Ok. All things considered in a Microsoft world, this was a pretty painless update. It may be hard to read but, the image left says that this installation will take an hour or more. Well, it's not joking. The entire process took me right at 1 hour to complete.
Step one – Download the update. Now, make sure and download this update through Windows Update. The size of this update could be 65 – 427 MB. This size will be determined by your current level of patches (udates) my machine was pretty up-to-date so my download was only 67 MB . You can download the stand-alone-installer but it will cost you in a 435 MB download.. CRAZY Don't do it unless you have MANY Vista Machines to update.
Step two – Save your work and close all programs! You will not be able to use the PC during this process.
Step three – Click the install button. This install occurs in three steps. Step one takes place in the OS and appears to install as any normal update. Upon completion it requires a reboot.
The setup will log you out and continue with stage one. The OS will install “Stage 1” and “Stage 2” then Reboot.
Upon reboot it will continue with “Stage 3” Once finished it will continue to load Windows allowing you to log in.
From Download through install this update will take an hour or more depending upon your Download Speed and PC hardware. And, Once the download is complete, the install is not something I will run unattended. So do this when you have the time to sit and watch.
I've been running the update now for about 24 hours and SO FAR there have been no serious side-effects. If you have made the adjustments to Speed up your file copying This update will change them back… And, although file copying speed has improved slightly with this update I find I get better results putting those changes back into effect.
On Reboots the system load time has not really sped up any that I can tell but, once logged in, the OS seems quite a bit faster opening and using programs and system utilities. So far there seems to be little Danger doing this update. If you upgraded your computer to Vista and had “trouble” with some hardware in the upgrade you may have some difficulty. So, I would suggest reading: Things to know before you download Windows Vista SP1
As this Vista machine is my “day-to-day” work machine now, I will keep you updated should any Service Pack Related problems crop up.
Sorry Doug, no drama yet.. Keep your fingers crossed!
© 2008, Robert Owen. All rights reserved.
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