How to get Vista working on your Sony SZ
Even though I got Vista to work with my Sony SZ notebook (VGN-SZ381p), my machine has still unstable due to the beta drivers I was using.
Thankfully, Sony finally released non-beta versions of all their utilities and drivers. Since some of the Sony utilities depend on others to be install beforehand, the install order is critical. I just wish sony would include a setup wrapper to do the installation in the correct order.
But since we don’t have that list, I thought it was worth giving the installation order that worked for me and direct links to all the installers.
- Sony Utilities DLL Update
- Sony Shared Library Update
- REBOOT
- VAIO Event Services Update
- SigmaTel High Def Audio Codec Update
- VAIO Camera & Camera Utility Update
- I’ve been told that this driver is only for the US models. For non-US models, go to the Sony support site and specifically search for your model to make sure you’re getting the right driver.
- VAIO Control Center
- Sony Utility Series
- VAIO Power Management
- Wireless Switching Utility
- Texas Instruments® PCI7411 Integrated FlashMedia Controller Driver (Sony support told me this is the XP driver but works for Vista)
- Sony® Visual Communication Camera VGP-VCC2 Driver (XP driver)
- ALPS Pointing Device (Touchpad) Driver and and Control Utility (Updated 3/2. Previously had the XP version, which worked, but this is the ‘official’ Vista version)
- UPek TouchStrip Driver (for your fingerprint reader)
- GeForce Go7400 Drivers
- Optionally you can use the updated driver direct from NVidia which is version 100.40. You can snag it from our friends at LaptopVideo2Go.com from this link.
- Intel GMA950 driver
- REBOOT
- Sony Utility Series update (updated 3/14)
- REBOOT
- Power Management v2.0 update patch (Added 2/21)
- REBOOT
- Infineon Trusted Platform Module (TPM) driver+software (Added 3/1)
Other:
- Intel Pro Wireless Drivers
- These are available from Microsoft Update.
- Bluetooth
- Don’t need any special drivers since the Microosft Bluetooth stack works so well.
Notes:
- I still can’t get the FN+brightness keys to work. I’m continuing to work on this to see why this is the case. When I was at CES, I saw SZ series notebooks at the Sony Booth where this did work so clearly I’m missing something.
- However, the brightness can still be controlled via the Vista Mobility Center.
Hope this helps someone!
February 15, 2007 at 2:06 pm