Windows 7 on Sony Z

I think we can expect the same issues with Windows 7 x64 as with Vista x64. There is an excellent thread in these forums showing the limitations(first several pages at least).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4367600

I'm likely going to stick with 32bit until Sony puts out a Z-series Vista x64 driver set, which may be very soon.

As for the image sizes, expect 2.2GB for x32 and 3.2GB for x64 come Friday for non-MSDN and Technet folks.

 

So I've got a Z11VN (UK Z). It's got the 320mb 5400 drive.
I've been trying to install Win 7 dual booting with my existing Vista system.
The drive is partitioned as MBR type.
I split a data partition and made a new Primary partition.
Win 7 refused to install on it. The error message essentialy said - Windows won't install on this hard drive as it's MBR type and your computer is EFI. On an EFI system Windows will only install on a GPT partition.
I get the impression you can't create a GPT partition on an MBR drive.
So as I see it my options are:

1. Try upgrade - don't know if that would work
2. Backup and repartition drive as EFI/GPT, then try to restore my vista image. Then install Win 7 onto a GPT partition to dual boot.

I don't want to do 1 and 2 sounds like a nightmare, so maybe I won't bother.
Can anyone enlighten me? Am I missing something?

 

I just downloaded and installed the Official beta 32bit version on my VGN-SZ330P and all seems to be working fine. I just told it to upgrade from Vista Business (after doing a complete backup of course ) and I still have all my programs and devices working with no problems so far including my finger print reader. I have the 64bit version but I am not sure if I want to try it yet because of all the possible and unknown issues I may encounter.

 

Sounds good. Do you have the volume keys working ok though? This thread might be of interest to you. I've everything except volume function keys working on my SZ3VP.

 

I did notice that the function keys do not work, but that really doesn't bother me as I never really use them anyway.

 

That's odd, i just got through installing Win7 on my Z590 and the volume keys work fine, what doesn't work is my brightness when using the Nvidia adapter. When i click Fn+F5 the little transparent pop up saying Brightness comes up but doesn't do anything however it works fine when using the Intel adapter. Volume on the otheris working fine for me with VAIO event service. What was interesting about the Win7 install was that the volume worked out of the box, just that without event service installed i ddn't get the pop up on screen.

 

So whe you do that and you use the recovery disk you will go back to vista? or will you need a vista DVD as well?

 

i heard that turning off the UAC will help regain the sound utility. personally, i remember it not working when i upgraded it, then it worked after i was done with tweaking it (including turning off UAC)

 

I used the free tool EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0 Home Edition. Made a 20 GB partition, Simple NTFS, then installed Win7 and my Vaio Z became dual boot. I later stretched the partition out to 60GB and have only logged onto vista twice since then (that was about a month ago). Also, use right click of Computer -> Manage -> Storage -> Disk Management: in case someone hasn't mentioned it, but the shrink volume function doesn't work with most OS drives, hence the need for EASUS

After you make it dual boot, go into Disk Management and assign a drive letter to the Vista partition, say 'B'. Then navigate to your B:\users\you\music and right click and map it to your W7 music library. Repeat for the other libraries in W7. Vista music will appear in WMP12 etc.

If you can't access your Vista docs then I think you have to log into Vista and change the access or sharing of those folders. Can't remember now.

 

If I decide to go back to vista I just use any vista dvd and start the install process, but instead of telling it to install I just tell it to repair the pc, it finds the backup I made on my extenal drive and restores the pc to the way it was before.

 

I just did a clean install of Win 7 (long story short, my Z ran into an issue and I needed to put on a fresh OS). Everything works. The only thing I can't get to work is the brightness keys with the NVidia driver; they work with the Intel driver.

There's still one device I can't figure out what it is, but hey, I'm 98%+ functional.

Here's the rough order I installed things in:
Chipset Driver
Audio Driver
Bluetooth
Memory Stick
SD Card
Firmware Parser
IO Driver
Mouse
NVidia
Shared Library
ISB Utility
Event Service
Control Center
Power Utility
Setting Utility
HDD Protection
Intel Matrix (for my RAID)
Smart Wi

I left the Intel Ethernet driver and it detected my RAID controller as well as the WiFi.

All in all, Win7 was a pretty smooth install.

 

Hi. I'm in the same position as most. Running Win 7 (32). Most things work well in Stamina but 2 problems not mentioned by other:
1. I can't get the hard drive protection to function. I right click and choose install on the file, and reset as instucted but no evidence of its installation.
2. Vaio Control Centre only has 2 entries. These are
- System information
- Network Connections
There is no mention of the HDD protection or any other the other things like S1/S2.

