Microsoft has just released a tool to block the deployment of the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and the Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 via Windows Update. The toolkit offers three different components to block the automatic deployment of the service pack via Windows Update. It has to be noted at this point that the blocker tool does not block the installation if it is initiate by the user directly, either by a direct download or from CD or DVD.

The blocker tool is available as

• A Microsoft-signed executable
• A script
• An ADM template

A Microsoft-signed executable

The executable creates a registry key on the computer on which it is run that blocks or unblocks (depending on the command-line option used) the delivery of a Service Pack to that computer through Windows Update. The key used is HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.

When the ‘/B’ command line option is used, the key value name ‘DoNotAllowSP’ is created and its value set to 1. This value blocks delivery of a Service Pack to the computer through Automatic Update or Windows Update.

When the ‘/U’ command line option is used, the previously created registry value that temporarily blocked the delivery of a Service Pack to the computer through Automatic Update or Windows Update is removed. If the value does not exist on the computer on which it is run, no action is taken.

A script

The script does the same thing as the executable, but allows you to specify the remote machine name on which to block or unblock delivery of Service Packs.

An ADM template

The ADM template allows administrators to import group policy settings to block or unblock delivery of Service Packs into their Group Policy environment. Administrators can then use Group Policy to centrally execute the action across systems in their environment.

Companies and organizations can use either of the three to block the installation of the service pack 1 for Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 once it is released by Microsoft. The deployment is blocked for a period of 12 months after the official release of the service pack. (download, via Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit Download Available)

Service Pack 1 Beta is made only available for IT Professionals and Developers, it is therefor required to pick an IT or developer related occupation in the questionnaire during registration.

windows 7 sp1 download

Windows 7 SP1 is offered for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7. Supported languages are English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

The service pack is offered via Windows Update or as a 1.2 Gigabyte standalone iso image which needs to be burned to DVD before it can be used. It has to be noted that the beta will expire on June 30, 2011. Users with the beta installed need to upgrade to a newer build by then or uninstall the SP1 beta.

windows 7 service pack

All selections on the download screen will trigger a Java applet that is initiating the download to the local computer system.

We have uploaded the 32-bit and 64-bit updater to Ghacks for your convenience.

• WUSignUpTool_x86
• WUSignUpTool_x64

Executing the download enables the system to receive the Service Pack 1 Beta via Windows Update. It can take a while before the update shows in Windows Update. We had to download one important update first before the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta was offered in Windows Update.

Windows 7 users who install the beta via Windows Update will notice that it’s size is considerably smaller than the size of the ISO image.

windows update windows7 sp1

Interested users should read the FAQ over at Microsoft which answers common questions.

The beta can be uninstalled without affecting the operating system. Microsoft is providing uninstallation information on this page.

The easiest way to uninstall SP1 Beta is using Programs and Features.

If you’ve used the Disk Cleanup Wizard since you’ve installed SP1 Beta, the backup files needed to uninstall the service pack might have been removed from your computer. If that’s the case, then use System Restore to uninstall the service pack.

1.

Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.
2.

Click View installed updates.
3.

Click Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932), and then click Uninstall.

If you don’t see Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) in the list of installed updates, or if the uninstall option is disabled, use System Restore to uninstall the service pack.

Additional resources of interest:

• Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 and Windows 7 with SP1 [link]
• Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Beta (KB976932) [link]

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 does not add new features to the operating system. This alone should be reason enough for most users to stay away from the beta and wait until the final version is released before upgrading.

If you have installed the beta, what’s your impression of it?

There will always be users that feel the need to download and install a newer version of an operating system, no matter if it is a pre-release copy or not.

But even those users might want to read on to find out if its worth downloading and installing this leaked version of the Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

A few aspects need to be considered. The leaked version is a pre-release copy, a beta version that is not intended to be installed on computer systems that are used on a day to day basis. The version might contain bugs or issues that might cause data corruption or data loss.

The beta version of the first Service Pack for Windows 7 has a timelimit. The version will expire in 2011 and it is not yet clear if it will be possible to install the final version of the Service Pack on top of the beta. It might be that it is not possible at all, or that users need to tweak configuration files to do that (this was the case with Release Candidates and the final version of Windows 7).

Windows users who download the leaked beta need to understand that malicious users often use popular software releases to spread malware. It is recommended to perform a thorough scan of the files before any other action.

The third and last aspect that speaks against downloading and installing the leaked version is the lack of features that are added by the installation. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will – almost – only contain previously releases patches and fixes.

