Moving Vaio to Windows 7 Guide + further questions
Thanks to this forum (the many "How to clean install") threads and some internet research I was able to move my Vaio TZ11XN/B successfully to Windows 7 withouth any big problems. In particular, credits go to Ben Gillam (www.funys.net) for his blog post how to get the FN keys run: <a href="http://www.funys.net/2009/08/28/sony-vaio-function-keys-and-windows-7/" target="_blank">http://www.funys.net/2009/08/28/sony-vaio-function-keys-and-windows-7/</a> (please note that I copy-pasted some of his blog post). However, some minor parts seem to be still missing, which I would like to discuss with you. Furthermore, as mentioned in other threads, you will not be able to move the OEM software delivered with your Vaio!
So before sharing my tipps, let me add the following important notes:
This was tested on a Sony Vaio TZ11XN/B with Windows 7 Professional EN from MSDNAA. This might not work on other models, so I cannot guarantee that it will work for you.
By moving to Windows 7 you will loose all your existing OEM software which came with your Vaio (e.g. Roxio Easy Media Creator in my case). You will have to find a freeware program instead, purchase the product or any other product, or wait for the official Windows 7 upgrade by Vaio.
While all major features seem to work with this guide (including FN keys, webcam, etc.) there are some minor issues left. Your ideas are welcome!
Working Guide for SOny Vaio TZ11XN/B
Backup all your data!
Backup the Vaio Recovery Partition using the Vaio Recovery center
Backup Driver, Documentation and Utilities or go to Vaio Link, search for your model and download the Drivers and Utilities there. Furthermore, download the available Updates there. For the following, I assume that you have 3 folders: Drivers, Utilities, Updates with the corresponding programs and files available on a CD, DVD, thumb drive, or similar.
Install Windows 7. Most features should work by usingthe default Windows 7 drivers.
Run Windows Update. There should be some Updates available for both Sony as well as some drivers included.
Install pointing device driver from Drivers package (Drivers\Pointing\DPInst.exe). Although the mouse pad workes with Windows 7 drivers, this will enable some additional features like scrolling.
Load up device manager and check for devices that Windows 7 did not automatically find drivers for. Hopefully there should be one either called Unknown Device or something calling itself an Intel LPC device with a yellow exclamation mark. If you find this then right click the device and choose properties and then find the details tab. From here you should have a drop down box and one of the items will be Hardware ID. Choose this option and make sure that the hardware ID is SNY5001. If the ID matches then you can click the drivers tab and click to install driver as normal. From the drivers folder you extracted look for the Sony Firmware Extension Parser driver and install. (the folder may possibly be named Drivers\SFPE driver).
This step is important, you need to install the following software in the correct order and reboot between each install otherwise it wont work properly. Furthermore, I installed it using the Vista SP1 compatibility mode (right-click on installation file, then click "compatibility troubleshooting"):
VAIO Event Service (From Utilities Folder)
Reboot!
SONY Utils DLLs (From Utilities Folder)
Reboot!
SONY Shared Library (From Utilities Folder)
Reboot!
Vaio Power Management (There is an Update available so take the version you've downloaded from the Vaio Link updates)
Reboot (last one!)
After all that lot you should find that your FN-buttons now work.
For the built-in camera, Windows 7 already installed some driver. However, I found it not to work with the Sony Vaio Camera Capture utility. Therefore, go to the Devices Manager in the Windows 7 Control Panel. Right-click the camera and select Properties. Then select the Image device (there are 2 devices, one USB device and one Image device which make the Webcam. Select the Image device). Click the drivers tab and then the update driver button. Choose to select a file from your harddisk and browse to the Drivers folder where you select the Camera driver. Finally, install the Sony Vaio Camera Capture Utility from the Utilities folder. It should now recognize the camera.
For the fingerprint reader, go to the official UPEK website and download the new UPEK Protector Quite 2009 for Windows 7.
Missing parts:
The Toshiba Bluetooth Stack driver install fine but cause some compatibility issue which pops up in a Windows 7 dialog. There is a Window 7 compatible driver available on the official Toshiba website but it costs 29 Euro for non-Toshiba notebooks. Does someone know a better (cheaper) way?
I did not install any other drivers or utilities from the Drivers or Utilities folder because everything seems to work fine and I do not want to waste my system. However, I would be glad if someone could share what all the Sony utilities and things are good for, so I might decide to install some more.
In particular, I did not check SD-card and MagicGate so far.
