Question for all virtual users w/Win7....

If you have a VM ware or run the XP Mode the vhd is mainly isolated from anything involving the host OS W7. I have the MS Virtual PC as well VMWare Lite Workstation that both run the XP Mode as well as VirtualBox running other OSs but never caused any problem.

Note you shouldn't be running any VM ware, XP Mode, or even av, firewall programs when going to install since those could interfere with the SP install.

The fact that I restored a full system image to the main drive however prevented the SP1 beta and RCs from going on the 64bit Ultimate here until the final release was out this week. Then the error informatio revealed the solution to see results from the SP installer's problem accessing the host volume.

If you are running into a specific error there should be a link to an MS page that will hold some options to try to solve the install problem. Note that the Windows Update Readiness Tool and another update are required to be installed prior to either going through the WU site or download of the stand alone package to see results.

You will also want to review the steps MS has up prior to the next attempt. Steps to follow before you install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 from the Microsoft Download Center

When you hear back from MS support and if you still continue to have problems start a new one in the Windows Updates & Activation forum there. In fact you may want to review the various problems others are having to see if someone else is having the same error.

Here I will be compiling a list over time of any known problems that come up and the working solutions for them to keep onhand for further reference later at least until SP2 is eventually out being the next large installment for this version of Windows.

As far any interferences by VM wares or any other softwares the best thing when trying again would simply temporarily disabling any unnecessary startup items along with system protections to give it a clean slate to work with. Practically load Windows in an almost safe mode and taking notice of the error will be a large help in seeing the SP go on.

I wouldn't think you would since the repair is being performed on the host OS not the vhd. If you should run into problems running the VPC or VM ware, VBox program being used afterwards you would then need to redo the 32bit VM all over.

A good repair install generally aborbs just about all programs seen on the original installation with some exceptions at times for device drivers mainly. The registry usually remains untouched while exporting and later importing a backup of that would have been one advice before the repair began.

Here I had previously installed Vista on a vhd for running that on the Virtual PC now no longer valid having restored a full system image to the drive some time later. That installation will have to redone due to that while you should stil be able to run the VM as usual once complete.

If anything goes wrong however you would likely see the 32bit VM simply fail to load up fully and stall on you leading to deletion of that for a totally fresh install on another new vhd. This is why the one big advantage the XP Mode sees over other VMs is the access to main drives in order to backup anything you have going on one. They can be fragile at times.

The best thing for now however is see how things go once the repair is complete. If the VM loads up normally you should be all set.

Great news then! I had to use the command prompt option here to clean up the install problems here but finally got the finished SP on anyways!

On the OS being run on the VM change the network adapter if you see more then one listed in under Device Manager>Network adapters. When seeing the 32bit as well as previous versions installed onto VHDs as well as VBox and saw connection problems.

That's where I would simply switch from a Realtek Gigabyte(ohysical nic card) whatever to the shared NET virtual adapter or vice versa to then connect online immediately. Since you are running in a virtual environment you'll find that the shared virtual adapter is what will see you connected there.

Sometimes that's what it takes! You may want to note what is seen for the network adapter in the VM's device manager however so you will know which one works in case any other problems appear. That should be a shared type adapter there since the connection is being shared with the host OS.