Windows XP SP3 on Sony VAIO Z - Clean Install / Downgrade Guide

I've modded Sony's guide for a Clean install XP guide. It will lead to XP with 28 running processes (including all utilities, SP3, MS tools for malicious software and phishing filter, without Fingerprint/TPM) This guide chooses to manually install drivers instead of running setup files whenever possible. This results in minimal footprint of driver software.

This guide can be used with any XP installation CD, as long as it contains SATA drivers. If it does not contain SATA drivers you'll need to slipstream them.

*Disclaimer: I wrote this guide in Oktober 2008. Some of these drivers may be replaced with newer ones. *

Preparation
Prepare a USB key or an USB Hard disk or CD/DVD with the the following files:
-XP Driver package from Sony link Alternate link.
-XP Utilities package from Sony link
-Intel 82567LM Ethernet driver from Intel.com link
-Intel X4500 driver from Intel.com link
-Intel Wireless 5100 driver from Intel.com (drivers only) link
-Windows XP SP3 Servicepack link
-Universal extracter link

Make sure that:
* the Vaio is set on Speed mode, by moving the switch above the keyboard to Speed
* the Wireless switch next to the memory stick slot is switched on.
* The unit is connected on AC power
* No 3rd party hardware is connected / installed on the unit when starting this process.
* Cancel all "found new hardware" pop-up screens during the installation.

1. Install Windows XP Professional from the bundled disc, following the instructions from the booklet.
After the setup is completed and all the hotfixes are installed from the XP downgrade disc and the system has rebooted we can continue with the drivers and utilities installation.

2. Connect the USB device with Service Pack 3 on it. Run the .exe. file.

Please always press cancel to all ‘Found new hardware’ pop-up screens.

3. Driver preparation: *Copy all prepared files from the USB device to the C: drive. For example to the desktop.
*Use the universal extracter to unzip as many .exe driver packages as possible. For example; Intel Chipset driver, Intel Graphics driver, Ethernet driver, Intel Wireless driver, and more.

4. Chipset drivers:
* Go to devicemanager, select 'SM Bus', Rightclick > Update driver, Do you want search?
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Vista folder of intel Chipset drivers and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.
*Cancel all "found new hardware" pop-up screens during the installation.
* Reboot when done.

5. Audio driver installation:
* Right click on the HD Audio device and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the Audio driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

6. Modem installation:
* Go to Device Manager
* Right click on the Modem Device item select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Modem folder and select there the Win32/drivers folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

7. Bluetooth installation:
* Go to Device Manager
* Right click on the Bluetooth item select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Bluetooth driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

8. Graphics installation:
* Go to Device Manager
* Right click on the VGA (VGA compatible) item and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Nvidia driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.
* Restart the PC when done
* After the restart is completed, switch the switch left above the keyboard to Stamina mode and restart the PC again by pressing Start -> Turn off computer -> restart.

Stamina mode
* Go to Device Manager
* Right click on the VGA (VGA compatible) item and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the folder /Graphics of the Intel Graphics driver.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.
* Restart the PC when done


9. Wireless LAN drivers installation:
* Go to Device Manager
* Right click on the Wireless item select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Intel Wireless folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

(I choose not to install the Intel Wireless utilities because I don't need them. If you do want to install them now would be a good time.)


10. Camera driver installation:
* Open the Camera Driver folder.
* Run the setup file and follow the on-screen instructions.

11. Fingerprint installation Only if your model has a Fingerprint reader! (Z11VN/X- Z11WN/B - Z11AWN/B -Z11XN/B -Z11VRN/B and -Z11XRN/B models!):
* Open the Protector Suite folder.
* Run the setup file and follow the on-screen instructions.
* Reboot the Vaio when finished.

12. Mass Storage controller (If you performed the SP3 upgrade at step 2 this step is most likely not necessary as SP3 already installed it)
* Right click on the Base System Device item under Other devices and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the Memory card folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.
* Do not restart the PC.

