Formatting Without Installing Add On's

[Jonny_D_1987]

hey guys, just got a lovely vaio yesterday and love it 😄 but i am not happy with all this useless software they have installed 😞 so i am trying to format without installing any of this..... how can i preform a clean install without installing any of this useless software, and only install xp?

thanxs alot guys

jonathan daly

😄

[davidoff67]

Allright this post is very useful. After clean installation without preforming software recovery, you get windows xp with Northon Internet security and almost all sony lib's with are nescessery to use addicional buttons and etc. But what if i would like to install 1 single program from all that software that vaio provide with laptop. 

If you do system recovery without application recovery - vaio recovery tool wont allow you to install single applications (it just wont display the whole list of apps that are avaible, instead it will ask you for full software recovery) 

So here's my question. Is there a way to install single (choosen) applications using vaio recovery tool after you preform system recovery without (full) application recovery ?


I would also like to know this, I want to know if there's a way to only install the CD burning program for example... Anyone?

[Thalamus.]

Hi USA,

welcome to Club VAIO..

It's possible with some older XP models, this thread may offer you a solution..

[metacircle]

I just wanted to confirm that the almost clean recovery with Vista works flawlessly. Just click abort when the process asks for DVD2, ignore the error messages and wait a little while longer. Just Adobe Acrobat 8 was left of all the bloat. Now I am happy with my new VAIO

Greetings from Germany

[bananasplit]

Thalamus and all,

First would like to say I'm new to the forum and to the Vaio world. I recently got my hands on the Vaio VGN-C1Z/B and love how this (and other Vaios look like). I noticed though that this model ships with XP Media Centre 2005 Edition. I consider myself an intermediate computer user and comfortable with editing the registry. Reading this thread though has made me post my concerns and fears though.

I would like to start with a fresh install of XP Home. Previously when I reinstalled my XP on another machine (an HP laptop), I used a program called DriverMax that copies all the drivers installed in the current setup and save it to an SD card. I then proceed to reinstall XP and once all the updates are done I run DriverMax again to restore the drivers and I end up with a lean machine, clean registry, defragmented hard drive, and happy!

My concerns now are these:

1) If I put the XP disc in my drive and install it on C (effectively overwriting all files there), will DriverMax be able to restore all the drivers I've saved? Reason I ask is that the drivers installed are for XP Media Centre Edition and not sure if there is a difference in this and in XP Home.

2) I noticed there are a lot of Sony branded applications. Are they worth keeping or do I just ditch them? I'm sure I want to remove the Norton apps as they are very resource hungry apps.

Or I guess a more simple question would be, what do i need to do to be able to install XP Home or Pro on the machine and make sure all the buttons, hardware, etc work and do what they're supposed to do.

Thanks in advance, and will try to be active in the forum and help out others if I can with my experience.

[Thalamus.]

Hi bananasplit,

welcome to Club VAIO..

the Original Drivers Package and Original Utilities Package for your C1Z can be found on Vaio-Link, use the following link to download the: CR Original Drivers and Original Utilities Package

Install the drivers then install the utilities.

1 Sony Utilities
2 Sony Shared Library
3 Vaio Event Service

followed by the remaining utilities

Note to install the Realtek High Definition audio driver, you have to first install Microsoft's KB835221 hotfix, followed by the Realtek audio drivers. You should find the MS hotfix contained in the Original Drivers Package in the Drivers > Audio > UAA High Definition Audio Class driver folder..

[bananasplit]

Thanks for the quick response!

Would it be safe for me to state that the sequence is then:

1) Install Windows XP
2) Install service pack 3
3) Install KB KB835221
4) Install original drivers package
5) Install Sony Utilities, Sony Shared Library, Vaio Event Service
6) Install the remaining utilities

And by step 6, are you referring to other Sony utilities?

[Thalamus.]

Another thing I forgot to mention... :smileyblush:

You have SATA HD drives on your C1Z and unfortunately XP will not detect them..

You will have to supply the SATA drivers during setup or XP..

For a solution search Google for info on Installing XP on a SATA HD drive..

You may find that my original Formatting Without Installing Add On's post may be an easier option..

[RoksVempire]

Hi jonathan daly,

Welcome to Club Vaio,   

Follow this recovery guide until you get to point 10..

When you see the prompt to click OK to start the Application Recovery click CANCEL..

Then goto Start, click on Run and enter MSCONFIG. A System Configuartation Window should open, click the Startup tab and deselect VARU.exe, then click Apply and OK..

Hopefully you should not see the Application Recovery prompt... 

Sorry guys I don't understand this step.
So, with this solution I can install VISTA + DRIVERS + UTILITY WITHOUT Office trial, Google pack McAfee etc??

If yes it's good!

[Thalamus.]

Hi RoksVempire,

following this guide will not give you a 100% clean install, however it will reinstall the vista operating system, drivers, utilities and a couple of the pre installed applications...

Click Start, All Programs, then Vaio Recovery Center..

Click Continue on the User Account Control window

Once the Vaio Recovery Center window opens

Select Restore C: Drive then press Start..

then follow the recovery wizard..

On reboot click cancel on the message which pops up asking you if you want to finish the recovery process by installing the apps.

You should then be able to stop Vaio Application Recovery from starting if you click Start , click All Programs , click Accessories, click System Tools then click Task Scheduler..

Click Continue on the User Account Control window.

In task scheduler you should have three windows, Overview of Task Scheduler, then below this Task Status and finally at the bottom Active tasks..

In task scheduler go to the bottom section of the centre column (called active tasks)

Double click Vaio Application Recovery and on the right hand column, select either delete or disable..

[RoksVempire]

Hi RoksVempire,

following this guide will not give you a 100% clean install, however it will reinstall the vista operating system, drivers, utilities and a couple of the pre installed applications...

Click Start, All Programs, then Vaio Recovery Center..

Click Continue on the User Account Control window

Once the Vaio Recovery Center window opens

Select Restore C: Drive then press Start..

then follow the recovery wizard..

On reboot click cancel on the message which pops up asking you if you want to finish the recovery process by installing the apps.

You should then be able to stop Vaio Application Recovery from starting if you click Start , click All Programs , click  Accessories, click System Tools then click Task Scheduler..

Click Continue on the User Account Control window.

In task scheduler you should have three windows, Overview of Task Scheduler, then below this Task Status and finally at the bottom Active tasks..

In task scheduler go to the bottom section of the centre column (called active tasks)

Double click Vaio Application Recovery and on the right hand column, select either delete or disable..

Hi!
Thx for reply!

So one question...my FN+F. (audio etc.) function don't work, what is the name of the driver to fix it? (sorry for my english)