Vista SP1 Update Locks Out Some Users

Echostorm writes with word that Windows Vista SP1, which began rolling out via Automatic Update, has left some users' machines unbootable. The update loops forever on "Configuring updates: Stage 3 of 3 — 0% complete. Do not turn off your computer." "Shutting down"... restart and loop. Echostorm notes having found traces of what sounds like the same bug in early beta releases of SP1. It's unclear how many users are affected. So far there is no word on a fix from Microsoft.

You can't make this stuff up.

[kellyb9]

They actually DO beta test their software, right??????????

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[Anonymous Coward]

WE actually DO beta test their software, right??????????

There, I fixed that for you.

Re:

[CSMatt]

Score:0, Insightful

Only on Slashdot.

Re:

[Elvii]

My lawn's grown old an died..

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[CrazyTalk]

Actually, yes. In fact, those of us inside Microsoft (I'm a Vendor, and not on Vista team) have had access to SP1 for over a month.

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[B3ryllium]

I think their test setups are entirely Hetero, dude. However, it's rather difficult to have every possible machine configuration represented. I mean, think of the permutations! Why won't anyone think of the permutations?

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[gallwapa]

A friend of mine works at MS... his entire job consists of setting up different lab machines for testing scenarios. All day. Every day.

So, yes. They have quite a large testing environment going on. I know you were kidding, but...

Re:

[CrazyTalk]

I can't speak for the Vista test team methodology (and I'm sure they should not be posting on slashdot in any case!) but contractors and vendors are NOT all running the same hardware (let alone FTEs).

Re:

[kellyb9]

yeah exactly... its called beta testing. Where you literally give it out to people and say this might not work... and if it doesnt tell us and we'll fix it.

Re:

[CrazyTalk]

Bingo.

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[Fred_A]

They actually DO beta test their software, right??????????

They did test it in .au and even did a survey to see what people thought of it.
Oddly enough everybody thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[Opportunist]

Ya know, that's Aussieland. Sliced bread was introduced last year there.

Re:

[Penguinisto]

They did test it in .au and even did a survey to see what people thought of it.
Oddly enough everybody thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Little wonder - those who got bit by the bug obviously couldn't respond to the survey. :)

(yes, I am kidding. Or am I?)

/P

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

People like you are just retarded. When Apple, FireFox, whatever has a problem it gets played down. When the slightest hint of a problem comes up with MS it's bla bla bla. You guys can say what you want, but this is why I look at slashdot less and less. I'm interested in news not a bunch of anti-MS stories blown out of proportion. Also, just for the record, I've been using Vista for two months now and haven't had any issues. I really don't understand what is causing all the horror stories since the accou

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[CSMatt]

You must be ne...

Oh wait. Never mind.

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[cayenne8]

"I'm not the author of the grandparent post, but the constant spew of memes only adds to the overall noise and lack of actual content. I don't see how something that is chanted 500 times is still funny. It becomes trite, expected, and tired."

In Soviet Russia, memes spew you....

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[CrazedWalrus]

You sound like you'd be happier with Technocrat.net. Decidedly fewer trolls and 12 year old fanboiz there. I lurk, but don't really post much.Give it a shot.

Re:

[TheRealMindChild]

Maybe... but when was the last Software update for anything Apple, or Firefox, that got you stuck in a reboot loop... Now how many times has this happened to people updating Windows?

Exactly.

Re:You can't make this stuff up.

[rsmoody]

Just a few days ago with OS X 10.5.2. Several users were complaining of being stuck at the BDOS during boot, slow booting, etc. It seems that there are quite a few issues with 10.5.2, I myself have noticed apps starting much slower since the update. However, for the most part, it's very usable for me. Others however cannot even run some critical apps and has brought them to a complete halt. Not good at all. From what I have read and the trouble I had with using the Software Update version of the update, they needed to test more. I had to use the combo updater just to get the thing to install at all. Now, mod me over-rated.

Re:

[rrohbeck]

>Now how many times has this happened to people updating Windows?

Never.

So far my systems always BSOD'd when an automatic update went wrong.

Seriously, maybe they're just catching kernel errors, reboot and retry now.

Re:

[aldousd666]

I have personal horror stories with vista. I installed a new set of drivers from Dell, and it deactivated my copy of windows. Also, it randomly decides that it won't come back on after the screen blanks at idle. I did disable hibernation, and I have turned off all power management, but it still 'goes black' and still requires intermittent hard shutdown, power back ons. It's like a game, when I come in after the weekend, will I have to power it down, or won't I? I've yet to see if SP1 will fix it, I haven'

Taking a leaf out of apple's book?

[KublaiKhan]

I know that they're said to have copied the concept of a GUI from apple (who, yes, stole it from PARC) but I didn't think Microsoft would follow the iBrick update also.