13. TPM module installation (for units with a TPM module)
Note : Only applicable in case you do not install the optional TMP utility.
* Right click on the Unknown device item under Other devices and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the TPM driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

14. Ethernet controller
* Right click on the Ethernet Controller item under Other devices and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the Intel Ethernet driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

15. Sony Notebook controller:
* Click on the + before Human interface devices.
* Right click on the Sony Notebook Control device item and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* SelectInstall from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the SNC folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

16. Sony PI controller
* Click on the + before Human interface devices.
* Right click on the Sony Programmable I/O control device item and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific location and press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the SonyPI folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.

17. Touchpad driver
* Click on the + before Mice and other pointing devices.
* Right click on the Sony PS/2 compatible devicesitem and select Update driver.
* Select No, not this time and press Next.
* Select Install from a specific locationand press Next.
* Click on Browse and browse to the Drivers folder and select there the Pointing driver folder and press Ok.
* Click on Next.
* Click on Finish when done.
* Do not restart the PC at this stage.

18. Sony HDD Protection driver:
* Open the folder Sony HDD protection driver in the downloaded drivers folder.
* Right-click on the shpf (Setup information) file and select install.
* Select continue anyway on the pop-up message.
* Restart the PC when done.

19. Utilities
Install all utilities following the order of the folders.
When the unit needs to reboot, do so.

WWAN installation (for VGN-Z11VN/X / -Z11WN/B and -Z11AWN/B)

* Run the setup file from the WWAN connection Manager folder and follow the on-screen instructions.
* Close the folder and open the WWAN driver folder and run the setup file.
* Go to Start -> All Programs -> Vaio Control center.
* Click on the + before Network connections.
* Double click on the Wireless Switch settings.
* Enable Wireless Wan and click apply to install the drivers.

This completes the XP downgrade setup.

 

Amazing post!!!!! You... are... a... computer... god!!!!!!!

Thank youuuuuuuu!!!!!!

 

Wow! Nice guide.

A few questions:
1. Do I need to have sata drivers on a special windows xp cd to do this or can I use any retail windows xp cd?
2. Any missing functions compared to the pre-installed vista? For example, HDMI, power management, function keys, and instant stamina and speed mode switch.
3. Does this improve the battery life?

Thanks!

 

1 Yes you need an XP version with SATA drivers. The CD I used (original Sony downgrade disk) already contains SATA drivers. Without SATA drivers one can not see the hard drive.

2. Everything works.

3. I don't know because I have never used the battery.

 

In Canada, Sony does not offer the xp downgrade disc with the purchase of this notebook. Is there a way to get the sata drivers into a non-sony xp cd?

 

Yes it's called slipstreaming drivers and I have no clue on how to do it.

If you search the Sony forum for slipstreaming you'll probably find it. Here's three threads:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=305966&highlight=slipstream
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=305140&highlight=slipstream
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=304290&highlight=slipstream

 

2. You can't use the 'instant' stamina/speed switch in XP - you need to reboot for the change to take effect. Also, I can't find an option to powerdown the optical drive in XP, but all the other power management seems to work just fine.
3. I noticed a very slight improvement in battery life - maybe 20mins - but it might just be due to my XP install having less junk than the Vista install I used.

It's worth mentioning that the startup, shutdown and hibernate times are all vastly improved after downgrading.

 

Phil, I'm doing a clean install on a FW soon, and I was just wondering, is there any reason you choose your driver installation in that order, for example the graphics drivers after the bluetooth (why not sooner) and the ethernet at 14 instead of sooner?

I might follow your order of drivers, just wondering if there was a specific reason for the order, all I figured was the chipset driver first, outside of that I couldn't think of an order.

 

Right the order of the drivers does not really matter as long as you do the chipset drivers first, and all the drivers before the utilities. The order of the utlities is somewhat important.

The reason I did it in this order is that this order was recommended by Sony. I used their guide and modified it.

 

Thanks Phil, I was unaware there is a Sony guide, where did you find that? I'll probably follow your order exactly then if that’s what Sony recommended, I just hope all the drivers Sony lists for the FW match the Z’s in this guide.

 

Somewhere on these forums. Forgot where.

 

I just finished slipstreaming the sata drivers onto my xp cd. I'll try to install it tonight and keep you posted.

it would be nice to be able to switch from speed to stamina without rebooting and also control the power on the dvd drive in XP but I guess the gains are worth the small sacrifices.

