These are the same versions that are on the Sony driver site. Use Windows Update and in the Optional Updates select the two Sony devices (Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device, and Sony Programmable I/O Control Device), and the updated Atheros Wifi drivers. It took a good few minutes but worked for me. Scroll down and Activate, using the product key from the DVD case. Now that Windows is fully installed, make sure you have no Windows Updates with pending restarts, and go to right-click on Computer in the Start Menu and select Properties. Disabling hibernation will also save you 2GB of disk space:ĭism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded Next, install Service Pack 1, then once that is done you can remove the uninstall files from the disk to save space. Do not enter a product key and make sure you uncheck the Activate Windows Online Automatically option. When the Vaio reboots remove the USB stick or it will boot from it and re-launch Setup. Using another PC with a DVD drive, make a bootable 4GB USB stick from your Windows 7 upgrade kit DVD 2 using these instructions.īoot from USB (enable ‘Boot from external’ in the BIOS), select Custom once Windows Setup launches, completely wipe the drive (assuming you no longer care about the Vista recovery partition) and continue. You can use the Sony Windows 7 Upgrade media to carry out a clean install. You can search for the firmware file by name but it’s not legitimately available – Sony does not distribute the update, despite Option’s official documentation stating that the version they shipped with is non-working. Mine went from not working at all, even outside, to being able to get a fix in VisualGPS indoors.

If it’s lower than 2.9.5.0, this update will vastly improve your GPS signal strength. I once had a bad experience with sudden forum deletion – In 2003 I wrote an IPSec VPN guide on the official Netgear forums and one day when I needed it I discovered that they’d relaunched the forums, and deleted all the old content! Needless to say I didn’t have my own copy and didn’t have it either…īefore you start, use the GlobeTrotter Connect software to check the firmware version of your Option GTM382 HSDPA + GPS card. I wrote this up for the forum at (the main forum it seems for the VAIO P), but I’ll post it here too. Here’s how to clean install Windows 7 and the minimal amount of Sony software, which results in a striking improvement. Out of the box running Vista my P11Z was barely usable. Sony VAIO laptops come installed with lots of bloatware and, given the VAIO P series’ low power CPU, this really ruins it.

Windows 7 fresh install