Sony Vaio and Windows Vista. EVERYTHING you need in this thread! Hotkeys fix, official patch from MS. Whine fix, make your VAIO run silent!

[loathsome]

Hi all.

I've recently set up my VAIO notebook to fully, 100%, support Windows Vista. Took me some time, but it was certainly worth it

Okay, here's what you need:

- Drivers. Go to the VAIO Vista Upgrade web site to download these. What you'd want to grab from that page:
~ Setting Utility Series
~ Shared Library
~ Utilities
~ VAIO Event Service
These are the most required ones. You MUST download and install these.
-----
Further, the following aren't necessary, but very useful:
~ Alps Pointing-device for VAIO (for your touchpad to work properly)
~ FlashMedia (if you're using the media readers/writers)
~ MemoryStick Icon Registry patch (nothing important, just a nice icon for the MemoryStick to show up in Computer, like this:



Also, if your VAIO notebook has built hardware such as a camera, bluetooth etc., grab the proper drivers for them as well.

Graphics driver are NOT necessary, as all versions of Vista supports the Intel GMA-chipset. I would neither recommend installing the VAIO Power Management, as Vista also has this built in.
-----
Hotkeys
Probably one of the biggest "losses" in Vista. I see lots of post asking how to get the hotkeys to work. Here's the SOLUTION with an official patch from Microsoft:

You MUST install the following:
~ Setting Utility Series
~ Shared Library
~ Utilities
~ VAIO Event Service

After installing, reboot your notebook. Then grab the Sony Notebook Control Device update from Microsoft at this link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/7816_2_a5db7ce11f55024ce049b...
(sniffed by me, loathsome) edit, added; I've attached a mirror of the Sony NCD. Look at the bottom.

After you've downloaded, open up Device Manager and install them for "Unknown device". Your hotkeys should work immediately. If not, try rebooting.

Whine fix
Some users, included myself, notice a small, high pitched noise coming from the notebook. This is extremely annoying if you're in a silent enviroment. I've come up with a solution to this. Download RMClock, and under "Management" enable "Run HLT command when OS is idle". Restart the program and the sound is gone - for ever. You can also make it start with Windows, so you'll never have to bother with it again. This WILL shorten your batterylife, but only with 3-7%, according to my tests.

That's all, enjoy Windows Vista! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me,
loathsome+

[GIGIS]

Hi,
I have a VAIO VGN-FE31M with Windows Media Center 2005 (English).
Yesterday I made a CLEAN instal to VISTA Home Prem32-bit.EL (Greek).

Before the installation of Vista I made one back-up with Vaio Recovery (2 DVDs).

The Vista working but, although i installed all the utillities & drivers for Vista
now:
1.I lost the Vaio Recovery
2.I lost the virtual camera icon, in Windows Live Messenger the web camera works only
in video mode, as web camera only I see a blank icon.
3.In Device Manager, all are ok but I have in OTHER DEVICE/Mass Storage Controller
a yellow warning (missing driver?).

Another question:
It is possible to install in Vista my previous Vaio Applications from the above mentioned DVDs?, and if yes, how?
Thank you in advance

[koymik]

Update for Vaio Vista--UP AND RUNNING NOW
(http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/select/select.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=0&serie=VGN-...)
link for my machine updates... just pick yours :smileygrin:

[csefciuc]

would these drivers and utilities work for a pcg-grt816m? this model is not listed on the page 😞

[cyberhoroz]

Hi, I'm new in this forum, excuse me if I post something wrong.

I have just bought a Sony Vaio VGN-FE41S with Windows Vista Home Premium. But I formatted my HDD and Installed Windows Vista Business Ed. with a student license. After installation I downloaded de preinstalled drivers and utilities with the updates, but there are still issues like not-working S1/S2 key and other little issues but that's not a big problem.

If I go to the Support page of my model I see a link "Windows Vista Upgrade" and if I click on that link I see the message "Important information about Microsoft Windows Vista
Windows Vista drivers and utilities are in development and will be released by the end of March 2007. Some drivers and utilities are already available. To see the available downloads, please check the Drivers and Updates section for your model."

It's still the begin of April 2007 and there are no drivers available.

