XP x64 on SZ

I just brought a Vaio SZ and although I think Vista Business on it is fine, it isn't good for my work partially due to the fact that its 32bit. I want to create a partition so that Vista remains but on one but on the other partition, I can install XP Pro x64 mainly for my uni work; (using things like AutoCAD and Matlab). This so I can take advantage of the dual processor. So how could I go about doing this and are there any Sony drivers that will not work on x64 (because they possibly don't exist?)

Thanks for any help.

 

You do not need a 64bit OS to take advantage of a dual core processor ...

XP64 requires entirely different drivers, none of the 32bit ones will work AFAIK.

 

No but you do to use it at it's fullest potential.

 

Although it should maximise the potential in my experience xp 64 is pretty unstable... From personal experience unless theres a full set of drivers somewhere I would Strongly reccomend giving it a miss...

 

Sony doesn't even support Vista 64bit, let alone XP 64bit. That project is a nightmare if I've ever heard one.

 

I don't really need the drivers for things like the web cam and all that because the x64 OS is going to be used purely for work.

I have been looking around for some time for the SATA drivers so I can install it and are these located in the Chipset drivers? I found the file and I know I need to slipstream it onto the x64 disc but do I extract the XP file in this or am I looking at the completely wrong driver? Could someone tell me where I can get the SATA drivers then please.

Chipset drivers: ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDowngrade/SZ4-SZ5/Drivers/1_Chipset.zip

 

I have a Sony SZ440 and am currently dual booting vista business and Windows XP Pro x64. Use either the disk management (right click my computer, manage, disk management) or a GParted liveCD (linux partitioning tool, i reccomend this as it allows you to create new partitions of any size) to make a partition for your x64. Then once GParted is done partitioning, boot to vista, and it will have to "recover" from what you've done to it (it did it without help from me). From there, install XP Professional x64 on the new partition, which will overwrite the vista bootloader. Heres where things get tricky; sony is run by idiots who don't give you an install CD for vista. I burned one from a friend, which is, as far as i know, legal, since we DO have a license for the software. OK, from here, pop in the vista CD and use the recovery option. It will repair the bootloader. Then go into vista again (all should be back to working as usual) and download a program called Easy BCD. use it to configure your boot setup and you're (almost) good to go. When you reboot you can select x64 or Vista. I found MOST of the drivers i needed. YOU DO NOT NEED SERIAL ATA DRIVERS! This is not necessary for newer computers. I found the drivers for the intel GMA graphics card off the intel website, unfortunately the Go 7400 does not seem to support x64 OS's. I also found the wireless card driver on intel's website. There are no sound card drivers that work that I have found yet. Other than those drivers, there is not much that needs to be installed. There is definitely no fingerprint reader software that works either, unless they have published something new since I last checked.

HTH, and I take no responsibility, but I did do this and it was mind numbingly simple. Can post pics if needed.

 

EDIT: the other thing that will not work is the buttons to increase/decrease the brightness on the laptop. again, this dual boot is about compromises, but in reality all of the really important stuff works great. Sound would be nice but I have vista for that.

and on another note, if you install a non x64 version of XP, sony has other SZ series laptops that run XP so there should be drivers there.

 

Well I had already partitioned off the hard drive using a piece of software by Paragon and that caused no errors this time. Once the partition was made I installed XP x64 using your instructions (thanks for them), and after I used my cd to recover the bootloader, XP x64 wouldn't boot (EasyBCD was installed). I searched around for the problem concerning-:

After searching the internet for answers, I finally found a simple guide which made and explained everything clearly: http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/about92429.html

Just in case that link dose not work for some reason, here are the instruction:

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

You may have some luck with drivers from this site
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14217

Just be sure to read the FAQ before you try them, there are additional steps which are mandatory if you hope to have any success.

 

ah well, i had no problems using EasyBCD. i had read guides on using vistaboot pro too, but in the end i sort of decided to do it my own way using my own ideas. worked out fine for me.