Windows 7 SP1 on Alienware M15x?

Hello,
Today was released the Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

More information:
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1

Can be downloaded from:
Download details: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)

Does anyone has installed it on the M15x?
Any comments on compatibility? Drivers issues?

Thanks!

 

I installed a frech copy of the SP1 RTM iso the other day. Everything is absolutely fine. System feels snappy but that's probably because I installed it on a brand new SSD. Crysis needs to be run in Windows 7 compatibility as it has problems with SP1. Otherwise everything is good. Feels nice to have all the updates in one place when doing a clean install.

 

So, no problems with the AlienFX and all those lights?

I'm also thinking about doing the same thing: a fresh install. I just got a MSDN Windows 7 image in Spanish... So, I'm planning to do it so.

 

I'm not doing a fresh install, just updating. I'll let everyone know how it all goes

EDIT: Alrighty, it's installed. So far so good, nothing has exploded/imploded, so I think we're all good here AlienFX still works, everything hardware related seems to work. I've only been using it for about 5 minutes though, so I'll let you all know later if there are any problems.

 

Coooool!
Thanks for the feedback.

 

Having trouble. The SP1 file download through Windows Update (KB976932) hangs at 87.2MB/19% every time, then aborts with a "WindowsUpdate_80073712" error. Turns out that's a pretty generic error. Looking for solution(s). Advice welcome.

 

Mine gave me an error once, so I just tried again and everything worked fine. Could just be that their servers are getting hung up with all the downloads.

 

You can try get the SP1 ISO from Microsoft itself:
Download Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 SP1 (Official Direct Download Links) My Digital Life

Or the .EXE for your system:
Download details: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)

 

Thanks, I'll try that.

Edit: Downloaded KB976932 from Pepemosca's link and tried to install, after installing the System Update Readiness Tool (KB947821 - 2/22/2011), but no luck. Ran System File Checker, which found a few corrupt files it could not repair, which had me ready to bite the bullet and do a clean install. But then I tried to update my Sager (another notebook), and it hung at exactly the same place with the same error. Now, what are the odds that two notebooks that have been operating flawlessly, suddenly go to hell in exactly the same way at the same time. So now I'm looking for some program or process or setting common to both that may conflict with the update. Lot of candidates unfortunately.

 

Done the service pack update,everthing went smoothly.been testing my M15x for a few hours now,still no sign of any weird problems so far.
BTW,i updated using Windows update instead of clicking on the link provided by pepemosca,also,i have been performing windows update occasionally over the past few months,just selecting the most important updates.

 

I used to have the updater hang on some files when i used vista and what worked for me was.(and this is so simple it probably wont work but just in case) go find the file your trying to dl and install, in your add remove program and delete it.Sometimes its name is already there even though you didnt install or even finish the dl.At least that happened on my old vista machine

 

Have been running my m15x under windows server 2008 R2 SP1 for some weeks now, everything is fine.

 

double post for signature

 

Revelator, sorry to hear about your problem. I also got an error the first time I tried to install it but I think that was because my Java was updating and installing simultaneously. I simply restarted the computer, closed all unecessary processes and re-downloaded the particular update that failed using windows update in my start menu. Then everything was fine. EXCEPT I got a bit of a fright when, on restart, windows took a long time to configure the updates and then blackscreened for a good two minutes before suddenly reappearing at the alien sense face recog point. It was a bit of a fright but worked in the end, hopefully just a minor hiccup.
Sorry I haven't posted pics or a review as yet. I love my new Nebula Red M15x but I simply have not had enough time to do anything but update the thing and play about 3 minutes worth of Portal (steam pre-installed) on full 1080p native with EVERYTHING maxed out (2x AA and Trilinear filter tho, haven't maxed those yet) Will post more when I spend more time with it. Loving it so far.

PS what's all this about Crysis won't run with SP1? I want to download that game from Steam when I have the chance so I really WANT it to work.

 

Crysis is working with no tweak under SP1 server 2008R2, should be the same for SP1 7

 

Windows Update install hangs, downloading entire image

 

No problems here. Took a long time to download because I think everyone and their mom are downloading it.

 

windows update was hammered i downloaded the full file and installed on 5 machines including my sons M15x and no issues at all.

 

Crysis will run, just set the compatibility mode to windows 7 and not sp1. I have it running perfectly.

 

mine hangs at 24% everytime i have 2 other updates in gonna try install first see if that changes anything :S

 

Got annoyed with windows update hanging so d/l'd entire pack via link mentioned in this thread, install went well. Made sense as I have to deploy to several pc's. A tad under 2gb,contains x86 & x64, one of the biggest sp's ever.

 

I don't know, I've been having a lot of trouble getting SP1 to install. I installed all the security updates again last night and tried it again this morning, but it's still not working. Error Details: 8024200D

I ran the system readiness tool too, that ran and said everything was successful, but it still won't update/install/download the SP1. Really annoying.
7601.17514.101119-1850_Update_Sp_Wave1-GRMSP1.1_DVD.iso Just going to go ahead and download the whole 1.9GB iso.