Additional support for communication with third-party federation services:
Additional support has been added to allow Windows 7 clients to effectively communicate with third-party identity federation services (those supporting the WS-Federation passive profile protocol). This change enhances platform interoperability, and improves the ability to communicate identity and authentication information between organizations.

Softpedia lists some of the changes on their download page:

Improved HDMI audio device performance:
A small percentage of users have reported issues in which the connection between computers running Windows 7 and HDMI audio devices can be lost after system reboots. Updates have been incorporated into SP1 to ensure that connections between Windows 7 computers and HDMI audio devices are consistently maintained.

Corrected behavior when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents:
Prior to the release of SP1, some customers have reported difficulty when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents (documents containing pages in both portrait and landscape orientation) using the XPS Viewer, resulting in all pages being printed entirely in either portrait or landscape mode. This issue has been addressed in SP1, allowing users to correctly print mixed-orientation documents using the XPS Viewer.

Changes common to both client and server platforms:
Change to behavior of “Restore previous folders at logon” functionality
SP1 changes the behavior of the “Restore previous folders at logon” function available in the Folder Options Explorer dialog. Prior to SP1, previous folders would be restored in a cascaded position based on the location of the most recently active folder. That behavior changes in SP1 so that all folders are restored to their previous positions.

Enhanced support for additional identities in RRAS and IPsec:
Support for additional identification types has been added to the Identification field in the IKEv2 authentication protocol. This allows for a variety of additional forms of identification (such as E-mail ID or Certificate Subject) to be used when performing authentication using the IKEv2 protocol.

Support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX):
There has always been a growing need for ever more computing power and as usage models change, processors instruction set architectures evolve to support these growing demands. Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) is a 256 bit instruction set extension for processors. AVX is designed to allow for improved performance for applications that are floating point intensive. Support for AVX is a part of SP1 to allow applications to fully utilize the new instruction set and register extensions.

It is likely that most users do not need those new features right now. The Windows 7 SP1 Beta is available in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. It has the build string 7601.16562.100603-1800 indicating that it was compiled on June 3. The iso file that is offered via Connect contains three files, windows6.1-KB976932-x86-INTL.exe for 32-bit editions of Windows 7, windows6.1-KB976932-X64-INTL.exe for 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 plus windows6.1-KB976932-ia64-INTL.exe for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 IA64 systems. All installers are multi-lingual. (via Windows 7 News)

With Windows 7 that seems unnecessary. Rumors about the Windows 7 service pack 1 have made their rounds in the last weeks with most suggesting a release in the fourth quarter of 2010, around a year after Windows 7 has been released.

Microsoft employee Brandon LeBlanc yesterday revealed additional details about the upcoming service pack for Windows 7.

For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2.

The announcement confirms that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will be anything but spectacular. This also means that companies and organizations do not need to wait for the service pack to be released before they start migrating to the new operating system.

The service pack will be delivered through Windows Update and as a download that will be made available on the Microsoft website. Brandon promised to post additional information about the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 shortly before the development team reaches the next milestone. So, no release timeline at this point.

So I decided something along the lines of what Martin does each week with his Software Updates, a compilation of the best tips I see around the blogosphere and some links to the original sources.

Make SP1 Permanent

I never knew of this till I found out on Life Rocks! 2.0 that there’s a file which you can use to make the Vista Service Pack 1 permanent. It’s useful once you’re confident everything it working fine as it cleans up the installation folders and files.

Restore ‘Search’ to Folder Context Menus

Thanks to some badgering from Google Microsoft removed the direct access to Search from the start menu and context menus. If you used these then the How-to Geek provides a registry hack to get it back.

5 Google Reader tips for Bloggers

gHacks author Daniel’s personal productivity blog, Hack Your Day, had a great article on how to use Google Reader efficiently. Always interesting and useful I recommend giving him a read.

FireFTP

As I have just re-installed Vista and my net is crippled to less then dial-up speed at the moment I haven’t been able to download FileZilla. After seeing it featured on the FF extensions page I decided to give FireFTP a try and have been impressed so far.

The XP SP3 brings a lot to the table that has already been released as fixes or other Windows updates. Some features that are totally new are that activation is not required, Network Access Protection, Black hole router detection and a few more. Most of these are backports of Vista, but if you do have XP, why not download it?

Vista SP1 contains all kinds of updates, with solutions to many problems, additions and other fixes. For a full, detailed list read the Microsoft white paper on Vista SP1 and get downloading!

The most common causes in my opinion are trying to upgrade to Service Pack 1 from a Vista version in an unsupported language, that a beta version of Service Pack 1 is still installed on the system and that vlite was used to create a custom Windows Vista installation DVD.