Sorry. Ignore this post. I hadn't installed the setting utility. Z11VN driver page at sony vaio UK is missing lots of the entries.
Fixed now.

 

Could the final driver/device be the WWAN/EVDO card?

 

Not in mine - it's from Japan. No built in WWAN. I also don't have the camera, etc.

Oh wait, it's probably the Felicia reader ...

 

Oh yeah! That's most likely it.

 

It was the Felica reader. So outside of the brightness/NVidia weirdness, I'm up and running.

Nearly all of my software installed with no problems; the only one I couldn't get to work was Magicdisc (the ISO mounter).

Windows 7 is definitely a tad faster than Vista (not that I had Vista problems), and seems OK so far. I don't like some of the new ways of doing things, but that's to be expected.

 

I hate that it defaults to libraries rather than computer when opening an explorer window. As to ISO mounting, the only thing that seems to work for me (i'm a daemon tools person) is slysoft's "virtual clone drive." Which happens to be a free download from their website. It does the job as far as straight up mounting of ISO's is concerned. I would have had to give up on Win7 otherwise...

 

So with the faulty Fn + Brightness keys on the nvidia card, here are my performance scores (graphics and gaming graphics):

Nvidia: 4.4 & 4.4
Intel: 4.1 & 3.4

This is different from what I was able to achieve with the earlier beta of Win 7 - I had 4.9 & 4.0 on the Intel. Has anyone else achieved better scores?

I think I will need to go back to Vista - at least until the nvidia display issue isn't resolved - I don't want to run the machine on full brightness when I'm using the battery.

 

Does anyone have problems with their hdmi out in "monitor" only mode? I got it to work once yesterday, but now it only works when i do LCD+Monitor. It detects my projector, but when i select it as my only display, the screen blinks but stays on the LCD only. LCD+Monitor works, but my 720P projector detects a 1080i signal..... when i have monitor only mode, it displays 720P and it looks much smoother :\

not a deal breaker, but my HTPC is currently loaned out and I felt like watching some movies

i've tried the sony method of selecting my output, the built in windows 7 method of windows key + p and also the nvidia method from their control panel.... like i said, it worked yesterday so i have no idea why it won't now :\

 

FenderP I could really use your help with gettin win7 up on my vaio z. if u could mayb send me an email to [email protected] i would be in ur debt. I got win 7 up but i cant figure out were to find the vaio support or were to get copies of my drivers and the vaio utilities that came with my comp to bring them over to the win7 drive. or if anyone else could help i would be thankfull.

 

The original drivers are all up on Sony's site. Not hard to find. The only one I had to get from elsewhere was the Felica one from Sony Japan.

 

Here's what I used for my Z27: http://www.sony.com.sg/section/downloads. Enter your model number, click on search. Then under Original Drivers, click on Original Drivers for VGN-Z-- series. If you're in Europe or the Americas, you can try esupport.sony.com and then follow the same process. Hope this helps.

 

I have a Sony Z series and I got 7 on it, but am having the same issue with being unable to dim the graphics while using the nVidia card. Initially in the beginning even it would flick back and forth between stamina and speed but thankfully that looks to have cleared up.

A few times "Sony Event Service" or something is mentioned here as to clearing the problem up, but I don't see anywhere on the driver page to download that?

Otherwise all my drivers are installed, I don't have anything missing in Device Manager. The other FN keys seem to be fine (at least the volume ones, but I only use volume or brightness) so getting that cleared up would be great.

Any ideas?

 

I tried this myself, no dice though. They're set to run as admin, and also in Vista compatibility mode. UAC has been off on my machine from the beginning.

 

But when you do a clean install of Windows 7, it doesn't work the internet. How can you download the drivers and utilities? You must do it before and save them in dvd or external hd?

 

My internet connection was working on a fresh install of 7 just fine, even before I had updated anything at all. Both wireless and wired.

 

My internet connection was working, but I had downloaded the drivers to a usb drive before taking the plunge.

 

Alright, installed windows 7 twice...here are some pointers:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4388080&postcount=13

The above link breaksdown what FN+FX keys work in various modes; UAC on/on and in what mode stamina/speed. However i can't get the brightness FN keys to work with it in Speed mode.

