Please Exercise Caution with Vista SP1

[LarryFlowers]

I want to provide everyone with a caution before installing the Vista SP1 that Microsoft will release in early March.

There are a few software issues that you need to know about with SP1.

NONE OF THESE SHOULD DETER YOU FROM INSTALLING SP1.

You do however need to be aware. I am not certain as yet, exactly what is behind the disabling of certain programs. I have to assume until I find out otherwise that the portion of SP1 that does a rewrite of core code to bring Vista in line with the new Windows Server 2008 code is at the heart of the problem.

You can find more information about known problem programs at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935796.

I had already installed SP1 when I found about this and I had a program that was on the list, Trend Micro Internet Security 2008. I noticed no ill effects whatsoever and the program appeared to be fully functional.

But, since it was my antivirus and internet security software, I pursued the matter with Trend Micro. Their support team was extremely helpful and provided me with a link to a download of a new version of the software and gave full instructions how to handle it. They told me that the "break" was appearing only in some machines but they were providing the fix anyway. I believe their plan is to build the fix into an automatic update before the actual public release of SP1.

Check the link and see if you have software that may be involved and check with the vendor to see what they are doing about it.

[dave29]

good looking out!!!

[Draconis]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Doug Brott]

Was Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 supposed to be in the link you provided or did you discover this information elsewhere?

[Steve]

FWIW, this SP1-related article was posted on c-Net last week:

http://www.news.com/Microsoft-pulls-Vista-SP1-update/2100-1016_3-6231299.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

/steve

[ccr1958]

i have been running sp1 & have not had any probs(knock on wood)
on the machine upgraded to vista ultimate.....using kaspersky AV..

thanks for the info :)

[LarryFlowers]

Was Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 supposed to be in the link you provided or did you discover this information elsewhere?

The Microsoft Bulletin 935796 is a work in progress. There have been changes nearly every day since it was released. As I mentioned, I did not experience any problems with the Trend Micro application, and I pursued it as an act of caution. The Trend Micro support people told me they were seeing only some very isolated cases but they were being proactive. I think that since the initial bulletin was released they have found that Trend Micro is NOT affected.

[LarryFlowers]

FWIW, this SP1-related article was posted on c-Net last week:

http://www.news.com/Microsoft-pulls-Vista-SP1-update/2100-1016_3-6231299.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

/steve

That article specifically refers to some pre SP1 installations that were being distributed in advance of Vista SP1. Specifically in certain instances to allow for the uninstall of SP1. Some of the people who installed these pre installation hot fixes experienced some difficulties so Microsoft removed them from distribution. This was unrelated to the programs experinecing problems AFTER the install of SP1.

All of these issues will be cleared up prior to the general release of SP1.

[CoriBright]

4 out of 4 Vista PCs running SP1 here and no issues whatsoever. All on NOD32 AV.

[LarryFlowers]

4 out of 4 Vista PCs running SP1 here and no issues whatsoever. All on NOD32 AV.

I am having the same reults. I have now deployed SP1 on over 25 client PC's and have been monitoring closely for any problems, and have observed no difficulties thus far.

Should this continue, and I have no reason to believe it won't at this point, I will remove the "network blocks" I put in place to keep the SP1 update from occuring spontaneously.

It is also of note that in my discussions with Trend Micro they indicated that Microsoft was closely involved in clearing up any potential impediments to the smooth deployment of SP1.

[Doug Brott]

It's good to hear that there is some proactive things that may help this to go smoothly.

[Steve Mehs]

Any word on when the RTM version of SP1 for Vista 64bit goes live?

[LarryFlowers]

There was already an "accidental release" of Vista SP1 x64 thru update that some users got before it was stopped. The RTM has occured and the official release date is March 18th.

Wouldn't surprise me if it was in the usual 2nd Tuesday of the month update release.

[Steve Mehs]

I'm waiting until SP1 is released to order my new start of the art PC from HP, looking at HPs website (and Dell and Gateway) there is no mention of Vista SP1 being avalable on new machines, in either 32 or 64 bit. My new HP will be ordered with Vista Ultimate SP1 64bit.

[LarryFlowers]

I'm waiting until SP1 is released to order my new start of the art PC from HP, looking at HPs website (and Dell and Gateway) there is no mention of Vista SP1 being avalable on new machines, in either 32 or 64 bit. My new HP will be ordered with Vista Ultimate SP1 64bit.

PC builders are a notoriously stingy information lot.

They are in possession of SP1, and have been for almost a month. They are supposedly testing it against their configurations looking for issues that might occur particularly with the mountain of crap they install on PC's before they ship them.

A suggestion: if at all possible try to configure the PC you want from their business selection. Thats the best way to avoid their custom recovery sectors on the hard drive and will cut down on all the crap they install. When you get the PC, format the hard drive and do a clean install of the OS, Vista makes this very easy, just boot from the DVD and follow the instructions. Make sure you get discs with the PC... many manufacturer are making you pay extra for the actual discs.

If they dont give you a disc with SP1, drop me a message and I'll send you a link to where you can get the SP1 package on a disc for a shipping fee.

Good luck with your new machine and welcome to the Vista world.

[Steve Mehs]

I agree all the unnecessary crap vendors install is annoying, but give me 10 minutes with the Add/Remove control panel and I'm all set. :) HPs business line is not an option due to no Blu Ray and lesser video card options. And Vista Ultimate 64 bit isn't available as an option. I know people always say stay away from 64 bit because of driver issues. Well other then my HP Wireless printer, HP iPaq PDA and my iPod, I have no other peripherals connected to my PC. It’s not like I have to be worried about audio/video/network card drivers, since all the drivers will come with the PC and work, and I’ll probably just end up buying a new printer. The newer version of my printer is $60 after a $70 mail in rebate. It’s pretty much cheaper to buy a new printer then to buy the ink. And I would hope there’d be no driver issues there either.

Thanks for the welcome, but I’m not new to Vista. :) I’ve been using Vista Ultimate 32bit off and on since it was released last year, preordered from Tiger, but I use XP Pro 99% of the time because I found the drivers Creative released for my sound card for Vista suck. Audio quality is absolutely terrible and there isn’t much in the way for tweaking. I always have music on in the background so it’s a bigger issue to me then most.

For Service Packs I never do the Windows Update. I download the service pack .exe from MS for ‘Network installation and IT professionals’ and burn to a CD. XP Pro is my serious OS on this computer right now, once I get my new one, I’ll hook the other hard drive back up and it will be solely Vista. I figure next month this time I can order my new HP with SP1 preloaded.