 

So far so good for me. Went to windows update selected the SP1 and waited for it to be done and voila SP1 is installed. Ran CS, SC2 and ME2 perfectly fine.

 

The only thing that I've noticed different is some of the basic windows folders like MyDownloads and MyDocuments have turned back to their default icon rather than the Alienware Breed icons

edit:

However, all you have to do is reapply the theme to fix that

 

I've just did a full Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate 64 bits reinstall, using the MSDN image.
Everything went perfect!

 

I had to reinstall and update Windows 7 from scratch to get rid of the corrupt files reported by SFC before SP1 would install. Pain in the butt, but probably needed doing anyway.

 

I installed SP1 on my m11x and now alienware command center wont work even after multiple reinstalls.. Also for some reason the wifi/caps LED is off. Can't change my theme at all now due to command center not working.. I think it has somthing to do with alienfx controlller not workign because i get an error message on startup

 

Installed a clean installation of Windows 7 SP1 from MSDN and everything works great. There's is a reported USB bug from upgrading to SP1 with the update that everyone is downloading. It is something along the lines of SP1 using the old USB drivers and it could cause a USB 2.0 device to function as a 1.1 device.

 

So far so good. I installed windows SP1 yesterday and although it did take longer than the usual Windows Updates, it turned out to be okay. No problems yet but I haven't been playing much.

 

I am just slightly confused here. Am i supposed to download all 7 items?

 

If you are not sure what you need... maybe you could donwload the 1.9GiB ISO file: 7601.17514.101119-1850_Update_Sp_Wave1-GRMSP1.1_DVD.iso (1953.3MB)

Or you can only download...
* For a 32bits system: windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe (537.8MB)
Or
* For a 64bits system: windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe (903.2MB)

 

i had some problems with sp1 its supposed to improved reliability when connecting to HDMI audio devices but when i use m15x as a desktop, on all audio files i get about a 2 second audio lag(where the first two second of audio is silent), did anyone else get this by any chance??? (display port to hdmi to tv)
oh yeah and if im just on laptop audio everythings good

 

Installed sp1 without a hitch, but now the windows is starting up horribly sloooow. Very slow. The screen remains black for quite some time, wall paper (win7 theme) loads so slow, shortcuts too, only have 3 rows of em. Totally unsatisfied now...

 

Yeah i had same problem slowed the start up time i would have to say almost by double, i restored to before updates and all is back to normal...

 

True, however, i noticed that the system is more snappier than before. Since imma sleep it most time, so im gonna stick to it.

 

@ Revelator, I owe an apology for giving incorrect information earlier in this thread. I actualld did not install SP1 yet, as I thought I did. The reason for the confusion: I received the machine pretty much the same day SP1 went online and I had a lot of win updates to complete BEFORE SP1 appeared. One of those updates hung and I thought it was SP1. I simply restarted and re-updated and all was good, but I have NOT as yet installed SP1 as I am worried about stability issues as my M15x is running flawlessly at the moment.
Sorry for the misinfo rev. Hope your re-install is ok.

 

I ended up having to do a fresh Win7 installation and then rebuild from there. I would be in no hurry to install SP1 based on my experience.

Edit: it appears that a major cause for SP1 installation problems for ATI users is Driver Sweeper, which removes or corrupts certain system files in the process of cleaning out ATI drivers, files and registry entries. It can be fixed in most/some cases without requiring an new installation of Win 7 by restoring backup files from Driver Sweeper. It worked for me after a single DS run following a clean installation of W7 and SP1 resulted in corrupt or missing system files. See Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (Page 1) / Driver Sweeper / Phyxion.net Forums (Publisher). Lots of other sources available. If you continue to use Driver Sweeper, it is important to use the newer releases (now 2.90). Also, Driver Sweeper, Win7 SP1 and YOU!! - techPowerUp! Forums.

 

Many thanks for the Edit and heads up Revelator, this is going to bring peace of mind to a lot of people sitting on the fence with SP1, inc myself. I think I'll still hold off for now though, I just want to game the machine in the short times I can manage with it, so I'll let you know if I get any probs with the SP1 when I eventually get round to it.

PS someone in the games/fx card section said that SP1 is speeding up certain routine comands and boot times, does anyone else notice reduced boot times with SP1?

EDIT: Interesting that DS corrupts registry, did you CClean after a DS run?

 

I don't know about boot times as I changed to SSD when I updated to SP1 via clean install. A few SSD optimisations later. Boot time, including AlienSense Reco time totals 15 seconds from when "Starting Windows" shows.

 

In my opinion, if you want to install Windows 7 SP1, it is always better to perform clean install using Windows 7 SP1 integrated image (MSDN). Otherwise, if you choose to install SP1 installer on Windows 7, you may run into some minor problems.

Still, different people have different opinions on this matter.

 

Driver Sweeper does not corrupt the registry, it removes (or possibly corrupts) Win 7 system files in the process of removing ATI drivers/files. Running the command SFC /SCANNOW from an elevated command prompt will cause Win7 to check the integrity of the system files, repair or replace damaged or missing files where possible and report the results.