Windows Vista Update

What is the scope of SP1?

• Reviewed by: Robert Vamosi (from CNET), Reviewed on: 02/07/2008,
• Full article here,
• Photo gallery: Windows Vista SP1
• Download Service Pack 1

A little more than one year after its release, Windows Vista will receive its first service pack update in March. Microsoft says the pack will offer better compatibility with third-party hardware, increased reliability, tighter security, and better performance.

But unlike the last Windows Service Pack release, Windows XP SP2--which offered users a new Windows Firewall, an improved Automatic Updates feature, and a pop-up ad blocker for Internet Explorer--Windows Vista SP1 is largely a code update, devoid of new eye candy, and very light on "must-have" features for home users.

Most of the features touted by Microsoft are for the Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate editions of the operating system.

Our advice: Be patient, and don't download it once it becomes available. Wait until Windows Vista SP1 is offered to your PC via Microsoft's Automatic Updates service.

Installation
Windows Vista SP1 will arrive one of three ways. Most users will automatically receive the update via Windows Update. Microsoft says that users will only receive the changes specific for their computer to cut down on network traffic and download times.

Users with limited or no Internet connectivity, or who need to update more than one PC, will be able to download a complete image of Windows Vista SP1 via DVD. Volume license customers (enterprises) will receive an integrated DVD media package for installation on new PCs.

Before installing SP1, all users running Windows Vista RTM (that is, if you bought your computer with Vista preinstalled) will need to install three updates from Microsoft. Microsoft's Windows Update will automatically detect and install these updates prior to the release of Windows Vista SP1.

Two of these updates increase the success rate for installing Windows Vista SP1; one is necessary only if you have Windows Vista Enterprise or Windows Vista Ultimate installed.

While all this sounds complicated, Microsoft says it has learned from Windows XP SP2, an upgrade that sometimes stranded users with long, overnight downloads. Windows Vista is modular, thus the upgrade will download only the bites of code necessary for your specific system.

If you have enabled Automatic Updates, in theory, you should have a much shorter download and installation of the upgrade than someone who hasn't kept up with the numerous updates since Windows Vista's release.

Despite the many changes within the code, Windows Vista SP1 does not change the basic hardware requirements for running the different editions of Windows Vista.

Using a disc provided by Microsoft, we found the upgrade of Windows Vista to SP1 on a typical Acer Travelmate required about 1 hour. During that time, the computer was unusable and automatically rebooted several times. A display informed us exactly where the install was in terms of overall progress (for example, "Configuring update, stage 1 of 3, 34 percent complete").

Should you, for any reason, want to uninstall this upgrade, Microsoft allows you to do so, although the three preinstallation updates cannot be removed.

Features
Where Windows XP SP2 introduced the Windows Security Center, and changed the existing Windows Firewall, Windows Vista SP1 introduces almost no visible change to your desktop. There are no new features to view, with almost all of the nearly 300 changes occurring under the hood, and mostly intended for Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.

Specific reliability improvements include the prevention of data loss while ejecting NT file system file-system-formatted removable media; enhancements to TCP/IP Version 6; improved driver sleep and wake-up times; improved Meeting Space connections; improved Remote Assistance applications; and it includes Encrypting File System in the Windows Vista file-backup set.

For performance, Microsoft says SP1 uses less bandwidth when browsing network shares, and automatically selects between wireless and wired when more than one is offered. There are also many tweaks and improvements in ReadyDrive (requires the use of special hybrid drives) and ReadyBoost (requires special USB drives), and SuperFetch (requires a specific amount of RAM).

As a result, users currently running Windows SuperFetch will notice, after installing Windows Vista SP1, their system is slower. Microsoft says that's because SP1 erases the existing SuperFetch data. As new data is collected, the system will respond "within a few days," Microsoft says.

There are many new standards introduced with SP1. For example, there's a new Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, x64 Extensible Firmware Interface network boot, Direct3D 10.1 for 3D gaming, new flash based xFAT, identifies HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives as HD drives, supports SD Advanced Direct Memory Access, second-generation Windows Media Center Extenders, enhances the MPEG-2 decoder, and enhances support for Windows Network Projector.