Even more interesting than those eight causes are the Help and Support options that are available without costs. Microsoft is offering support by email, live chat and even phone (with some limitations). It will be pretty interesting to see if Microsoft can keep the 1 day email response time. Live Chat is only available during certain hours of the day, surprisingly though it is available on Saturdays and even Sundays. Support is available free of charge until March 18, 2009.

The old files are kept in place just in case the user wants to revert back to the old system. The great thing about this tip is that Microsoft is providing the Windows Vista Cleanup Tool which is installed during service pack 1 installation.

The name of the file that you need to execute to cleanup Vista after the Service Pack 1 installation is vsp1cln.exe which is short for Vista Service Pack 1 Cleaner. Just execute it from the command line and select yes when you are asked if you want to continue. The old files will be removed from the system which frees some disk space.

The only drawback of this utility is that you cannot go back to Windows Vista pre Service Pack 1.

This release is intended for system administrators according to Microsoft who wants that “normal” users download the service pack and all other patches through automatic updates and Windows Update. The update should already be available in Windows Update for most users. The download will be smaller than the standalone release because there is obviously only one language that needs to be patched

Users should also take a look at the Knowledge Base article at Microsoft that lists applications that are known to pose problems after installing Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

“Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues; supporting new types of hardware; and adding support for several emerging standards.”

The list at the Microsoft website contains only twelve applications but the count could be a lot higher considering that there is not a possibility that all known applications have been tested.

Microsoft asks users who encounter problems to try a restart first and see if that fixes the problem. If it does not it asks the users to update the application so that it will work without difficulties in Windows Vista SP1.

Well now there is a post on Windows Vista News by Mike Nash who clearly states that Windows Vista SP1 is indeed final and that Microsoft has no plans of changing the Service Pack 1 code prior to going public. The question that comes immediately to my mind is why the hell do they release the service pack 1 in March if it already is final ? Why are they claiming that some bugs have delayed the release of it when there clearly will be no changes prior to the public availability ?

The current release schedule for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 according to Mr. Nash will see a release later this week for Volume Licensing Partners and later this month to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers. I always had the impression that the latter were technical inclined enough to cope with possible driver issues. Maybe I’m wrong.

The second is if a WGA check fails which will make Vista run in Non-Genuine Mode. Both modes impose certain penalties upon the user like logging him off after an hour or disabling features like Aero or Readyboost. Adrian posted the changes that users will face if they have Service Pack 1 installed.

The good news is that both modes described above are gone. Users will not be logged off automatically anymore which is great. Microsoft however decided to change tactics and nag the user to death – eh registration / activation – instead. Users will experience the following if their Vista installation fails the WGA check or if they fail to activate Vista in time.

A nag screen to activate at logon that cannot be dismissed for 15 seconds.
Every hour the desktop background is switched to black (it can be changed back, but after an hour it’s set to black again).
Activation dialogs and balloon dialogs appear regularly.
Optional Windows Updates aren’t delivered.

Only five languages will be available when it is released in march, those are English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. All other languages will not be released before April as well. Manufacturers on the other hand are receiving the Service Pack in the coming days to integrate it with computers that ship with Windows Vista.

You might be asking now why Microsoft is not releasing the Service Pack to customers as well right now and delaying the release for another month. That is a very good question. According to Microsoft the reasons are the following:

There are a couple of reasons for this. Our beta testing identified an issue with a small set of device drivers. These drivers do not follow our guidelines for driver installation and as a result, some beta participants who were using Windows Vista and updated to Service Pack 1 reported issues with these devices. Because the issue was with the way the drivers were installed and not the drivers themselves, the solution was simply to reinstall the drivers. While this worked fine for our more technical beta testers, we want to deliver a better experience for customers as we make the update broadly available.

While we know that most customers who update from Windows Vista to SP1 will NOT be affected, our approach is to improve the experience for all our customers. To do this, we will begin making SP1 available through Windows Update in mid-March, giving us time to work with some of our hardware partners to make adjustments to the installation process for the affected drivers. As SP1 gets delivered through Windows Update, we will only offer it to PCs that we detect don’t have any of the affected device drivers installed. We’re taking the next month or so to continue our work of identifying as many of these devices as possible.

This is only one reason and the blog post is not specifying other reasons why Microsoft might be delaying the release of the first Service Pack for Windows Vista. Guess we all have to wait another month to finally download the final version. All beta and test versions have to be uninstalled before the final version can be installed.

