FYI...

Vista SP1
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4160
Last Updated: 2008-03-19 17:04:57 UTC ...(Version: 3)
"The first service pack from Microsoft for Vista is out. Please let us know your experiences downloading and applying the 434.5 MB Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Standalone (KB936330):

MS downloads:
- http://preview.tinyurl.com/ywb4al
"...IF YOU ARE UPDATING JUST ONE COMPUTER: A smaller, more appropriate download is available on Windows Update..."

Update 1: If Vista SP1 will not install, or is not being offered as a option you should read the following article. You may have to update drivers first or other issues...
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is not available for installation from Windows Update and is not offered by Automatic Updates: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343

Update 2: Before you install the final release of Windows Vista SP1, you must uninstall any previous releases... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936330

Kind of a pain, Gateway did not have the most up to date Codec driver for their Intell MB, they use a Sigma Tel High Def codec and Microsoft posts that SP 1 will not be downloaded unless you have a newer version than 6.10.5511.0. Gateway did not have a newer version than 6.10.545.0. However after contacting Gateway on their chat line, and being advised to contact Intell, they finally relented and gave me a link to all the Sigma Tel drivers, http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=Sigmatel&st=kw. I picked the wrong one first, not crystal clear which one to use.
My first attempt allowed me to start the installation process of SP 1, but no sound card installed. I tried the driver 6.10.52900, which should not have worked, but it did. In Device manager, it used to show as Sigma Tel High Def Audio 6.10.54045.0, but now it is High Definition Audio Device by Microsoft 6/21/2006 driver version 6.0.6000.16386, file version Longhorn_rtm.080118-1840. After SP 1 all installed.
Things seem to be working okay. Download took a while since I developed a lot of noise on my ADSL line, but after three download attempts it finally downloaded and installed. With installation, 3 step process took about 55 minutes. I was current on all updates for Vista prior to SP1.
The biggest pain is manufacturers not keeping current. Apparently Dell did same thing. I think what may have happened with the sound card is that Vista installed its own drivers, in place of Sigma Tel, since there is no reference to Sigma Tel any longer in Device Manager.

FYI...

Vista SP1 Chokes On Widely Used Intel Chipset Drivers
- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=206904946
March 20, 2008 - "PCs from Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, Lenovo, and other major computer makers that contain a widely used Intel chipset can't be upgraded to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 if they're running certain drivers. Microsoft has said that Vista SP1 won't work with "a small number of device drivers." The list, however, includes drivers for an Intel chipset that's found in thousands of PCs and laptops. The affected chipset is Intel's 945G Express series, which is used in computers from virtually all major system vendors. It's also found on standalone motherboards sold by Asus. The 945G Express chipset driver versions between numbers 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403 won't work with Vista SP1, according to Microsoft. Chipsets provide a connection point for all key subsystems within a PC. The 945G Express chipset includes Intel's GMA 950 graphics core, which also won't work with Vista SP1 if those drivers are used. Microsoft is urging Vista users to update all of their hardware to the latest drivers before even attempting to install SP1... The service pack also won't work with computers that use certain, widely-deployed audio drivers from Realtek and certain drivers for security devices manufactured by Symantec. Microsoft has published a full list of drivers that are incompatible with the service pack*. Meanwhile, Microsoft is continuing to receive reports from computer users who say Vista SP1 is wreaking havoc on their systems..."
* http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343#method5
Last Review: March 20, 2008
Revision: 3.0

FYI...

- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=206905083
March 21, 2008 - "...University of Pennsylvania tech staffers are advising faculty and students not to upgrade their computers to the new service pack for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. The school's Information Systems & Computing department said it will support Vista SP1 on new systems where it's preinstalled, but added that it "strongly recommends that all other users adopt a 'wait and see' attitude," according to a newly published department bulletin. Penn's ISC department advised "continuing to use previous versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista until after the initial bugs in SP1 are identified and fixed." Vista SP1 users have reported numerous glitches since the operating system became widely available on Tuesday..."

I, myself, am adopting a wait and see attitude as well.

Beta X and RC 1 slowed my system to a crawl - a bad crawl - during boot and shutdown.

Plus, WU is not offering it to me yet - so I mist have some sort of a driver that is conflicting. I just redid this installation Feb 2, when I was fed up with the lack luster performance of SP1 RC1, and it was running much much faster (for a 3 generation old CPU / motherboard combo).

I am not about to give up that serenity for having the latest and greatest.

FYI...

- http://preview.tinyurl.com/3gnxtp
April 07, 2008 (MS Vista blog) - "... The Microsoft Update Blog* contains some important information about updates to the SP1 prerequisite distribution plan. Starting tomorrow, we are resuming the automatic update and installation of the Servicing Stack Update. In mid-April, we will begin distributing SP1 (in the first 5 languages) using the Automatic Update system. We have a lot of Windows users, so not everyone will get it on the same day. In fact, it will go to a small percentage of Windows Vista users each day..."
* http://preview.tinyurl.com/3fdyu2
April 07, 2008 6:12 PM by Microsoft Update Team Blog - "...you may have read that a few customers experienced an endless reboot cycle while installing one of the prerequisites: KB937287**, the Servicing Stack Update (SSU), which contains the Service Pack 1 installation program. As posted last month on the Windows Vista blog, we suspended automatic distribution of the SSU while we investigated the problem. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned a lot more about the problem and have taken steps to address the issue. Today, we’d like to let you know that we are resuming automatic distribution of the SSU tomorrow and provide more clarity on what happened.
To clear up any concerns for those of you who have already installed the update: There is no problem with the files that make up the Servicing Stack Update (KB937287**); the problem some customers encountered was with the installation process for the update. That means if you already have the update installed, you do not need to uninstall it or install the rereleased version of the update.
- So what caused the problem? Well, the SSU has special code to check whether there are any pending reboots or other updates to install. If it sees either of these circumstances, it prevents the install from starting. During our investigation, we discovered that there were a few unknown and rare events during the middle of the installation of the update that could cause the update to think it needed a reboot to complete the installation. If this happened, the system entered a repeating reboot loop.
To address this problem for people who have not already installed the SSU, we are releasing a fix tomorrow which will install prior to the SP1 Servicing Stack Update. This pre-SSU update helps to ensure a smooth install of the SSU by working to prevent the system from rebooting during the SP1 SSU installation. We also made additional changes to the SSU installer code, so that it checks for and requires the pre-SSU (KB949939) before it will install. These two updates should now install seamlessly through Windows Update, in the proper order, so those of you with WU set to “install updates automatically” who haven’t already installed the SSU don’t have to take any further action..."
** http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937287

