Hi All,

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-AR11M laptop which is pre installed with Windows
Media Centre.
Because of the preinstall, it also has loads of app that I do not want.
Rather than uninstalling these, I would rather do a clean install of
MCE but seeing as sony did not give me disks, I have to use their slow
version.

I would like to know if anyone has managed to create an install disk
from the image that sony provide - less any rubbish...
Installing XP pro makes no use of the TV tuner and MCE as a whole. It
also makes no use of the extra buttons etc on the machine.

Any ideas / Help?

Thanks!

Crispin

If it was Home or Pro, I'd suggest to you that the "I386" folder
probably has everything you need to reinstall if it has the setup
program(s) (Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe ... actually, either one is
enough). But MCE is a two-disc setup and I386 might not be all
inclusive. I'd experiment with a spare hard drive (if the drive isn't
too difficult to change). Are you sure that they didn't give you a way
to make a disc, or did they give you a disc but it's not what you want?


crispin.proctor******.com wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I have a Sony Vaio VGN-AR11M laptop which is pre installed with Windows
> Media Centre.
> Because of the preinstall, it also has loads of app that I do not want.
> Rather than uninstalling these, I would rather do a clean install of
> MCE but seeing as sony did not give me disks, I have to use their slow
> version.
>
> I would like to know if anyone has managed to create an install disk
> from the image that sony provide - less any rubbish...
> Installing XP pro makes no use of the TV tuner and MCE as a whole. It
> also makes no use of the extra buttons etc on the machine.
>
> Any ideas / Help?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Crispin
>

Thanks Guys,

I have all the utilities and drivers for the laptop from Sony as they
are part of the recovery process.

However, there does not seem to be anyway to recovery just the XP part
without all the rubbish that comes with it. Likewise, there is no way
to get the i386 folder from it - that I know of at least. If I could
get that, I could make my own install disks.

Installing XP Pro on it is ok but I cannot get any of the media buttons
working, even after installing all the drivers and utilities that sony
provide. It is rather irritating that now I have a laptop that that has
a whole bunch of media buttons but I cannot use them.

Reverting to the Sony install is not worth it as the laptop runs like a
dog with all the rubbish on. Selectively uninstalling it seems to make
little difference. For example, the first time it booted, I had 76
processes running. A clean install of XP Pro with all that I require
has 32. Add a couple more for MCE and the buttons and you should be ok.
Why there are so many and all rather hefty on memory usage, only Sony
will know...

On the Recovery CD there are files called sony.i01 thru - sony.i05 as
well as a file called sony.img. Each of these are around 400-500MB in
size but nothing I have, Daemon Tools, Nero, Ghost and Nero, can open
them. I was hoping they would be a iso of sorts for the OS.

Any ideas?

TIA

Cheers,
Crispin

Doesn't XP have a System Recovery? not system restore but another
program that lets you build a drivers and app recovery disc. I almost
had to use it on my gateway. I think it builds a partition on your C
drive after you make a disc with your choices and then it builds the
whole system back up from this as needed? I could be wrong but google
it if it sounds like the right thing.

Yes it does have a recovery partition or recovery DVD but that is what
I am trying not to use.
Because when you use them, the laptop is back to how sony think you
want it. Who wants google and yahoo tool bars installed? Who wants 3
different DVD editing programs? 2 different photo editing suites? and
god knows how many nuisance apps popping up balloons.

It is that that I want to get away from. I want to reinstall MCE
without all that rubbish.
So, my question still stands: How to extract the clean version of MCE
out of the image files / recovery DVDs.

Cheers,
Crispin

Why don't you just uninstall the programs you don't need and modify the
registry 'run' areas or msconfig to stop the non needed programs from
starting. That's the easy and fast way. Who cares if they are using up a few
meg of your hard drive. At least they won't slow it down.
Terry

<crispin.proctor******.com> wrote in message
news:1162887734.685227.77790@h48g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...
> Yes it does have a recovery partition or recovery DVD but that is what
> I am trying not to use.
> Because when you use them, the laptop is back to how sony think you
> want it. Who wants google and yahoo tool bars installed? Who wants 3
> different DVD editing programs? 2 different photo editing suites? and
> god knows how many nuisance apps popping up balloons.
>
> It is that that I want to get away from. I want to reinstall MCE
> without all that rubbish.
> So, my question still stands: How to extract the clean version of MCE
> out of the image files / recovery DVDs.
>
> Cheers,
> Crispin
>

I did but it was still "odd".

I know I am being fussy here but...

After uninstalling everything I did not want, cleaning the reg and
removing unknown entries from the registry, it was _ok_. Still slow, in
my eyes at least, but better than before.

As a test, I installed XP Pro, SP2 and all updates and it does seem a
lot faster than before.
The problem with keeping Pro on is that then it is just-another-laptop.
No MCE, no TV tuner features (other than freeware TV apps) no control
or use for media buttons etc.

I would like MCE back on, just don't want to have to live with what
sony want.
I paid for it, let me decide :)

Cheers,
Crispin

crispin.proctor******.com wrote:
> Thanks Guys,
>
> I have all the utilities and drivers for the laptop from Sony as they
> are part of the recovery process.
>
> However, there does not seem to be anyway to recovery just the XP part
> without all the rubbish that comes with it. Likewise, there is no way
> to get the i386 folder from it - that I know of at least. If I could
> get that, I could make my own install disks.
>
> Installing XP Pro on it is ok but I cannot get any of the media buttons
> working, even after installing all the drivers and utilities that sony
> provide. It is rather irritating that now I have a laptop that that has
> a whole bunch of media buttons but I cannot use them.
>
> Reverting to the Sony install is not worth it as the laptop runs like a
> dog with all the rubbish on. Selectively uninstalling it seems to make
> little difference. For example, the first time it booted, I had 76
> processes running. A clean install of XP Pro with all that I require
> has 32. Add a couple more for MCE and the buttons and you should be ok.
> Why there are so many and all rather hefty on memory usage, only Sony
> will know...
>
> On the Recovery CD there are files called sony.i01 thru - sony.i05 as
> well as a file called sony.img. Each of these are around 400-500MB in
> size but nothing I have, Daemon Tools, Nero, Ghost and Nero, can open
> them. I was hoping they would be a iso of sorts for the OS.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> TIA
>
> Cheers,
> Crispin


Hi. If you are having trouble with unwanted processes slowing down your
computer, I suggest you download a small application called "End it
All". I have had a similar problem, and this program has helped
tremendously.