A leak was posted on the Neowin forum but unfortunately deleted before anyone was able to copy the instructions which include changes to the Registry. It is in my opinion only a matter of time before the leak becomes public though. The question is if you really want to install a new Beta when the final version of the Service Pack 1 is rumored to be released on February 15th, which is a little bit more than three weeks from now.

Still, if you get your hands on the code that has been send out to the beta testers let us know in the comments so that everyone who would like to install this new version of the service pack may install it.

Please note that those downloads are still Release Candidates and not the real official Service Pack which will come out in the next year. I would not advise to download and install it unless you really now what you are doing and have backups of your settings in case something goes wrong.

Microsoft did release a document entitled: “Installing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Things to Know Before you Install” which should be read before upgrading the system. It basically states that users have to uninstall prior installed versions of the Service Pack 1 before installing the new one, that the copy of Windows Vista has to be genuine, that this release is a time limited software which will no longer operate after June 30, 2008 and that it is a pre-release version of the upcoming Service Pack 1.

Four Download Links are available for the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 depending on the language of your installation and whether you use a 32-bit or 64-bit edition.

• Download link of 32-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 1, 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese)
• Download link of 32-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 1, all 36 languages
• a href=”http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/f/7/2f7155c9-00f3-4bf0-be92-d308da28d69e/Windows6.0-KB936330-wave0-X64.exe”>Download link of 64-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 1, 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese)
• Download link of 64-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 1, all 36 languages

Only one download for the Windows XP Service Pack 3 download is available which points to the English Service Pack.

via My Digital Life

You need to download a patch from Microsoft that adds a key to the Registry that makes the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 available in Windows Updates. After rebooting the computer Microsoft advises the user to download all security patches that have been previously released, this is important to be able to continue with the Service Pack 1 download. It might take up to 10 minutes after rebooting the system before the next patches become visible.

After installing the patches the user needs to download updates that prepare the system from Windows Updates several times rebooting after each before the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 download becomes available.

Download the self extracting executable and extract its contents to a folder on your computer. Run the script on an elevated prompt.
Install all pending “Important” updates and reboot. You may have to do this several times to get fully up to date.
Install Update for Windows (KB937287) and Update for Windows (KB938371) as they are offered sequentially
• The first package that will be offered is Update for Windows (KB937287) and it does not require a reboot.
• Check for updates on Windows Update again, install and reboot when prompted for Update for Windows (KB938371). You may need to wait 10 minutes and re-scan again if it does not show up right after reboot.
Install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (KB936330).
• Check for updates on Windows Update again, install and reboot when prompted for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. You may need to wait 10 minutes and re-scan again if the package does not show up right after the previous reboot.
• This process will typically take from 30 minutes to 1 hour but may take longer on some systems.

I’m not sure why Microsoft decided to create the links first and wait with the page creation that those links lead to but it surely is annoying. The only link that is currently working is the Office Update link on the left side of the download center which requires a genuine Office 2007. The download links are not working right now.

Lets see what Microsoft has to say about the Service Pack 1 and the benefits for home users and businesses found in the Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1 Whitepaper.

• By deploying the 2007 Office system SP1, home users and businesses can quickly reap benefits in the following areas:
• Stability. Using data from the Dr. Watson bug-reporting system, Microsoft fixed, at minimum, the five software bugs that most frequently caused each application in the 2007 Office system to crash. The 2007 Office system SP1 also improves the stability of server components in the 2007 Office system and compatibility with Windows Server® 2008, so companies can more confidently move forward with upgrade plans.
• Performance. The 2007 Office system SP1 improves performance in applications that are pervasive in modern offices, most notably: Microsoft Office Excel® 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007, and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.
• Security. By incorporating incremental advances in security and results from application testing, the 2007 Office system SP1 offers home and office users better protection against malicious software and potential threats to privacy

.

Here are my top picks that I think really make it worth to install the Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Office:

• When inputting calculations that should result in numbers 65,534 through 65,536, Office Excel 2007 no longer returns the display error of 100,001
• Office Outlook 2007 no longer closes unexpectedly when the junk e-mail rule is set to null.
• Items moved from an offline folder file (.ost) to a personal folder file (.pst) now display properly in the preview pane.
• When users try to open a presentation in Office PowerPoint 2007 from a Web site using forms authentication, the presentation will now appear properly.
• With Office Word 2007, users can now open and edit embedded objects that contain other embedded objects.
• Office Word 2007 no longer prints an extra page when users choose a printer with the duplex option enabled.
• Improved performance in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 eliminates frustrating delays when opening large mailbox files and frees office workers to focus on important business tasks. The 2007 Office system SP1 makes it easier to open large offline folder files (.ost) and personal folder files (.pst) that are located directly on the user’s machine.

