VAIO VPCSA2C5E - Clean Windows 8.1 Install

[pronotion]

I have recently invested in an SSD for my Vaio as it is the only upgrade left for me. I changed the drives over and did a clean install of Windows 8.1 Pro, the install completed quickly with no errors however I am now left with a number of issues:

1. Unable to control the brightness on the laptop screen. I use a secondary monitor most of the day and the brightness is fine on there however when away from my external screen the laptop is impossbly dull making it next to useless. Changing the brightness via the Power Settings has no effect and the function keys to do so via the laptop don't work (presumably due to missing drivers although none reported in device manager).
   
   Update: Whilst its a royal pain and the effect doesn't seem to be the same I found I can tweak the brightness via the Intel Graphics & Media Control panel now sitting in my task tray but this doesn't control the brightness in the same way as the function keys did and simply causes the picture to look washed out.
   
   
2. Some function keys not working. The only ones that do work are volume controls.
3. Stamina/Speed mode switch appears to do nothing any more
4. Since installing Windows 8.1 I am also unable to enter the BIOS settings on my laptop as Windows kicks in so quickly now with the SSD (I think). 
   
   Update: Whilst it's not ideal I can now turn the machine on and rapidly press DELETE and F2 together and managed to enter the BIOS.
   

I've installed all of the relevant 8.1 updates from my support page:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCSA2C5E/updates

• VAIO Control Center - 6.0.19/6.0.20/6.1.12/6.2.11/6.3.6 + .09270
• Bluetooth Driver (Broadcom) - 12.0.0.7800
• Pointing Driver (Alps) - 8.0.0.274 
• SATA Driver (Intel) - 12.8.0.1016

Not installed:

• Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) - 15.10.4.2 - When running the update it seems to crash the Wireless Lan Driver with the following message "Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) has stopped working"

Any advice on how to start killing some of these issues would be appreciated. I've been trawling so many resources and not finding any of the solutions work for me.

Thanks, Simon

[pronotion]

Seeing the number of Windows 8 issues on this forum and the lack of reply I guess I'm on my own here? The function keys are currently my biggest issue, if someone knows what I need to install to get them back I can persevere with the other issues until I find a solution elsewhere.

[sgdavies]

A clean install of 8.1 is somthing I have been thinking of, actually since my touch screen randomly freezes, but your post has done some good, because I think I shall wait maybe a few months, or years before attempting this because of the lack of drivers. good luck though.

[pronotion]

The annoying thing is that I have most of them covered but the few features that aren't working are problem enough to make me want to return to Windows 7. Sony need to understandthat if you only have 1 hard drive bay and need to replace your drive a clean install is the only way and therefore it should be supported. The U.S Sony support team   seem to actively help their customers but UK support appears non existent! 

[sgdavies]

Do you have any server links to a clean install for 8.1? I was looking on the msn community website downloads, there were lots of different options for 8.1 i didn't know which to choose from.

[Pascale_F]

Hi there pronotion,

If you haven't already, do contact Sony Support and they should be able to assist you further.

Cheers,

Pascale_F

[sgdavies]

Hello Pascal_f, most people are on here because they have already contacted sony support, and had a diabolical response, and no resolution to their problems. So your comment is unhelpful.

[pronotion]

I have and I am still awaiting a response however I'm not holding my breath since all that I am reading online is that Sony won't support a clean install despite it being the only option when installing a new hard drive!

[pronotion]

An update on my situation given a zero response from Sony on this matter. I uninstalled the device 

AMD Radeon 6600M and 6700M Series in my device manager under Display adapters and rebooted. I can now adjust the brightness again in my Power Options screen which removes a big frustration - lets see how long that lasts!

Function keys to control brightness still not working but thats most likely to do with this missing Hotkeys software I keep seeing reference to but dowsn't appear on my downloads page!

[pronotion]

And now the official word is in from Sony and the answer as expected is that they won't help and I shouldn't install Windows 8 on my laptop despite the downloads page having downloads for the Windows 8 Operating System and her sending me Windows 8 upgrade information:

--------------

Dear Mr Richardson

Thank you for contacting Sony. We are sorry to read that your VAIO optical drive is not working properly after upgrading the VAIO to Windows 8.1.

We regret to inform your VAIO model does not support either Windows 8 or 8.1.

It has been found to have some functionality issue performing under this operating system thus; Sony does not recommend upgrading this model to neither Windows 8 nor 8.1.

For more details about the Windows 8 eligibility and support boundaries, please read the frequently asked questions in the link below:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/topics/landing/windows_upgrade_offer#not_supported

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/topics/landing/windows8-1_upgrade

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email or contact us via the number below.

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Oh and for the record, my name is not MR RICHARDSON and I DID NOT contact you about my optical drive which by the way has been broken for over 12 months and you won't send me a replacement for that either - you want to take my entire laptop away for probably 2 weeks to do something I could do in 2 minutes!