x64 Windows 7 SP1 Can Cripple x86 Applications and Services

Microsoft is offerings customers an update designed to help them deal with x86-based applications or services being left crippled following the installation of Service Pack 1 (SP1) on computers running the 64-bit (x64) flavor of Windows 7.

x64 Windows 7, as well as its 64-bit predecessors, can also run 32-bit applications, but it seems that SP1 upgrades can introduce some issues.

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x64 Windows 7 SP1 Can Cripple x86 Applications and Services - Softpedia

Civilization III

I had that problem with Civilization III.

After I installed W7 SP1, it would start, run the intro and display the menu, but as soon as I tried to start a game, it would crash.

I made an XP VM and installed all of my old games in it.
Problem bypassed.

Kinda old news. I got that update on Feb 8 as a recommended update. Its KB2487426. Check your update history and see if it is there.

Jim

Weird

Phone Man said:

Kinda old news. I got that update on Feb 8 as a recommended update. Its KB2487426. Check your update history and see if it is there.

Jim

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Weird.
I don't have it (it never got offered to me).
Since I check the update list and routinely select all updates, I should have got it.

I noticed something similar with XP.
There was a certificate revocation update (earlier this year) that was never offered to me.

This is just the thing I was posting about in the Win 8 Dev version thread.

I have a PERFECTLY operating Win 7 that does NOT have SP 1. I very apprehensive about trying to install it as still many people are having problems and it does not appear to be related to malware or defective programs, many folks have had serious issues with the most ordinary desktops with no unusual programs or malware, just the basics really, MS needs to fix these debacles in Win 8. I am not installing SP1 until they no longer support the original version.

The only thing that breaks Win7 SP1 upgrades is a broken OS to begin with - people don't read CBS.LOG files (for good reason), but I've not come across a Win7 SP1 installation gone bad where the underlying system didn't already have a huge (and hidden) issue. Usually these are related to the servicing engine itself being broken or to a signature failure. Some of these I've not been able to pinpoint the root cause of, simply because a broken OS is already a fringe scenario, and partially because a lot of times the failure is due to the servicing engine becoming corrupt (thus making the logs suspect). Whilst it would be nice if the Service Pack tried to do a lot of the cleanup work automatically that you have to do manually to get a broken repository fixed, for example, it would be a lot of work for millions of machines that don't need it to fix an issue that affects a very small number of installed Win7 machines (less than 1%, in my experience).

What they need to do is make the servicing engine more resilient - the upgrades breaking are just a symptom of a different problem.

lehnerus2000 said:

Weird.
I don't have it (it never got offered to me).
Since I check the update list and routinely select all updates, I should have got it.

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I don't see it listed on either of my 7x64 PC's installed updates history. When I ran it on my laptop I got a an "OS not supported or applicable" (something like that) message. I think if you originally installed with install media that already has SP1 you don't need that patch. If you install SP1 separately that patch may apply. I believe the KB article mentions SP1 as one of the updates that may encounter problems without the patch. It sounds like that patch was done to address some of the SP1 install errors problems.

legacy7955 said:

This is just the thing I was posting about in the Win 8 Dev version thread.

I have a PERFECTLY operating Win 7 that does NOT have SP 1. I very apprehensive about trying to install it as still many people are having problems and it does not appear to be related to malware or defective programs, many folks have had serious issues with the most ordinary desktops with no unusual programs or malware, just the basics really, MS needs to fix these debacles in Win 8. I am not installing SP1 until they no longer support the original version.

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To my knowledge SP1 is only a group of updates bundled into an installer package. You likely already have most if not all of the applicable updates installed. You just did it the hard way, one at a time. As far as I know you don't have to install SP1 to continue getting updates, not yet anyway. Download the full SP1 stand alone installer package and save it somewhere. Then the next time you do a clean install, install it then.

Good advice from alphanumeric.

I downloaded, saved and installed the standalone SP1 update and, touch wood, have had no problems thus far.

I recently installed Windows 7 on a friend's computer and the first thing I did after installing any drivers needed was to download and install SP1, which took care of a whole bunch of updates that would have meant restarting the system several times.

SP1 also had a few hundred Hot-Fixes that were not offered through updates. If I remember correctly it was over 800 updates total. For a full list go to http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=269 and download the xls spreadsheet "Updates in Win7 and WS08R2 SP1.xls"


Jim

The article may be new but the problem reported is old and the fix was installed on mine on February 8, 2011.

Makes no sense to me.

alphanumeric said:

legacy7955 said:

This is just the thing I was posting about in the Win 8 Dev version thread.

I have a PERFECTLY operating Win 7 that does NOT have SP 1. I very apprehensive about trying to install it as still many people are having problems and it does not appear to be related to malware or defective programs, many folks have had serious issues with the most ordinary desktops with no unusual programs or malware, just the basics really, MS needs to fix these debacles in Win 8. I am not installing SP1 until they no longer support the original version.

Click to expand...

To my knowledge SP1 is only a group of updates bundled into an installer package. You likely already have most if not all of the applicable updates installed. You just did it the hard way, one at a time. As far as I know you don't have to install SP1 to continue getting updates, not yet anyway. Download the full SP1 stand alone installer package and save it somewhere. Then the next time you do a clean install, install it then.

Click to expand...

Yap,that's what i do

I have a very good running x64 Windows 7 ultimate and SP1 was installed when offered on the update site....never an issue. I have to agree with others who posted that SP issue's are most likely from underlying issues prior to the upgrade.

I have rarely had the issue that one update breaks another but that is solved by uninstalling the blocking update and then installing the one that was blocked. SP's by their nature do not block the updates that they include...Go for it, the SP installer does a restore point so you can restore back if required.