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.

1. Sony Utilities DLL Update
2. Sony Shared Library Update
3. REBOOT
4. VAIO Event Services Update
5. SigmaTel High Def Audio Codec Update
6. VAIO Camera & Camera Utility Update
   1. 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.
7. VAIO Control Center
8. Sony Utility Series
9. VAIO Power Management
10. Wireless Switching Utility
11. Texas Instruments® PCI7411 Integrated FlashMedia Controller Driver (Sony support told me this is the XP driver but works for Vista)
12. Sony® Visual Communication Camera VGP-VCC2 Driver (XP driver)
13. 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)
14. UPek TouchStrip Driver (for your fingerprint reader)
15. GeForce Go7400 Drivers
    1. 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.
16. Intel GMA950 driver
17. REBOOT
18. Sony Utility Series update (updated 3/14)
19. REBOOT
20. Power Management v2.0 update patch (Added 2/21)
21. REBOOT
22. 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! 

Hallelujah! I just noticed that Sony released their driver and utility updates for Windows Vista. 

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNSZ381P&UpdateType=Everything&SelectOS=29

Update: Sony just updated the Sony Utility Series update yesterday to fix an issue with the “S” buttons that several users have reported.

Let me start off by saying I hate bluetooth on laptops.  I love my bluetooth headset for my cell phone, but for laptops, connecting any type of device, namely a cellphone, is just a freakin’ nightmare.  When I previously had a Toshiba M200, I solved the problem by replacing the Toshiba stack with the Microsoft Bluetooth stack in XP SP2. 

However, I now have a Sony VGN-SZ381p laptop for which I’m having the similar problems as I did with my M200.  The software that comes bundled with the Sony SZ series laptops is absolutely terrible.  I’ve finally found a solution in the NotebookReview.com forum’s that is worth re-iterating here.

The solution entails is installing the much friendlier Widcomm v5 bluetooth utility followed by install a modified version of the Sony SZ bluetooth drivers that will allow it to work with the Widcomm software.  Why use the Widcomm software?

• vastly superior and easier setup than all other bluetooth software I’ve seen
• ability to sync Outlook contact and calendar data with non-Windows Mobile cell phones
• view and copy files on your phone in shell mode.
• set-up virtual serial ports to use bluetooth in certain applications

In my case, it finally made it possible for me to connect my Plantronic Voyager 510 headset to my laptop so I could use it with Skype.

Step-by-step:

1. Uninstall all previous bluetooth utilities/software
2. Turn off your bluetooth using the Sony utilities (VAIO Wireless).  On my laptop this is Hotkey combination Fn+F1.
3. Download the Widcomm v5 software and install it.  It’s 78MB, so I’m not hosting it :)  Instead grab it from here.
   1. While installing it, it will tell you that it cannot find a bluetooth device, which makes sense since we turned it off in Step 2
   2. Choose “Cancel” to continue with the installation.
4. After installation completes, turn your bluetooth on using Fn+F1 (or whatever other method you want to use).  When prompted for drivers, you the modified Sony SZ drivers. These are only 41kb so I’ve hosted them here.

Now everything should work!