Bootable Windows 10 Media for VGN-FE11S

[timauluck]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether you could help. Basically I am wanting to upgrade from Windows 10 1607 to Windows 10 1703 using Windows 10 Media on a USB stick. I have so far tried the Windows Media Creation Tool as well as a Windows 10 ISO using Rufus as well as the External boot option in the BIOS but no joy. I am using a Corsair Voyager 16GB to mount and boot Windows 10 from. Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

RocknRollTim

[Owen_G]

Hi Tim,

It may be best to contact the Support Team about this, as they'll be best-placed to advise you. You can reach them here.

Hope this helps.

Owen

[timauluck]

Hi Owen_G,

Thank you for responding to my forum thread and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I will contact them when I have a moment. Thank you for your help.

Regards,

RocknRollTim

[timauluck · Accepted solution]

Update

In the end I gave up on using USB sticks to mount Windows 10 and to reinstall laptop as the BIOS would not recognise them after amending the neccessary settings i.e. enabling External Boot Devices. The issue maybe a problem with the BIOS firmware even though the upgrade went well 10 years ago? However back then the laptop was infected with a number of viruses so it may be of no surprise. I reinstalled the laptop using the previous OEM disc before upgrading to the initial release of Windows 10 Pro x86 back in 2015 i.e. Windows 7 Ultimate x86. I then updated Windows 7 to the latest Windows 7 updates before upgrading to Windows 10. Next I then upgraded Windows 7 using the Windows 10 Creation Tool to download and to install the latest version of Windows 10 i.e. 1709. Next I updated Windows 10 to the latest Windows 10 updates which now everything is working like before in 1703 with still being hindered by limited driver support but not a biggie though as I can still use the laptop for what I want. Upon reflection I could have created an installation DVD on another PC using the Windows 10 Creation Tool to reinstall the laptop with the latest verison of Windows 10 and not having to use the previous OEM media as previously mentioned. However I kept finding that the ISO image would not burn correctly using several mounting tools including ImgBurn as well as the built-in Windows Burner Tool as it kept saying messages along the lines of not being able to burn data to media. The firmware for the laptop DVD burner is the latest version and was using Memorex DVD plus recordable discs. Alternatively I could have performed an in place upgrade as well as recovering the registry hive to fix the issue. Also I do not know whether this would have been possible but could I have reset the CMOS by temporarily removing the casing and removing the battery on the motherboard for about a minute? Lastly could BT Protect have been a possible culprit to this issue? Thought I would keep you all posted as it has been awhile since I last posted.

Regards,

RocknRollTim

[timauluck · Accepted solution]

Update

In the end I managed to install Windows 10 Pro 1709 by still using a bootable stick but booted it via Command Prompt in the Advanced Options as part of a multiboot setup using MBR with 4 bootable partitions. Other bootable partitions in order have Windows XP Media Center 2005, Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 8.1 Pro. 

Regards,

RocknRollTim

[timauluck · Accepted solution]

Update

I can confirm this is now the actual solution in order for a Vaio of around this age to boot a Windows OS off a USB stick. Please see instructions below.

Press F2 to go into BIOS

Enable External Boot to Yes

Exclude Internal Hard Drive by pressing x which will place it into Exclude From Boot

Press Save Changes

Exit Setup

This will allow you to boot from Windows OS off USB stick and to install the necessary boot files onto the disk.

Once the system has rebooted, go back into the BIOS by pressing F2, put the Internal Hard Drive back into the boot menu by pressing x followed by pressing Save Changes and then Exit Setup in order for the Windows OS to boot off the disk.

Hope this helps everyone who are still experiencing this issue.