The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Help with Vaio OS install

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by HandOverFist, Dec 25, 2012.

  1. HandOverFist

    HandOverFist Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Recently purchased this used Sony Vaio off ebay to replace the netbook for garage duties. The small screen of the netbook would often obscure many of the graphs I use for tuning of fuel injection tables and the 17" screen of the Vaio will be a welcome addition.

    The new (to me) laptop is probably overkill for it's intended purpose, but for $200 I could see no wrong. It sports a C2D T7200 @ 2.00 GHz and 3 GB of memory. Came with Vista installed and seemed to work well without a hitch, but I really wanted XP for my uses. I made two recovery disc's of the original before beginning the XP install.

    Several attempts of an install of Tiny XP were successful until it came time to boot from the hdd...it would then go to black screen. I had a legit copy of Vista 64 bit on hand and tried it with the same results. Even the recovery disks refused to cooperate. Finally I tried Tiny 7 which installed normally and booted right up and is currently running. Any idea's on what the problem might be? I still would rather be using XP.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    HandOverFist, Dec 25, 2012
    #1
  2. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,257
    Messages:
    7,426
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Trophy Points:
    331
    What installation media are you using (discs, USB, etc.)? I'm not very experienced with the honey-I-shrunk-the-OS variants - I've only used Mini XP off of a Live CD. Maybe your installation files are bad or incomplete? You could try running a disk check utility (like chkdsk... lol) to attempt repairs on bad sectors if there are any, and then try installing again.
     
    Prostar Computer, Dec 26, 2012
    #2
  3. HandOverFist

    HandOverFist Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I'm using cd's for install. Made some more attempts this morning to no avail...Tiny XP, Vista 64, Windows Home Server, XP Pro 64 and recovery discs have all failed. Only Tiny 7 will install and boot...go figure.
     
    HandOverFist, Dec 26, 2012
    #3
  4. HandOverFist

    HandOverFist Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Seems this laptop will not accept any OS that does not have the number 7 in it lol...I have exhausted all my tricks including a dual-boot solution. Just installed Win 7x64 without a hitch...I'll probably go back to Tiny 7 later as it is a bit snappier.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    HandOverFist, Dec 26, 2012
    #4
  5. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,257
    Messages:
    7,426
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Hmm... when you installed Win7, did you use a OEM disc? Could have been that miser of a SLIC with the product key embedded that rejects everything but what it's assigned to.

    Vaio's are great, but as with all Sony products, their proprietary-ness causes migraines sometimes.
     
    Prostar Computer, Dec 27, 2012
    #5