Sony VAIO VGX-XL201 Media Center PC

Clean Install Guide

Version 1.0 Author: William Warby

Introduction

When I purchased my VGX-XL201 Media Center PC, I fully expected it to arrive preloaded with a myriad of freeware, trialware and Sonybranded software products and I wasnt wrong. Such is the trend when you buy almost any PC these days, and I dont doubt that many consumers are very grateful for it. I am not one of those consumers. I know what software I want for any particular job, and invariably it isnt the software provided by Sony. Also, due to the pace of software development, by the time you receive your PC, most of the freeware software will be out of date, and Sony, like most PC manufacturers these days have a tendency to give you old versions of retail applications like Adobe Photoshop Elements or WinDVD.
In their efforts to make life easier for novice PC users, Sony inadvertently make the process of escaping from the factory installed image difficult, even for competent PC users. They create a hidden partition on the hard disk that contains the factory installed image and provide software to back up that partition to a pair of recordable DVDs. This makes it possible to dispense with the hidden partition and recover the disk space, and also provides the means by which you can extract the essential drivers and utilities that make a clean install possible. What Sony dont do is give you an OEM operating system CD or any means to install an operating system other than by reimaging the PC back to its factory default settings.
This guide is intended for anyone who, like me, wishes to install the operating system of their choice without the software baggage that comes with the factory installed image. It goes into enough detail that a novice user should be able to follow it, but it is really intended for intermediate to advanced PC users. If you dont know what youre doing, you could get yourself into a terrible mess by following this guide and of course it goes without saying that I accept absolutely no responsibility for any damage or inconvenience whatsoever resulting from the use of this guide. It is provided in the hope that it will be useful, but its use is entirely at your own risk. The guide will deal specifically with installing the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system on a Sony VAIO VGX-XL201 Media Center PC. However, the concepts described in this guide are likely to be largely relevant to similar operating systems like Windows XP Professional, and media center PCs like the Sony VAIO VGX-XL202. When Windows Vista ships in January 2007 I will probably create a new version of this guide dealing specifically with that operating system for the VGX-XL201.

Product Keys

This guide was written with the assumption that methods described in Club VAIO forum threads for using the Windows product key from the sticker on the back of your PC would work in this slightly different scenario. My experience has been that following the instructions in this guide to the letter, I was unable to activate Windows after installation using the product key on my PC, although it happily let me install Windows. The Media Center CDs I used came from my MSDN Professional subscription, and I can confirm that the method described in this document works perfectly with the product key from that source. Because this works for me, I may or may not undertake further investigations into why the product key that came with my VAIO didnt work it could be the process I used to create the CD, it could be my product key itself, the CDs I used to make the custom operating system install image or it could be something else I havent thought of.
If you can shed any light on whether the methods described in this guide work for you using the product key on your PC and why that might be, please tell me via the Club VAIO forums so that I can update this document.
Creating the Recovery DVDs
When you first power on your PC, you will have to go through the motions of finalising your installation of Windows. This involves pairing the wireless keyboard to the PC, choosing regional settings and time zone, accepting Microsofts EULAs, enabling automatic updates, naming your computer, setting and Administrator password, registering with Microsoft (or not) and setting up your first user account. It doesnt matter at all what you do with any of these settings for the purposes of this guide.

When you have booted into the operating system, you might see a balloon message in the system tray appear reminding you to create your recovery DVDs. It will belong to a tray icon that that is vaguely recognisable as a CD and a pen. Double click this icon (or select VAIO Recovery Utility from the VAIO Recovery Tool program group in the Start Menu) to activate the recovery application.
Run the VAIO Recovery Utility and select Create Recovery Media Kit. Press OK.

Press Next.

Choose the type of DVDs you want to burn. I dont have any double layer recordable DVDs mostly because they are hugely more expensive than single layer discs at the moment) so I used 2 DVD-Rs. I recommend doing the same since I this guide will assume the file structure of the 2 disc approach. Press Next.
Press Start and give feed the application with blank discs as required. I made two copies of each for good measure but you only need one set. Burning the discs on my VGX-XL201 took about 20 minutes for the Application Recovery Disc and 30 minutes for the System Recovery Disc. Label your DVDs as instructed by the application.
Returning to the Factory Installed Image
Should you ever feel the need, you can restore your system to its factory default image at any time using these discs by booting from the System Recovery Disc. When the System Recovery disc boots, you will have some options to choose from:
You can recover just the C: drive, leaving your D: drive in-tact. Useful if you want to get back to the factory default image without affecting your D: drive which probably has all your personal files on. Alternatively you can recover both the C: and D: drives. In either case, you have the option to adjust the sizes of the partitions for C: and D: although this adjustment is fairly restrictive; you cant set the C: drive smaller than 60GB (!) and you cant create additional partitions (although you could adjust your partitions later with a third party tool like Symantecs Partition Magic). You also have the option to remove the hidden recovery partition at this point.

