Vista killed my VAIO :(

[D34K]

So, my VAIO SZ2 (labelled "Vista compatible") turned out to not be very Vista compatible at all. 😞

Having upgraded Windows I discovered that a bunch of things did not work -- from power management, integrated webcam, hard drive protection, touchpad scroll, etc, etc, etc. More or less everything really. Scanning over the VAIO support website there's no Vista drivers either.

I decided to rollback to Windows XP until Sony decides to release Vista drivers, except now I try and do so I can't. Running the recovery tool from the start menu I get a message telling me that my computer is not recognised as a Sony (and hence it won't run). I then inserted the recovery DVDs that I made and tried to run them, but no luck. Autorun doesn't work and browsing and running autorun.exe "as Administrator" doesn't work either (literally nothing happens).

So the situation I am in is that I can't do anything. Buggered Windows installation with a barely functional laptop and no way to return.

Any thoughts about how I can get the original XP back?

[smellslikepie]

If you want XP back then just get a copy of XP from a friend and install it with the CD Key that came with your laptop. I think that should work.

[Resonate]

To my knowledge there is no way to "Rollback" your installation of the Operating System. I few i no had these problems & are still looking for a solution. I would take a case up with VAIO Support as i think this maybe your only option

[wheresmybeaver]

If you reboot your Vaio with the Recovery disc in the drive then it should automatically start the recovery process, even though Vista is installed. This will bypass Windows Vista and start the recovery process despite the problems you mentioned. The recovery discs won't start from within Vista itself because the Sony utility that runs in Windows that "tells" the recovery program that you're using a Vaio (your model, serial number etc) doesn't yet work in Vista. So, you'll be able to reinstall XP.

Alternatively, hang on a few days for the official Vaio Vista drivers. Or if you're feeling adventurous, the following post describes how to obtain the Vista drivers a little earlier than most other people Not official, mind, but it should get you up and running in Vista.
Get Vista Drivers

Good luck

Dave

edit: by the way, reinstalling XP by using a standard XP CD or DVD along with your product key is not guaranteed to work, so it's not generally recommended. Better off using those recovery discs.

[Blencogo]

Good advice from wheresmybeaver but I would reset the BIOS defaults first by tapping F2 during boot-up. Pull up the BIOS defaults - Save and Exit.

If you can't boot from the recovery disc try starting the recovery wizard by tapping F10 during boot-up (when you see the first Vaio logo).

[D34K]

Excellent, thanks for the solutions. I think I will roll back to XP for the moment; it just feels safer.

I'll let you know if I succeed. I did briefly try and get it to boot from the recovery DVD I made, but, despite the appropriate boot order in the BIOS, it never wanted to boot from its optical drive. I shall give it another go.

Many thanks!

[philfree]

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