For security, SP1 improves the Bitlocker encryption in Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Ultimate by adding multifunction authentication methods; moreover, Microsoft now allows encryption support for volumes other than the bootable volume. SP1 also includes some Smart Card enhancements, and allows for biometric, as opposed to PIN, access to Smart Cards.

Within Vista, SP1 creates a more secure PIN channel for authentication.

For most home users, the new features will have little or no effect on the day-to-day use of their systems.

Full Article from CNET here

 

From Paul Thurrott:

As with previous Windows service packs, Windows Vista SP1 will include all of the previously released updates for Windows Vista, including all security, reliability, and performance improvements. Many of these improvements were driven by customer requests and the WER, as noted above.

Microsoft says it will make the following quality improvements in Vista SP1.

Security improvements include previously-announced changes to Windows Security Center that will allow third-party security software makers to more effectively communicate with and replace Microsoft's security dashboard with their own solutions, new APIs aimed at helping security software makers work with the Kernel Patch Protection feature in 64-bit versions of Vista (also previously announced), changes to RemoteApp and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), the addition of a new Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC) pseudo-random number generator (PRNG), and a change to BitLocker Drive Encryption that adds optional multifactor authentication method combining keys protected by a TPM hardware module, a Startup Key stored on a USB memory key device, and a user-generated personal identification number.

Reliability. For reliability, Vista SP1 will include better reliability and compatibility with newer graphics cards, improved reliability when using notebook computers with an external display, improved networking configuration reliability, improved reliability of systems that are upgraded from XP to Vista, better compatibility with many printers, and increased reliability and performance when entering and resuming from sleep mode.

Performance. Vista SP1 adds a number of performance improvements as well by increasing the speed of copying and extracting files, increasing the performance of Hibernate and Resume, increasing the performance of domain-joined PCs when working offline from the domain, improving the performance of Internet Explorer (IE) 7 by reducing CPU utilization and speeding JavaScript parsing, improving battery life on certain mobile systems by reducing screen redraws and thus CPU utilization, increasing the performance of the CTRL+ALT+DEL logon dialog, and improving the performance of browsing network file shares.
Administrative improvements

Vista SP1 will include a number of changes aimed at the system administrators who deploy, support, and maintain Vista-based systems. These changes include:

BitLocker Drive Encryption. In the initial version of Vista, BitLocker could only automatically encrypt the C: drive. Now, in SP1, BitLocker can also optionally encrypt other drive volumes (D:, E:, and so on), as is possible with Windows Server 2008.

Terminal Service printing. Local printing from a Windows Terminal Services session will be improved.

Network Diagnostics. Windows Vista SP1 will add a new version of the Network Diagnostics tool that will also help administrators and end users diagnose common file sharing problems. (Available from the Diagnose and Repair link in Network and Sharing.)

Disk Defragmenter. The built-in Disk Defragmenter service will be updated so that customers can configure exactly which volumes are automatically defragged.

Group Policy. Vista SP1 will include a number of Group Policy (GP) changes. Most controversial, the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) will be uninstalled so that the GPEdit management console can be used to manage local policies. Microsoft will also ship a tool before SP1 that will let admins add comments to Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and individual GP settings.
Support for new hardware and standards

Since Windows Vista shipped in early 2007, a number of emerging new hardware types and international standards have emerged. SP1 will address these changes by adding support for them to Windows Vista. They include:

Extended FAT (exFAT) file system. A future standard for flash memory storage and consumer-oriented mobile devices. Based on FAT, exFAT adds support for longer file names and other improvements.

Secure Digital (SD) Advanced Direct Memory Access (DMA). This update to SD technology improves transfer performance while decreasing CPU utilization. It will require SD DMA-compliant host controllers.

EFI network booting on x64 systems. In the initial shipping version of Windows Vista, 64-bit (x64) versions of the OS could boot on EFI-compliant PCs, which replace ancient BIOS technology with a more modern solution. With SP1, EFI-based x64 Vista systems can also support network boot, a feature that was previously available only on 32-bit (x86) Vista versions on BIOS-based PCs.

DirectX 10.1. Vista SP1 will support Microsoft's latest multimedia and gaming libraries.

Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP). Vista SP1 will add support for the SSTP remote access tunneling protocol.

I will continue to monitor SP1 and will bring you a comprehensive review as soon as it's released.

Regards,

Onuora

What are your thoughts about Windows Vista Service Pack 1?

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is coming soon. Tell us what you would like to see in this service pack and what your opinions are about it.

If you have an opinion about this, share it with us and other visitors on this site!

Enter Your Title

Tell Us Your Story! [ ? ]

Close Help Entering your story is easy to do. Just type!... Your story will appear on a Web page exactly the way you enter it here. You can wrap a word in square brackets to make it appear bold. For example [my story] would show as my story on the Web page containing your story. TIP: Since most people scan Web pages, include your best thoughts in your first paragraph.

Upload A Picture (optional) [ ? ]

Close Help Do you have a picture to add? Great! Click the button and find it on your computer. Then select it.

Add Picture Caption (optional) 

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said About Windows Vista SP1

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Vista SP1 Crash 
My dell 1520 running just super and saw SP1 update was availible. Viewed what to know
before installing. Then I started the installation. Four hours nothing,...

Audio Devices de-installed? 
I downloaded the SP1 per the recommendation from Windows Automatic Updates.

The only change I saw was that my audio devices are no longer installed....

No more automatic updates after SP1 (error 80070424) 
It seems to me, that after the installation of SP1, my VISTA 64 ultimate has disabled any automatic updating.

I've goggled around and tried many of ...

no internet access after installing SP1 
I installed SP1 last night and now am unable to connect to the internet.

My 6TO4 (network) adapter suddenly stopped working due to error code 10 ("This ...

ICT Manager PEP School 
I have just tried to install Vista SP1 on an Asus F5R notebook.

Machine has only 512 RAM and Vista Home Basic (could there be a worse OS ?)

Initial ...

SP 1 stinks to high heaven! 
Much to my regret, I installed this piece of garbage and my computer hasn't been the
same since.

It installed correctly without error messages, but ...

piece of crap  Not rated yet
The only thing it did was erase my audio devices.

Now I'm spending hours trying to fix this problem.

Thanks for making a crappy product even crappier....

Do not install!!  Not rated yet
And if you don't believe me, check out the other comments here as well as other sites.

You will be hard pressed to find many positive remarks about ...

Vista SP1  Not rated yet
It installed on an update and fryed my computer at work.

I have lost all my data and I might get the sack, can you help with that?

sir widos vista sp1  Not rated yet
hai sir
iam computer oprater sir my nolage emprmant windos vista sp1 gvme cd sir iam tamilnadu privet compani in my work my job computer oprater&...

Bad Experience  Not rated yet
I have Windows Vista Home Premium and downloaded the service pack yesturday, it took me about 3 hours. Mind you i have a fast computer.

It did keep ...

John  Not rated yet
if you don't have it yet or didn't get stuck with it purchasing a new system stay away from it, the only thing that's improved with vista sp1 is less things ...

Window Vista Slow ???  Not rated yet
I was using XP Home before, my old notebook was 1GB RAM, recently I got a new notebook with Window Vista Home and the PC came with 3GB RAM and it seems ...

Compress files missing  Not rated yet
After I download WV SP1, I can't compress or unzip files in my computer.

KLaus Peter Wiegand talks about Windows Vista  Not rated yet
hoi,

IK heb een windows VIsta Home Premium in het englis,

bestat er ook een Updates, dat ik op nederlands kan zette

ik heb alle codes in huis
...

VISTA SP1--BE WEARY  Not rated yet
Hmmm...it doesn't fix the problem about "no audio output device is installed" after sleep or hibernation.

It doesn't seem to stop the blue screen of ...

kevin  Not rated yet
error code 8007371c, this is what I get every time this sp1 tries to update, I have followed all the instructions, but it never works.

I am not alone,...

Not to happy about the SP1  Not rated yet
When the SP was available in my update downloadcenter, I installed the pack without any problems.

When my laptop rebooted, my mouse icon was not standing ...

Judestar  Not rated yet
Since installing SP1 I can't sync my PDA, microsoft have offered no solution so not to happy with it. since spending all my time trying to resolve this ...