[wgragg]

Before I start, let me state that I have over 35 years in IT and administer the systems for a library system in Texas. I have been installing and upgrading Windows OS's since they first came out, so I pretty much know what I am doing.

This weekend, I decided to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate 64 on my Sony Vaio laptop (purchased January of this year). I backed up all my data and imaged the drive just in case. I'm glad I did! As usual, I did a clean install, wiping the hard drive and installing Win7 fresh. Everything went fine with no hitches, until I went to start installing the Sony Win7 drivers as downloaded from their website. That is when the trouble started. With few exceptions, none of the drivers would install correctly. The install programs would start, but some would abruptly end with the message that the program may not have installed correctly, with an option to change settings or tell the system that they did indeed install. Other installs (probably the majority) would start the install program and simply disappear! I could watch the processes in task manager and they would just go away. No message, nothing! Where this really bit me was in the video drivers as I could not get the video to work correctly.

I tried redownloading and installing several times. I turned off UAC and tried in Safe Mode (at the suggestion of Samantha in Sony tech support). Still the same behavior. I got back on chat with Sony and the first level rep told me several things to try, which did not work. They verified my install method and then he passed me on to a second level rep, who hit me with the bombshell. Their suggestion? Bookmark the site and wait for updated drivers, with no idea on how long it will be before they are ready! Then he admitted that this is a common problem! Essentially, Sony posted bad drivers to their website!!!!! I politely told him that the drivers should have been removed as soon as they were found to be faulty and asked him to communicate that to his supervisors!

On a whim, since I had already wiped the drive, I decided to go back to the Sony factory state and then followed the in place upgrade path. My results were a little better. Most of the drivers seemed to install, but they all ended with the program may not have installed correctly message.

If your readers use a Sony Vaio laptop, I would exercise extreme caution! To me, this is unconscionable. The posted drivers were not shown as being beta's. They were freely available on the website. Obviously, they did not test them properly, but in any case, they should have removed them from their website or at least warned the customer about them.

Further, Sony is forcing people into the in place upgrade, rather than the clean install, which is clearly better. Due to this and the fact that Sony will not allow me to put a second hard drive into the available 2nd bay AND the fact that they do not allow one to turn hardware virtualization on for Windows XP mode, this will be my last Sony Vaio computer.

By the way, I saved a copy of my discussions with everyone except Samantha at Sony. I talked with her first and at that point, I didn't realize I would need to do so. If interested, I can forward it.

[orlbuckeye]

wgragg, on 27 October 2009 - 03:17 PM, said:

Before I start, let me state that I have over 35 years in IT and administer the systems for a library system in Texas. I have been installing and upgrading Windows OS's since they first came out, so I pretty much know what I am doing.

This weekend, I decided to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate 64 on my Sony Vaio laptop (purchased January of this year). I backed up all my data and imaged the drive just in case. I'm glad I did! As usual, I did a clean install, wiping the hard drive and installing Win7 fresh. Everything went fine with no hitches, until I went to start installing the Sony Win7 drivers as downloaded from their website. That is when the trouble started. With few exceptions, none of the drivers would install correctly. The install programs would start, but some would abruptly end with the message that the program may not have installed correctly, with an option to change settings or tell the system that they did indeed install. Other installs (probably the majority) would start the install program and simply disappear! I could watch the processes in task manager and they would just go away. No message, nothing! Where this really bit me was in the video drivers as I could not get the video to work correctly.

I tried redownloading and installing several times. I turned off UAC and tried in Safe Mode (at the suggestion of Samantha in Sony tech support). Still the same behavior. I got back on chat with Sony and the first level rep told me several things to try, which did not work. They verified my install method and then he passed me on to a second level rep, who hit me with the bombshell. Their suggestion? Bookmark the site and wait for updated drivers, with no idea on how long it will be before they are ready! Then he admitted that this is a common problem! Essentially, Sony posted bad drivers to their website!!!!! I politely told him that the drivers should have been removed as soon as they were found to be faulty and asked him to communicate that to his supervisors!

On a whim, since I had already wiped the drive, I decided to go back to the Sony factory state and then followed the in place upgrade path. My results were a little better. Most of the drivers seemed to install, but they all ended with the program may not have installed correctly message.

If your readers use a Sony Vaio laptop, I would exercise extreme caution! To me, this is unconscionable. The posted drivers were not shown as being beta's. They were freely available on the website. Obviously, they did not test them properly, but in any case, they should have removed them from their website or at least warned the customer about them.

