After all the time I spent on this, I figured I'd make it easier for anyone else out there that got hosed by Sony.
Sony VAIO VGN-AR605E XP Downgrade Instructions
1) Slipstream SP2 into XP if you have an older XP disc by following these
instructions.
You can also use
nLite to do this if you need to add drivers as well.
If you need to get the SATA drivers you can google “Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller” to find them.
2) Install Windows from new boot disc
***At anytime, if asked to reboot you should do just that – REBOOT.
You can download the drivers listed below that I've gathered, from here:
AR605E Drivers
3) Run Intel Chipset utility: infinst_autol.exe
4) Install the Texas Instruments Controllers: 7gsx07ww.exe
5) Install the NVidia video drivers
6) Install Marvell Ethernet driver
7) Install sound drivers by following SigmaTel Fix.txt in the Audio Driver folder
8) Install Modem Drivers
9) Update camera driver: go to device manager, and right-click on USB Imaging Device and update driver. Browse to camera folder and select R5U870FL.inf.
10) Update Windows completely, including installing optional updates for .Net 2.0 and 3.0.
Last but not least follow the HowTo.txt file in the “S1,S2,Eject & Function Keys” folder to finish off the downgrade by installing the S1,S2,Eject & function (brightness) keys.
I hope this helps many of you out there as I’ve spent a number of hours trying to find the drivers needed to get this notebook functional under XP. I also thank those that had put in the time to come up with fixes in the other forums.
Good luck!
**Note that although I was able to downgrade using these instructions, I'm not responsible for anyone else using these instructions!