Your other option is to do a complete factory reset which restores the hidden recovery partition from the DVDs recreates and restores both the C: and D: drives to their factory default sizes and content. This works from the recovery DVDs even if you have completely erased and the recovery partition and/or changed the partition table in other ways. I used this method to get back to the factor image for the purpose of creating this guide.
Preparing for the Custom Operating System Install Image
You need some files from the C: drive and from your System Recovery DVD. Although you can pull these files in when you need them from their current locations, for convenience I advise copying them so that you have everything you need all in one place (this is particularly useful if you want to make back up these files so that you can tweak your custom operating system image later). Create the following folder structure: C: \CleanInstall \Drivers \Hotfix \I386 \OS_Custom \OS_Default
Files from the C: Drive Copy the following files from C:\Windows\I368 to C:\CleanInstall\I386:
Tip: You may want to turn off the Hide file extensions for known file types option under Folder Options to make these files easier to identify.
OEMBIOS.BI_ OEMBIOS.CA_ OEMBIOS.DA_ OEMBIOS.SI_ OEMCOA.JP_ OEMIG50.EX_
OEMIGLIB.DL_ OEMLOGO.GI_ PIDGEN.DLL SETUPP.INI DPCDLL.DL_
Note: These files are required to make your MCE 2005 CDs to accept the product key from your Sony VAIO computer. They are not visible on the recovery DVDs so the only way to extract them is from C:\Windows\I386 with the factory default image installed. Do not skip over this step unless you dont want to use the product key provided with your VAIO PC.
Files from the System Recovery DVD Copy the contents of [System Recovery DVD]\VAIO Applications\Drivers to C:\CleanInstall\Drivers
Tip: These files can also be found at C:\Drivers, and can also be downloaded from the VAIO Link website
Copy the contents of [System Recovery DVD]\VAIO Applications\Hotfix to C:\CleanInstall\Hotfix
Tip: All of these hotfixes can be downloaded from Microsofts website, but not all of them will get installed automatically by running Microsoft Update.

I dont know which of these RAID drivers you actually need, but selecting all of them does no harm so I recommend doing that. Select all the drivers and click OK.
Once you have selected all the drivers, you should see something like this.
In order to prevent you from removing stuff you actually want on the next page, this compatibility list lets you choose what functionality you actually need from Windows. Just select everything you might possibly want to use in Windows.
None of this is required for the purposes of this guide, but its cool to be able to knock out things from the installation you dont want. Also, if you knock out enough components, your final image will fit on a CD rather than a DVD. I select lots of things in this list, including all languages and keyboard layouts other than the ones I use. Be careful not to take out things you might want later because I dont know how (if its even possible) you might be able to get them back later.
Change as many or as few of these options as you like. The only one you need to enter is your product key. This can be found on the sticker on the back of your PC. Suggestion: Set Unattended Mode to Fully automated. Under the Users tab, set an Organization and the Full Name of the Administrator account. If you want to set account passwords, keep them to 14 characters or less (otherwise you get a warning during installation). Give the PC a name under the Network ID tab, and that should be enough to ensure an interaction-free unattended install.
Suggestion: If using an LCT TV as your display (and possibly other circumstances), set a sensible screen resolution under the Display tab. Otherwise Windows will start at 640x480 and it will be difficult to adjust because the buttons will be off the screen.
Again, this page has no impact for the purposes of this guide. Change the options as you see fit.
The patches tab also has no relevance to this guide, but I recommend the settings I have selected here. The Maximum unfinished simultaneous connections option has to do with a security fix Microsoft put in place that limits unfinished TCP/IP connections to 10. It can however negatively affect P2P file sharing performance. The Unsigned Themes Support option patches a file that should never have needed patching in the first place. Microsoft implemented a powerful theming engine in Windows XP and then released a whopping 2 themes to date and locked everybody else out. This patch allows usercreated themes to be used.

