CR220E xp downgrade: impossible??

[meowmix]

Dear everyone,

Please share your experiences with downgrading to XP on the CR220E. I called customer service who said they will never offer xp drivers. The download pages from the UK and Asia are close but do not specifically support the CR220E model.

Sony Asia seems to have the best potential drivers:

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/dow...ite=hp_en_AP_i

Yet it says it's for the CR2-series but does not list the CR220E. Does anyone see ethernet drivers in there? My main problem was not being able to load the ethernet driver after loading XP (I know it's Realtek but I couldn't find the model number), so I'm back to square one with crappy Vista again. I love this computer but I'll have to return it if it's incompatible with XP. Had no idea it would be so difficult... and I would definitely not have bought if it I knew.

Please be as specific as possible about which drivers will work, and which ones will not. Your help is appreciated.

p.s. please email me if anything good comes up.

[prefabricated]

Attention Frustrated Sony Vaio VGN-CD220E Owners:

I too, have looked seemingly hopelessly for the Vaio VGN-CR220E XP drivers. I found them, no thanks to Sony, after 2 days of searching the interwebs. Instead of complaining about how they do not provide for or support Windows XP drivers, I did their job for them. Please help me spread the word in other forums to aid fellow Sony customers who are undergoing this same quest. I never did find the camera driver, primarily due to not knowing the make/model of the camera. If anyone knows it please post or email me.

* Go here for the chipset and graphics drivers.

* Go http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...dc_wireless_xp for Intel Wireless Network drivers.

* Go here for the Network driver.

* Go http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&GetDown=false for the audio driver.

I never found a driver for the camera. Let me know if you have any questions.

Jim in Seattle, WA

[meowmix]

Thanks Jim,



I believe the camera driver (VGP-VCC6) is here:

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/dow...subpage=detail

I haven't tested it yet but it's the identical driver module as in vista.

Also, in my case, my ethernet card is the Realtek RTL8101E family PCI-E family. My laptop is the VGN-CR220E/W, perhaps the cards vary by model. The driver can be found here:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&GetDown=false

I will post from XP just as soon as I find the time to downgrade.

[nodrogkam]

Will you loose functionality of the quick buttons?
ex. AV Mode/Mute/Volume +/-/Capture/Display off/ play/stop/next/prev.?

[meowmix]

I'm inclined to say NO, since I have done a fresh install of Vista using only the most basic functional drivers listed above, and all of these quick buttons work. My PgUp/PgDn, Home, and End keys work. However, brightness or hibernate do not work. But I think you can grab the sony software as per this thread:

Vaio AR51E XP Downgrade - Fn Brightness and CD Eject working

and get everything working again. For me, if avoiding sony software means losing brightness control, then so be it. I'll report once I've switched.

[meowmix]

I'm pleased as punch to tell everyone that it's working great. Yes, all the quick buttons work. Brightness still does not.

I had problems with the audio codecs mentioned above (audio was not working). Just pull them off of the Sony Asia site. Also had to go back to the intel site and get some kind of updated thingy (_ _ hub?) for the chipset driver. This is such a fine laptop when it's running a decent OS. Fast!

Dear Sony: Get a clue. It's apparent that you're not in touch with your consumer base. When I looked at the specs to buy this laptop, it said "comes with MS Vista," not "comes with an OS which is painfully hard if not impossible to change." I would call this a malfunctioning product. Why make a move that will only off the techies by doing extra work to remove common OS support? We are the types of people that others ask product recommendations from. We are the people that also post recommendations and advice online, and aggravated posts which say things like SONY SUCKS and VAIO SUCKS, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND BUY A TOSHIBA OR A DELL.

[prefabricated]

yea yea! what he said...

[meowmix]

If anyone was trying to adjust their monitor brightness, it can be found in the "Intel Graphics Media Driver for Mobile" package (which pops up w/ Ctrl-Alt-F12 if its installed), under Color. It looks like there's a way to bind it to a hotkey. I also found a good shareware program with tons of other functions too, called powerstrip, that can do the same thing and more.

[masterross]

I have cr290
all works except brightness (it's showing on OSD but nothing change)
If u need help write me

[joeyfeets]

Ive been lurking here for a few days ever since my wife got this new cr220e (blue). Due to the posts above and the posts regarding the VGN-SZ & AR models, XP Pro is up & running on this thing just fine. The Brightness does not work (the screen shows it going up & down, but nothing happens.)

It worked with a splattering of different drivers from various places but meowmix's and prefabricated posts pretty much sum it up. good stuff.