Now seriously

[El Lobo]

THAT, my friends is what is different between Windows and Mak. Sure MakOz must test some combination of hardware/software but it will never be as huge as the combinations in which Windows is run.

I say that because we have been Beta testing SP1 on 350 machines here at my university for some months now. Machines with different graphic cards, processors , extra hardware like scanners, different printers, graphic input tablets, and so on. That problem in our 350 machines was never detected.

So, sure, that pr

Re:

[Curunir_wolf]

How is that marked Flaimbait?

Maybe it was the reference to "Mak" and "MakOz"? The only thing missing was "Mak f@nboiz SUXRZ!".

ROFLMAO

[Captain Splendid]

About 10 minutes before this popped up, I got my first client call with this symptom.

Ahhh, Microsoft. Thank you for all the work you throw my way!

The only thing I can confirm so far is yep, Safe Mode don't work.

Re:ROFLMAO

[BoomerSooner]

Has safe mode ever worked?

Re:ROFLMAO

[ari_j]

Has safe mode ever worked?

Yes, but it was called DOS back then.

Re:ROFLMAO

[jsiren]

Has safe mode ever worked?

Yes, but it was called DOS back then.

These days it's called Ubuntu.

Re:

[Fred_A]

The only thing I can confirm so far is yep, Safe Mode don't work.

Oh I don't know, a machine stuck in an infinite loop sounds quite safe to me.

Re:

[RonnyJ]

Not to be cynical, but everything points to this being a fake post considering how horrendously wrong the summary is.

This is a problem reported on a beta version, and so will likely be fixed in the final. The final is currently 'unreleased' to the public (although it's out there), and the beta version requires registry entries to install. In both cases you need admin rights on the machine. The summary is *completely* wrong in that SP1 is not available on Windows Update yet, and that's even assuming that the

Re:

[Captain Splendid]

Wish I had. I'm trying to fucking retire from the Windows business, not get stuck in further.

I love how the pro-MS trolls are out in force today.

SP1 prevents Vista from booting?

[goldspider]

So in other words, it IS an improvement!

Win a T-Shirt!

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Q: Vista SP1 gets locks up the machines after update.

A: [x] Fiction (wins a T-Shirt)
    [ ] Fact (truth but no T-Shirt to you bad boy.)

Re:

[milsoRgen]

Windows Vista won't truly be ready until the first complete Service Pack is released. Fact (Fiction)

their answers, not mine

Recycling is hip!

Re:

[tsa]

From OSX's `dictionary application:

sarcasm |särkazm|

noun

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt : his voice, hardened by sarcasm, could not hide his resentment. See note at wit .

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French sarcasme, or via late Latin from late Greek sarkasmos, from Greek sarkazein 'tear flesh,' in late Greek 'gnash the teeth, speak bitterly' (from sarx, sark- 'flesh' ).

Re:

[berashith]

Hi,
When opening slashdot for the first time every day, please scroll to the bottom first and at least glance through the headlines. This will make it easier to catch local humor and apply DUP tags as quickly as possible.
Thank you,
The management

Lucky!

[Grandiloquence]

They're lucky! When it finishes booting, it kicks your dog and sends kiddie porn to all the contacts in your address book!

Re:

[empaler]

He speaks true! Butch is now whimpering in the corner, and my brother already wrote back requesting more!

Vista is imitating Apple Again!

[TrippTDF]

this time, it's with "One Infinite Loop"

Re:

[peragrin]

odd I was thinking there was a goto joke in there.

Or a Vista counting problem. It couldn't figure out what comes after 0 so it couldn't move forward. After all if it takes 14 days to copy a gig of files one has to wonder about basic math inside of Vista.

Ye who lack faith

[elrous0]

Eventually the loop will stop, and the installation will complete. But only if you BELIEVE!

Re:

[Moonpie Madness]

I can't tell you how many times I used to allow broken loops to run, hoping and hoping and pleading that it would work. And sometimes it did.

Computers don't really have that clunky feel anymore, and we're leaving the "hot-rod" modder age that was kinda akin to 60's and 70s muscle cars. Laptops are more like the newer less modable cars, so the OS is the only opportunity I get to have these fun experiences!

yay

Re:

[MBGMorden]

The impatience of users annoys me too sometimes. In particular, I'm convinced that they believe that any prompt that appears will somehow physically injure them if left open for more than 3 seconds.

ANYTHING that pops up with the words "Yes", "OK", "Next", or "Finish" gets clicked with lightning speed as if they were playing a game of whack-a-mole. I even had one instance where I was doing training, and the software program would give a confirmation number that the user was supposed to write down for their

Re:

[Opportunist]

More likely, eventually the loop will hit a buffer overflow and complete. This will be discovered by some guy who has the patience to sit it out, then announced by MS as a "suitable workaround" until "a patch can be introduced". The patch will never come, you'll be asked to just let it reboot for a few days until the installation completes.