Further, Sony is forcing people into the in place upgrade, rather than the clean install, which is clearly better. Due to this and the fact that Sony will not allow me to put a second hard drive into the available 2nd bay AND the fact that they do not allow one to turn hardware virtualization on for Windows XP mode, this will be my last Sony Vaio computer.

By the way, I saved a copy of my discussions with everyone except Samantha at Sony. I talked with her first and at that point, I didn't realize I would need to do so. If interested, I can forward it.

I'm in IT also but I have a HP I downloaded all the driver from th HP site and they all worked fine. I also went out to Intel site and upgrade my Intel 5100 wireless drivers and got a little better performance.

All my drivers out of the box for Windows 7 worked but there was a small issue with the light on my touch button. The light was supposed to be white when on and orange when the sound was muted. Well after the install the light stayed orange all the time but the sound worked. Once I installed the driver for HP the button would turn white when the sound was on.

Sorry about your issue with Sony. I have no complaints with HP.

[mphenterprises]

wgragg, on 27 October 2009 - 09:17 AM, said:

Before I start, let me state that I have over 35 years in IT and administer the systems for a library system in Texas. I have been installing and upgrading Windows OS's since they first came out, so I pretty much know what I am doing.

This weekend, I decided to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate 64 on my Sony Vaio laptop (purchased January of this year).

Hi wgragg and welcome to the PCworld Communities.



Before I start, I would like to say that you have as much IT experience as I am old so I am sure your experience and knowledge far surpasses mine. That being said, I never really understand one thing about people and new Operating Systems: The urgency to get it the day it is officially released.

The first 30-60 days of any Operating System release is normally the "feeling out" period. Hiccups and other glitches are just about guaranteed. If I may ask, did you take advantage of downloading and using the Beta or RC versions of Windows 7? If no, why not? This would have giving you a chance to try Windows 7 and catch and bugs you may encounter. This would also have given you a chance to get on Sony an let them know that, based on your experiences, their Windows 7 drivers are not working properly. Although this should not be necessary, did you first contact Sony to verify that their Windows 7 drivers were ready for the release of Windows 7?

That all being said, I have to applaud you. Most people would immediately try to blame Microsoft for this issue.

[rgreen4]

mphenterprises, on 01 November 2009 - 03:56 PM, said:

wgragg, on 27 October 2009 - 09:17 AM, said:

Before I start, let me state that I have over 35 years in IT and administer the systems for a library system in Texas. I have been installing and upgrading Windows OS's since they first came out, so I pretty much know what I am doing.

This weekend, I decided to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate 64 on my Sony Vaio laptop (purchased January of this year).

Hi wgragg and welcome to the PCworld Communities.



Before I start, I would like to say that you have as much IT experience as I am old so I am sure your experience and knowledge far surpasses mine. That being said, I never really understand one thing about people and new Operating Systems: The urgency to get it the day it is officially released.

The first 30-60 days of any Operating System release is normally the "feeling out" period. Hiccups and other glitches are just about guaranteed. If I may ask, did you take advantage of downloading and using the Beta or RC versions of Windows 7? If no, why not? This would have giving you a chance to try Windows 7 and catch and bugs you may encounter. This would also have given you a chance to get on Sony an let them know that, based on your experiences, their Windows 7 drivers are not working properly. Although this should not be necessary, did you first contact Sony to verify that their Windows 7 drivers were ready for the release of Windows 7?

That all being said, I have to applaud you. Most people would immediately try to blame Microsoft for this issue.

MPH - unfortunately during the Beta and even the RC process most manufacturers did not post specific Win7 drivers. When I installed the Win7 RC on this laptop (HP dv9500t) for the drivers I needed from HP, I had to use Vista drivers which worked fairly well.

WGragg - I did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium x64 upgrade on this HP laptop. When I went to the HP website to download the Windows 7 Video driver, I was greeted with a notice that HP has no intention of supporting Windows 7 on this series of laptops, even though they are upper end and about two years old. They are apparently not supporting even the dv9700 and dv6700 series which are even newer. Fortunately, this machine has the Nvidia GeForceM 8600GS so I went to the Nvidia website and downloaded their GeForceM driver for the 8xxx series which worked flawlessly. I one minor unknown device that is giving me a ? mark, but since the machine works, I am not concerned.

