Win7 SP1 released to public

Night Hawk · 02 Mar 2011

Welcome to SF! valerian101

The 64bit stand alone will be the 64bt with the exe at the end. The name will be seen as "windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe" for the 64bit. Note the "X64" for the 64bit.

When you see the error screen come up upon any attempt note the link seen right at the bottom left for an MS page. That will address the specific error with 3 or 4 options for solving installation problems.

Here the SP1 was stubborn until with the finished service pack MS added the solutions found to work with one for those who have previously restored images to the main drive. Once I used the mountvol /e command at an elevated command prompt and restarted SP1 went right on. Likely one of those will be what you need there.

valerian101 · 03 Mar 2011

Thank you, NightHawk, for the welcome. So much nicer to feel at 'home'.

I downloaded the standalone package - took 2hrs 57 minutes with my 116kB/sec download speed. It's so lovely to live in the English Lake District but it does have its downside.

You very correctly diagnosed the installation problem of SP1 with the system restore program which I had used. I chose not to use the standalone package which I have burnt to disk, but used a system image - one before the SP1 original installation. I then downloaded and installed the updates; a windows defender and the SP1 with Kaspersky turned off. Everything went through smoothly except I am back where I started with the speech recognition program failing to pick up the microphone!

I wish I could contact MS directly to make them aware of this problem. For the present I am using my keyboard to type text although I am considering reinstalling Dragon Naturally Speaking which I used with XP. I do not find it as effective as the Win 7 program.

valerian101 · 03 Mar 2011

Just spent 40 minutes on the phone with a MS specialist support engineer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my system. The problem is that with I now have Windows 7 with SP1 and not Windows 7. The difference is that my Plantronics headset DSP-550 is not compatible with the new Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. I have now contacted Plantronics explaining the compatibility issue which they need to address with an updated driver.

Thanks to everyone who has attempted to resolve this problem and especially to NightHawk.

NoN · 03 Mar 2011

Night Hawk said:

IggyAZ said:

Oh I make a mirror image of the fully installed Win7 with all updates just in case something happens.

With the softwares used here you only have so many times allowed to activate them which means a clean install could result in the need to buy a new license for some. Plus I have some work tied up in other projects.The full system image option is the obvious solution for that especially now that SP1 is on.

Another thing however is actually the rare need to perform a clean install. One replacement install last June due to swapping brands of memory right after getting this case up and an image restored back in Oct. when running a test on something.

Now that the SP is on a fresh image to replace the previous works well here. With the volume of programs and tools seen here it would take a few days to get everything back on individually not including any new updates to be seen.

Wondering how much per year you're allowed to reinstall...

Just done it yesterday from scratch (second time in two months, third time in a year), i've not allowed W.U updates when it created the new account.

Installed Windows 7 SP1 from the microsoft .iso burnt on Dvd after my desktop was well set. It tooks an hour and half including reboots.

I noticed the volume was more important than the SP1 install provided in W.U, so make me think stand-alone install fixed more files. Got about 10 updates in W.U after the stand-alone SP1 install.

It tooks me an entire day to reinstall my programs, and again all this let me think it is far better manner to have all your programs running smoother and not being buggy by this new incoming SP1. I'll done it again that way!

PS:
as exemple...my index (during a sfc /scannow file checker) before SP1 was 143336 files, after SP1 upgrade in W.U it was 193336 and now with the stand-alone SP1 install it exceed 23xxxx index files!

David Ben Yosef · 03 Mar 2011

alphanumeric said:

Mind you I'm not knocking making an image, I've thought about it, but just never bothered to actually do it.

I'm not knocking it either. I've done it before just for an experiment, and it actually takes me less time to do a clean install [if I don't zero the disc out first, and just delete the partitions]. I only run about a dozen programs. When you create an installation disc using the WAIK, you can install all your programs at the same time as the OS, and can even make it unattended. It's pretty nice to just boot from DVD, and go watch some T.V for a little while and come back to your loaded desktop with a clean install.

alphanumeric said:

These days, installing everything from USB thumbdrives, I can be up and running on the internet in no time. I can remember when it took me all day, or even a couple of days to get everything the way I wanted it. Those are not fond memories.

I hear that! I used to have to go through the same thing as well.

Night Hawk said:

With the softwares used here you only have so many times allowed to activate them which means a clean install could result in the need to buy a new license for some.

