 | VAIO Care |
VAIO Care features:
| My VAIO | VAIO Status, Manual and System Information |  | System Care | Checks and tunes up your VAIO to keep it running securely at peak performance |  | Troubleshooting | Helps you solve problems on your VAIO automatically within minutes |  | Diagnostics | Diagnostic tests for your VAIO's hardware |  | Recovery & Restore | Reinstall applications and drivers, Create Recovery Media, Restore your VAIO to its original factory condition or Restore Windows to an earlier state |  | Contact Sony | Connects with VAIO Support, when you need professional support. |  | Options | Configures VAIO Care to your requirements |
How to launch VAIO Care within Windows
 | - Pressing the Assist Button: this will open the Troubleshooting section of VAIO Care
- Clicking on the VAIO Care icon in VAIO Gate: this will open the One Click Care section of VAIO Care
- Navigating to VAIO Care in the Start menu: this will open the One Click Care section of VAIO Care.
| When Windows does not start anymore:
You can start VAIO Recovery Center by pressing the ASSIST button while the VAIO is shut down. VAIO Recovery Center will allow you to rescue your data and to reset your VAIO to its original factory condition.
| My VAIO |
The My VAIO section contains:
- VAIO Status lists any remaining action items from previous system checks.
- Using My VAIO offers the following options:
- VAIO Control Center provides you access to VAIO specific system settings.
- Windows Control Panel provides you access to generic Windows system settings.
- VAIO Manual opens the operating manual for your VAIO PC.
- System Information shows specifications and identifiers of your VAIO PC e.g. the Serial Number.
| Examples: | You want to look up the Serial Number of your VAIO PC.
Launch VAIO Care, click on My VAIO and then on System Information.
| | You want to change the default behaviour of the touchpad.
Launch VAIO Care, click on My VAIO and then on Using My VAIO. Select VAIO Control Center. Select Keyboard and Mouse. Select Pointing Device. You can then enable, disable or configure your touchpad.
| | You want to know what the current status LED activity on your VAIO indicates.
Launch VAIO Care, click on My VAIO and then on Using My VAIO. Select VAIO Manual. After choosing the language you want, the manual PDF will open. Search for LED.
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| System Care |
The System Care section contains One Click Care and System Tune-up.
- One Click Care
One Click Care checks your VAIO's security, makes sure it has the latest updates, assesses whether it needs a tune-up and issues the results in a VAIO health report - an easy way to make sure that your VAIO stays in top shape.
One Click Care Options
One Click Care is pre-configured to perform a health check and to generate a report on a monthly basis. You can change this interval to suit your specific needs in the Options Menu. To access the Options Menu, click on the gear icon in the top right corner of the VAIO Care window.
| Example: | You want to schedule VAIO Care to perform a health check every week. Launch VAIO Care and click on the Options icon in the top right corner of the window. In the Window that appears, select One Click Care and schedule when you want One Click Care to run. |
- System Tune-up
System Tune-up is a subset of One Click Care. System Tune-up defragments and cleans your hard disk drive and your Windows registry to improve your system's performance.
| Example: | You have the impression that your VAIO is not as fast as it used to be.
Launch VAIO Care. Select System Care and then System Tune-Up. Click the Run System Tune-up button.
System Tune-Up will analyse the state of your hard drive and registry and propose to defragment and clean your hard disk drive and your Windows system registry to improve your system’s performance.
Click Yes when asked if you want fix the problem.
| | Troubleshooting |
The troubleshooting section will solve problems on your VAIO automatically within minutes, for example sound and network problems. Select the category with which you are experiencing difficulties. VAIO Advisor will detect possible causes and will provide one or more solutions.
| Examples: | You are watching a video a friend sent you, but there is no sound.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Troubleshooting section, select Input & Output. Click on Sound. The Sound Troubleshooter will open. Click Next. Select Speakers, headphones or headset earphone as the devices you want to troubleshoot. The Sound Troubleshooter will try to detect any possible causes and solve the issue, for example; if the speaker is muted, it will be un-muted.
| | You want to connect to the Internet via a wireless Hot Spot, but Internet Explorer cannot display the landing page of any website.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Troubleshooting section, select Network & Wireless. Click on Windows Network Diagnostics. The Troubleshooter will open. Click Next. Select I’m Trying to reach a specific website or folder on a network. Type in the URL you want to access. The Troubleshooter will try to detect any possible cause and suggest solutions, for example: Switch on the Wireless switch.
