[How-To] VPCZ1 Windows 10 Clean Install with NO BIOS HACK and graphics switch working !

Links have been updated, because Sony decided to remove drivers from their website.

Hello, today I am here to share a guide to make Windows 10 fully work on the VAIO VPCZ1 with the Dynamic Hybrid Graphics System switch fully working. The SSD on the unit I had was wiped, so I needed to clean install Windows 10.

IF YOU HAVE THE RECOVERY PARTITION STILL THERE ON YOUR SSD/HDD REINSTALL WINDOWS 7 WITH IT AND CONTINUE WITH STEP 2.

IF YOU WANT TO CLEAN INSTALL WINDOWS 7 AND NOT UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 10, STOP TO STEP 1 AND DO NOT CONTINUE.

Here's how to do it :

STEP 1 :

· Download Windows 7 64-bit ISO and install Windows 7 on the machine. Don't worry, we will be installing Windows 10 later in the guide.

· Download drivers of your specific model. Mine is a VPCZ11C7E. So I got to the Sony support page of my specific model.

· Install these drivers IN THE CORRECT ORDER ! Make sure to restart if you are asked to. If you fail to install some drivers (Ricoh ones for me for example) make sure they are for something that will not cause problems to graphics. For example, if you fail to install Ricoh drivers, it won't affect anything. But if you fail to install the Chipset Driver for example, it might affect the graphics switch (im not totally sure). So try again or search for solutions.

Audio, Bluetooth, Ethernet (LAN wired), Ricoh Card Reader/Writer - SD CPRM, Ricoh PCIe SD Bus, Ricoh PCIe Memory Stick, Intel Chipset Driver, Intel Turbo Boost Driver (IPS Driver), Intel ICH8M RAID Controller, Trackpad (Synaptics), Wireless LAN, Sony Firmware Extention Parser Device, Sony Shared Library, Sony Notebook Utilities, Intel Management (ME), NVIDIA Graphics Driver (we will install multiple ones of these in this guide, for the moment, install the one that can be found on your Sony support page for your VAIO model), VAIO Metadata, VAIO Control Center (if the Control Center install from your VAIO support page doesn't work, try installing this one, if it doesn't work, try searching for another download on Google and make sure it' not an update but the full installer), and finally VAIO Power Management.

IF ANY INSTALLERS DIDN'T SHOW UP OR SUDDENTLY DISSAPEARED WITHOUT ANY IMPUT OF YOUR PART, TRY DOWLOADING ANOTHER ONE FROM YOUR VAIO SUPPORT PAGE AND IF IT DOESN'T WORK EITHER, SEARCH FOR ANOTHER DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE ! MAKE SURE THAT THESE INSTALLERS AREN'T UPDATES.

· Install Sony Event Service from the link here ! THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT ! If you try to install others, they will probably not work. This is the app that makes the graphics switch work !
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-NwYGJmqFTaPECdOnL1f0zNPftgWyI4d/view?usp=sharing

· Test if the graphics switch is working. If not, let's continue with step 1. If it works, skip to step 2.

· Download and install the graphics driver from here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12WeOV5Hr2QEMtzpGDjsGSu221NgWbsAP/view?usp=sharing

· Test again if the graphics switch is working. If not, let's continue with step 1. If it works, skip to step 2.

· Download this driver and execute the file dpinst.exe. DO NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=18L1NdtlX3YiZBtKUvfsOV1Tp60rXsRue

· The graphics switch should now work. If not, restart your computer and try again by installing all 3 graphics drivers again in the same order with the switch set to speed all the time. Also, try installing the Sony Event Service from your VAIO support page, try installing another one if the installer of the one you are trying to install suddently dissapered with no imput of your part. I had 2 Sony Event Service downloads on my VAIO support page, one didn't work but the second one did. Make sure you have Sony Firmware Extention Parser Device and Sony Shared Library correctly installed. If it still doesn't work, reinstall Windows 7 and try again.

STEP 2 :

· Download the latest Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from the link here.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

PLEASE NOTE : make sure you are downloading the Media Creation Tool of the latest Windows 10 version avaliable. If you didn't, download the latest.

· Execute the Media Creation Tool and select upgrade this PC. DO NOT RESET THE LAPTOP ! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP ALL APPS AND FILES OTHERWISE STEP 1 WOULD'OVE BEEN COMPLETLY USELESS.

· After you have installed Windows 10 on the machine, install the first graphics driver you have installed on step 1 (driver from your VAIO support page).

· After that, test if the graphics switch is working. If it works but prompt you to close system executables of Windows 10 and you click on the continue button but it prompts you again, install this graphics driver (second driver from step 1). INSTALL THE DRIVER WITH THE SWITCH IN SPEED POSITION !
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12WeOV5Hr2QEMtzpGDjsGSu221NgWbsAP/view?usp=sharing

· WARNING : WHEN YOU TRY TO SWITCH TO STAMINA, YOUR SCREEN WILL BECOME BLACK, TO FIX THAT EXECURE "CTRL + WINDOWS KEY + SHIFT + B" ON YOUR KEYBOARD. THIS WILL HAPPEN ALL THE TIMES YOU TRY TO SWITCH TO STAMINA.

