I’m not sure how many people are interested in installing Vista on their X’s, but I was having some sort of issue and I had to re-install Windows anyway so I decided to throw Vista on. I used the Ultimate Edition simply because I wanted to use BitLocker and I have an MSDN subscription so it’s all the same to me.

The process was fairly simple, I booted up XP, threw in the Vista DVD, partitioned my drive into two, 1.5GB, and the remainder which should be ~18.5GB. The 1.5 partition is for BitLocker. I installed Vista and had to manually install the WiFi, Mouse, and Sound drivers.

For those interested, here is the ‘Windows Experience Index’:

In case it’s hard to read:

CPU: 2.2
RAM: 2.9
GPX: 1.9
GAMING: 1.0
HDD: 3.3

Going into Vista I knew it wasn’t going to run Aero, so it wasn’t a shocker.

After the install (Ultimate Edition + AVG Antivirus), I had 9.24GB free with 1.4GB on the other drive (for those not bitlocking you would have ~10.65GB Free, even more if you use a lesser edition of Vista):

After installing Office2007 Ultimate with most of the options, I ended up with 7.59GB free (~9GB Free without Bitlock drive):

I used the system most of the night without any issues. It’s not any slower IMO then XP was and I noticed that the HDD was reading far less then with XP. Of course it’s a fresh install so I guess that’s expected.

I have yet to test/use the LAN/VGA dongle, and I most likely never will because I’ve never used it before. As I said before Aero won’t run, but the sidebar works fine. I could not get bitlocker to work. I’m going to try and get it to work, I’ll update this post later on in the week.

I haven’t had enough time to test the unit out but the battery life was fairly good using Vista’s built-in monitoring. I’m going to try and setup a test later on in the week to see if I can get the battery to extend longer then it did with XP.

That’s pretty much it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Erik

WOW, that is impressive! I thought about installing vista before, but was afraid running vista on x505 might be too slow, and the hard disk space was a big issue for me, too. But from your case, it seems doable. Now, the only problem is the price of vista…....How great it would be if we can get free upgrade from sony….

It looks like BitLocker is for security purposes???? Do you have to install it with Vista?

jc

[quote author=“caseyatbt”]It looks like BitLocker is for security purposes???? Do you have to install it with Vista?

jc

Yes, it’s for security, and no you don’t have to install it with vista as most versions of Vista don’t include bitlocker.

Forgot to mention, the FN keys work fine including backlight and mute.

Erik

I have Vista up and running well on my x505…  haven’t been able to get the SoundMAX Audio or Function Keys to work tho’

Can you elaborate on how you managed that?

Soundcard is being recognized as an Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM AC ‘97 Audio Controller (doesn’t work)

[quote author=“Spark99”]I have Vista up and running well on my x505…  haven’t been able to get the SoundMAX Audio or Function Keys to work tho’

Can you elaborate on how you managed that?

Soundcard is being recognized as an Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM AC ‘97 Audio Controller (doesn’t work)

Sure, go to device manager, select the audio driver and ‘update driver’ with the correct ones. I’m not sure why it comes up as the incorrect audio device upon booting.

I’m actually not sure how I got the FN keys to work…did you install all the Sony Utilities along with the drivers? If not, I assume that’s why it’s not working, because I didn’t do anything special.

Erik

Thanx Erik—I found 2 zip Files elsewhere on this forum:

X505_Drivers.zip & X505_Utilities.zip

I was able to get the SoundMAX Drivers working with these and the FN Keys as well…  I’m not sure that the volume key is really working as MS has re-written the Sound Control Applet. 

Anyways, Vista is running great on the x505.  I’m gonna stick with it, it can only get better as the OS matures.  I’ll be checking back to this forum for others experiences w/ Vista.

Long live the x505 !!!

[quote author=“Spark99”]Thanx Erik—I found 2 zip Files elsewhere on this forum:

X505_Drivers.zip & X505_Utilities.zip

I was able to get the SoundMAX Drivers working with these and the FN Keys as well…  I’m not sure that the volume key is really working as MS has re-written the Sound Control Applet. 

Anyways, Vista is running great on the x505.  I’m gonna stick with it, it can only get better as the OS matures.  I’ll be checking back to this forum for others experiences w/ Vista.

Long live the x505 !!!

Glad you got it working. Actually, I may have the same issue with volume as I had it on mute (I always have it on mute) and I heard the windows sound…and I muted it manually. I never really tested it beyond that, I thought it was a fluke, but I know brightness works and that’s the biggie IMO.

I’ve found it very stable thusfar and I’m delighted that it can run Vista so I can keep it until Sony (or someone) comes out with something better.

Erik

Glad to hear that X505 can run Vista. I received a free copy of Vista Business back in mid January (MS had a promotion going) and was trying to figure out if I want my X505 to run it or TR5AP.
I was playing with beta on my GRX and it was OK, for some reason IE7 was a bit slow at start and it felt like it had to warm up to run smoothly.
Erik, can you check if you put X505 in sleep more or Standby, is it able to come back OK?

I can confirm that both Suspend & Sleep (AKA Hibernation & Standy) work better in Vista than they ever did in XP…

It’s like my x505 has a new life !!!

[quote author=“VAIOfreak”]Glad to hear that X505 can run Vista. I received a free copy of Vista Business back in mid January (MS had a promotion going) and was trying to figure out if I want my X505 to run it or TR5AP.
I was playing with beta on my GRX and it was OK, for some reason IE7 was a bit slow at start and it felt like it had to warm up to run smoothly.
Erik, can you check if you put X505 in sleep more or Standby, is it able to come back OK?

I have put it in sleep, hibernate, and shut-down. all three work.

Middle scroll button thing works, as does the PCCard port. My Verizon EVDO card works fine as does the WiFi card. The USB ports work as well. In fact, with the exception of the sound control (which I initially thought worked) I haven’t found something that doesn’t work.

Erik

I put Vista on my X505ZP also. I cannot find a VGA/LAN dongle. Would you be willing to sell or trade the dongle? Hal Antonson

You can buy the LAN/VGA dongle from Sony Parts center, go to the X505 parts thread and look for the instructions.
Stan

Hello

I wondering about recovery partition on dirve “c”....did you remove or left without change.

Second question :Is it required to have recovery partition if I created recovery disks…......

Regards

[quote author=“Andrzej”]Hello

I wondering about recovery partition on dirve “c”....did you remove or left without change.

Second question :Is it required to have recovery partition if I created recovery disks…......

Regards

I’ve formatted my unit quite some time ago anyway…the recovery partition is long gone. Assuming your DVD/CD is good, there is really no reason to keep the recovery partion. Just make sure you have at least 2 copies of your recovery DVD/CD.

Erik

Please specify where did you find X505 drivers and utilities that works with vista…any link on this forum
Should I use those on vaio support page?