Running my VGN-A290 on Win7 x86

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forums, and am really excited to be a part of this community. I have a pair of Sony VAIO PC's - a VGC-RA701G desktop, and a VGN-A290 notebook...

I've put Windows 7 x86 on both, and the VAIO desktop (3.2EGhz P4 HT CPU, 1GB RAM, 500 GB HDD), and the VAIO notebook (1.7Ghz Pentium M, 1GB RAM, 150GB HDD)..

So far the desktop performs just perfectly! I couldn't be happier. The noteboook has been another story. Since installing the latest and greatest Windows desktop OS (W7 Ultimate), the notebook all of a sudden has overheating issues now, and shuts off a few times per day. It's interesting that I never had this issue on XP Pro.

Anyway, I've done a fair amount of research on this issue and I've tried blowing compressed air in the vents, and have configured the standy and hibernation features to kick-in a bit earlier than before (actually, I had them disabled before). Using SpeedFan I can see that the notebook's hotspot is the CPU, which after 10 minutes of running and almost no foreground applications running, it hits about 85+ degress Celsius. At 95 it shuts off... so as you can imagine, after starting a few browser sessions it inevitably starts climbing toward the threshold and turns off.

Anyway, I'm now looking outside of the OS to address this problem. When I first installed Win7 on the notebook, I was going to drop in a compatible 2.1Ghz CPU and 2GB RAM (which I have sitting around the house, luckily)... however, if the system is just going to overheat with the additional resources this doesn't seem wise.

So, I'm now beginning the process of getting this PC stable again. I'm guessing the CPU fan could be starting to go as, although it is running, it does make odd noises occasionally. I found some used ones on eBay (CPU fan/heat sink assemblies) and am going to install those along with the upgraded 2.1 Ghz CPU to see if things get getter.

I'll likely put in the extra RAM at the same time, since I'll have the case disassembled. Do you guys have any pointers or suggestions for me?

Should I just use an OEM used replacement fan/heatsink? Or can I get an "upgraded" one to help with the cooling? I know I can go out and get a notebook cooling pad to sit under the PC and stream cool air into those vents, but I'd like to see how much I can bring down the CPU temps without going outside the case first.

To improve performance on the PC even more, I've found many articles that discuss overclocking this generation Pentium M/chipset, but again before I go do something that is going to generate more heat, I'd first like to see what I can do to cool things down a bit, so to speak.

The only other issue I face is getting the volume/brightness/S1 buttons working. I've read countless articles on this topic and have followed the instructions to a "T" over and over again, but i can just not get these buttons working under Win7. I found some useful threads on this site and may try them next... any advice here is much appreciated too!

So fellow techies, please advise, if at all possible, to help me squeeze some more performance and stability out of this nice (but somewhat dated) notebook PC if, at all possible! My goal is to limit my investment into it, as new noteboooks are pretty cheap nowadays.

Thanks in advance for your help!
B

I had Windows XP Pro on there... and it seemed to run ok. It had become a bit sluggish actually, over the past few years, but never had overheating issues, or at least it never appeared to have them. Maybe it did and I just never monitored the temperatures. But it definitely never shut down from overheating on XP. Oh one other thing I failed to mention before, when i run the CPU in Intel SpeedStep mode, where the system can scale back the CPU power in a battery-saving profile, etc.. the CPU never overheats. The system give the CPU around 0.997v or so, which allows the CPU to run at ~600mhz. It never overheats in that mode, and always stays around 73-78 degrees Celsius. Once I enable performance mode, and the full 1.7Ghz is delivered via a voltage increase to the CPU (1.3v or so?), the board starts running hot after 5-10 minutes, and passes the 95 degrees Celsius shutdown threshold consistently at 15 minutes or so... just while doing nothing other than a few Firefox browser tabs... i put my ear up to the vent under the Vaio notebook and I hear a faint CPU fan it seems but I feel like it should be making more sound if it were really trying to keep that CPU cool. So, this is why I'm considering dropping in a replacement fan/heatsink assembly. The real question I suppose is, do I have to go with an OEM replacement or do I have any options to upgrade to a better fan that'll keep the CPU cooler and maybe even keep noise levels down as well... If I had to pick one though, I'd take cooling over noise any day. Hopefully I can get a good solution implemented inside the noteook case, and if all else fails, I'll move to an external solution (i.e. notebook cooler, etc.)... Thanks!

Well, I think I'm definitely gonna get the OEM heatsink fan since I have no idea of any other compatible options anyway, but regarding the OS I have to make a choice. I recently installed Windows 7 Ultimate. However, it seems the VGN-A290 has an upgrade path for Vista Home Basic. There is no upgrade path to Win7 Ultimate from Vista HB. I can go directly to Win7 Home Premium but that's all, apart from a full reinstall it seems (which would put me back where I am now)...

Here's the excerpt that told me this tidbit:

"There are a couple more things worth noting here. While you can't perform a direct update from Windows Vista Home Basic or Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional, there is simple a workaround: You can run an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, and then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to move up to Professional for an additional $90. The total upgrade cost amounts to $210, which is $10 more than a direct upgrade but still better than buying a full Professional license at $300. "

I don't think I can use Windows Anytime Upgrade as I'm not sure I'm licensed to do so. I have an Ultimate license, and a Home Premium license but that's about it...

Thanks for the input, I'm gonna have to think about this one a bit!

-B

Hey guys,

I didn't realize there had been so much activity on this thread since I originally posted a few years ago! Anyway, the new CPU fan and heatsink resolved my overheating issue and Windows 7 x86 has been running pretty well on the VGN-A290 since then. I could never get the sound buttons working though all else was pretty stable and quite zippy. Lately, it seems the OS has been regularly bogged down with CPU tasks (often svchost maxes out the CPU to 100%). So, since the role of this VGN-A290 PC has recently shifted from my parents' main computer to become the grandchildren's gaming computer (90% will be web-based browser games), I'm getting ready to drop on a fresh OS load to once again get a clean slate (hopefully for the last time).

Anyway, I briefly debated earlier this evening on whether I should go with XP Pro or Win 7 x86. After a few Google searches, I am gonna do Windows 7 once again. It looks like many others run Windows 7 on these older Sony laptops and the perception seems to be that Windows 7 at least runs equivalently or better than XP on this hardware.

That said, hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season!

Take care,
B