After all, we all know you never have to reinstall Windows, so what's a few days?

Regression testing, people

[plopez]

Seriously, sounds like a version issue. An SCM (Software Configuration Management). Seriously, I worked for smaller companies that were serious about versioning and regression testing. Is it my imagination or does MS seem more and more like a software organization that is out of control?

Re:Regression testing, people

[porkThreeWays]

Seriously guys, seriously.

Re:Regression testing, people

[cliffski]

more likely they are a software company rolling out tens of millions of copies of an O/S onto completely random hardware. I'd be amazed if there were not a few problems.

Re:Regression testing, people

[BUL2294]

Bullshit... The amount of hardware variability has declined over the past 15-odd years due to consolidation and Microsoft's insistence...

* How many CPU makers are out there today? 2. (Transmeta is dead).
* How many companies make chipsets (north/southbridges) today? 4(?)
* GPU makers? 3.
* BIOS vendors? 3(?)
* Sound cards? 2 (Intel & Creative)
* Expansion interfaces? 2 (PCI, PCI-Express)

Now, look back to 1993-1995. How many no-name brand BIOSes caused problems? How many brands of VGA chipsets were there? CPU makers? (Think Intel, AMD, Cyrix, NexGen, C&T,...) How many expansion interfaces were there (ISA, VLB, PCI, MCA). How many brands had their own incompatible hardware, where Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS had special switches for (AST, Everex, IBM PS/2, etc.) All of these worked well with DOS/Win3.x and Win95.

No, this is Microsoft's way of saying "we don't know what's wrong with Vista!"

3 GPU makers?

[Khyber]

What are you smoking? S3 is still around. Matrox as well. Then there's Intel, ATi, nVidia, then there's 3DLabs. I think Trident might be around, but only in a pure 2D platform. Cirrus Logic is also still in business, though whether or not they still manufacture GPUs is unknown to myself.

Re:Regression testing, people

[AstroPHX]

Your funny math makes my brain hurt.

The number of vendors is a horrible measurement. Try variants on for size:

How many CPU variants does one of the two manufacturers currently support? Try over 125. http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUResult.aspx?f1=&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=& [amd.com] Oh, and that's just for the desktop.

GPU? NVidia has 38 families of chipsets. At ~5 products for each chipset, you're over 190.

What about all of the other hardware on a motherboard? Bluetooth, USB, Firewire, network drivers and modems are some of the largest contributers to OS development overhead/headache; tell me, have you ever tried to load up Feisty Ubuntu using a Broadcomm wireless device?!?

By the way, this doesn't include all of the half-assed components people drop onto their computers like humping dog memory sticks or coffee warmers let alone all of the out of date drivers people have installed on their systems (have you checked your BIOS rev lately?).

This isn't "Microsoft's way of saying 'we don't know what's wrong with Vista,'" it's Microsoft's way of saying, "we're trying our damnedest to clean this up, but you idiots keep pissing in the pool."

Re:

[mgblst]

If only all this hardware followed some sort of spec... surely that would make things easier.

Ironic, one of the greatest abusers of standards today, being bitten on the ass because of non-standards compliance.

Re:

[KillerBob]

* How many CPU makers are out there today? 2. (Transmeta is dead).

3 that try for the mainstream (Intel, AMD, VIA), but MS also makes pared down versions of XP that run on embedded platforms, usually with CPUs by IBM, Motorola, or Conexant, though the 3 major players all have offerings in this family, too.

* How many companies make chipsets (north/southbridges) today? 4(?)

In mainstream computing, it's pretty much NVidia or ATI these days. But there's also offerings out there from all of the CPU manufacturers

Re:

[SanityInAnarchy]

It's your imagination if they ever seemed like they were IN control.

Re:

[gEvil (beta)]

Is it my imagination or does MS seem more and more like a software organization that is out of control?

The problem is clearly your imagination. MS has a complete and total grasp on the situation. Their sales rep told me so.

Re:Regression testing, people

[tlhIngan]

Seriously, sounds like a version issue. An SCM (Software Configuration Management). Seriously, I worked for smaller companies that were serious about versioning and regression testing. Is it my imagination or does MS seem more and more like a software organization that is out of control?

It appears that each little division of Microsoft is their own little fiefdom. Take a common DLL - comctl32.dll (common controls). Windows ships with one version. Office ships with another version. Applications (using Visual Studio Redistributables) ship with a third version! Each has features that aren't in the others, so Windows apps get one look, Office another look, and 3rd party apps yet another look.

In addition, the OS team forked the compiler they use from the development team. It makes sense in one aspect - all developers have a stable toolchain. However, if the dev team breaks something, instead of the Windows team making a big stink, people who use Visual Studio do.