My preinstalled drivers and utilities are also Vista drivers and utilities but my question is: Are my preinstalled drivers/utilities temporary drivers/utilities and will there also be Vista drivers available for my model by the end of March 2007 because I see the Link "Windows Vista Upgrade" on the support page of my model.

[joomonte8]

Hi
I had some problems after installing Vista on my Vaio VGN-T1XP (it didn't recognize the memory card reader) but after reading your post I solved almost of my problems.
Thanks a lot.
I installed the XP drivers for the memory card and now it's working just fine.
What I can't figure is how to install the Sony Notebook Control Device update although I followed your instructions I can't find any "Unknown device" in Device Manager
Also I installed the Memory Stick Icon Registry patch but I still have the old icon in My Computer
Can you help on these?
Also do you think I can use a memory stick (Sony memory stick pro duo 1Gb) as a ReadyBoost device? Properties says the device doesn't have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up the system.
Thanks for your help
Best regards
Joao

[joomonte8]

Hi
Just install the XP drivers for the memory stick reader and you'll solve your Device Manager problem

[cyberhoroz]

Hi, I'm new in this forum, excuse me if I post something wrong.

I have just bought a Sony Vaio VGN-FE41S with Windows Vista Home Premium. But I formatted my HDD and Installed Windows Vista Business Ed. with a student license. After installation I downloaded de preinstalled drivers and utilities with the updates, but there are still issues like not-working S1/S2 key and other little issues but that's not a big problem.

If I go to the Support page of my model I see a link "Windows Vista Upgrade" and if I click on that link I see the message "Important information about Microsoft Windows Vista
Windows Vista drivers and utilities are in development and will be released by the end of March 2007. Some drivers and utilities are already available. To see the available downloads, please check the Drivers and Updates section for your model."

It's still the begin of April 2007 and there are no drivers available.

My preinstalled drivers and utilities are also Vista drivers and utilities but my question is: Are my preinstalled drivers/utilities temporary drivers/utilities and will there also be Vista drivers available for my model by the end of March 2007 because I see the Link "Windows Vista Upgrade" on the support page of my model.

[olig24]

Hi,

Context
Many thanks to OP for getting me further than I have managed myself. I recently purchased a TX5. It came pre-installed with VISTA Business. In my wisdom I removed it, formatted the HD and installed VISTA Home. I wanted a clean install without the junk that it shipped with. I didn't make a recovery CD.

Problem #1 Pointer
I have followed the instructions. However, I cannot get the pointer software to install. VISTA treats it as PS2 compliant but it is missing the left hand scroll feature for e.g. I have downloaded the driver but I receive an error "cannot open dll" on trying to install it. I don't know which dll it is referring to.

Problem #2 Club Vaio
I am missing the club vaio app that used to load at startup. It was handy in that it checked for driver updates. By manually searching club vaio I haven't found these (only sonic stage, audio driver upd. etc.) and it reports there are no preinstalled drivers for my model (or any other TX5).

Problem (potential) #3 Sony Utilities
I installed the sony utilities etc. but these have had no visible effect on the system. Excuse my ignorance but what exactly are the four utilities (listed by OP) for?

Problem #4 AV Button
I cannot get the AV and control buttons to work. I downloaded the CAB but cannot install it. Either as a CAB or having extracted the cad and using VISTA Add Hardware Wizard to read the inf.

Finally, is it true that the intel wireless element of the Celeron chip doesn't work with VISTA at the moment? Wireless works but it is handled by VISTA rather than INTEL. Is there any difference?

I apologise for the bombardment, any assistance would be gratefully received.

[LesserKnownUnderdog]

I installed the RM CPU Clock utility as pointed out as a fix of the high-pitched 'whine' noise found in vaio laptops.

But this seems to be a cpu+mem+OS monitoring tool. How is that expected to remedy the whine noise? (as far as I can tell, it's the screen that makes the whine noise) :s


Maybe I'm wrong, but I used this util, have it running, set it as was suggested in the inital post, but mine still whines. :S


Anyone else???

[creed]

Hi!! I've installed everything in my Vaio and it's working 99.9%.....but missing that dinky little memory stick icon (ie.black and shiny....mine shows up as a piffling little white one with magnifying glass needed to see it Loathsome (or anyone else I'm not biased)have YOU any ideas what to do here?? Happy Easter to all!!