I’d been hanging out for Microsoft to release SP1 for Vista. I’d been having problems with Windows Update for several months and thought this might be the only thing that saves me from wiping the hard drive and doing a full reinstall of Vista.
This is a blow by blow of how I wasted 9 hours of my life keeping my computer up to date.
14.30 I read in a magazine that SP1 would be available via Windows Update from mid April. This wasn’t going to help me as my Windows Update function had been broken for some time. I read a little further into the article and it said SP1 was available now via Microsoft Downloads.
14.35 I head to Microsoft Downloads and discover that the SP1 pack will be 400+ MB as I had no choice but to download the 5 language pack. The windows update version was only around 65MB.
16.50 The download has completed and I start Vista SP1 installing. I get a message on the screen saying it may take more than an hour to install.
17.50 First hour is up, things are progressing but it hasn’t finished installing yet.
18.50 Two hours down, I’ve had dinner now, things are progressing, but still not fully installed.
19.20 The installer reports that it’s 100% and hangs with that message for about 10 minutes, also advising me not to turn the computer off.
19.30 After over two and a half hours I get a message on my screen advising that the SP1 install has been unsuccessful and SP1 is now uninstalling itself.
20.30 SP1 finishes removing itself from my system and reboots. A window pops up and refers me to a Knowledge Base article about SP1 failed installs. I take a look and it offers five different possible fixes for the problem. The one that stands out to me is SP1 requiring a couple of important windows updates having to be installed before SP1 could be installed. I vainly turn my attention to windows update and see if I can convince it get the required updates. This time when I hit the “get updates” button I get a different error code to what I have previously experienced.
The previous error had told me that I needed to follow a bunch of different steps to reinstall Windows Update. I duly followed these steps numerous times and nothing changed, I also spent hours Googling for an answer and still got nowhere.
This new error message leads me to a help file that suggests I have a firewall preventing Vista from accessing the Windows Update server. I have a bit of a think and the only firewall I can think of (other than the internal Vista one) is on my adsl modem/router. I log into the router and disable the firewall, click “get updates” again and after nine months of update errors I discover I have 90+MB of updates needed for my system. So update I do.
21.50 The updates have installed and I initiate the Vista SP1 install again.
23.30 A message pops up on the screen saying that the SP1 installation has been successful. I reactivate the firewall on my router, turn off the computer and go to sleep.
Total elapsed time of 9 hours.
I’m peeved that
A) It took four hours for SP1 to install, work out it shouldn’t be there and uninstall itself.
B) The initial failed installation was most likely as a result of Windows Update not installing the required packages prior to my SP1 upgrade attempt.
C) The SP1 installer should have checked I had the required updates before going through the whole convoluted process.
And the really annoying thing is that I payed Microsoft for the privilege. If I’d bought anything else that had so many faults I’d be demanding a refund.
Unless Microsoft really lift there game I can see myself being a Linux user in the very near future.