I love this tab. Again, nothing to do with this process, change all or none of these features and itll make no difference to the process. What this tab does though, is allow you to change hundreds of settings that you probably go through manually after youve installed Windows. It wont do every last thing you want to change but they havent missed much. You can disable Windows services on the Services tab, but I usually leave this one alone.
Youre ready to kick off the process of actually changing the installation CD contents. Press Yes.
The process is complete (nearly). We still need to embed the files we copied from the C: drive. Copy the contents of C:\CleanInstall\I386 to C:\CleanInstall\OS_Custom\I386, replacing any files that already exist. If you have gone over the 700MB limit for CDs, I strongly recommend copying the following folders to C:\CleanInstall\OS_Custom : C:\CleanInstall\Drivers C:\CleanInstall\Hotfix C:\CleanInstall\I386 (to a folder other than the existing I386 folder) C:\CleanInstall\SonyUtilities This will make life easier when you need to access these files again later. Press Next.
I suggest burning the installer to an ISO image. That way you can copy it, back it up and easily recreate it if the disc gets lost or damaged. Choose settings as shown in this screenshot and press Make ISO. Save the ISO to wherever you like. I saved mine to C:\CleanInstall\WinLite.iso. Youre done with nLite.
Use your preferred tool to burn the image to a DVD (or a CD if youve managed to hack out enough from the installation that the ISO is under 700MB). I used Roxio DigitalMedia SE which is preinstalled on the PC. Its not a very full-featured burner but its good enough for this job.
Installing the Custom Operating System Install Image
OK, by this point you should have an operating system disc completely customised to your requirements with your Windows product key, device drivers and any other customisations you saw fit to make. The annoying thing is that if this disc doesnt work for you, depending on how far you get in the installation before it fails, you may have to reset back to the factory image using the System Recovery DVD in order to tweak the image again (unless you have another computer on which you can tweak the image, and you had the good sense to follow my instructions and back up the CleanInstall folder).

I strongly recommend having nothing on your D: drive (or any other partitions you have made on the internal HDD) that you arent prepared to lose. You may decide you want to reformat and repartition the whole disc as part of the install process which will mean you will lose any data stored on it.
Insert your new disc, which I will now refer to as the Custom Recovery Disc, and restart your computer.
Follow the normal procedure for installing Windows from an original CD. Press any key when instructed to boot from the CD, and let it load the drivers it needs. You dont need to press F6 to load a RAID driver because it will already be embedded on the CD. If you get a blue screen of death (BSOD) after the initial bout of file copying, you may not have embedded the RAID drivers using nLite correctly.
The first interaction you should have is deciding on which partition you want to install Windows. If working from a current position of the factory default image you will see three partitions; the hidden one at 8111MB, and the C: and D: drives. I recommend deleting all three and creating two new partitions, C: at 50,000MB with all the remaining space going to D:. Of course this is entirely up to you, its just a suggestion. I always format a partition before installing Windows on it with a full NTFS format. Use a quick format if youre impatient but it only takes a few extra minutes to do it properly.
After the disk as formatted your computer will restart. If you used nLite to fully automate the installation, the next time you interact with your computer will be when it has finished installing and Windows has loaded.
During the installation on my PC (presumably after the graphics card driver is loaded) the screen resolution is increased to 720p and the Windows installer routine which is fixed at 640x480 resolution moves to the top left corner, taking up only half of the screen (the rest of the screen is a nice shade of blue). This is normal, although if you dont set a screen resolution under the Unattended section of nLite (on the Display tab), once Windows boots it will be back to 640x480.
The installation takes about 40 minutes after formatting the C: drive.
Post-Installation Cleanup
For some reason unknown to me, as I ran through the installation, this worked example Windows created two entries in boot.ini instead of one. This has the annoying effect of making you wait 30 seconds or press any key during start up. I dont know why it did this, but its easy to correct. Press Start > Run and type C:\boot.ini and press OK as shown on the left. Delete the last line (starting multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)) and save the file. Next time you boot, the problem will be gone.