[wgragg]

rgreen4, on 02 November 2009 - 02:16 AM, said:

mphenterprises, on 01 November 2009 - 03:56 PM, said:

wgragg, on 27 October 2009 - 09:17 AM, said:

Before I start, let me state that I have over 35 years in IT and administer the systems for a library system in Texas. I have been installing and upgrading Windows OS's since they first came out, so I pretty much know what I am doing.

This weekend, I decided to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate 64 on my Sony Vaio laptop (purchased January of this year).

Hi wgragg and welcome to the PCworld Communities.



Before I start, I would like to say that you have as much IT experience as I am old so I am sure your experience and knowledge far surpasses mine. That being said, I never really understand one thing about people and new Operating Systems: The urgency to get it the day it is officially released.

The first 30-60 days of any Operating System release is normally the "feeling out" period. Hiccups and other glitches are just about guaranteed. If I may ask, did you take advantage of downloading and using the Beta or RC versions of Windows 7? If no, why not? This would have giving you a chance to try Windows 7 and catch and bugs you may encounter. This would also have given you a chance to get on Sony an let them know that, based on your experiences, their Windows 7 drivers are not working properly. Although this should not be necessary, did you first contact Sony to verify that their Windows 7 drivers were ready for the release of Windows 7?

That all being said, I have to applaud you. Most people would immediately try to blame Microsoft for this issue.

MPH - unfortunately during the Beta and even the RC process most manufacturers did not post specific Win7 drivers. When I installed the Win7 RC on this laptop (HP dv9500t) for the drivers I needed from HP, I had to use Vista drivers which worked fairly well.

WGragg - I did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium x64 upgrade on this HP laptop. When I went to the HP website to download the Windows 7 Video driver, I was greeted with a notice that HP has no intention of supporting Windows 7 on this series of laptops, even though they are upper end and about two years old. They are apparently not supporting even the dv9700 and dv6700 series which are even newer. Fortunately, this machine has the Nvidia GeForceM 8600GS so I went to the Nvidia website and downloaded their GeForceM driver for the 8xxx series which worked flawlessly. I one minor unknown device that is giving me a ? mark, but since the machine works, I am not concerned.

Thans for the response guys. To give a little background, this is about the 4th or 5th computer I had installed Win7 on, so I pretty much had that down pat. I installed it pre-release on a Dell, Toshiba, HP and now my Sony. I did not have major problems until the Sony.

My problem with them is the way they handled Windows 7. For example, HP states clearly on their site that their drivers may not be ready for the Oct 22 release. Not so with Sony. They posted drivers on their website with no indication that they were beta's or that there were any problems, while the tech explained to me that they indeed were problematic. If they knew there were problems, the drivers should never have been posted. If they found out after posting them, they should have pulled the drivers with a brief explanation. At the very least, they should have been labeled as beta drivers.

Secondarily, I have a problem with Sony writing drivers that you can only install if you do an in place upgrade vs. a clean install (which is clearly the better way). The drivers should install in either case. When you add to this the fact that Sony will not allow one to enable the CPU to do virtualization, thus completely limiting the ability to run XP mode, Sony has become a non-starter on computers for me in the future. The whole reason I bought this model was because it displayed the full Adobe RGB gamut on an 18 inch screen, and for that it has worked well, but I have found them to be way too restrictive. I can't even add a second hard drive into the existing hard drive bay because "I didn't order it with two hard drives!" Talk about consumer unfriendly!

Lest you think I just like to bash Sony, I own a Sony Bravia HD TV, two Sony Alpha DSLR's and a PS3. All of which I am pretty happy with, but for computers, my next one will be a Dell or Lenovo. I'm done with Sony Vaio's.

On HP not supporting Win 7 on some of their computers, that really is nasty. I checked on my wife's one year old DV9900 and they will not make drivers for it. What are the companies thinking? That we can just go out and buy a new computer every time a new OS comes out?

Wish I could build my own laptop like I usually do my desktops!

Thanks for letting me rant!

[doslover]

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 09:25 AM, said:

On HP not supporting Win 7 on some of their computers, that really is nasty. I checked on my wife's one year old DV9900 and they will not make drivers for it. What are the companies thinking? That we can just go out and buy a new computer every time a new OS comes out?

Yes.

[SnyperTodd]

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 09:25 AM, said:

Wish I could build my own laptop like I usually do my desktops!

