How to get Sony Vaio Laptops Function Keys to work with Windows 7

I, like thousands of other people, am a proud owner of a Sony Vaio.

Unfortunately Sony tend to be a little slow at the best of times offering the next generation of windows drivers for whilst they are in beta/release candidate.

More troublesome for us devoted Sony Vaio enthusiasts, is that Sony does not update the drivers or their native software (Vaio Dlls, Vaio Event Service etc.) instead leaving for download the "shipped" versions with that model!

Now, Windows 7 is clearly the way forward and is the only platform Guru Guy will use if not Windows XP. But do you find your function keys to increase the volume, brightness etc just won't work in Windows 7? 

Well look no further as Guru Guy has the guide to make this work. Some guides suggest you have to disable User Account Control to make the Vaio Event Service. Well yes you do on some versions, but this guide shows you how you can maintain PC security with UAC enabled and happily run your Vaio Software alongside. No Hacks, No Mods, just plain simple advice!

Please note, this guide has been tested on Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100). Other builds may not produce the same results.

Step-by-Step instructions for Windows 7 "FN" keys on your Sony VAIO

1. The first thing you need to do is install the most recent release of Sony's DLLs. These are what drives most of Vaio's system services and utilities. The latest Sony Utilities DLL (at time of writing) is v7.1.00.15150.
2. Install these Sony Utilities DLLs v7.1.00.15150 on your Windows 7 computer and reboot.
3. Now, install the latest Sony Vaio Event Service. This is the program that enables your Vaio function keys. The Event Service which works for Windows 7 is version 3.1.00.14130. 
4. Reboot your Vaio computer and voila!

*Please note, this Vaio software only works on Sony Vaio computers. Guru Guy recommends obtaining Vaio software direct from http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads.

**This guide above also works for Windows Vista, if you wish to migrate to that OS if you dare instead.

If you are also bugged to death by the fact that your Memory Stick drive in "My Computer" appears as a generic icon without the MemStick Pro Icon, there is a software patch from Sony Vaio for Windows Vista and (unofficially) Windows 7!

To get your MemStick Icon to appear in My Computer, you need to install the Sony Vaio MemoryStick Icon for Vista software patch which adds the ICOs to Windows! Again, Guru Guy has provided them for download in case you have trouble finding it!

You may have to reboot your computer and insert a memory stick before the icon is populated in "My Computer".

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