Thanks!

 

I finished installing windows xp and the slipstream cd worked.

I have 3 unknown devices under other devices in device manager:
1. base system device
2. modem device on high defition asudio bus
3. unknown device

Any thoughts on how to get the machine to recognize these?

 

Oh one more thing, I can't seem to adjust my brightness and volumn with the function keys on the keyboard. How do I get this working?

Does Xp have more adjustable power settings similar to vista whereby you can set the brightness and the processor utilization?

 

Did you really follow the guide from step 1 to 19? I'm thinking you did not, because all the questions you ask indicate so.

1. is the Memory card reader, 2 is the modem, 3 is probably one of the sony devices. For 1 and 2 manually point to the right directories. For 3 use the procedure on the first page.

Did you install the utilities?

If you install the utilities in the correct order after ALL the driver have been installed, the function keys work.

The Sony Vaio control let's you set brightness and everything.

 

Thank you for this very clear instructions.
It was a great help for me.

For those who have difficulties ( i had also) with installing the sata drivers with USB diskette controller, here is the trick:

http://www.msfn.org/board/F6-Driver-USB-Floppy-t82711.html

 

I got all xp up and running with power management and all identified devices. Thank you for your help!

My only problem now is that my dvd drive is having trouble reading all discs and only reads -r discs and not dual layer or +r discs. Is there a driver update or firmware update that I need? The device manager indicates that I have a mat****a dvd-ram uj862as dvd drive. Any thoughts?

 

I can't help you with that. Maybe someone else can.

Searching the Z thread may also give some insight:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272690

You can search for "mat****a".

 

After using an XP machine for a few days, this is exactly what I want to do with this SZ670N/C, and I'm grateful for the guide... well done!

My office has spare XP Pro licenses. How can I tell in advance whether a given disc has SATA drivers on it?

Thanks!

ng

 

If you can boot from it and install XP you're settled.

 

Can anyone help with gaining access to the Vaio support site? It won't accept my product code or serial number. Could this have to do with my location, United States? If so, can anyone host the drivers needed?

 

Yes I think so. Go to http://esupport.sony.com/perl/selec...ftware:esup&ref=http://www.sony.com/index.php instead.

The link I gave is probably only for european models.

 

Well they aren't giving us the option on the US site. Is there anyone on the board who would be willing to host the files available to UK-only residents?

Edit: I got it going using the Asia website. Now if only I could get the brightness to work so I can improve battery life.

 

For the brightness to work it is essential you install (a) all drivers (b) before the utlities.

Especially driver number 15 and 16 will be forgotten often because there are no question marks in front of them. Windows installs a default driver that does not fully work for them.

 

Excellent guide. Thanks for putting it all in one place. And thanks to the people who provided the info on slipstreaming. I had an extra OEM copy of XP Pro SP3, and I used that to slipstream the Intel drivers. In nLite, I just picked all of the non-RAID drivers, and it worked just fine on the first try!

For US folks, if you use the US Sony support site-- they don't provide the individual drivers as drivers, they provide them as installers. So the install is actually a little easier, if not neater.

After installing, I wound up with 37 processes, and I'm not sure if that's Sony, or if that's Windows. I suppose I'll have to get to pruning either way.

And yes, make sure you install the Sony Shared Library and then the Sony Notebook Utilities at the very end to get control over the FN keys. They didn't work right away, but they do now. Mysterious.

I must admit that I love my little Z520N. It's not perfect, but it's close enough for me.

 

will this work with the raid SSD config?

 

In the guide I describe how you can use 7zip to extract the drivers from the installers. I prefer working with drivers instead of installers because it wil leave less software and processes on your machine.

For comparison, when I did the clean install I had 28 processes (including all utilities, SP3, MS tools for malicious software and phishing filter, without Fingerprint/TPM and without the Intel Wifi utility)

The RAID SSD config may need an additional driver. I'd say just start with the guide and see how far you get.
If you need a driver for the RAID you can probably find it on website of the manufacturer of the RAID chip. If not, try Sony's website.

