Vista SP1 is now available

It should also be pretty much a given that when you do an update that the update process, if unable to complete, should gracefully provide an error message and revert back to the prior state rather than totally crippling your system and leaving it unable to boot.

 

For those who have updated the drivers and still don't see the SP1 upgrade with WU, you may want to have a look at whether you used VLite to make a bootable VISTA DVD at one point. There's a pointer on the MS page to VLite.

Having said that, I'm eternally grateful that I did manage to make a bootable DVD as it saved me from a Sony gound zero restore in this update.

 

i applied the sp1 registry hack & got the sp1 via windows update

 

I uninstalled my sound card, reinstalled it, and Windows Update then eventually showed me Vista SP1, so I installed it.

Up now on Vista Home Premium SP1 now with nothing unusual to report at this time.

 

I have just installed service pack1 on a AR51E machine went really smooth no issues as of yet.

 

I was very pleased to receive a new VAIO FZ4000 CTO last Wednesday that had SP1 preinstalled. That really made my day, let me tell you!

I've had one nagging SP1 issue, though. I haven't been able to get one of my printers (a year-old HP C3100) to work properly, both on this machine and on a desktop that I upgraded. I was able to install it on my Sony using HP's most recent software (downloaded from their site), but I kept getting weird crash-outs of Word 2007 afterwards. After many Word crashes, I finally got an MS error message saying the problem was my printer driver, and that HP was "aware" of it. I tried uninstalling the HP software and plugging in the printer directly, but no dice: Vista SP1 couldn't find any drivers for it at all.

Ironically, a much older HP PSC2175 is working just fine (albeit slowly) as a network printer on my two SP1 machines using just the standard Vista driver.

And I, too, have a laptop in my house that still hasn't seen SP1 in WU (though my desktop did). I've had problems with my sound card driver, though, and even though I think I have the latest driver, I may try uninstalling it and re-downloading it from WU, as you did AKAJohnDoe.

 

I found that there was a copy of Chdart.sys on my system (via a search of the entire C: drive via Windows Explorer) although it was more recent than the problematic versions 4.32.0.0 or earlier.

Device Manager did not show that any devices were using that driver either.

However, after uninstalling the Conexant High Definition Audio device under Sound, video and game controllers in Device Manager (also checking the option to "delete the driver software") and then using the option in Device Manager (Action/Add Legacy Hardware) to re-detect the device and reinstall it, and then manually updating the driver (also in Device Manager), that Chdart.sys driver was no longer present on my system except in an unused .inf file.

And, after a couple of reboots, a few hours of time passing, and a couple of manual check for updates in Windows Update, Vista SP1 appeared. So, having taken a full backup just the day before, I installed SP1.

It appears that there may have been a update (or perhaps more than one update) to the sound drivers since the beginning of this system's existence, and that not all the old drivers were properly cleaned up.

 

I installed Vista SP1 from Windows update on my FZ190 with no problems. Seems to be running fine for a couple of days now.

 

Thanks, AKAJohnDoe. Following your advice, I searched and deleted all the old instances of Chdart.sys (there were 10!), then uninstalled and reinstalled the card. Reinstallation was bumpy -- I ended up having to do it manually -- but after I rebooted, I checked Windows Update a couple of times and, after a few minutes, SP1 was there to install.

To anyone who tries this, make sure you check "delete the driver software" when you uninstall your Conexant sound card -- that's the crucial step. I forgot to do it the first time, and ended up having to repeat the process again...

 

Welcome.

I did not delete the instances of Chdart.sys; the uninstall/delete drivers did that for me.

And thanks for the reminder about deleting the driver software. Yes, I did check that option and neglected to document it. I've updated my original post with that missing information.

 

If I wait awhile to install SP1 and continue to install regular Windows update, will that have a negative impact on installing SP1 when I am ready?


Ken

 

Nope. You'll be fine.

In fact, if you have any pending updates showing (i.e.: not hidden), or one of several specific ones even if hidden, SP1 will not show up as an option to be installed.

 

Thanks AKAJohnDoe,

I have two hidden optional updates. Silverlight and Wifi Link 4965AGN. Don't think I need either. I also hid SP1 until I decide to install.



Ken

 

I still have SilverLight hidden. I would look at the WiFi LinK 4965AGN a bit closer if it were my machine to see if it applied or not.

 

AKAJohnDoe,

I couldn't find details on it and it is optional. My Wifi works perfectly, so I thought I would let it go.

Anyone know exactly what this update does?


Thanks,

Ken

 

I updated the wifi driver through device manager, no problem. Now have version 11.5.0.32. Did a subsequent search for driver update through device manager and said I am up-to-date.

Is this the same update that windows update wants to install or is there a difference? If the same, can I delete that update from the windows update screen?


Thanks,

Ken

 

I sometimes find that Microsoft's Windows Update presents drivers that are older than those available from the device manufacturer's website. Therefore, I always check what I am currently running against what WU has available and check the manufacturer's website as well before I allow the update.

You can usually find more information by searching the web for the KB number of the update.

 

I guess I found my answer. After restarting the computer, the wifi update no longer shows in the hidden updates window, nor does it show installed any where in the windows update screens. It must have deleted itself, realizing I now have the update. Either way, I have only the Silverlight and SP1 as hidden updates now.


Ken

 

rugmankc:

Please be aware that you will not be able to hide SP1 forever. It will eventually -- in a month or so -- become a required update, and if you have auto-update even partially turned on, Vista will start badgering you to install it. You can read more about that here.

If you want to stay SP1-free (why?) for even longer -- up to 12 months -- there is a fix you can download from Microsoft here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb927794.aspx

 

Cogitatus,

Thanks for the info. Don't quite understand the MD5 hash stuff. I think for my setup, running the windows update is fine. Just hate to expose a computer that I have running good and fast to a possible problem. I finally got my wifi working great. I do use Acronis True Image 11. Haven't read any thing negative on it and SP1 yet. I am sure I will give in and update soon.


Thanks,

Ken

 

The MD5 hashes are used in verifying that the standalone installer package was downloaded intact. This doesn't apply to the Windows Update version, but if you're going to use the standalone to update several computers at once, that's good to verify.

Really, despite all the hoopla surrounding it, Vista SP1 is not much more than a glorified patch. If you've been installing your updates regularly, you already have most of what's in it -- which means installation will be relatively easy. I've found all 3 of my computers to be more stable after upgrading -- especially my wireless connections. Plus the list of programs broken by SP1 is relatively short, in comparison to the fiasco that was XP SP2...

Besides, in the worst case scenario, you can uninstall SP1 from the control panel, just like any update. But if you have problems, I would suggest uninstalling the faulty program or hardware first, as I did with my printer.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Cogitatus

I do all my updates as they are available, never any problems. I don't have any listed bad programs or drivers. Guess I will try it and see what happens.


Ken

 

Downloaded SP1

Less than an hour

No Problems

Speeds the same for now at least





Ken