You can, but the cost is usually considerably higher than buying a manufactured laptop. Here's just one way...

[rgreen4]

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 10:25 AM, said:

On HP not supporting Win 7 on some of their computers, that really is nasty. I checked on my wife's one year old DV9900 and they will not make drivers for it. What are the companies thinking? That we can just go out and buy a new computer every time a new OS comes out?

Wish I could build my own laptop like I usually do my desktops!

Thanks for letting me rant!

Despite their not supporting Win 7 on my dv9500t, I have done a clean install and it runs fine. The only outside driver I had to download was as I said the Nvidia 8600M GS driver from the Nvidia website. With that the only thing that was not functioning was the QuickPlay buttons. I hadn't ever used them the the two years I have had it, so it was not that big a deal, except I hated the errors in Device Manager. I downloaded the Win7 QuickPlay driver for the dv7 and although they installed and I no longer have the error markers in device manager, the QuickPlay buttons beep when pushed but that is all. Oh well, as I said, I didn't use them anyway.

At least with HP if you want to add the second drive and it did not come with it, you can order the kit which includes the small SATA adaper, the tray and the 4 screws to hold the drive in the tray. It is about $50. When I was shopping for the laptop, the kit was $140 and the option for the second 120GB HD was $100. Kind of a no brainer. But that is an advantage of ordering directly from the manufacturer.

I don't know about Sony, is the tray or adapter for the second drive different than that for the first drive? Have you looked at the parts listing to see if you can order it as parts?

[wgragg]

rgreen4, on 03 November 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 10:25 AM, said:

On HP not supporting Win 7 on some of their computers, that really is nasty. I checked on my wife's one year old DV9900 and they will not make drivers for it. What are the companies thinking? That we can just go out and buy a new computer every time a new OS comes out?

Wish I could build my own laptop like I usually do my desktops!

Thanks for letting me rant!

Despite their not supporting Win 7 on my dv9500t, I have done a clean install and it runs fine. The only outside driver I had to download was as I said the Nvidia 8600M GS driver from the Nvidia website. With that the only thing that was not functioning was the QuickPlay buttons. I hadn't ever used them the the two years I have had it, so it was not that big a deal, except I hated the errors in Device Manager. I downloaded the Win7 QuickPlay driver for the dv7 and although they installed and I no longer have the error markers in device manager, the QuickPlay buttons beep when pushed but that is all. Oh well, as I said, I didn't use them anyway.

At least with HP if you want to add the second drive and it did not come with it, you can order the kit which includes the small SATA adaper, the tray and the 4 screws to hold the drive in the tray. It is about $50. When I was shopping for the laptop, the kit was $140 and the option for the second 120GB HD was $100. Kind of a no brainer. But that is an advantage of ordering directly from the manufacturer.

I don't know about Sony, is the tray or adapter for the second drive different than that for the first drive? Have you looked at the parts listing to see if you can order it as parts?

Actually, I would need to open the case and check, but I'm not even sure there is a drive connector. When I opened it before, I only looked for a bay. That is an idea, to order the parts alone.

[wgragg]

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 04:56 PM, said:

rgreen4, on 03 November 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 10:25 AM, said:

On HP not supporting Win 7 on some of their computers, that really is nasty. I checked on my wife's one year old DV9900 and they will not make drivers for it. What are the companies thinking? That we can just go out and buy a new computer every time a new OS comes out?

Wish I could build my own laptop like I usually do my desktops!

Thanks for letting me rant!

Despite their not supporting Win 7 on my dv9500t, I have done a clean install and it runs fine. The only outside driver I had to download was as I said the Nvidia 8600M GS driver from the Nvidia website. With that the only thing that was not functioning was the QuickPlay buttons. I hadn't ever used them the the two years I have had it, so it was not that big a deal, except I hated the errors in Device Manager. I downloaded the Win7 QuickPlay driver for the dv7 and although they installed and I no longer have the error markers in device manager, the QuickPlay buttons beep when pushed but that is all. Oh well, as I said, I didn't use them anyway.

At least with HP if you want to add the second drive and it did not come with it, you can order the kit which includes the small SATA adaper, the tray and the 4 screws to hold the drive in the tray. It is about $50. When I was shopping for the laptop, the kit was $140 and the option for the second 120GB HD was $100. Kind of a no brainer. But that is an advantage of ordering directly from the manufacturer.

