THIS IS FOR WINDOWS VISTA 64-BIT. *For 32 Bits - please look at post #12 and above below*
My system is VGN-AW190.
There are already a couple of "guides" floating around that describe how to install a clean copy of Windows on Sony laptops.
The process is fairly simple and involves installing certain Sony software and drivers in particular order (according to Sony).
****
When I first installed Windows Ultimate, I had no problems getting everything to work EXCEPT for the following:
1) CompactFlash (JMicron JMB368 ExpressCard CF) driver is not available on Sony's web site. When inserting the card, it does not show up as a drive in Windows Explorer. After some time playing around, I figured the following 2 ways to make it work:
a. Insert your card, go to device manager and click on "scan for hardware changes"
b. Boot Windows while the card is inserted
2) SD card slot works but is not mapped to any drive. While Ricoh MS driver automatically creates a drive, there is no driver on Sony's web site that would do the same for SD slot.
Sony's support is useless to a point where they told me that the reason why my CF cards do not show up and there is no drive mapped to the slot is because the laptop does not support cards larger than 4GB (and I have only 8GB Sandisk cards) What a joke. I finally managed to get a 2nd tier technical guy on the phone who said that Sony does not provide CF drivers and that there is nothing they can do about it.
So, I reverted back to Sony's original setup, installed Driver Genius (http://www.driver-soft.com/) + a couple of other driver backup programs and did a backup of every single driver.
Then I installed a clean copy of Windows and used Driver Genius to restore SD + CF drivers. Worked beautifully and I now have 3 drives mapped to MS, SD and CF, just like Sony intended.
Now...... the best part of this post. I am making the backup available for your use. There are 5 archived parts, 15MB each for a total of 72MB. Here is the link: http://rapidshare.com/users/K7IK4H
You will need Driver Genius to simplify the installation process or you can do it yourself manually.
After installing your own copy of Windows, do the following:
1) Install "Original - Sony® Notebook Utilities" (http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...=3926&os_id=36)
2) Install "Original - Sony® Firmware Extension Parser" (http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...=3838&os_id=36)
3) Install other drivers in ANY order from here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...90&SelectOS=36
That's pretty much it
Essentially, for #3 you can use Driver Genius and just restore all drivers from my backup (that's if you have the same model). I believe brightness keys will start working only after you install Intel chipset driver, but I am not 100% positive. Forgot at which point they became operational.
Since Sony usually uses same components in their laptops, these drivers should fit other series, not just VGN-AW.
If you guys have questions, feel free to ask. It would also be great if someone could backup all their drivers on the 32-bit Vista installation.
I wish someone did that before, thus sparing me hours of searching for drivers that Sony should have had on their web site to begin with.
Other than Sony's notebook utilities and drivers, my system is 100% Sony-free
P.S. Make this topic a sticky, if you want.
My system is VGN-AW190.
There are already a couple of "guides" floating around that describe how to install a clean copy of Windows on Sony laptops.
The process is fairly simple and involves installing certain Sony software and drivers in particular order (according to Sony).
****
When I first installed Windows Ultimate, I had no problems getting everything to work EXCEPT for the following:
1) CompactFlash (JMicron JMB368 ExpressCard CF) driver is not available on Sony's web site. When inserting the card, it does not show up as a drive in Windows Explorer. After some time playing around, I figured the following 2 ways to make it work:
a. Insert your card, go to device manager and click on "scan for hardware changes"
b. Boot Windows while the card is inserted
2) SD card slot works but is not mapped to any drive. While Ricoh MS driver automatically creates a drive, there is no driver on Sony's web site that would do the same for SD slot.
Sony's support is useless to a point where they told me that the reason why my CF cards do not show up and there is no drive mapped to the slot is because the laptop does not support cards larger than 4GB (and I have only 8GB Sandisk cards) What a joke. I finally managed to get a 2nd tier technical guy on the phone who said that Sony does not provide CF drivers and that there is nothing they can do about it.
So, I reverted back to Sony's original setup, installed Driver Genius (http://www.driver-soft.com/) + a couple of other driver backup programs and did a backup of every single driver.
Then I installed a clean copy of Windows and used Driver Genius to restore SD + CF drivers. Worked beautifully and I now have 3 drives mapped to MS, SD and CF, just like Sony intended.
Now...... the best part of this post. I am making the backup available for your use. There are 5 archived parts, 15MB each for a total of 72MB. Here is the link: http://rapidshare.com/users/K7IK4H
You will need Driver Genius to simplify the installation process or you can do it yourself manually.
After installing your own copy of Windows, do the following:
1) Install "Original - Sony® Notebook Utilities" (http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...=3926&os_id=36)
2) Install "Original - Sony® Firmware Extension Parser" (http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...=3838&os_id=36)
3) Install other drivers in ANY order from here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...90&SelectOS=36
That's pretty much it
Essentially, for #3 you can use Driver Genius and just restore all drivers from my backup (that's if you have the same model). I believe brightness keys will start working only after you install Intel chipset driver, but I am not 100% positive. Forgot at which point they became operational.Since Sony usually uses same components in their laptops, these drivers should fit other series, not just VGN-AW.
If you guys have questions, feel free to ask. It would also be great if someone could backup all their drivers on the 32-bit Vista installation.
I wish someone did that before, thus sparing me hours of searching for drivers that Sony should have had on their web site to begin with.
Other than Sony's notebook utilities and drivers, my system is 100% Sony-free
P.S. Make this topic a sticky, if you want.
for the sharing (rep+)
