Uproar Brewing Over Sony Intentionally Disabling Hardware Virtualization On VAIO Computers
Hardware virtualization as this is one of the requirements of the Windows XP virtual mode that is available in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise. What is most disappointing however is that all current Sony Vaio laptops that are sold have this feature disabled in the BIOS, therefore making Windows XP virtual mode impossible. Sony has yet to say that they will enable on past or current models (seems unlikely), but it seems probable for their new computers going forward. However, what would the Windows 7 team think about Sony crippling their customer’s ability to use their carefully constructed backwards compatibility feature?
Sony’s official response comes via Xavier Lauwaert, Senior Manager Product Marketing at Sony: “We have received very little if any requests to enable VT technology up until very recently. In addition, our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter.”
Most remain apathetic towards the situation, few are reportedly demanding refunds while others are calling for a class-action suit against a company they claim has not been clear in its advertising given that the Vaio machines are unable to work with a core feature of the Core 2 Duo chips they ship with.
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Nearly all Sony VAIO computers have hardware virtualization technology (VT) disabled, the exception being the new BZ range, which uses an Aptio BIOS by American Megatrends, rather than the customized Phoenix BIOS common on older models.
The feature can be re-enabled by booting from a DOS disk and manually modifying the BIOS, but it is a relatively advanced and technical task. (source : wikipedia)
Don't worry people its a lock , which sony can remove when they would like. (VT is only disabled)
Most of the people may not use the virtualization in their lifetime , but for the professional , and for the people who use it for the business purposes …….its like an important ,hope sony will help them .
I have a Viao VGN-FW290C and have definitely contacted Sony asking for this feature turned on. I was so irate finding out that this feature was turned off with no option to turn it on (even knowing the security risk) after having upgraded to a top notch processor. Frankly, Sony stands alone turning this off permanently. Any lawyers out there, I'm totally on-board for a class action lawsuit as never once did the marketing material mention I was buying a handicapped processor. Sony's focus on the customer is total crap across all lines of businesses. This brand is really starting to be pretty pathetic.
I am a retailer for VAIO notebooks in South Africa. I have just had my first customer returning a VGN-Z47 with which he was very very happy until he found he couldn't load many of his development tools that required virtulization overflow (or something, I'm not much of a n expert).
This is obviously distressing for me as a retailer, but it's also saddening to think that Sony didn't foresee that with the launch of Win7 this would become a really big problem…
I really hope that a solution will be made available. Something like a new BIOS that we can load into the older machines with this issue.
this seems to be a big problem for sony that may affect their product credibility, I just hope they fix this problem soon..
lol “malicious code” ever heard of formatting?? I dont know of any attacks from remote locations on a damn BIOS
I was surprised that an Intel utility (Intel Processor ID) described my old T2400 as having Intel VT, however thanks to those moron at Vaio, my BIOS is a complete lame duck and I have no way to enable that feature. This is an outrage that Sony keeps preventing users from accessing all BIOS features. This is my 2nd Vaio laptop and in this model too (FE21s) they have reduced the BIOS menu to something completely useless. I think am gonna go for something more serious like the ThinkPad and dump that shitty Vaio in eBay.
I just bought my VAIO a few weeks ago.
My VGS-SR490J has the option to enable/Disable VT in the BIOS. AMI BIOS R3220Y1 08/05/2009 SMS BIOS 2.4
Just enabled it and confirmed it was working using Gibson Researches Securable program.
Hopefully it is just a BIOS update for the rest of you.
Sony is not providing updated drivers for laptops and desktops that are less than 2 years old. This is insane. I will never buy another Sony laptop or desktop again.
I wish I hadb;t bought a Sony… my wife certainly won't unless they fix this disgrace very soon.
Hi, I need hack bios for this. I have a VGN-FZ230E. Please send the file to guruinfor@gmail.com thanks!
Hi, I need hack bios for this. I have a VGN-FZ230E. Please send the file to guruinfor@gmail.com thanks!
If the hardware on my laptop was not capable of hardware virtualization I would not be upset, but I have a Sony Vaio VGN-CR120E with an Intel 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (“Santa Rosa”) processor. This processor according to Intel’s website is capable of hardware virtualization so the issue is the BIOS not allowing the feature to be enabled. This is an issue that anyone purchasing a computer, laptop or desktop, from manufacturers that build artificial obsolescence into their products. I cannot find a solution on Sony’s website for the product I purchased in good faith. Before this issue I felt this was a good purchase as there was no issue updating to a larger faster hard drive and appears to be no issue updating the memory, but I CANNOT ACTIVATE A BUILT IN FEATURE! Just very sad.
” our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter. “
What a bunch of hogwash which happens to stink less then the lies of the Sony elite. They also haven't noticed the huge desire of their customer base for an emancipated bios. What they are really trying to accomplish is to avoid recalls of their product lines… I wonder, did Toyota use Sony technology in their cars???? If they did and Sony used the same practice of keeping the lid closed on the problem i.e. pandora's box, it may well explain a lot of things. Come clean Sony or face a tidal wave of regret.. Each and every Vaio owner ( i.e. not Sony but the REAL customer ) is owed a sincere apology and CORRECTION of the issue.
” our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter. “
What a bunch of hogwash which happens to stink less then the lies of the Sony elite. They also haven't noticed the huge desire of their customer base for an emancipated bios. What they are really trying to accomplish is to avoid recalls of their product lines… I wonder, did Toyota use Sony technology in their cars???? If they did and Sony used the same practice of keeping the lid closed on the problem i.e. pandora's box, it may well explain a lot of things. Come clean Sony or face a tidal wave of regret.. Each and every Vaio owner ( i.e. not Sony but the REAL customer ) is owed a sincere apology and CORRECTION of the issue.