topic Re: Hmm, no USB booting??? in PCs & Accessories

Hmm, no USB booting???

clash-city-rocker — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:54:08 GMT

Well, perhaps my overjoyment with the hardware in my FS-295XP was premature.

Got my system setup perfectly, and am going to make a Norton Ghost backup of the system. My usual method involves a bootable USB memory key. Every PC I have owned in the last 5 years has been capable of booting from it, including my 3yr old Dell laptop.

Can I get this Vaio to boot from it? Nope.. Looks like USB booting is not supported (unless someone knows different).

Can this really be true?? If so, I may consider returning it, as I cannot function without bootable removable storage, and this laptop has no floppy.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:23:24 GMT

The only thing the VAIO will boot from on the USB is their own FDD

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

robpaxton — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:25:15 GMT

Could use a bootable CD.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

tonybeard — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:33:30 GMT

Warning: Do not use Norton Ghost!
It is not compatable with the vaio system recovery. There is a warning at Vaio Link which explains that ghost is scripted to assess the size of the Vaio partitions differently to the way the Vaio Recovery is structured and is in conflict. Use Acronis instead or the xpPro BackUp facility.:smileyhappy:

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:41:05 GMT

Thanks for pointing that out Tony, I nearly forgot!

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

clash-city-rocker — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:47:46 GMT

Warning: Do not use Norton Ghost! 
It is not compatable with the vaio system recovery. There is a warning at Vaio Link which explains that ghost is scripted to assess the size of the Vaio partitions differently to the way the Vaio Recovery is structured and is in conflict. Use Acronis instead or the xpPro BackUp facility.:smileyhappy:

I ditched the Vaio System Recovery partition already, it was full of trialware and rubbish that Sony seemed to think I needed...

I assume without the the System Recovery partition, Ghost works OK?

So the lack of USB booting is real. I thought my Vaio was cutting edge technology, instead it's 1990's technology... Poor show Sony...

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

tonybeard — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:49:59 GMT

What 'trialware' are you refering too dude. The Sony Software bundle is all standalone complete. I admit that Sony has a non open source platform mandate but no one else supplies the adobe package and Vaio Zone which is if anything superior to MS Media Edtion. Booting from USB? Just copy the boot up FDisk files to a rewritable CD and change the bios to boot up from F drive. Who cares about booting off the USB?

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:04:55 GMT

I do, I think it would be very handy to boot from USB

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

clash-city-rocker — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:59:38 GMT

What 'trialware' are you refering too dude.

My Vaio was crammed full of 60 day trial software.

Trial version of Norton GoSlow (AKA Norton Internet Security)
Trial version of some partition encryption software
Trial version of MS Orifice SBE
Trial version of Norton AV

Plus loads of other crap. Adobe bulltshit I don't want, messengers I don't want, IE toolbars I don't want.

All this before I even start on the Sony crap software they put on there, Memory stick formatters (what ever happened to using explorer?), Image converters, some crappy hifi stack audio program, sonic stage useless stuff. SQL Server (for some bizzare reason, my laptop requires SQL server!!!), ClickToDVD (what's wrong with Nero??)

Honestly, the preloaded software is the most dis-jointed incoherent mismash I have ever seen. The driving factor being how much Sony can cream in from Licencing deals with these software vendors, rather than what users actually want.

I would have preferred the following:

1/ Copy of XP Pro SP2, with media
2/ Copy of MS Works (with Office SBS Trial on CD, not installed)
3/ Copy of Ahead Nero Suite (Burning/Recode etc).

That would have provided all the software required to utilise all the hardware features, and still be suitable for the majority of users, without annoying the power users who know what software they want..

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 20:55:43 GMT

Yeah would have been nice if some of the software was more useful.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

tonybeard — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 23:36:01 GMT

Well I have to agree with you regarding Dick to DVD and the Hortons rubbish and spyware prone toolbars but you can't knock the Adobe package plus I got the MS Works but they are obviously not doing that anymore (when it installs LOL). Overall I was quite impressed with the package onboard and you can simply uninstall anything you don't like. Nero would have been better too but I would rather have more than I need than less.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

jumpsuit — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:54:33 GMT

On an interesting note, some of the sony software thrown at random onto my pc when it was welded together by monkeys had spyware detected in it, eg keyloggers.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:09:05 GMT

Yeah the Adobe stuff is great - a nice addition to the VAIO family

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

intradinkq — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 09:12:40 GMT

i'm with mgillespie on this issue. Booting from usb is a very useful feature. I have external usb drives with an OS installed so that I can use it for recovery or to try out OS's without trashing the native install on the laptop.

I also use a usb thumbdrive with a bootable linux installation from time to time.

On the question of software, machines should come with a clean OS install and maybe a script that offers the option of installing your preferred choice of cr@p.

Re: Hmm, no USB booting???

kee-lo_ — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:30:31 GMT

True
You'd think Sony VAIO would be flexible as it's meant to suit the multimedia crowd