· 2nd WARNING : IF THE GRAPHICS SWITCH ISN'T WORKING ANYMORE AFTER A RESTART, SHUTDOWN, LOG OFF OF YOUR USER AND LOG BACK ON. THIS IS CAUSED BY A BUG WHEN VAIO EVENT SERVICE WON'T START CORRECTLY.

· Test if the graphics switch is working. It will probably ask you to close StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. Click on the button to continue, and it will normally switch to the desired position. If not, continue with the guide. If it works, IT'S DONE ! I hope you will be having a good time with your laptop !

· If not, download this driver and execute the file dpinst.exe. DO NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE. (third driver from step 1).
https://drive.google.com/open?id=18L1NdtlX3YiZBtKUvfsOV1Tp60rXsRue

· If it still doesn't work, try installing the 3 graphics drivers again in the same order and with the switch in SPEED position.

If you want to (not mandatory, but recommended), you can now install the newest versions of the VAIO apps IN ORDER !

1. Sony Shared Library - Sony 6.2.0.07020
2. VAIO Power Management - Sony 6.0.1.07270
3. VAIO Control Center - Sony 6.0.1.08290

If at this point it still doesn't work, downgrade to Windows 7 and use your laptop with it if you want the graphics switch to work without BIOS hack or try again from the beginning.

That's all ! I hope it worked for you ! Thanks for reading.

Written by Romanio0089.

 

Hello, i have a VPCZ116GG. I tried from Step 2 onwards and stuck at 'windows updating 5%' for several hours. Therefore i forced stop by pressing long on the power button and restart. Once restart, it shows 0xC1900101 - 0x2000C The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during APPLY_IMAGE operation.

Some information prior the installation:
- 16GB USB drive reformat with FAT32 and downloaded the latest Windows 10
- Switch to STAMINA mode
- Plug in USB and run Setup as admin

Please kindly advise.

Best Regards

 

I know this is a bit late, but please try to install it with only Media Creation Tool on the laptop without making an USB.

 

I have a similar issue as you, only that mine is the VPCZ127GG. I even tried a Windows 10 clean install from a USB stick, but the result is the same. Then i found this:
https://www.sony.com.sg/electronics/support/laptop-pc-vpc-series/vpcz127gg/articles/00181078
WARNING: There is a risk of software/driver corruption. We therefore strongly recommend that you do not upgrade to Windows 10 when it becomes available on July 29.

 

This means you have a corrupted installer and nothing else. For me, it happened a few times on a lot of laptops, the fault was that for some reason the USB was corrupting things, and that my ISO became corrupted because of it. Download a new ISO, use another USB key, and another USB port on the laptop. If it doesn't work, it's that you have a hardware failure on your laptop (even a tiny one you can't notice) and Windows can't install drivers because of it, then it crashes.

In the case of the previous guy, after some reasearch, it is or a corrupted USB key and/or ISO, or his HDD is having a failure.

 

I brought the same USB stick to another machine, as it installed Windows 10 perfectly with no issues. And yes, i did try another USB stick, and another USB port on the laptop. I also re-downloaded the ISO and recreated a different USB stick. Sorry i failed to mention all these.
As for the hard disk, i ran "chkdsk C: /f" and it found no issues. In addition, i could install Windows 7 on the same Sony laptop with no issues at all.
While i have no proof, i can only suspect that my country's model of this laptop may not be compatible with Windows 10. Again, this is just my personal deduction with no concrete proof.
I thank you for your response and contribution.

 

All 2010 laptops with these specs are compatible with Windows 10. Country doesn't contribute to anything normally. It is still possible you have a hardware failure even if you manage to install Windows 7, as it doesn't come with that many drivers. Windows 10 has a much much bigger driver library, so it might have tried to install a driver you didn't install on Windows 7.

 

Hi ive just stumbled across this thread, ive just recently resurected my sony vaio vpcz12m9e, after repasting the cpu and oiling the noisey fan up.. its back to its old self, anyways im wanting to install windows 10 , ive read about the bios hack on another thread to install and advanced menu which alows you to select one or the other video card permantley and then patching the nividia driver to maek it work..

firstly if your solution works without having to do these steps why are people going to the hassle of hacking the bios and patching drivers.. is there any advantages over this method?.. secondly i have windows 7 running on it ..if what you are saying is right can i just follow your step 2.?.. i dont need a clean version of windows 7 for it work?

thanks
matt

 

People did go through BIOS hacking their devices back in 2016, but this thread was made in 2020, and it was most likely made possible because Microsoft updated Windows 10, and it probably did something that allowed those terrible drivers to work even though Microsoft didn't do it intentionally. You can try only starting with step 2, but I can't say for sure that it will work.

The advantages of my method is that you don't risk to permanently kill your machine with a BIOS hack. Those BIOS hacks are always risky even though most of the time everything works fine. The second problem with the BIOS hack method you mentioned, the graphics switch won't work. It just makes the dedicated GPU work, which I just don't care about. I want the entire graphics switch to work so that I can switch from HD Graphics to GT 330M.