Well, in that case, making a backup image is the way to go. Personally, I wouldn't own an OS disc that had limited installs. But I do understand that some people have to go that route, for one reason or another. I recommend buying a TechNet account for anyone who is going to purchase Windows 7. The upside to that is astronomical. It pays for itself many times over, especially when you use Office on a regular basis.

Night Hawk · 03 Mar 2011

valerian101 said:

Just spent 40 minutes on the phone with a MS specialist support engineer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my system. The problem is that with I now have Windows 7 with SP1 and not Windows 7. The difference is that my Plantronics headset DSP-550 is not compatible with the new Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. I have now contacted Plantronics explaining the compatibility issue which they need to address with an updated driver.

Thanks to everyone who has attempted to resolve this problem and especially to NightHawk.

I'm glad to hear you were able to get SP1 to go right on for you. I'm sure that's a relief!

Until MS finally provided some solutions when going to the error page I wasn't able to get the previous beta or RC to finish but only rollback at 99% until the info about restored images to drive was updated.

As far as the headset and speech recognition program keep on their case! That's the only way they'll ever see to updating their wares. I ran into a similar problem with ISP provided modems without 64bit driver support. Solution: Buy a separate modem

It shows companies tend to fall way behind on things.

valerian101 · 04 Mar 2011

As far as the headset and speech recognition program keep on their case! That's the only way they'll ever see to updating their wares. I ran into a similar problem with ISP provided modems without 64bit driver support. Solution: Buy a separate modem

It shows companies tend to fall way behind on things.

What you wrote, NightHawk, echoes the words of the support engineer. When he phoned me later, I said I had contacted Plantronics and he said that by doing that I had alerted them to the problem, helping them (Plantronics), Microsoft and the World! Think maybe he was a little OTT.

I was surprised to read that one forum member finds it quicker to do a clean install. A clean install cleans the drive and the registry, but I find that having an automatic weekly back up and system image added to my second drive, means I can, as I did, restore all my programs, files and folders in about 40 mins - just time to enjoy a cup of freshly made coffee. Doing that in the case of the failure to install SP1 after using a system restore point, solved the problem. Just a shame about the now incompatible driver. It means I have to type!!!

I can actually type quite quickly but I am lazy.

BTW I got the impression that the Windows 7 specialist engineer didn't know that their software contained an excellent speech recognition program. Now, doesn't that make you smile without using a smiley.

Night Hawk · 04 Mar 2011

I run into outdated stuff too often. When first getting the new cable setup and asking about the lack of 64bit drivers for the modem the ISP provides the service person didn't even know the difference between a 64bit Windows and a 64bit encryptive feature!

I said I couldn't connect online with the then 64bit beta and ....

got nowhere fast!

It's no surprize that some find it far easier to simply wipe a drive to put a fresh install of 7 considering how much faster it installs over previous versions. The typical time for seeing all setup files copied to the drive and initial restart is at 12min. compared to over 20min. seen with the older versions.

In 20 minutes you are changing the wallpaper while it always used to be about 40+ minutes to finally get there the first time. The measured time for restoring a full image here has been 35min. each time. On the other hand a repair install took about 80min to complete. Full clean install=20min then add all device drivers, updates, programs, etc. hours go by!

Here one SP1 install success resulted in two full images being stored on two separate storage drives. It's much more efficient and reliable in the long run until the time does come for a fresh install of everything.

David Ben Yosef · 04 Mar 2011

valerian101 said:

I was surprised to read that one forum member finds it quicker to do a clean install.

That's only for two reasons though...

1.) I only run about a dozen programs on my machine.
2.) I created an unattended installation DVD that installs all my programs at the same time Windows is being installed. [it took about a week to create that disc]

That method isn't for everyone though. The backup image method you chose is MUCH more popular, and I'm not knocking it. In fact, I condone/advocate that method. However, if I were to use your method, I would invest in Acronis' software, as opposed to the Microsoft native backup program.

David Ben Yosef · 04 Mar 2011

Night Hawk said:

It's no surprize that some find it far easier to simply wipe a drive to put a fresh install of 7 considering how much faster it installs over previous versions. The typical time for seeing all setup files copied to the drive and initial restart is at 12min. compared to over 20min. seen with the older versions.

Really? It only took me 8 minutes for XP. But that's because it was a 12x CD, as opposed to a 4x DVD. The XP-Pro SP3 installation flew right along for me. In the end, they are pretty close to the same amount of time for everything.

Win7 SP1 released to public

Mixed Blessings!