I have a Vaio SVZ1311C5E which I recently upgraded (successfully) to Windows 8.1. Considering that I will not be going back to Windows 7 I subsequently re-partitioned the SSD to free up the space, occupied by the recovery partion and the rest. So at the moment I have a working Windows 8.1 installation on one full size size SSD partition (119 Gb).
Prior to doing all this I have made a USB recovery media using the Vaio Care software utility provided.
I do, however, have two issues: 1) I can not enable Rapid Wake. When I move the Rapid Wake slider to "ON" position a message appears "Rapid wake cannot be enabled It uses a dedicated partition for saving the data... Restore your Vaio to factory settings". I have tried creating the hibernation partition manually, as explained in the Intel Rapid start installation manual and still have this error. I searched this issue and found that no-one managed to re-enable rapid wake without restoring the factory image.
2) My USB recovery media does not work. When I boot from it it goes through "starting windows" routine brings up the windows background and the message window "Please wait while Vaio Care rescue is starting...". Then it brings up an error message ("A recovery Media or recovery partition can not be found.") I assume it is looking for the recovery partition on SSD, but that defies the objective of having factory image saved to recovery media! What if the SSD needed to be replaced?
I believe that Sony Asia may have it as their software actually allows the end user to remove recovery data from the internal drive. (http://www.sony-asia.com/microsite/vaio/htmlmanuals/20122Q/SVZ13/eng/contents/03/20/04/04.html)
I have also recovery disks for the Vaio Pro 13 and these function as desired - e.g. load the repair options, etc. but obviosly would not have the right drivers for my Z series.
I have been in communication with Vaio Support but the only option on offer was to purchase a new set of recovery media for £50.
"We would like to inform you that you have to buy a new set of recovery DVDs to rebuild the operating system again on your VAIO as it seems that the hard drive has become corrupted.
We can happily confirm that you can purchase them from our end at a cost of around £49.79 including VAT and shipping.
...
Notes:
· Recovery discs may not work with a new hard disk drive installed outside Sony repair centres.
· Shipping outside Europe is not supported.
· Recovery discs cannot be returned for a refund.
I asked, why the recovery media I created following the procedure in my user manual does not recover the laptop, but the recovery discs which support is offering to "happily" sell to me for £50, will? I feel I should have either been provided with the option from factory to create recovery media that is fit for purpose and actually works or if it is not the case support should recover the laptop free of charge. Then the e-mail exxhnage seazed.
Does anyone have experience in enabling rapid wake without full factory recovery?
How to complaint to Sony UK about this?
Thanks for your replies!
