How to downgrade from XP to Vista on Sony Vaio

It’s no secret that many PC owners prefer running Windows XP over Vista. This is down to a number of reasons, including superior performance on certain configurations, compatibility with older applications or simply the familiarity of an existing system.

These apply equally whenever a new version of an operating system is launched, but perhaps the biggest surprise for Microsoft concerning Vista was the number of owners who bought systems with it pre-installed, only to subsequently look for ways to ‘downgrade’ to XP.

I was one such owner, who, like many, found the modest performance of an ultraportable laptop insufficient to run Vista with any satisfaction. Downgrading to XP saw the system burst into life, starting quickly and feeling more responsive in general use.

In a previous column I detailed the benchmarking and downgrading process on my Sony Vaio TZ150N laptop in PCW May and June 2008. This model was bought in the USA with Vista (and a wealth of promotional software) pre-installed, which left it virtually unusable. Luckily, Sony US offers XP drivers for owners of its Vista models who wish to downgrade and the process went very smoothly.

Unfortunately, while Sony US supplies XP drivers for its Vista models, Sony UK does not. I asked Sony UK about this policy and was informed that Sony Europe took the decision based on feedback from customers and that there was only a significant requirement for ‘XP Downgrade’ on Vaio Business models and not on consumer models. So a copy of XP, along with drivers for it, is only supplied for Vaio Business models intended for use on XP networks.

Judging from the flood of emails we received following our XP installation columns though, I’d say there was strong demand for XP support on new laptops, at least from the enthusiast community. But in the absence of an official solution for UK-spec Sony models, what can you do?

Desktops are fairly easy to downgrade thanks to their general use of standard third-party components for which XP drivers are easily sourced. In contrast, though, laptops often contain proprietary or modified components for their graphics, display, audio, ports and input devices.

So while you could easily go through with the initial XP installation, getting it to then work properly with the laptop’s hardware is another matter.

Last year I had a hunch the US XP drivers could be used on a UK-spec system, but only recently got the chance to put the theory to the test. So here I’ll explain the process of downgrading a British Vaio laptop to XP using software sourced from the US site.

The theory
The project began with an ex-demo Sony Vaio NS11J/S laptop, which originally came pre-installed with Vista Home Premium. With 4GB of Ram and a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor, the hardware was certainly up to the task of running Vista fairly smoothly, but the intended recipient wanted XP for familiarity reasons. Before starting the downgrade process, Windows’ start-up time was measured at just less than one minute.

The first step in the downgrading process was to find suitable XP drivers for the laptop’s various devices. As mentioned above, Sony UK’s website doesn’t offer anything other than Vista drivers for its consumer models which came with Vista pre-installed. In contrast, Sony US’ website does offer XP drivers for consumer Vaios, but they don’t have the same models over there.

While Sony US does have a Vaio NS range, the model numbers and configurations are different. So it’s not a case of sourcing NS11J/S drivers from a different country and hoping they’ll run.

My hunch, however, was a simple one: examine the technical specifications of models in the US range and choose the closest match. The critical specification s to match are the chipset, graphics and front-side bus (FSB) as these should cover the processor, memory, display and general I/O.

Beyond this, look for matches in other components such as the audio, network, webcam and case buttons. The least important specifications in this matching process are the disk, Ram, optical drive, CPU frequency and screen size configurations, which is fortunate as this is where the US models vary.

I found the American Vaio VGN-NS140E/W was my closest match. It shared the same core specifications of a Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset and Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD running on an 800MHz FSB. It also had the same T5800 processor, webcam, battery pack and 1,280x800pixel display resolution. In fact only the disk, Ram and optical drives varied, and thankfully these have little or no impact on a new OS installation in terms of drivers.

So it was then simply a case of heading over to the Sony support site, entering the US model name, choosing the Windows XP option under Drivers and Software and downloading the files listed ­ all 19 of them.