Here are the direct links to the Service Pack 1 downloads, as mentioned above they are not active yet but will be later today.

Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1
Visio 2007 Service Pack 1
Project 2007 Service Pack 1

Calendar Printing Assistant for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office InterConnect 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Project Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Visio Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

The 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 1 (SP1)

The 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Language Pack Service Pack 1 (SP1), 64-Bit Edition

The message is misleading and could be interpreted in the wrong way especially if more than one user is working with the computer or if it is used for presentation purposes. According to Microsoft this message is just a reminder for the user that he is using a release candidate of Service Pack 1 which will stop functioning eventually.

I suppose a user who did install the release candidate of Windows Vista knows that this is not the full version. The easiest way to get rid of the Evaluation Copy text is to exchange the file user32.dll.mui with a patched copy that has the text removed. This works only on English Vista editions however.

Download the patched file from My Digital Life and follow the instructions posted there. It basically requires you to get full administration rights for the file user32.dll.mui to be able to replace it with the patched one.

I would strongly suggest to create a backup copy of the file before you proceed. The result is that the Evaluation Copy message will no longer be displayed.

Two of the documents, Deployment Guide for the RC1 Version of Windows Vista SP1 and Enterprise Guidance for Application Compatibility Testing and Windows Vista SP1, are clearly aimed at organizations and companies while the remaining three documents, Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Vista SP1, Notable Changes in Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate and Overview of Windows Vista SP1, might also be interesting to end users who want to read more about the changes that the new Service Pack 1 will bring.

Even if you only look at the last three documents you might find this to be incredibly time consuming. Some of the noteworthy changes that I found are:

• SP1 addresses issues many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Windows Vista, as reported by Windows Error Reporting. These include issues relating to Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player, and a number of drivers included with Windows Vista
• Improves reliability by preventing data-loss while ejecting NTFS-formatted removable-media
• Improves Windows Vista’s built-in file backup solution to include EFS encrypted files in the backup.
• Improves the performance of browsing network file shares by consuming less bandwidth
• Significantly improves the speed of moving a directory with many files underneath.
• Improves performance over Windows Vista’s current performance across the following scenarios1:
  • 25% faster when copying files locally on the same disk on the same machine
  • 45% faster when copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system
  • 50% faster when copying files from a remote SP1 system to a local SP1 system
• Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
• Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
• Improves the time to read large images by approximately 50%.
• Improves overall media performance by reducing many glitches.
• Adds support for new strong cryptographic algorithms used in IPsec. SHA-256, AES-GCM, and AES-GMAC for ESP and AH, ECDSA, SHA-256, and SHA-384 for IKE and AuthIP
• Adds full support for the latest IEEE draft of 802.11n wireless networking
• With SP1, Windows Vista will report the amount of system memory installed rather than report the amount of system memory available to the OS. Therefore 32-bit systems equipped with 4GB of RAM will report all 4BG in many places throughout the OS, such as the System Control Panel. However, this behavior is dependent on having a compatible BIOS, so not all users may notice this change.

Download of the documents called
Windows Vista SP1 Guides for IT Professionals.

]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/10/windows-vista-sp1-guides-for-it-professionals/feed/ 27 http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/06/download-windows-vista-sp1-rc1/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/06/download-windows-vista-sp1-rc1/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:38:58 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/06/download-windows-vista-sp1-rc1/ The registry tweaks to download previous versions Windows Vista Service Pack 1 do not longer have the desired results because Microsoft is already distributing the release candidate 1 of Windows Vista SP1 using Windows Update. The old keys that have been added to the Registry previously have to be removed and new keys have to be added.

The release candidate of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 should then be available via Windows Update. It might be that you will have to download some prior updates before the Release Candidate becomes available. It should be noted that this is only working on English editions of Windows Vista unless you tweak the Registry on non-English Vista editions to make Vista believe that you are using an English Vista.

Download the file Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Hack and unpack it to your Vista system. Executing the file will remove the old Registry keys that are no longer needed and add the new ones.

Another option would be to open the file in a text editor and manually remove and add the keys to the registry. Restart your computer afterwards and visit Windows Update. You will most likely be prompted to install three minor updates before you will see the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 in the list, those are:

• Update for Windows Vista (KB935509) – v1.008
• Update for Windows Vista (KB938371) – v1.028
• Update for Windows vista (KB937287) – Build 6001.17052

Make sure you restart your computer after each update even though you will not get a prompt to do that.

Now you will see Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate 1 – Build 6001.17052 in the update list. Download and install it normally to update your system to Service Pack 1.

via My Digital Life

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