I had to un-check the ISB utility to disable the sony battery check

Make sure to install sony shared library BEFORE the sony notebook utilities

The 2009 upek release for win 7 doesn't support the Vaio Z; yet. Install the one from the esupport sony site and install. It will work but there are some options that aren't available but the things a user needs is available.

I was still able to install the dell touchpad driver to have "circular" scrolling, the left hand scroll zoom and the back forward gesture control


------------------------

Anything else please let me know and i'll do my best to help

 

I didn't find that list accurate for me, personally.

I've had administrator set on those programs from the get go, and the brightness keys still don't work with UAC on regardless. But volume stops working when that's turned on.

 

Not sure if this has already been posted, but here is how to get Gadgets to work with UAC set to "Never Notify." It is a bit convoluted, but worked for me. I ended up recovering the Sidebar directory from my Vista backup.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/...-to-not-notify-or-disabled-in-windows-7-beta/

 

Has anyone got an error when trying to install 64 bit windows 7 on a 32bit vista system? It tells me something about the type of my partition? G something I forget the name ...........

 

Did you install the Sony Shared Library before you installed the Sony notebook utilities?

Did you install the ORIGINAL Sony provided NVIDIA driver instead of the pre-release one that windows see? Do you have the Z in the correct switch mode when u r doing this?

 

Can anyone help out with my question about installing 64bit windows 7 over windows 32bit vista. i get an error talking about my partition is in MBR but 64 bit can only run on a GPT Partition

 

Yes. And I even reformatted and started from scratch using the list and order suggested in the thread.

Didn't fix the brightness dimming issue.

 

Hi Kazin. It's a little complicated, but I hope I can be helpful. More recently BIOS is being replaced with something more modern called EFI. To the end user it looks the same. The Vaio Z uses EFI (rather than BIOS).
Now, systems with bios typically use a partitioning system called MBR. Systems using EFI prefer a partition system called GPT.
MBR is more compatible with disc software and some other stuff, and is generally what is still in use on most systems. If a computer uses EFI it can still have an MBR partition type on its hard drive.
By default this is the configuration of the Z (EFI+MBR).
Now, Vista 64 and Win7 64 will install on MBR if on a BIOS system. On an EFI system however they will ONLY install on a GPT partitioned drive.

So, you need to re-partition your Vaio Z hard drive as GPT type (backing up any data first). Win7 64 should then install fine. You will need to use a 3rd party partition tool on an autobooting CD or USB stick to re-partition/reformat as the Win 7 install DVD won't do it as far as I know.

I'm pretty sure this is all correct, but I only learned it recently when I accidentally used a Win 7 64bit install disc thinking it was a 32bit disc. I researched all about EFI/GPT before I realised I'd put the wrong disc in. Subsequently I installed Win7 32, so I never actually went through and re-partitioned as GPT.

I do not think you will be able to upgrade Vista 32 to Win 7 64bit.

Just got completeness
GPT = GUID Partition Table
EFI = Extensible Firmware Interface
MBR = Master Boot Record
BIOS = Basic Input Output System

For more info you could try posting on the Win 7 forum of notebookreview.com, rather than in the Sony section.

 

hey thanks alot for ur information sigma! I have a dual boot running 32 bit 7 now and i am power hungry to get the most outa my 4gb ram. I went with what u said and some other research and I am going to make the attempt to re-partition as u said. It sucks I have to abandon my vista install tho. I figured at least one person must have made the 64 bit change with their Z but i guess not?

Does anyone have any advice or experience running this partition tool with the autoboot usb drive? I'll prolly find it on google from a little more searching but like I said i was hoping to find someone who went through the same exact issue. Thank you once again for your wisdom sigma

 

Diskpart seems to be the command line tool for this job. Maybe a vista or 7 install disc would bet you boot to dos and you could use the command from there. google diskpart and gpt. the commands seem fairly straight forward. you may have to delete the existing patition structure first, I'm not certain.
let us knoww how you get on. I have decided to stay with 32bit 7 for the moment as there is a lack of sony drivers in 64 bit + the partition hassle.

 

Kazin326,

I managed to install Windows7 x64 on my Z. I had a dual-boot system previously, with XP32 and Vista32. Now I have a triple-boot system with the previous 32 systems plus Win7 64.

Actually I had to reinstall win7 three times (due to other issues) and I discovered that everytime I tried to do it I would run into the same problem you mentioned.

I found a way around it by using the vista disk management tool to create a new partition. The only trick is that everytime I reinstalled win7 I had to delete the partition first, then create a new one with the unnallocated space and format it. Then it worked.

