Update poblems with Sony All-In-One and NVIDA GPU

[njs092682]

Hi everyone. I just joined the forum because I am in desperate need of help.

I want to upgrade my system from vista ultimate 32 bit to windows 7 (preferrably 64 bit). I ran the upgrade advisor tool from microsoft and ran into a big problem:
my nvidia graphics card isn't compatible, and it says it cant' find the driver to make it compatible.
So, I did some research, and discovered tons of other people with sony notebooks have the same exact problem. Sony won't provide new drivers for anyone, and attempts to contact them result in the same hting: your computer was designed to work with vista only.
My computer isn't a notebook per se, but it has all notebook components. I have a Sony all-in-one desktop, model VGN-LT29U. I have 4 gig of ram. The graphics processor that's supposedly not compatible is the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT. Driver version is old, it's 156.65. Like I said Sony isn't any help. I looked up my GPU on Nvidia's website, and there is a new version available as of last month (version 195.62), but if you look in the release notes, it says that "Sony notebook users should not use this upgrade, and should instead contact their manufacturer for updates".
I really need help here folks... I want to upgrade to Windows 7, but I have questions/problems. Does this update from NVIDIA fix the compatibility issue? If so, is it safe to update my Sony All-In-One computer using NVIDIA's update considering the note about sony notebooks (like I said, I know my computer is a desktop, but it uses all notebook components, including this mobile GPU from NVIDIA).
Anyone out there who can help me out, or point me in the right direcion of a sure-fire way to fix/update my graphics card so its definitely compatible with windows 7?

 

[FZ21Z]

So, I did some research, and discovered tons of other people with sony notebooks have the same exact problem.

Here is the DRIVER I'm currently using, so download that, and also download THIS, which is a modded inf. Run the driver exe which will extract the files to a folder, which you will then have to copy the downloaded inf into and replace the original.

Run setup, reboot, and your card should work.

 

[njs092682]

So, I did some research, and discovered tons of other people with sony notebooks have the same exact problem.

Here is the DRIVER I'm currently using, so download that, and also download THIS, which is a modded inf. Run the driver exe which will extract the files to a folder, which you will then have to copy the downloaded inf into and replace the original.

Run setup, reboot, and your card should work.

do i do this after I upgrade to the 64 bit windows 7, or can I do this now on my vista 32 bit installation to make sure I can do it?
I'm sorry for the newb questions, I've just never done anything like this before and not overly tech savvy

 

[njs092682]

and by the way, neither of those links work when clicked on. could you re-post?

and I'm guessing the driver update I mentioned on NVIDIA's website is a no go for me?

 

[FZ21Z]

do i do this after I upgrade to the 64 bit windows 7, or can I do this now on my vista 32 bit installation to make sure I can do it?

You can do it now yes, just do it with the 32 bit driver.

This link should work - v195.81 Windows 7/Vista 32bit | NVIDIA OEM - LaptopVideo2Go Forums

Download the driver, and INF modified, and follow the first post on this thread.

Gotta go out now, so try the above and report back.

I'm sorry for the newb questions, I've just never done anything like this before and not overly tech savvy

We were all newbs at one time, so no need to apologise.

 

[njs092682]

do i do this after I upgrade to the 64 bit windows 7, or can I do this now on my vista 32 bit installation to make sure I can do it?

You can do it now yes, just do it with the 32 bit driver.

This link should work - v195.81 Windows 7/Vista 32bit | NVIDIA OEM - LaptopVideo2Go Forums

Download the driver, and INF modified, and follow the first post on this thread.

Gotta go out now, so try the above and report back.

I'm sorry for the newb questions, I've just never done anything like this before and not overly tech savvy

We were all newbs at one time, so no need to apologise.

all right, thanks so much for the updated link. I see the INF modified driver is available from the same link> last question (and bear in mind I am a newb), how exactly do I go about copying the INF modified into the other driver installation? I'm taking baby steps here.
Thanks again for all your help!

 

[FZ21Z]

how exactly do I go about copying the INF modified into the other driver installation? I'm taking baby steps here.
Thanks again for all your help!

"Copy and paste", which you do by right clicking your mouse on the modded inf, it into the folder of the extracted driver, ensuring it replaces the inf in the folder, then run setup, reboot.

 

[njs092682]

how exactly do I go about copying the INF modified into the other driver installation? I'm taking baby steps here.
Thanks again for all your help!