You may want to format your D: drive now if you didnt do so already during the installation process.
At this point I like to reassign my drive letters, because Windows will almost certainly have put removable drives before the DVD drive which is one of my pet hates. Do this using Disk Manager which can be accessed by selecting Manage after right clicking on My Computer.
Now youre going to want to install whatever drivers are remaining to be installed. If you have followed this guide to the letter there wont be many to do. Insert your System Recovery CD (or take the files from the Custom Recovery CD if you copied the files onto it) and run the following installers (I suggest using the order specified here, but I dont think its all that important): [System Recovery DVD] \VAIO Applications \Drivers \Quick Resume Technology\el_all.exe \TVcapture\InstallDriver.exe \WirelessLAN\iProInst.exe For the Intel PROSet/Wireless driver installation, I choose Custom install and deselect the second option Intel PROSet/Wireless. This is wireless application software which is redundant if on Windows XP-based systems which have very good wireless software.
Depending on what you took out of the Windows install CD during customisation in nLite, you might see a message telling you that some Windows files have been replaced by unrecognised versions during installation of drivers, and you will be asked for the Windows CD. If this happens, provide the Window XP Media Center Edition 2005 CD1 disc and everything should be fine. If you dont take out certain Windows components during nLite customisation, this doesnt happen and I havent yet tracked down which components I took out that caused this issue.

Software Installation

Now you should be at the stage where you have a working, clean installation of Windows, but youre not finished yet. There is at least some software which Sony provide that is useful or even necessary.
At this point I like to join my wireless network activate my copy of Windows (its probably nagged you to do this a couple of times by now already). Then I do a Windows Update as many times as required until no updates are left. You may find that during your first Windows Update, a number of keyboard and mouse related hardware devices are discovered and will need to be installed. The drivers should be found automatically or if not, they will be on the Window XP Media Center Edition 2005 CD1 disc. I dont know why these devices are found since the keyboard works straight off, but I let the installation continue anyway.
Now you will want to consider installing a few of the utilities provided by Sony. The utilities can be found at [System Recovery DVD]\VAIO Applications\Applications. Its up to you what you choose to install (hence the whole point of doing a clean install) but here are my comments regarding each item in this folder: AverMedia MPEG Encoder SonyUtils DLL This encoder relates to your TV capture card. Im not entirely sure what its used for perhaps recording live TV. I install it every time. Information about this one online is sketchy, but it seems to have something to do with special keys on the keyboard (like Fn keys), and possibly interaction with the DVD drives eject button (without it, the eject button doesnt seem to work once youre in Windows). I recommend installing this one. Install this after SonyUtils DLL. It is a prerequisite for other Sony utilities including VAIO Hardware Diagnostics and VAIO Event Service. This article: http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/matrixstorage_sb.htm from Intel explains what this software is all about. From what I can gather it has to do with managing your RAID array and gives improvements in data security, and hard disk performance. With things like this, I figure why not? I installed it.

equivalent product to do it, but it saves you several steps in the reinstall process and is a nice clean way of getting back to a fresh newly installed operating system (assuming there are no significant hardware changes in between reinstalls).
Now you need to consider what software applications are missing from your installation that you need. Most of the applications which come pre-installed are on the Application Recovery CD. Some of them however, are not. I am pretty sure the following are part of the factory image and not on the Application Recovery CD: Norton Antivirus (90 day trial) WinDVD (old version) Google Earth (old version and free anyway) A James Bond game of some kind Googles Picasa (free) Google Desktop Search Installer
There is nothing I can do about Norton Antivirus (its only a 90 day trial anyway) Im opting to use the free 1 year licence for McAfee I got with Sky Broadband instead. I know of no other way to legally obtain WinDVD, but its pretty easy to get the same functionality legally, and this is described in the next section.
Codecs and Video Playback
Youll find until youve installed WinDVD or equivalent, you cant complete Media Center setup. When you come to select the number of speakers you have it will probably tell you that The video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed. It is not installed. You dont need to install a complete product like WinDVD or PowerDVD, but you do need some decoder software. I recommend downloading K-Lite Codec Pack (I download the Full version but theres a choice depending on how many codecs you want bundled with it) which gives you a choice of MPEG decoders. You can get it here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm. If you install K-Lite Codec Pack, youll need to decide what to install for yourself out of the many options, but these are the options I choose:
Profile 4: Lots of stuff with the following amendments: On the Select Components page, I use the following settings: Add Xvid DirectShow video filter Add InterVideo MPEG-1/MPEG-2 DirectShow video filter (this is the one that makes DVD playback and Media Center work) Change AC3/DTS/LPCM (DVD audio) DirectShow audio filter from AC3Filter to InterVideo Add MP1/MP2 (MPEG Audio) DirectShow audio filter and set it to MainConcept Add AAC DirectShow audio filter and set it to 3ivx Pro
On the Select Additional Tasks page, I use the following settings: Reset all settings to their defaults Make Media Player Classic the default for: Nothing (MPC might be a good, reliable, lightweight media player but its just too ugly to be my preferred media player Speaker setup: 5.1 (or higher)