.

FYI...

- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/16/vista_defender_sp1/
16 April 2008 - "Microsoft has admitted it is investigating reports that a recent Windows Vista security update causes havoc with some USB devices, but the software giant is yet to provide a fix for the cock-up. The Windows Defender update was released last week, but some unfortunate Vista customers have claimed that their USB mice and keyboards among other devices refuse to work after the update is installed on their computers... the automatic version of the (SP1) download remains missing in action. Redmond had chalked mid-April as the date when SP1 would start downloading onto computers across the world..."

FYI...

- http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/04/windows_vista_service_pack_1_n_1.html#more
April 17, 2008 - "...Windows Update will temporarily not offer Windows Vista SP1 to systems that have certain hardware device drivers that have shown to cause problems with SP1. Microsoft lists* a bunch of these, which includes some pretty widely-deployed hardware drivers, including audio drivers Conexant HD Audio, Creative Audigy, and RealTek AC'97 (you can check for the presence of these driver files by searching for them by name, as listed in this advisory*). If you have one these incompatible drivers on your system, you can try visiting Windows Update again and checking if it has an update to address that specific driver problem. Non-security related updates are usually marked "optional." Alternatively, you can check the support pages of the hardware manufacturer's Web site to see if they have any updated drivers.
Microsoft says another reason SP1 may not be offered even though Automatic Updates are enabled is that there are previous updates waiting to be installed. While it may seem like it shouldn't matter (because SP1 supposedly includes the latest security updates), Microsoft says SP1 cannot be installed together with any other updates. "It must be installed by itself. Therefore, if there are any pending updates on Windows Update, such as security updates, Windows Update will not offer Windows Vista SP1 until the updates are installed." Turns out, Windows Update won't offer SP1 if you haven't installed all of the updates tagged by Windows Update as "Important" or "Recommended"... But for anyone who does run into problems -- before or after applying SP1 -- see the section marked "troubleshooting" in the "Windows Vista Deployment Guide," found here**...

* http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343

** http://preview.tinyurl.com/ypjwuo
(Microsoft.com/downloads...)

FYI...

...Vista SP1 is not available for installation from WU and is not offered by Automatic Updates
- http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343
Last Review: April 18, 2008 <<<
Revision: 6.0...

FYI...

- http://preview.tinyurl.com/5vu4aw
April 23, 2008 (Infoworld) -"...Vista Service Pack 1 will download automatically to PCs that have the automatic update feature of the OS turned on, the company said. Previously, Vista was available to customers via Windows Update, but people had to specifically download it. Not all customers will receive SP1 immediately via Automatic Update, however. The company is distributing it in phases to "ensure a seamless download experience," Microsoft said. A timeline for when all customers would receive Vista SP1 via Automatic Update was not immediately available..."

- http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343
Last Review: April 23, 2008
Revision: 7.0...

.

FYI...

- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4358
Last Updated: 2008-04-29 17:03:11 UTC - "...the Windows Service Pack blocker tool can now block the following service packs from installation...
* Windows XP Service Pack 3 (valid for 12 months following general availability)
* Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (valid for 12 months following general availability)
So, if you want to prevent your machines from automatic updates (provided you don't use WSUS), you can download this handy tool from here*..."
* http://preview.tinyurl.com/2uryvq
Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit
Quick Details
File Name: SPBlockerTools.EXE
Version: SPBlockerToolKit
Date Published: 12/6/2007
Language: English
Download Size: 96 KB

FYI...

Vista Audio Driver...
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4376
Last Updated: 2008-05-03 23:26:07 UTC - "...a recent update offered for a driver update for IDT (Formerly Sigmatel)'s high definition sound is causing problems for -Dell- users that have installed it. "Should you see this update appear, *do not* install it," warned 'Chris B', a Dell Digital Life Liason, in a Thursday forum post. The update is called IDT High Def Codec and was reported to be one of the drivers that held up the release of SP1 for Vista back in February. If you have a Dell computer and have not yet installed Vista SP1, you may want to take a look at the full article.
- http://www.crn.com/software/207500472 "

Good grief...

Vista Service Pack 1 is not available...
- http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343
Article ID: 948343
Last Review: May 5, 2008
Revision: 9.0...

FYI...

Windows Vista SP1 Disaster Recovery Guide
- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=207402843
May 6, 2008


.

Vista SP1 / Norton fix:

Per Reese Anschultz / Symantec:
- /p1096158-.html#1096158
Jun 05, 2008 - "Symantec has made the registry cleanup tool available. Go to the following page and download it from there. The page is for Norton Internet Security 2008 but the tool works regardless of the product that you actually have installed."
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/6fgjqz
FAQ: Upgrading to XPSP3 or Vista SP1 with your Norton 2008 product installed

.