The only odd thing (not a problem, though) is that during the reinstallation you may have duplicate entries for win7 in the boot manager. In my case, the duplicate entries went away after the reinstallation was complete.

Hope it helps.

 

Ya I am under the impression I would need to wipe my Z completley clean. To make ur ESI MBR change to a GPT i have only found information that says the whole disk must be wiped clean and partitions deleted. That is the only way that u will get the option to change ur MBR to GPT.

To Mixvio; so what was ur workaround when it wouldnt let u install to the MBR disk. How did u manage to convert that partition or whole drive to GPT if ur current 32bit MBR was still on the disk.


To Sigma; if i make the transition should i abandon the drivers i obtained through the sony site u guided me to, and download the 64 bit drivers instead.. correct?

Sigma im gonna try a big workaround later tonight. I am gonna attempt to install a windows 7 32 bit to my external seagate. Im gonna figure out how to boot from that. Then access normal disk management and i should be able to wipe the drive on my z clean and convert. then a simple unplug with the 64bit windows7 in the disk drive. and i should be good to go

 

Hi Kazin. I don't want to over sell the info I gave you. I learned it but never implemented it. I did try to create a GPT partition on the MBR drive but I had no success. I concluded that a physical hard drive could therefore be either MBR or GPT. It seems this assumption may be incorrect as rcs_brz implies he has this sorted.

Regarding the 64 bit drivers,

On page 6 of this thread ZoinksS2k said the following in response to a question of mine about 64 bit drivers for Windows 7 and the Z

I think we can expect the same issues with Windows 7 x64 as with Vista x64. There is an excellent thread in these forums showing the limitations(first several pages at least).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/show....php?p=4367600

I'm likely going to stick with 32bit until Sony puts out a Z-series Vista x64 driver set, which may be very soon.

Kazin, I'd have a read of that thread prior to proceeding. I have never installed a 64bit os.

 

Im having problems installing these three files on my TZ240:
SOAOTH-13383400-US
SOAOTH-49200000-US
SOAVCC-13988600-US
and i cant use fn brightness keys and VAIO control center doesnt work.. Any tips? Thanks in advance

 

Actually I experienced the problem when reinstalling win7 64, but I assumed that there had to be a way around it, since I had no problem at the first installation of win7 64.

I just figured it had to work if I started from scratch, which I did. That is why I deleted the partition and re-created it. I never really tried to understand the EFI x GPT issue because I knew that it was a problem that wasn't there at the first time I installed win7 64 (therefore I should be able to solve it).

I do not know if it is relevant, but I did a clean installation of XP and then a clean installation of Vista before creating the win7 64 partition. Maybe that process actually changed something.

It is working just fine (a few bugs, of course, mostly driver-related) for three days.

 

This clears up a few questions
Microsoft GTP FAQ

I think GPT discs can contain MBR compatible partitions, which is maybe why you managed to get a 32bit Vista on to a system with Win 7 64bit. I don't think the reverse is true, i.e. a MBR drive can't have a GPT partition to my knowledge.

 

Have they come from your recovery disc or are they from the sony website for your machine?

To install Win 7 (32bit) on my Z I followed a detailed description of the order of installation and all works fairly well. These 2 threads were very helpful

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=342562
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=336895

Note that the Sony Website may have an incomplete set of drivers. For example the drivers for the Z11WN on the UK Sony site is missing loads of the drivers including the setting utility and firmware parser, without which the VAIO control center does not function fully.

 

Alright fella's. Before i decided to spend an hour or so of research, I resorted to the good ol fashion trial and error. And I have your answers to this EFI/BIOS GPT/MBR problem. And its 10000 times more easy then i beleive we expected.

Ill start with the original error talking about how windows 7 64 bit needs to be on a GPT partition. Normally if your going to switch your drive from MBR to GPT the drive needs to be wiped clean. U need to be booting from another jump drive or external and then clean off ur whole hard drive, OS and all.

This is the solution. Defrag your main drive so your able to shrink it using the built in vista disk manager. Shrink up around 20gb of space. If your having difficulty with this, then try to create a new partition and have it take space from the main vista partition.

THE KEY is not formating this new partition. There is a option to format it to a NTFS partition. What you want to do is format it to a logical partition. It will tell you that without formating it you will not be able to put data on it. The windows 7 64bit install disc will do this formatting for you in the GPT format(im assuming its gpt, it just gets the job done). Then with your lists of partitions when choosing where to install, the logical partition is the only one that will allow you to install windows 7 64 bit.