Create yourself a folder where you want to extract the applications to. For now, Ill assume its C:\SonyApps. Create an MS-DOS batch file (just create a normal text file with the extension.bat, e.g. ExtractCD.bat and put the following test in the file:
C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR\SP-006356-08.pac C:\SonyApps C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR\SP-009681-01.pac C:\SonyApps C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR\SP-010812-01.pac C:\SonyApps C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR2\SP-005054-04.pac E:\APR2\SP-010923-01.pac E:\APR2\WS-000087-00.pac E:\APR2\WS-000089-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-007028-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-007630-06.pac E:\APR3\SP-007741-14.pac E:\APR3\SP-007842-04.pac E:\APR3\SP-009079-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-009458-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-009464-04.pac E:\APR3\SP-009777-05.pac E:\APR3\SP-009803-11.pac E:\APR3\SP-009883-02.pac E:\APR3\SP-009920-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-010222-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-010394-05.pac E:\APR3\SP-010505-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-010672-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-010677-04.pac E:\APR3\SP-010678-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-010717-04.pac E:\APR3\SP-010748-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-010792-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-010804-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-010838-02.pac E:\APR3\SP-010862-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-011275-08.pac E:\APR3\SP-011275-10.pac E:\APR3\SP-011460-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-011463-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-011650-01.pac E:\APR3\SP-011777-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-011844-03.pac E:\APR3\SP-011969-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-012255-00.pac E:\APR3\SP-012283-00.pac C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps
C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR3\SP-012765-00.pac C:\SonyApps C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE C:\KCAP.EXE E:\APR4\SP-008670-01.pac E:\APR4\SP-009472-02.pac E:\APR4\SP-009576-06.pac E:\APR4\SP-009948-00.pac E:\APR4\SP-010848-00.pac E:\APR4\SP-011614-00.pac E:\APR4\SP-012644-00.pac E:\APR5\SP-007819-02.pac E:\APR5\SP-010851-00.pac E:\APR5\WS-000002-01.pac E:\APR5\WS-000003-02.pac E:\APR5\WS-000005-07.pac E:\APR5\WS-000091-00.pac C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps C:\SonyApps

Before running it, check the list of files matches your DVD. This is a complete list from my Application Recovery DVD, but Sony may change the list in the future. Adjust as appropriate and double click on the MS-DOS batch file to run it. Note that the files Sony.pac and Sony2-5.pac dont contain any applications or useful information. Theyre required by the Sony installer that installs everything on the DVD.
When you run the MS-DOS batch file, all the installers should be extracted to separate folders at C:\SonyApps (or wherever you extracted them to). The folders will be named after the part numbers. By looking inside, it will be obvious what some of them are but not all of them. The following table identifies most of them by name I suggest renaming the folders so you can find the relevant applications without hunting around. The packages starting in WS- dont have any actual installer associated with them. They run DOS scripts and/or VB scripts which make various minor changes to the system. They are used by the Sony installer to assist in the uninterrupted installation of the whole DVD they serve no purpose on their own. There is one SP- package that I cant identify, SP-009458-01. It runs extremely quickly and makes no obvious changes anywhere. Anyway, heres the table of whats what.
SP-006356-08 SP-009681-01 SP-010812-01 SP-005054-04 SP-010923-01 SP-007028-03 SP-007630-06 SP-007741-14 WS-000087-00 WS-000089-01 SP-007842-04 SP-009079-01 SP-009458-01 SP-009464-04 SP-009777-05 SP-009803-11 SP-009883-02 SP-009920-00 SP-010222-03 SP-010394-05 SP-010505-01 SP-010672-01 SP-010677-04 SP-010678-03 SP-010717-04 SP-010748-01 SP-010792-00 SP-010804-03
Java Runtime Environment 1.5.0.06 Adobe Reader 7.0.5 Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Memory Stick Formatter Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 Music Server Controller Installs some crappy HTML content that links to a special offer for discounts when buying Adobe products. Avoid. VAIO Entertainment Platform Environment Settings for Windows XP (VB Script) Environment Settings for APR (VB Script) OpenMG Updater (http://www.sony.net/Products/OpenMG/overview/index.html) VAIO Media AC3 Decoder Unidentified AOL 9.0 OpenMG Secure Module Roxio DigitalMedia SE SonicStage Mastering Studio Audio Filter Custom Preset SonicStage Mastering Studio Plugins LiquidSurf for VAIO TV Entertainment 1.20 Sonic UDF Reader DSD Playback Plug-in DSD Direct SonicStage Mastering Studio SonicStage Mastering Studio Audio Filter Image Converter 2 Plus VAIO Edit Components VAIO Information FLOW Sample Photo VAIO Media
SP-010838-02 SP-010862-03 SP-011275-08 SP-011275-10 SP-011460-00 SP-011463-00 SP-011650-01 SP-011777-00 SP-011844-03 SP-011969-00 SP-012255-00 SP-012283-00 SP-012765-00 SP-008670-01 SP-009472-02 SP-009576-06 SP-009948-00 SP-010848-00 SP-011614-00 SP-012644-00 SP-007819-02 SP-010851-00 WS-000002-01 WS-000003-02 WS-000005-07 WS-000091-00

