need driver for downgrading from vista to xp on sony FZ11M

dkumarbe

Hi guys,
I have sony FZ11M with pre-installed with windows vista, My harddisk became faulty before it is too late to create my backup disc.
with the following configuration....

please help where I can find drivers for windows XP home/professional version.

Platform Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology Chipset Mobile Intel® PM965 Express Chipset CPU Section

Microprocessor Full Name Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7100, Supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology Microprocessor Manufacturer Intel® Microprocessor Speed (GHz) 1.8 Number of Cores 2 L2 Cache (KB) 2048 Advanced Smart Cache Frontside Bus (MHz) 800

Memory

Memory Speed (MHz) 667 Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB) Max. Memory (MB) 2048 Memory Size (MB) 2048

Drives

Optical Drive Type DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM Hard Drive Capacity (GB) 120 Hard Drive Type Serial ATA Hard Drive Speed (rpm) 5400 Optical Drive Fitting Built-in





Display

Display Type X-black LCD Diagonal Size (in) 15.4 Resolution Format 1280 x 800 Resolution Type WXGA

Graphics

Graphic Card Full Name NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT Producer NVIDIA® Comments Total Available Graphics Memory of 831MB

Interfaces

4 Pin i.LINK™ (IEEE1394), 400 Mbps 1 DC in 1 Memory Stick™ Slot 1 Memory Stick Slot Type Memory Stick™ Std / Duo, Memory Stick™ PRO Std / Duo, high speed data transfer SD Card Slot 1 Audio out 1 Audio out Type Stereo Headphones/Speakers Jack Microphone Jack 1 RJ-11 Direct Port (Modem) 1 RJ-45 Direct Port (Network) 1 USB Speed High/Full/Low USB Port (quantity) 3 USB Version 2.0 USB Connector Type A VGA Connector for Monitor 1 TV out 2 TV out type S-Video + HDMI 1.2 supporting HDCP Express Card Slot 1 Express Card Type 34mm

Connectivity

Built-in Modem V92/V.90 Integrated Wireless LAN YES Wireless LAN Max. Date Rate (Mbps) 54 Wireless LAN Range (m) max. 100 Integrated Bluetooth (Version) 2.0 + EDR Bluetooth Range (m) 10 Wireless LAN Type 802.11a/b/g Ethernet network 100 BASE-TX/10 BASE-T

Multimedia

Intel® High Definition Audio compatible YES 3D Surround YES Built-in Stereo Speakers YES Windows® Sound System Compatible YES Sound Reality YES

Built-in Camera

Built-in 'Motion Eye' Digital Camera YES Frames per Second 30 Image Sensor (Mega Pixels) 0.3 Motion Picture Function YES Motion Pictures max. Resolution (pixels) VGA (640x480)

Keyboard Section

Touch Pad 1

Features

Special Buttons Power button, Wireless switch, Short-cut Keys (S1) , AV buttons Auto Resolution Plug and Display Kensigton Lock YES Built-in Microphone YES

Software

Audio SonicStageCP 4.2;SonicStage Mastering Studio 2.3 Video & TV Adobe Premiere Elements 3, VAIO Edit components, VAIO Photo & Video Suite, WinDVD 8.0 for VAIO Photo Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, Google Picasa CD-DVD Burning Easy Media creator 9, Click to DVD® 2.6 Office Application Adobe® Reader® 8.0, Adobe Standard 8, Microsoft® Works 8.5, Microsoft® Office Trial 2007 (60 days Try & Buy) Security & Other Norton Internet Security 2007 (with 90 days free virus update), VAIO Recovery Utility 2.6 - HDD recovery (hidden partition), Skype, Google software package

temeteus82

Chipset and other IO+ audio drivers you get from Intel since you got their PM965 chipset and audio chip is intel's. For your nVidia gfx chip get drivers from here : LaptopVideo2Go & NVIDIA Related News

beastx

Have you tried contacting VAIO-Link to purchase recovery dvds?
I think they sell them for like 33GBP

Also for XP to work, most likely you need to streamline HDD drivers into the XP installation disc!

temeteus82

Windows XP has the needed generic drivers what to use during the install and after it. And after the Intel drivers are installed they will take over.

beastx

I am uncertain on the FZ11M but i believe it is the same as N series laptops which will not accept generic drivers for its SATA HDD and needs to be gotten from the manufacturer unless downloadable from support.vaio.sony.co.uk (the FZ driver isn't)

temeteus82

Err... The SATA controller is Inte's IHC8-M and I think sony is utilizing the AHCI mode and if memory servers me right XP should natively support it. If not then you need the boot time drivers from Intel or use nLite to put them in the XP installation CD.

beastx

Yup, but as i said i'm unsure of the FZ11M so it may be ok.
But the N series for a fact doesn't install as a standard XP installation won't recognise the HDD when it comes to partitioning.

Most likely he doesn't have a USB floppy drive so nlite should do it.

But if he wants Vista back they sell the rdvds to reinstall factory settings
Or he can try F10 on powerup.

elmerb

If you are looking for XP drivers, try the Sony Asia-Pacific site. They have instructions and drivers for downgrading to XP. I have used these drivers on my US FZ-180E/B and have had a couple issues I am working out but for the most part it has been a success:

Here is a link
Downloads : Support : Sony Asia Pacific

Note the FZ1 series all have similar drivers.... note however if you have Intel Graphics I don't think you will find this their. Use for example the FZ18G model and look at the zip folder version .... the instructions show up in there. Note you are going to have to check if these drivers are appropriate for your hardware on your model. Look at several models and see which one looks the best.

Install order is important.... just follow the instructions noted. Do reboot after each install of each software.... note I had a couple blank screens upon reboot when going thru this..... just wait until HD activity stops and push the power button to turn off and then again to restart and it should recover on the reboot.

Note you do need the SATA drivers while installing XP... I unzipped them and put them on a floppy and used a USB floppy drive (mine was a Toshiba).. You can also use NLite but for me this was easier. Press F6 when requested in the XP install (almost right away) and latter it will ask you to install the drivers... pick the right one.... I think it is the mobile AHCI one.

For getting the brightness buttons to work check here:

Trying to solve the Brightness Problem for SONY, SAMSUNG, LENOVO, HP and TOSHiBA users - nVision

and more importantly here:

Modified LaptopVideo2Go nVidia 32-Bit XP INF with VAIO Brightness Controls - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion

I used the modded 169.28 NVidia driver and the separate modded INF to give brightness control. Note you have to replace the old INF file with the new INF file and then install. I did install the original Sony NVidia driver but I used Driver Sweeper after uninstalling it to make sure the new driver install had a clean install.

And for gettting WPA2 to work for wireless you need this:
Description of the Wireless Client Update for Windows XP with Service Pack 2

Note I do have sound but can't get audio over HDMI to my TV to work. Microphone input via the built in mic seems a little low as well. I am also experiencing some Camera Capture issues (bubble pops up to ask to restart the camera utility) but this is minor.

Note, applications like WinDVD BD cannot be reinstalled as they can't be recovered and used in XP (as far as I have been able to figure out)

Hope this helps

Cybermex

Every Sony VAIO Laptop is listed here, so if you need XP or Vista drivers this is the place you need to go.
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/VISTA.../APPLICATIONS/