So the simple answer is, just create a new partition but dont format it with the NTFS option. Choose no format and it becomes a logical partition that the Windows 7 64bit install disc will take care of. And now your up and running 64bit. I am in the process now of installing software and drivers.

Can i install the 32bit drivers from esupport or does anyone know if i need specific drivers?

I notice some speed increase now that im utlizing all 4gb or ram, and even more so from the crystal clean install without the bloatware. When i do my index base test however i get a data transfer score of 1.6. Im assuming this will increase when i begin installing drivers.... any guidance on that?

Here is my index base test with windows 7 64 bit. I will post my windows 7 32bit and Vista 32bit scores later to compare.

Windows 7 Index Base Score 64 bit: Vaio Z540 US Model
2.53ghz, 4gb ram, 320 5400RPM Hard Drive.. Just after install without any drivers installed

Processor: 6.1
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 4.1
Gaming Graphics: 4.9
Primary Hard Disc: 1.9?

 

Does anyone have the RAID driver for the 32bit sony z540? Thats the only driver currently down on the US site.

Sorry if my previous post was so long im just very excited to get the 64bit up and running. And im even more excited later this year; Windows 7, notebook iCore7's, with 3 ram slots sporting 12gb of ram.

 

Thanks for the post. I'm happy to hear it can be done in such a straightforward way. I wonder why it failed for me as I thought that's what I tried first! Maybe I formatted it NTFS?

Regarding the drivers, you are going to need 64 bit Sony drivers to get the buttons working. There are some available. Look at this thread which is about Vista 64 drivers, which is what you want (as those of us still on 32bit Win 7 are using the 32 bit Vista drivers).
A few people on the thread are using Win 7 (64bit).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=292536

 

Where did you get the Setting Utility from? I'm having the exact same problem at the moment with my Z11WN... the Z21 pages have more stuff, but still seem to be missing the Setting Utility. Also having exactly the same problem with the HDD Protection, but it sounds like installing the Setting Utility fixed that for you anyway?

I also can't get the volume and brightness keys to work properly. Setting the VAIO Event Service exe files to run as Administrator in the Compatability tab for them makes no difference at all. Brightness keys show the little popup on the screen, but will only move between the highest and the next one down, and makes no difference at all to the actual brightness (which happens to be exactly the same thing as happened on my SZ if I had to restart the VAIO Event Service because it crashed or stopped responding, and I had closed the screen lid at some point before that... it seemed like the NVIDIA graphics card was actually being disconnected or something while the lid was closed, which then confused things and stopped it being detected properly... my Z doesn't do that though). The brightness control in Windows Mobility Centre also does nothing though, so I don't think that is an issue with the VAIO Event Service.

The sound buttons don't work at all if the VAIO Event Service is running... if it's not running, they do change the volume with no message on the screen, but that's expected... the Fn + Volume buttons on recent VAIOs are all done as standard volume buttons which Windows can handle itself. But with the VAIO Event Service running, that actually stops the buttons from changing the volume at all, and also causes a huge delay before any other Fn buttons have any effect (e.g. the message appearing for the brightness, if I press one of the brightness buttons after one of the volume buttons).

 

I have an update for anyone trying to install Windows 7 64bit..

This is the TRUE KICKER to installing 64bit on ur ESI/MBR type drive that comes with all Z's as of my knowledge.

You have your main partition... Shrink it to allocate as much free space as u want on ur 64 bit system plus around 100mb.

Create a 100mb partition... This is so the next partition u make can become the LOGICAL partition that will allow the 64 bit install.

If u try making just two partitions it will not allow this 64 bit install.

This next partition u make will be for ur 64bit windows 7 and in making the partition choose not to format it. The windows 7 64bit install will format it for u

I never noticed this before because i had a triple boot with 3 partitions.

 

Hi. I had all the problems you had until I got that Setting utility installed.
I actually used this link to get many of my drivers and utilities in the end

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=293880&highlight=utility.zip

It's a link to a thread to install vista from fresh and someone has made a very nice bundle of all the drivers and utilities (point 21 and 22 of the first post). They are also clearly labelled.
I got a fair bit from the Z21 section of Sony UK, but the names of the drivers were confusing and their was no info to help out.
I've not got the name of the file to hand that fixed it as I'm at work without my Z. If you still have problems let me know and I'll give you more details.