VAIO Media Integrated Server VAIO Media Redistribution WinDVD BD for VAIO (This doesnt seem to be the regular version of WinDVD, but special Blu-Ray version, presumably for the VGX-XL202 Blu-Ray model) WinDVD DB for VAIO (Seems to be exactly the same as SP-011275-08 except the data2.cab file is about 5mb smaller) VAIO Information FLOW VAIO Information FLOW Sample Music Skype DVgate Plus Ulead BD DiscRecorder (Presumably for the VGX-XL202 Blu-Ray model since the VGX-XL201 doesnt have a Blu-Ray drive) SonicStage SonicStage Add-on OpenMG AAC Add-On Module Internet Explorer Remote Control Extension Microsoft Works 8 Shortcut to MS Office 2003 Standard (just the Desktop shortcut and icon) Click to DVD Adobe Reader 7.0 (Again?) Microsoft Office 2003 Standard Trial Assistant (Whatever the hell that is) Microsoft Office 2003 Standard Trial Adobe Flash Player 8 ActiveX Control Click to DVD Menu Data Norton Ghost 10 Try-and-Buy (6 day trial) Window Cleaning (closes Explorer) (VB Script) Resets Start Menu order (VB Script) BL Number Marking (I have no idea what this is) (VB Script) Environment Delete for APR (VB Script)

Conclusion

Thats it. By this point hopefully you have a clean operating system install on your VGX-XL201 VAIO Media Center, and only the software you want installed. I hope you found this guide useful.
Respectfully I ask that you dont contact me for support relating to your Sony VAIO PC or relating to this guide. I am just a PC owner like you, and I decided to take the time to write this guide as a courtesy to other consumers who have purchased the same product in the hope that others may not have to go through the same 30+ hours of trial and error that I had to go through to get a clean operating system installation on my PC. Its taken me 12 hours just to write this guide and thats about as much time as I want to give for the cause. I am not an expert in this field or in Sony products in general, and I do not want to become one.
For support I recommend posting on the Club VAIO forums which helped me to get to the point where I could write this guide. This guide will be posted on a thread in the Club VAIO forums and if there are parts of the guide which dont work for you or you feel could be improved on, please post on that thread in the forums. I may or may not update the guide, but even if I dont, other users may benefit from the wisdom of your experience.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Blencogo, a Club VAIO member who helped me over the initial hurdle of installing the operating system on a PC with a SATA disk drive and Viiv RAID configuration.
Thanks to Akash84, also a Club VAIO member for his thorough writing up of the process he went through to make a clean operating system install for his VAIO laptop, found here: http://www.club-vaio.sony-europe.com/clubvaio/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=36891. This thread helped me to understand how to make your VAIO operating system product key work with a regular operating system install CD.

Thanks to philfree, another Club VAIO member for his explanation of the KCAP.exe utility for extracting.pac files from the Application Recovery DVD, found here: http://www.club-vaio.sony-europe.com/clubvaio/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=37599.
Thanks to the anonymous author of this article: http://www.myplc.com/sony/sony_apps.htm which offers an alternative explanation to the above on how to extract application installation packages from the.pac files from the Application Recovery DVD, and for providing a download of the utility which makes this extraction possible.
Finally, a special thanks to Dink Nuhagic, for creating the superb nLite utility, and for making it free ;)