I don't know about Sony, is the tray or adapter for the second drive different than that for the first drive? Have you looked at the parts listing to see if you can order it as parts?

Actually, I would need to open the case and check, but I'm not even sure there is a drive connector. When I opened it before, I only looked for a bay. That is an idea, to order the parts alone.

Just opened it up. There isn't even a connector for the drive. Apparently, Sony must use a different motherboard for single drive systems. Should have ordered it with the second drive in the first place, but it was pushing over $2500 as it was and I had to make some choices.

Wendell

[rgreen4]

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 12:13 PM, said:

Just opened it up. There isn't even a connector for the drive. Apparently, Sony must use a different motherboard for single drive systems. Should have ordered it with the second drive in the first place, but it was pushing over $2500 as it was and I had to make some choices.

Wendell

Unbelievable! From a manufacturing standpoint, the extra expense of no connector on some models while others have to have it just raises questions. Perhaps it snaps into place and connects with a ribbon cable. One would have to look at the service manual to tell for sure, but they probably restrict access to that as well. HP and Dell both put the service manuals on line.

[nav13]

rgreen4, on 04 November 2009 - 12:07 AM, said:

wgragg, on 03 November 2009 - 12:13 PM, said:

Just opened it up. There isn't even a connector for the drive. Apparently, Sony must use a different motherboard for single drive systems. Should have ordered it with the second drive in the first place, but it was pushing over $2500 as it was and I had to make some choices.

Wendell

Unbelievable! From a manufacturing standpoint, the extra expense of no connector on some models while others have to have it just raises questions. Perhaps it snaps into place and connects with a ribbon cable. One would have to look at the service manual to tell for sure, but they probably restrict access to that as well. HP and Dell both put the service manuals on line.

I'm am a reader that is having a similar problem as you. never buy a Sony. I have too recently upgraded to W7 also. Sony is not supporting any systems older than W7 for W7. They that very clear to me as I have requested help several times. they said it's Microsoft's fault, but as someone on another forum said "tough luck, we fooled you -- ha, ha" is all Sony is trying to say. my issue causes my HDD to freeze randomly causing the computer to become inaccessible. through other forums, I have almost fixed the issue. Yet again, never buy a Sony.

[bhus12]

you can use vista drivers for windows 7 it worked for me!

[wgragg]

bhus12, on 05 November 2009 - 08:20 AM, said:

you can use vista drivers for windows 7 it worked for me!

Yes you can, but I believe that Sony does a version check in its install routines to keep you from doing just that. I tried installing one of the vista drivers and it told me that it would only install on Vista.

Another funny thing that happened was that Sony sent me the companion DVD with all the drivers on it. On a whim, I backed up the machine and installed the DVD. All heck broke loose. More things quit working than before. Another episode or two with Sony chat and the told me to download and install certain programs from the web site. Guess what, the install starts and then just disappeears again, including from task manager.

I did a system restore and got everything back working, but I have come to two conclusions:

1. Sony does not quality check their drivers/software and
2. Their tech support is very sub-par. They had no idea what is going on.

Again, their driver dvd should never have been released with these problems.

[nav13]

wgragg, on 05 November 2009 - 06:11 PM, said:

bhus12, on 05 November 2009 - 08:20 AM, said:

you can use vista drivers for windows 7 it worked for me!

Yes you can, but I believe that Sony does a version check in its install routines to keep you from doing just that. I tried installing one of the vista drivers and it told me that it would only install on Vista.

Another funny thing that happened was that Sony sent me the companion DVD with all the drivers on it. On a whim, I backed up the machine and installed the DVD. All heck broke loose. More things quit working than before. Another episode or two with Sony chat and the told me to download and install certain programs from the web site. Guess what, the install starts and then just disappeears again, including from task manager.

I did a system restore and got everything back working, but I have come to two conclusions:

1. Sony does not quality check their drivers/software and
2. Their tech support is very sub-par. They had no idea what is going on.

Again, their driver dvd should never have been released with these problems.

I will never buy a sony again as there drivers and support are what I would rate a big fat 0.

[jschoelch123]

wgragg - I read your post and had to shake my head. I have experienced a very similar sitation.

On Nov 4 I bought a slick Vaio P Series for $1000 - It was $500 off because it had Vista on it but came with a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. The "new" P-Series come out with Win 7 Home Premium factory installed. I need Win 7 Business or Ultimate (I need the Remote Desktop capabilities.) Since I was going to have to pay for this Win 7 upgrade anyway regardless of what P Series I bought, I decided to save the extra 500 bucks and upgrade it myself.

