Reader Feedback: Vista SP1 Sad Tales of Woe
Given
this
week's news that Symantec drivers and Vista Service Pack 1 are getting along
about as well as Microsoft and the European Union, we thought we'd bring you
readers' yarns of frustration and anger about SP1. (Yes, somebody out there
is running Vista and trying to install this service pack. Hey, it came as a
surprise to us,
too.)
To the e-mails. Richard starts us off:
"The release candidate caused an entire system rebuild because the
damage was so extensive and because it inactivated Vista and, without the
physical media from Dell (except for the 'restore' disk), nothing could be
done to reactivate it.
"While the released SP1 hasn't done that kind of damage, it also
won't install. I've run it seven times now, with varying numbers of CHKDSK,
SFC and memory validation (as prescribed in the 'failed' dialogs), all to
no avail. I'm chalking it up to my system being a Vista Ultimate x64 unit
(Dell Precision M90 laptop) and Microsoft STILL not getting it right for the
x64 variant, but, I've got to tell you, this is getting very, very old..."
We hear you, Richard. At least you're not alone. Eric dropped an old-fashioned
(and highly entertaining) rant on us:
"My wife recently got her laptop, and it came with 'only' Vista.
We were getting BSD all the time, so I called Dell to enquire. They mentioned
that SP1 for Vista should fix the problems.will have to see if it does.
"Here are my personal observations:
- Why is the service pack 430MB in size? That is not a service pack;
that is a complete OS!
- Why does the file name of the service pack not even mention the word
'Vista'? If Vista was supposed to be called Windows 6, then why was it not
called Windows 6?
- Upon my first attempt to install the SP, I got a message telling me
that the software I am trying to install has not been digitally signed and
might be unsafe. Cute one, Microsoft! Does that bullet in your foot hurt?
- My first attempt at the install failed, giving a Web site to access
for more information. Of course, the URL was provided in the error message
but was not a hyperlink. Why should it be? The URL, once typed in, provided
six scenarios to apply the SP properly. Luckily, the first option actually
worked.
"My wife is now the proud owner of a slow computer running Vista
SP1. No BSD as of yet. Knock on wood..."
Knock on wood, indeed. High marks to you, Eric, for braving the SP install.
Marsorry writes from Africa to say that he couldn't be more sorry (ahem) about
installing Vista in the first place. SP1 isn't even part of the equation yet:
"We are running 10 percent of our desktops in production to see its
effects. It hasn't been pretty, to say the least. We've been waiting for reviews
to see whether the service pack was any good, and time will tell, I guess.
We've worked hard at workarounds to get all our production apps working properly
and toyed around with security for these few, but quite frankly, we're nervous
whether this SP will 'stuff' up all that work again. Regardless, it's a step
that has to be taken which should help us understand whether to go mainstream
with it or downgrade the 10 percent and wait for the next one."
Microsoft might have a suggestion for you on that front, Marsorry, but you're
not alone in contemplating whether "upgrading" to Vista is a good
idea. Not by a long shot.
We're just starting to get e-mails about the great XP
SP3 conspiracy so we'll run them next week. Add to the pile at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 03/27/2008 at 1:21 PM