 

Doh! That's what I get for skimming and not reading in detail! Thanks for the info, Phil. I'll read the guide CAREFULLY now.

Oh well, guess I get to reinstall. Not a big loss, really, now that I know it works.

 

Ok, downgraded to XP and everything works fine, except of the buttons S1 and S2. Is there a special utility for them?

 

Yes, I think you need to install the Sony Switch Setting utility (and any prerequisites that it requires).

 

If you mean the wireless switch setting utility, I already have it. Maybe you mean Sony Setting utility?

Edit: I have both of them, nothing.

 

I think you must have missed something, or maybe installed something in the wrong order. I used the Sony disc, then installed all the drivers and utilities in the order specified on the www.vaio-link.com site, and it worked fine.

 

Hmm... I can't seem to be able to extract any of the drivers out of the .exe files except the Intel ones from the Intel site, and that's using the latest stable 7zip (not the beta). Am I missing something, or am I just stuck having to use the Sony driver installers for most of the drivers?

Not that it matters too much. I'm just trying to find an install that minimizes taskbar lint.

 

7zip worked for me on the self extracting cabinets.

Often the drivers are already unexctracted inside directories. If that's the case, manually point the deivce driver to the right directory.

Actually you can see exactly on page 1 of this thread which drivers can be installed without running executables.

Right, that's the point of not running executables.

 

Well, when I go to the Sony USA site, the files I get are individual .EXE files, not .CAB files. (Is that what you mean by cabinets?) For the Z520N, there isn't a handy collection of drivers, you have to download them one by one, and each one is an .EXE file.

When I run 7Zip (latest stable- not beta) on them to try to extract files from them, I get an error saying that they're not extractable. The only way to get those files to work is to execute them.

7Zip will only work on the files from the Intel site.

Not that it matters much. I've trimmed it down to about 29 processes, and since I didn't install the wireless tool, that knocked out the last piece of really annoying lint, except maybe for the touchpad driver, which is annoying in its own way. (Why do you need a taskbar icon to inform you that you're using the touchpad?!?)

I've always known that Sony USA's support was wretched, so I can't say I'm too surprised. I buy Vaios in spite of the support, not because of it.

 

With self extracting cabinets I mean .exe files.

I'm not sure what kind of files Sony USA has but if you downloaded them, and then right clicked them (with 7zip already installed) and then choose extract in the 7zip context menu, and 7zip said it could not exctract, then I would be safe to assume they can't be extracted.

 

Got my Vaio Z today and I have few questions
1. It say downgrade able mean it come with XP license or you need to have one yourself?
2. Can I download downgrade disc in the Internet? (Im not at state atm so I cant call Sony rep for the disc though)
3. Can I use service tag to find out what part using in my Vaio like other Notebook manufacturers?
Thanks in advance.

 

If your Z came with Vista Business, the license already includes the ability to downgrade to XP without needing a separate license for it.
I don't believe you can download a Z-specific XP downgrade disc... but if you didn't get one in the box, you can slipstream SATA drivers into a standard XP install disc (search for nLite on these forums for more info) and then install the drivers and utilities specific to your Z, which are available on the Sony support site.

 

Phil, Has anything changed with this clean install proceedure since your initial post? I just got my Z today and want to start the downgrade to XP tonight and just want to make sure that everything will work as specified. Thanks in advance for your help and great thread btw!

 

You're welcome.

I think it's all up to date as I only wrote this guide 2 weeks ago.

 

Hi--

Thanks for the guide.

I don't understand the discussion of SATA drivers here. I'm sure SATA drivers are included with Windows, no, as it is the predominant type of hard drive in computers today, AFAIK?

It would be impossible to even begin to install Windows, if the pre-install environment on the CD did not recognize your hard drive.

I would guess that SATA drivers are already part of Windows, both XP and Vista, Mac, Linux, all modern OSes. I don't understand why there is talk here of need to install SATA Drivers.

In looking at the page of Sony drivers and utilities for XP at http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNSZ780&SelectOS=7,
I see no mention of SATA drivers, although these computers come with SATA drives installed.

Why the SATA drivers discussion?

 

Where can one find their guide?

