Unless prompted by Windows Update - is SP1 really worth the hassle?

I've had this laptop for less than 2 months now, and have religiously downloaded and installed each and every Update offered via Microsoft, including that bin-full of a couple of weeks ago - all down with little fuss, and no other holdups.

I'm also one who actually checks for updates at least once a day - more usually when I open up for a session, and not once has Microsoft given a prompt or advised that SP1 is ready and waiting.

Now, given all the obvious pitfalls, errors, crashes, failures, BSODs and potential wrist-slitting events that KB976932 seems to have left in it's wake [ and the same sort of distress and heartache was caused by Vista's SP1 ], I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble to go ahead and even attempt to install it here? Reason being that I'm loathe to screw up a system that appears to be operating perfectly fine without it - until Microsoft tell me that I do need it.

Are there any advantages to be gained in opening a potential can of worms?

Airbot said:

Just do it Tony.

For most it went without problems updating, myself included. Can always uninstall it afterwards, or better still make a complete image of the system with Windows Backup, before installing it and if it goes bad you can just restore the image.

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

I thank you for your reassuring words of wisdom and knowledge, oh venerable Sensei , and I shall tend to your advice and do the business post-haste.

Should all fail and turn to custard, then the addition of stewed prunes and apple, with liberal lashings of double-double cream, should sweeten the disaster, and I can always turn to my old faithful Laptop with the dinosaur Vista OS, to seek advice further.

Cheers Aaron, me ol' Mate!

Tony








......I like Frenchwomen deep-fried in Olive oil - with onions and garlic. My neighbour's dogs don't like McDonald's cats. Sometimes I eat buckets of dried apricots watching movies on my TV outside. I admire folks who run hundreds of kilometres of Cat5.....and I wear glasses too - and in the shower

I knew it! I knew it! Here I am, cap in hand and plonking away on my 'old faithful' Vista OS, reporting a real problem that I'm having with my other Laptop, Windows 7 and that confounded Special Pack 1 Update installation.

As suggested, I successfully completed a full System Image Backup to an External Hard Drive and then proceeded to religiously follow all instructions for the installation of the can of worms commonly known as Windows 7 Service Pack 1. It took forever, and very soon my lunchbox of 18 peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches was empty....

All went well, but extremely slowly and it appeared as though I had managed to fluke a successful installation. That is until the system tried to complete a reboot.

On the first reboot, I had the following message on screen;

Configuring Service Pack 32% complete. Do not turn off your computer.

I mention the 32% complete, because that's as far as that configuration got, before the activity wheel ceased all rotations and the whole thing froze.

The next thing that happened is that it went automatically into a reboot with the usual 'Windows failed' black and white screen, giving me the startup options. I selected what would seem to be the prudent thing and hit the Enter key with 'Safe Mode' highlighted.

The next screen that appeared advised me that there was a

Failure to Reconfigure Service Pack. Reverting Changes. Do not turn etc.After a while, the screen message changed yet again, this time to show the following message;

Preparing to Configure Windows. Do not turn etc.

Then after sitting on that screen for about 15 minutes, it froze again and about 5 minutes later, it was back to;

Failure to Reconfigure Service Pack etc. etc.


The screen will remain with this display for about another 10 minutes or so, then it will attempt to start up with the Windows Starting display, before the screen window with the Windows 7 Logo appears. Immediately after that the Preparing to Configure Windows etc.etc. appears with the activity wheel, until the whole thing freezes yet again.

As you can see, the system has gone into a perpetual state of rebooting with a cycle of endless attempts to revert and then reconfigure going on. For some reason it just freezes up, and yet it's not really that cold here.

I've now been through about 5 complete cycles of the pattern outlined above, and frankly, am getting a little tired at looking at a static little inactivity wheel..

I am at a complete loss as to what I need to do now.....the damn thing won't even fire up enough to get me to a point where I can at least conduct a system restore to a point before this all kicked off yesterday. I've now been at this for the past almost 9 hours, and am about to pour a bucket of hot custard and stewed prunes and apples, all over the damned thing - and I might just airmail some to Microsoft.

Any other suggestions?

1Bowtie said:

Also after you install SP1 and it's up and running to your satisfaction be sure to make a backup of your OS, that way it is updated with all the MS updates to the point of SP1 release, it saves alot of time if you have to restore from your image.

Believe me....I would dearly love to be in a position to do just one eenie teenie weenie little bitsie Backup of a sucessfully installed SP1.....