"Copy and paste", which you do by right clicking your mouse on the modded inf, it into the folder of the extracted driver, ensuring it replaces the inf in the folder, then run setup, reboot.

all right, here's my latest update. I downloaded the driver you povided a link for, as well as the other inf. I copied the new inf, and pasted it nto the driver folder after that folder was unzipped. I chose to "replace" the old inf with the new one. I then ran setup in the driver folder. Eveything installed properly, restarted the computer, and eveything seemed great when it everything came back online. Then I ran the windows 7 compatibility advisor, and it again gave me an error message with the nvidea gpu. It's the same dreaded rivers are not compatible message.

Is this normal? Shouldn't the update have done away with this incompatibility message? Did I do something wrong? I don't run to buy the windows 7 update 64 ultimate edition until I know everything's good with the graphic card and its drivers? More help please! Thanks so much in advance!

 

[njs092682]

how exactly do I go about copying the INF modified into the other driver installation? I'm taking baby steps here.
Thanks again for all your help!

"Copy and paste", which you do by right clicking your mouse on the modded inf, it into the folder of the extracted driver, ensuring it replaces the inf in the folder, then run setup, reboot.

all right, here's my latest update. I downloaded the driver you povided a link for, as well as the other inf. I copied the new inf, and pasted it nto the driver folder after that folder was unzipped. I chose to "replace" the old inf with the new one. I then ran setup in the driver folder. Eveything installed properly, restarted the computer, and eveything seemed great when it everything came back online. Then I ran the windows 7 compatibility advisor, and it again gave me an error message with the nvidea gpu. It's the same dreaded rivers are not compatible message.

Is this normal? Shouldn't the update have done away with this incompatibility message? Did I do something wrong? I don't run to buy the windows 7 update 64 ultimate edition until I know everything's good with the graphic card and its drivers? More help please! Thanks so much in advance!

please still read and respond to my last pos, but I also have a second issue to deal with now: i seem to be having problems with the driver update thAT I installed per the directions on this thread. Not major ones yet, but a pretty annoying one: today, hwn my computer came out of rest, the whole screen was in black and white. It took two system restarts for the screen to return to full color. ANy suggestions/tips for this as well?
Thanks again for all of your time!

 

[gregrocker]

You can roll back to your older driver on the Driver tab for the Display Adapater in Device Manager.

 

[njs092682]

You can roll back to your older driver on the Driver tab for the Display Adapater in Device Manager.

Tried that, got an error code during the re-install of the old driver; computer went right into restart on its own. Images werre distorted during the entire re-start. Things seem ok now, but ocasionally I get garbled sections of the screen for split seconds. Something must have gone wonky during the reinstall of the old driver. Should I try to install the old driver AGAIN?

But this suggestion doesn't solve my main problem. Why did this updated driver do this to me? Black and white any time the system sleeps or hibernates? Takes several restarts to get back into color? What would cause this?
And what about the fact that the windows 7 updater advisor still said my nvidiea drivers were not compatible with windows 7 even when I had the updated driver installed?

I need help! Thanks again for all your continued efforts and advice!

 

[njs092682]

You can roll back to your older driver on the Driver tab for the Display Adapater in Device Manager.

Tried that, got an error code during the re-install of the old driver; computer went right into restart on its own. Images werre distorted during the entire re-start. Things seem ok now, but ocasionally I get garbled sections of the screen for split seconds. Something must have gone wonky during the reinstall of the old driver. Should I try to install the old driver AGAIN?

But this suggestion doesn't solve my main problem. Why did this updated driver do this to me? Black and white any time the system sleeps or hibernates? Takes several restarts to get back into color? What would cause this?
And what about the fact that the windows 7 updater advisor still said my nvidiea drivers were not compatible with windows 7 even when I had the updated driver installed?

I need help! Thanks again for all your continued efforts and advice!

Any help? Anyone? FZ21Z, where'd ya go?

 

[FZ21Z]

What operating system are you currently using? And forget the adviser, Windows 7 runs fine on that card.

 

[njs092682]

What operating system are you currently using? And forget the adviser, Windows 7 runs fine on that card.

Like I said before, I'm running windows vista (32 bit). I didn't want to drop the 100 bucks on the windows 7 premium upgrade (64 bit) without knowing that the updated drivers worked 100 percent fine on the nvidia.