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| Diagnostics |
The Diagnostics section offers Hardware and Software Diagnostics.
- Hardware diagnostics offers tests on a variety of hardware devices, such as processor, hard disk drive and memory.
- Software diagnostics offers the VAIO Startup Setting Tool, which lists and provides control over all programs loaded at Windows startup. When a specific program is suspected to be the cause of a problem, disabling the program allows you test if the problem still occurs without it.
Note: Software diagnostics are disabled by default. To enable software diagnostics, click on the options icon in the top right of the VAIO Care window, click the diagnostics tab and check Show advanced diagnostics. Confirm with OK.
| Recovery & Restore |
The Recovery & Restore section contains Restore Windows and Recovery options.
- Restore Windows
You can use System Restore to restore your VAIO's system files to an earlier point in time. This is a way to undo recent system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e-mail, documents or pictures.
More information about System Restore can be found:
- In the Help and Support section: Click Start - Help and Support, type System Restore in the Search Help box.
- In the printed Troubleshooting and Recovery Guide delivered with your VAIO.
| Example: | You have installed several downloaded programs yesterday, and today your VAIO has become very unstable: it hangs and crashes frequently.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Recovery & Restore section, select Restore. Follow the on screen instructions to restore your computer’s system files to an earlier point in time.
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- Recovery
The Recovery section allows you to: Reinstall Applications and Drivers
Restore one or more factory-installed programs to their original condition. Use this option if factory-installed programs are not performing as expected.
- Create Recovery Media
Create a set of system recovery media (either a USB flash drive or recordable discs) to recover your computer to its original factory condition. Recovery media are not included with your computer. You may not be able to recover your computer system from the recovery partition if this partition has been modified or deleted. In that case, recovery media will be required to recover your system. If you haven’t created the recovery media, these will have to be ordered at your own expense.
- Recover computer
Restores the C: Drive to its original factory condition, including all factory installed software. This program deletes all files on the C: Drive, any other partitions, and the files on those partitions. The new C: Drive will use all available disk space. This program is recommended when the computer does not start properly.
- BIOS Settings
This is a convenient and easy way to enter the VAIO's BIOS menu. After a warning about loss of unsaved data, this function restarts your VAIO computer and enters the BIOS menu.An alternative way to enter the BIOS is by pressing F2 multiple times at boot. Note: This option is disabled by default. To enable it, click on the options icon in the top right of the VAIO Care window, click the diagnostics tab and check Show advanced diagnostics. Confirm with OK.
More information about VAIO Recovery Center can be found:
- In the Help and Support section: Click Start - Help and Support - Recovery.
- In the printed Troubleshooting and Recovery Guide delivered with your VAIO.
| Examples: | You want to create Recovery Media.
In the past you received several pop-ups telling you to create Recovery Media, but you did not do this at that time.
Now you want to create Recovery Media, but you have no idea where to do this and the pop-ups do not appear anymore. What can VAIO Care do to help you with this?
Launch VAIO Care. In the Recovery & Restore section, select Recovery. Click on Create Recovery Media. Follow the on screen instructions to create your Recovery Media.
| | You have a yellow exclamation mark in front of "Intel Wireless LAN" in the Device Manager.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Recovery & Restore section, select Recovery. Click on Reinstall Applications and Drivers. Click Next. Select the Wireless LAN driver and click Next. The Wireless LAN driver will be reinstalled.
| | You accidentally uninstalled VAIO Gate and want to reinstall it.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Recovery & Restore section, select Recovery. Click on Reinstall Applications and Drivers. Click Next. Select VAIO Gate and click Next. VAIO Gate will be reinstalled.
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| Contact Sony |
The Contact Sony section contains model and serial number information about your VAIO. It also links you to VAIO Support and solutions from preferred partners.
Click on VAIO Support to navigate to the VAIO Support website, where you will find the latest solutions, updates, drivers and contact information.
| Example: | You want to check for the latest support news about your VAIO but cannot find the European VAIO Support website.
Launch VAIO Care. In the Contact SONY section, click on VAIO Support. This will lead you to the European VAIO Support website.
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