 

Are all the Sony utilities really necessary? I'm not sure if all of the Sony utilities are really necessary or useful, or whether some just duplicate functions already in Windows, and are just there for advertising purposes, to look like something special for Sony. As I would rather not have unnecessary background services, processes, and drivers running, eating up system resources, I'd like to find out which of the Sony applets are really important to install.

Of course, I'm sure that will be a matter of opinion. A utility that one person thinks is necessary, another might find unnecessary. So, I would like to hear people's opinions about that--which of the Sony utilities and drivers (other than the obvious necessary basic drivers for audio, video, etc.) do you think are necessary or useful, and which do you consider to be unnecessary, and why?

 

Many XP SP2 discs and even SP3 lack SATA drivers. It's strange but true.

The XP discs Sony ships with Z have SATA drivers included.

Very good question. You'd have to try it out to find what is true.

At first when I had my TZ and SZ I used to believe it was mostly unnecessary, like you.

Lately I've come to appreciate some of the Sony tools. The battery utility is very useful and the Vaio control where one can select the silent profile is also good.

 

And SP1 discs?

That is very strange--hard to believe in fact. You mean that with computers whose main hard drive is SATA (I'm sure the majority of computers today), if you put boot up from a regular Microsoft XP disc, the disc would report that no hard drive is found, so it cannot install the OS?

That is what would happen, if the disc could not read SATA drives!

That would not require a fix from Sony, but from Microsoft!!!

Once again, on the driver download section of the Sony US site, both for XP as well as Vista, there is no mention of installing SATA drivers, and there are none there.

Once again though, where is the Sony XP install guide you refer to?

 

Microsoft's solution to the SATA problem is a method that requires the use of an external floppy drive and pressing F6 at the beginning of the XP installation. This is obviously outdated and geared towards desktops since laptops rarely have floppy disks. Strangely enough, the Z's drivers page mentions nothing of this problem, but the SR's drivers page give instructions to install the SATA drivers with an external floppy drive.

A much easier method is to slipstream the SATA drivers with nLite, which is the solution PhilFlow mentioned. If you're interested in the slipstreaming process, I have an XP downgrade guide for the Vaio SR, whose first steps to slipstreaming should give you enough info to create a slipstreamed XP disk.

 

Well it isn't hard to believe for me because I tried installing XP from my normal disc but it wouldn't see my hard drive.

It may not be the case that all SATA drivers are missing, but just the ones the Z needs.

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/270960/product/vgn-z12gn/sectionfirst?subpage=detail

It contains a lot of errors though. HDMI works fine for example.

 

Really weird. Do you mean that Microsoft ships the SATA drivers separately on floppy disks? I didn't know that anyone had floppy disk drives any more. What would they be used for these days? No software comes on floppies,and people use flash disks to transfer files, holding thousands of times as much data as a floppy.

Do people have to buy floppy drives, for the sole purpose of installing xp?

I guess I haven't experienced it yet myself, as the last time I installed XP it was on a PATA drive. But it's weird.

 

It's indeed weird, but only because Microsoft haven't bothered updating their installer since SATA became pretty standard (when XP was released, PATA was universally used pretty much and SATA was a rarity). The 'F6 during setup' method is also used for installing RAID controllers and such... basically allows you to install drivers for the storage hardware you want to be available during setup (i.e. install XP on to), if XP doesn't already have a driver for it.
I find it strange that Microsoft decided to limit the installer to drive A: for such drivers, given floppy drives were already getting a bit outdated when XP hit the shelves. Like Lattice says, it's probably easier to slipstream SATA drivers into a standard XP install so you don't need to bother with the USB floppy or whatever.

I have a USB floppy and I've only used it a couple of times for installing RAID controllers during XP setup. I wonder how many USB floppy drives have been sold just because of XP setup? Every other occasion that a floppy might be used, a flash key works better nowadays...

 

Does anyone know how to turn optical drive power OFF with Z on XP?
Same question for ExpresscCard Slot.

XP itself is less power consuming, but we could get even better battery life with DVD and EpressCard shut down.

FYI: Integrated ethernet card can be shut down simply by disabling it in "Connections" list.