VAIO TR5MP - Windows Recovery issues, language problem

[Heady]

Hi there,

I bought a TR5MP VAIO Notebook from a seller on eBay. He unfortunately installed the French Windows XP. Now I'm only speaking German, so I wanted to know how I can install a German Windows with the German recovery CD?

I tried nearly everything, but everytime I want to recover the system with the German recovery disc (I've got a german, a french, an italian and an englisch disc -> probably since I live in Switzerland, we have three languages here) it says that the notebook is incompatible to this language.

Installing my own Windows XP works well but then I don't have all this VAIO Software stuff which I need to work well with the notebook. But even after a complete delete of the partitions the VAIO notebook can only be reinstalled with the French disc.

Yup, that's my problem. Seems to me like a problem for the Sony VAIO support.

By the way...I read that the englisch verison is multi-lingual? Means that you can change the desktop language even after installation? With the french version this doesn't work.

Greets

Heady

[Heady]

Just looked a bit through the forums, but didn't findi any topis related to this explicit problem. But what I've read is, that Sony does not give support to other windows versions than the one which is delivered with the vaio.

Well...I'll contact the vaio link support on monday but do you think there will even be the possibility to make a German install by myself with the discs I have? Looks like a bigger problem to me...

But Sony should give me support in this, shouldn't they? I have recovery discs for all the languages and since here in Switzerland this seems to be normal that a user can choose from different languages on the first utilisation of the notebook, I should have the right to have my windows in German as my seller had the right to have it in French (we are both Swiss, but he lives in another part where the people speak French).

Greets

Heady

[robpaxton]

I'm pretty sure that you are correct in assuming that you should be able to use any of the recovery disks that you have. Sony support should be able to help you.

[kee-lo_]

You have recovery disks for French / German and English?
Wow Sony are finally learning that Switzerland is a multi-culteral land.

I remember another Swiss guy complaining about this

[robpaxton]

Although recovery disks for all of the languages are supplied I think I read somewhere that the first installed language locks the system to that language RCD forever

[kee-lo_]

Thats outrageous

[Heady]

Forever? But Sony should be able to undo this and install me a German Version, shouldn't they? Probably will have to send my VAIO in...

Well, well...I'll call em tomorrow!

Greets

Heady

[kee-lo_]

They could, and they should, but if they would is a different matter.

[Heady]

Okay, just called them....and there's no way to change the language. The only alternative would be to install my own Windows XP Version.

That's what I tried at the very beginning but with my own Windows version you have some serious lacks. For example: It wasn't possible to activate the camera or the hotkeys. Okay, there is this "C:Drivers" directory, but I had no idea which driver fits to which device.

Damn...what am i doing now? Is there a way to get all the software from a recovery cd installed with using my own windows xp pro?

Greets

Heady

[kee-lo_]

I wonder, and this is a REALLY long shot, but theres apparently a button at the bottom which resets the CMOS, wonder if that would work?