The black and white problem with the driver you had me try is a big concern; I had to roll back to the previous driver to get my display to work properly again. I tried re-doing the the driver update, and the same exact thing happened again.

 

[FZ21Z]

What operating system are you currently using? And forget the adviser, Windows 7 runs fine on that card.

I didn't want to drop the 10 bucks on the windows 7 premium upgrade (64 bit) without knowing that the updated drivers worked 100 percent fine on the nvidia.

They do, and for the sake of "10 bucks", buy it, back everything up, and follow this guide...

- http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[njs092682]

What operating system are you currently using? And forget the adviser, Windows 7 runs fine on that card.

I didn't want to drop the 10 bucks on the windows 7 premium upgrade (64 bit) without knowing that the updated drivers worked 100 percent fine on the nvidia.

They do, and for the sake of "10 bucks", buy it, back everything up, and follow this guide...

- http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

whoops, meant to say 100 bucks there. Sorry about that.
I'll go ahead and bite. I'm still worried that my nvidia graphics card had so much trouble with the black and white issue with the updated drivers for 32-bit vista. But it seems you aren't too concerned about this, so I'll go ahead and give it a shot, and follow the directions you provided in the link above.
I've already backed up everything using vista's backup program.
When I go restore all those files that are saved on disc using vista's backup method, they'll all restore perfectly when I go to load them up on Windows 7, right?

And just one more favor: can you please provide a link for the updated 64 bit drivers for Windows 7? When you posted them the first time, the link didn't work.
Thanks a bunch for all your help!

 

[gregrocker]

The Win7 DVD is nearly driver complete. Unlike Vista and XP, MS sponsored the WHQL partnership with all manufacturers to build drivers for Win7, so they have them first in the installer and Updates.

Afterwards, any missing drivers in Device Manager can be found on your manufacturer's Support Downloads webpage for your model, or your Drivers CD if you have one. You can also back up your Vista windows/system32,drivers file to browse to from Device Manager to find a missing driver.

After finding any missing drivers, I would not replace any unless performance dictates.

 

[njs092682]

The Win7 DVD is nearly driver complete. Unlike Vista and XP, MS sponsored the WHQL partnership with all manufacturers to build drivers for Win7, so they have them first in the installer and Updates.

Afterwards, any missing drivers in Device Manager can be found on your manufacturer's Support Downloads webpage for your model, or your Drivers CD if you have one. You can also back up your Vista windows/system32,drivers file to browse to from Device Manager to find a missing driver.

After finding any missing drivers, I would not replace any unless performance dictates.

In case you missed the beginning of this conversation, I have a sony all-in-one desktop. Sony does not provide any, and I mean ANY, updated drivers for the nvidia graphics card included in the desktop. The driver that's installed on the system for the nvidia is not compatible with windows 7, and you can not download and install driver updates directly from nvidia when you're dealing with sony notebooks (yes, the computer is a desktop, but all of its components are notebook parts, including the particular nvidia graphics card we're discussing). Hence why we're talking about driver updates for the card/computer.

But thanks for the advice. I figured I'd just fill you in on the conversation, and why it's going on.

And FZ21Z, please read my last message before this...the info requested there would be great if you could provide it! Thanks!

 

[gregrocker]

What I am trying to say is that your display driver may well be in the Win7 installer, or available shortly after install via Windows Updates.

Only in the rarest cases are the drivers not provided in the Win7 installer, unlike Vista or XP.

If you want to find out, you could shrink Vista in Disk Mgmt and install Win7 to a second partition. This way you can abandon Win7 if your worries about no video driver pan out.

 

[njs092682]

What I am trying to say is that your display driver may well be in the Win7 installer, or available shortly after install via Windows Updates.

Only in the rarest cases are the drivers not provided in the Win7 installer, unlike Vista or XP.

If you want to find out, you could shrink Vista in Disk Mgmt and install Win7 to a second partition. This way you can abandon Win7 if your worries about no video driver pan out.

very interesting. Sorry, I didn't get your meaning. I do have two 500 gig hard drives; the second one (which would be considered a second partition, I guess)isn't even being used; it's completely empty. How would I go about installing windows 7 on the other partition that is not currently being used? Any directions you could link me to would be much appreciated.

AndI just ordered the windows 7 ultimate upgrade 64 bit; hopefully should be here in the next week.