Installing stock Windows on a branded laptop?

md99 · 27 Jul 2015 at 19:44

Right, I've got a Vaio that is in need of a clean reinstall.

I have Vaio (Win 7) recovery discs that are overflowing with Sony bloatware but I want to stick a basic version of Win 7 on it instead so I don't have any of that crap clogging up system resources.

If I do this though, is there any possibility of things like ethernet ports or SD card inputs, keyboard shortcuts, etc not working as they require Sony branded firmware to be installed after a reformat.

zola25 · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:24

You can normally download the drivers individually from the manufacturer's website. Then you can choose just the drivers you need and avoid all the bloat.

Skeeter · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:27

Yep. I've regularly done it with Dell and Sony laptops. Stick a fresh install of OEM Windows on them and then grab all the drivers for the devices of the companies websites.

Might be worth grabbing them before hand and sticking them on USB, as I've had a few laptops where networking doesn't work without the drivers.

bledd · 28 Jul 2015 at 01:22

Sony are a pain to do, you need about 3 or 4 things to get the brightness buttons working.

Skeeter · 28 Jul 2015 at 08:57

Yeah my GF laptop has touch sensitive volume and things, so I'm going to have to jump through those hoops once I get round to moving her to Windows 10.

KIA · 28 Jul 2015 at 10:54

http://www.drfsupercenter.info/Windows ISOs/

linktoinsanity · 28 Jul 2015 at 11:22

bledd. said:
Sony laptops are a pain.

Fixed.

I often do a fresh install with mine, just download the drivers or use a driver download tool to do this for you and you should be fine.

You may need to call Microsoft to do an activation however, but it will work fine once you do this.

peige · 28 Jul 2015 at 11:29

You can do this but sony's are a pain to get working again, finding the correct driver pack for each feature should be easy but its really not.

md99 · 28 Jul 2015 at 16:24

Worked fine. Downloaded a few drivers for stuff like volume and brightness control and everything looks good. Coupled with my shiny new SSD my creaking laptop is now blazing fast