Any good guides on how to repair Win 7 for SP1 update?

I cant update to SP1, probably due to the problems I have seen posted for using programs like CCleaner or DriverSweeper and they took out some core files that the SP1 is checking for.

There should be a relatively easy way to fix this and repair your OS to install the update but all the guides from MS are total bollocks.

I tried via windows update, I tried to download it from the MS Site, I ran the MS repair tools & commands. So far no good.

I don't need SP1 for any particular reason, but the windows update keeps prompting me to do it so thats annoying and I would like to have it in case its needed for future updates/patches that are important.

 

Why do you need Sp1 that badly? I'm content not installing it (yet). Far as I am concerned it's a 'beta' and has tons of bugs to iron out so far. I honestly don't udnerstand what the fuss is about... Right click and 'Hide' the Sp1 update, you can always 'un-hide' it later. I wouldn't recommend turning Windows Update off but you could do that too.

In my knowledge there really isn't a clear cut 'good' way to just repair your installation. I suppose you could pop your Win7 Cd in and restart your computer and choose the 'repair installation' option. That 'might' work..

You would probably be better off doing a new install. I did one this morning and in just under 2 hours I'm already back here posting away. That's including installing 200Gb of all of my drivers, hardware/software etc. Depending on how many things you have/need on your computer it might be better for you to just do a new install in the long run. After backing up all your data of course. As for programs like CCleaner and DriveCleaner if you're using them you might just want to stick with Micosofts OEM 'Disk Cleanup' CCleaner is very overrated in my opinion and I wouldn't touch anything that says it'll 'clean up the registry' as far as I could throw it...

 

SP1 came through on my workstation the other day and completely bricked it - this on a computer that I built last week. Wireless network card, video card, mouse drivers, media centre remote, all just stopped working. The computer has very little installed on it as yet aside from Windows and hardware drivers.

I rolled back to before the service pack update and will be ignoring it until other people have had a chance to iron out the bugs for me. TBH I wouldn't usually jump on such a major update so early, but Windows decided in its infinite wisdom that it would install it for me.

 

I always lead the pack in trying new stuff, im the scapegoat for you guys

 

Incorrect ViciousXUSMC. I tried SP1 the other day on my other laptop, started getting freezes when booting up etc. Turned out to be my Anti-virus not supporting Sp1. Christ, it was like installing a new Operating system. Suddenly nothing is supported.

If you're skeptical just stay far far away until major companies start giving it the 'tick' of approval. You aren't missing out on anything. It's a 78Mb patch that just has some new stuff and some minor old things you may have missed either by accident or deliberately.

 

Have you downloaded the full SP1 installer, instead of just going through Windows Update? It should be able to install on pretty much anything, and contain all of the files it needs. I've installed the Windows Update version on two computers that have never run CCleaner or DriverSweeper, and it worked perfectly both times.

I never use CCleaner or DriverSweeper or recommend using them specifically because they could break things like this. The programs are only as smart as their programmers, and if it's not Mark Russinovich I don't trust it to change my system

 

I was in the same boat as you. I was able to remedy my situation by doing an in place Windows Upgrade to itself. With your computer turned on and logged onto the desktop, put your Windows DVD in your drive and start the install process. When asked for clean install or upgrade, select upgrade. This is the equivalent of doing a Windows Repair under XP.

It patched all of the files that were damaged/destroyed from using Driver Sweeper and I was able to install SP1.

 

So using CCleaner and DriverSweeper etc can do nasty things to your computer?

I never would've guessed...

 

I tried the .exe but not the .iso yet since I probably would need to burn that to a disk to work properly.

 

System Readiness Check may ID some out-of-whack things.

 

CCleaner isn't bad, since you can (and should) backup any changes to the reg before it cleans up, and the file cleaning function is the same thing as using windows disk cleanup. Driversweeper is a silly concept from the start - old drivers (like the reg files) are so tiny you would never notice them, but unlike reg files they are sometimes critical for apps to work, and programs will not automatically rewrite them back in for you (reg files are almsot always re/written by the programs that use them).

Agree with newsposter, the small patch that windows should have dl'd about a month or 2 ago called 'readiness check' should give you pointers.

 

I've never used DriverSweeper so I can't vouch for it, but I've been using CCleaner regularly for years on all my computers and all updated (via Windows Update) to SP1 last week without any issues. So far all are working flawlessly so I doubt CCleaner is the culprit in these SP1 problems some W7 users are experiencing when updating to SP1.

 

Check ZDNet.com They actually made your issue as their headline. Hence, by checking their site, you can download here fixes in order for you to properly install SP1. The articles are entitled: "Microsoft notes Windows Update 'inconsistencies,' provides fix, Quick Fix for Windows 7 SP1 Installation Errors, and Should you install Windows 7 Service Pack 1?"

Download links:

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Hope this helps

 

You could always mount the .iso bro with something like 'Magic Disc' save the planet and mount .iso 's when you can instead of buying Cd's

 

I usually mount .iso to install a program but for something like this I figured it may have to reboot and use the disk as boot media.

I'll give it a shot though nothing else has worked yet, including all the repair commands/tools.

 

Maybe it's superstition or paranoia or maybe it's just being old skool, but I've always maintained my computer more or less manually (although I mainly let Windows 7 look after itself tbh, it's pretty good) - letting a program I downloaded mess around with my registry scares me!

