Many VAIO computers for some reason, doesn’t like GPT-formatted UEFI flash drives in NTFS. Unfortunately, this is a valid Windows install drive format.

The easy fix for this, is of course first – to know this information! It took me forever to figure this bug out, as my VAIO Tap 11 was the only machine that would not boot from my custom WAIK install flash drive. It works fine on all other UEFI systems.

In Rufus, for example, the default is to MBR format, but with NTFS. Keep this in mind! Manually switch to FAT32 – otherwise you’re gonna have a bad time.

One more thing – Sony and VAIO (despite the corporate split) seem to have teamed up to do a wave of June, 2016 BIOS updates for Windows 10 compatibility. Even if you haven’t run VAIO Update in ages – give it another go. I found a lot of 4th Gen Core systems became eligible for updates in recent months, despite being discontinued for well over a year.

Very classy, Sony. But as mentioned at the start of this article, a few glitches remain – though all I’ve run into can be worked around. Which is why I still use my VAIO Tap 11.