Well what a headache this has been. I got the computer and immediately did an upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate - did it as a clean install. I then went to the Vaio website and downloaded the drivers (for Win 7 Ultimate.) As you did, I kept getting the "driver may not have correctly installed" messages. I called tech support and they went thru the same process - safe mode, UAC, etc etc and then finally they said "you just have to wait for new drivers to show up on the website"

I bought the computer through the Sony Cierge program and I called my "guy" there. He said he knew there were problems but if I get the upgrade disk I should be OK!!! Well, I am still waiting for that damn disk and I am sure that my computer aint working great (ie I cant get the Wifi to work.) I have a hard time believing this magic disk is going to be the answer to all my problems. What I find more puzzling is that they are selling P-Series Vaios with Win 7 factory installed - so what are the drivers on those computers??!! BTW I tried to download those and it didnt work. Damn!

I am seriously thinking about sending this model back and shelling out the extra $500 (plus the extra $90 for the upgrade to W7 Business/Ultimate) and getting the factory installed model. I'd prefer not to, as I have already invested the time installing all my stuff on this computer but I dont know what else to do besides wait and risk getting outside of the return period.

Thanks for letting me rant too...

jane

[jschoelch123]

Sorry - I forgot to mention: This is the third computer I have upgraded to Win 7. The first was a Sony Vaio TX Series that is supposedly not supported by Vaio due to hardware insuffiencies. (This is just WRONG.) It worked fine and I just used the Vista drivers no prob. I also upgraded an HP Touchsmart (go HP! Love HP!) and had no problems either.
jane

[wgragg]

jschoelch123, on 16 November 2009 - 10:37 PM, said:

Sorry - I forgot to mention: This is the third computer I have upgraded to Win 7. The first was a Sony Vaio TX Series that is supposedly not supported by Vaio due to hardware insuffiencies. (This is just WRONG.) It worked fine and I just used the Vista drivers no prob. I also upgraded an HP Touchsmart (go HP! Love HP!) and had no problems either.
jane

Jane,

If your experience is anything like mine, the upgrade disk won't help. In fact, it made things worse for me. I ended up going back to a restore point. On your wifi issue, you might consider going to the vendor website for your wifi card and seeing if they have drivers available. My bluetooth wasn't working properly when I upgraded and I went to the broadcomm site, downloaded and installed the latest driver from there and it worked again.

Sony is really sad. I'm not the type to want to sue everyone, but Sony is just asking for one on this!

Wendell

[jschoelch123]

Wendell - Your experience convinced me that I should exchange my Vaio-P Series. I did it yesterday and got the new one already. This one has Win7 Professional factory installed. All the drivers are there. It is SO much better...faster...everything works! Yes I had to shell out $700 more (I decided to get a faster processor too) but I think my headaches are over. I had a chat with an IT dude and he said they avoid Sony products at all costs since their drivers are always proprietary and they are slow to update them as new OS comes out. I'm $700 poorer, but lets hope I'll be happier in the end...

thanks again,
jane

[wgragg]

jschoelch123, on 19 November 2009 - 02:57 PM, said:

Wendell - Your experience convinced me that I should exchange my Vaio-P Series. I did it yesterday and got the new one already. This one has Win7 Professional factory installed. All the drivers are there. It is SO much better...faster...everything works! Yes I had to shell out $700 more (I decided to get a faster processor too) but I think my headaches are over. I had a chat with an IT dude and he said they avoid Sony products at all costs since their drivers are always proprietary and they are slow to update them as new OS comes out. I'm $700 poorer, but lets hope I'll be happier in the end...

thanks again,
jane

I'm glad you have something that is working! The ONLY reason I bought this particular laptop was for my photography. Supposedly, it displays over 100% of the Adobe RGB gamut, otherwise I would have gone for a Dell or Toshiba like I used before.

I do have to give Sony some credit now. I just noticed last night they finally posted a BIOS update that supposedly will allow you to turn on the virtualization bit of the CPU, so one can run XP mode in Windows 7. I haven't installed it yet as I'm a little leery of it, but it is a step in the right direction. They have also updated the video driver and added a couple more drivers with November dates.

Still not happy with them, but at least they are showing a bit of improvement.