 

Yeah, you're correct hehe, but I believe CC Cleaner is safe to use among all registry cleaners/fixers. Whenever you uninstall/delete a programme, there are bits of registry traces left in your system. Only a registry cleaner can fully delete all these fragments which, if accumulated, can slow down your system, and also occupy a significant amount of memory.

 

When I set up a machine I always take a disk image once I've updated it and installed all my programs, on older machines my tactic was just to image that back and start from scratch once my computer started getting slow (only takes an hour or so)

With the power of computers these days I now just use said disk image to create a VM and use one or two of those for most stuff I do, for instance it is quite nice being able to surf the net with all scripting, Flash, plugins, etc turned on and know it will never mess your computer up!

 

Just to add my last 2 cents to this thread, nothing that changes/edits/compresses the registry is 'safe' for your computer. No matter how many 5 stars the program has, how much people charge for it etc.

If you want to avoid invalid registry entries and settings and you're worried about your registry then just use a program like Total Uninstall to completely remove all traces of a program after an install so nothing can be left behind.

It's completely overrated how programs say that you need to compress your registry to save disc space etc etc. The registry is tiny... compressing/editing/removing dead entries from it is pointless and it does not speed up your computer. I know this from experience. Also invalid registry entries aren't as big-a deal as you would expect. Only if your computer is experiencing issues because of this should you ever change anything.

If you're worried about disc space get an external drive or use Microsoft's Disc-Cleanup. Never deleting anything actually stops your computer from becoming fragmented.

What's the old saying... 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it?'

Computers are pretty self sufficient these days. Trying new things is great but all of those 'increase your internet speed' , 'increase your pc speed' programs like System Mechanic are really just extremely dangerous tools that could completely destroy your OS. Or they are programs that charge money just to show you what Msconfig already does...

I don't trust anything from Piriform. All their programs are useless freeware that don't work half as good genuine Microsoft OEM software that ships with Win7. If you were looking for something 'cool' to speed up your computer then you'll be disappointed. The best way to test how fast your computer is, is to turn off all your services (not recommended) then do a restart or reinstall your OS after doing a complete format. Or both. What I'm sarcasticly trying to say is your computer is as fast as you see it.

´D

 

Damn straight. Especially the bit I bolded - don't know how many people actually realise that with all the FUD spread by the people who make these programs!

 

Right, so when I install a program, since it edits the registry, it isn't safe for my computer and I should remove it...

@Zeptinune

Let me correct you. Nothing that changes/edits/compresses the registry is "safe" for your computer if you do it blindly and idiotically. Not reading the prompts and investigating the edits the program is about to make is a sure fire way to screw something up. Now, is isn't the program's fault. In many cases, it's the end-user. So, I suggest that we stop muddling all programs that "clean the registry" or "remove uninstall leftovers" as "bad" because there are ones that are BAD and there are ones that are actually GOOD as long as you think before you click.

 

A program generally only creates/edits its own keys when you install it. The problem is the applications that purport to be able to go through your whole registry and automatically know what needs to stay and what should be deleted.

I have had to fix an awful lot of computers where somebody has downloaded a registry or driver cleaner or similar and let it go through the automatic process by itself, and it has deleted something that was actually needed. My advice will continue to be to steer well clear of these programs, especially in Windows 7 where the operating system's built-in housekeeping is much improved.

And anyway, what are we even talking about for the size of a registry? 20 or 30MB? With modern hardware that's so small as to effectively be a non-issue.

 

I agree that Windows 7 is more than able to maintain itself. It's for those instances where a program doesn't remove user settings and then when trying to install a newer version, complains about the leftovers; well, that's when I use CCleaner. I don't hit clean on every single thing it finds. I take the time to track the key down myself and confirm that it is okay to delete it. I mainly use CCleaner to help me find the entries that "might be the culprit".

 

I don't have any problem with you using it: you quite obviously have more than enough knowledge of how Windows and the registry works, and what the program's doing.

What I have an issue with is the frequency with which these programs get recommended, in tech blogs and such, to the general Windows user base.

Having served my time on helldesks (& these days doing it for friends & family) I would be extremely hesitant to recommend such a potentially damaging tool to the vast majority of Windows users, who are under the impression that every time a box appears on screen, you click OK or Next as fast as you physically can to make it go away. What do you mean you're supposed to read what it says?

Further, loads of the blogs that recommend the use of these utilities are helping to spread FUD about registry problems, when even most of the people who download the program and run it are experiencing no such problems, they just heard that they should fix this thing called the registry.

 

Websites are paid a pretty big sum to recommend something they haven't even tested. It's like companies paying their own employed doctors to recommend their own products. Mc Donalds constantly says their foods are low calories etc, as said by 'their doctors'. What happened to intent for bias?

A second opinion is always needed. No 'review' trumps first-hand knowledge. Most software is safe if you 'think before you click'. Try telling that to computer illiterate people these days let alone kids who just see 'Speed up your PC!'

 

Oh...kay.

Michael

 

So, does anyone really want a guide for repairing Windows 7 damage caused by "cleaning" programs like Driver Sweeper and DriverCleaner.Net? If really needed, I could try to recreate some of the errors people are facing by doing the SP1 update inside a manually damaged Windows 7 install. However, if people are able to find guides else where and are able to manage, then I won't make one cause it would take a while (1 hour to install SP1 inside a VM even with the offline package).