's not within the drivers download, it's the utilities download pack).

Unfortunately I am also stuck with the "PCI Device" in the Device Manager. This is the 56k dial-up modem, as the driver supplied does not work. I also tried the one that works with the TZ21, but it is the same driver.

I will continue my search and let you know if I find anything. If you need the Ethernet Controller driver, PM me and I'll send you a link.

cheers,
Richard.

 

We North Americans are lucky all the XP drivers are provided for our models, they even have XP drivers for our TZ200 models that just came out.

Maybe you can use them to get XP working on your European TZs?

These are the XP drivers for our newest and highest end model, TX298N/XC. Hope these can work on yours.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNTZ298NXC&region_id=1

Vista is just not ready for prime-time (many will just skip it and wait for the next OS like they skipped Windows ME).

I am very happy with XP on my TZ.

 

also, just discovered the audio driver supplied on the download also doesn't work.

dropped back to my trusty TZ21 download pack, and that audio driver had a hotfix you need to install - kb835221

This kicked the audio into life, and also interestingly made the modem driver be seen properly.

So, basically it looks like Sony missed this crucial kb hotfix file and the ethernet network driver off the TZ31 download pages.

if anyone needs the missing files, tell me what you need and I'll send you a link.

cheers,
Richard.

 

Yes i have had the same problems as mentioned above but i managed to sort all of them out... if anyone needs any drivers, just let me know. I have one very small problem. My bootable usb key won't boot into dos (which is installed on the key. I enabled the external boot drive in the bios but it still won't boot. The usb key boots fine on all my other laptops and desktops... anyone any advice, as i can't see anything else in the bios that might be affecting this, thanks in advance

 

I thought this as well but they are on the windows xp disc as it says on page 11 on the xp downgrade information book that comes with the cd, install the network driver and the hot fix first.

XP runs so much better than Vista on my laptop I have the TZ31WN/B as well
Richard

 

I've just downgraded my TZ21 to xp pro following the instructions to the letter. Everything works just fine except for the screen resolution which won't go higher than 1024 x 768 and leaves about an inch and a half of blank space either side of the windows desktop. I spoke to Sony support who weren't very helpful - they said I can get higher resolution on an external screen (which rather defeats the object of having a small portable computer) and there was no current plan to issue an updated driver.

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks in hope

Marcus

 

I believe you can resolve this by looking in your monitor setup and making sure that "Plug and Play Monitor" is being used (as opposed to whatever is currently selected). Once that's done, you should be able to select the proper native resolution.

 

That is correct, you go into device manager, select the (3) monitors that are low resolution and update driver, then install driver manually and use plug and play, works perfectly on my TZ170N.

 

Hi all,

I just "downgraded" my TZ31VN from vista to XP (runs so much better!), but unfortunately my microphone isn't working and (perhaps related) the installation wizard runs at startup asking to install drivers for the "Modem device on High Definition Audio Bus" ...
I've downloaded and installed the official downgrade driver and utilities packs, and installed the hotfixes from the installation cd, and I've even run a copy of Driver Genius (which is actually pretty useless for the cost) - still no mike and still the installation request - so I've no clue what I can do from here.

Please help if you can!
Thanks!

 

Maybe you need the HDA driver. Read this.

John

 

Hi there,
I have got a problem with my tz31mn/n. Downgraded it from vista with the suplied downgrade disk, everything was working fine until my nikon software killed it. Now after a fresh xp installation cant get the Fn-keys working for the brightness or sound, the same with the av-launcher. Everything else seems to be working fine. I used the information from the sony site and some other info i found about installing the drivers (in the right order).
Does anyone have a idea how to get this solved?

thanks
Wanne