As far as anyone's concerned, Microsoft might as well be split up into separate companies - they more or less act that way anyhow. Code's taken from one team and forked, improvements aren't folded back in, etc.

Re:

[tompaulco]

Seriously, I worked for smaller companies that were serious about versioning and regression testing. Is it my imagination or does MS seem more and more like a software organization that is out of control?
No, they have just come to the realization that they can save tons of money by outsourcing their QA to their customers.

It's not on windows update

[Megor1]

You can't download SP1 yet from Microsoft, in fact its not due out for weeks...

Re:It's not on windows update

[nicklott]

Who modded this Offtopic? The summary says "which began rolling out via Automatic Update", which is just wrong. Admittedly they might want to have caught this a touch earlier, but it's not public yet, nevermind auto updating people's machines. OSS FUD I say...

Re:It's not on windows update

[nicklott]

In fact, all the posts to the thread in the article were made after this article was posted to slashdot and by posters with a post count of 1. They talk about SP1 on auto-update (which the original post didn't) yet that can't possibly be true because that's not the case. And oh look, echostormfury is one of the posters, could he perchance be related to the Echostorm who posted the story? I smell bullshit...

doh

[nicklott]

In fact, all the posts to the thread in the article were made after this article was posted

should have been

In fact, all the posts to the thread in the article that mentioned auto update were made after this article was posted

Re:

[Creepy]

It's the prep release for SP1 that came out a day or so ago, which I believe includes kernel updates. My ASUS S7v3 Vista laptop started rebooting constantly after installing this update, and I was forced to use the recovery feature that wipes the drive (most of my really important stuff is backed up, but not anything from the last week or so).

I began downloading the update again to see if it is repeatable, or if it was due to other drivers on my system. If it's repeatable, I would say this is a very, very

Re:

[Guspaz]

Haven't you been listening to Apple Legal? It's obvious why that one didn't show up on the front page. Macs don't have any bugs, so any user experiencing that problem obviously did something wrong. Their lawyers said so.

Don't Panic!!!!

[molex333]

Microsoft will be releasing a worm to fix this problem early next week!

Re:

[linumax]

Thank god my machine doesn't boot, otherwise Norton Antivirus would have stopped the worm fix!

Re:

[stox]

Actually, they let some worms out yesterday:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-management-mobile-tech-enter-cx_bc_0214microsoft.html?partner=yahootix [forbes.com]

Brick?!?

[gardyloo]

I'm sorry. I can't believe I read a summary about a computer problem without it being called "bricking". What the hell is wrong with the world?!?

Re:

[Oxy the moron]

Well, It's Not totally a brick... ThiS could be as good Time A time as you'LL get to Loosen up, Indulge your iNner geek, and Upgrade to something better by niXing Windows altogether...

Re:Brick?!?

[Opportunist]

Hmm... it feels like there is some subliminal message hidden in there somewhere, but I just can't find it...

Anyway, who cares? I suddenly feel like it's time to can Windows altogether and finally do the switch to Linux.

Re:

[berashith]

I know... I couldnt find the right way to tag it ..

fivesecondsuntilimproperuseofbrick ?
countdowntononbrickevent

we need a poll

A RC Refresh through Windows Update

[soilheart]

Well. If you read the first forum post that person states that he used the Refresh RC... And my windows update doesn't tell me anything about any updates. If it's one of those preSP updates I can understand, but why doesn't you say so then...

Re:

[soilheart]

Reading a little more of the forum confirms my theory about it mostly being the Refresh RC 2 ("Which should be the same as the RTM").
I havn't found a single thread about someone saying anything about windows update.

For those who say "Get a Mac"

[Radhruin]

Something similar happened [slashdot.org] with the 10.4.11 update as well.

Re:For those who say "Get a Mac"

[Khuffie]

Except for a major difference: unlike the 10.4.11 update, this is NOT a public release and contrary to what the summary is, is NOT available on Windows Update.

That's some keen fucking reporting

[sharkey]

Echostorm writes with word that Windows Vista SP1, which began rolling out via Automatic Update, has left some users' machines unbootable.

A forum post from last month about issues with the Vista SP1 Release Candidate (prerelease code, just to let Echostorm know). SP1 does not go out via auto updates until next month, and is only officially available to select system builders and beta testers now.

It's unclear how many users are affected.

I counted 5, including the guy who yanked his power cable and trashed his filesystem.

So far there is no word on a fix from Microsoft.

It might possibly be fixed in the RTM version of SP1. Who knows? Certainly not Echostorm, who is having a poopie because he hosed his own PC and is trying to drum up a whine-fest about it. Definitely not kdawson either, who posted this because, well, it's kdawson.

This is taking slashvertisments to the preschool tantrum level.

Re:

[ShatteredArm]

Is that you, Echostorm? LOL

Here's the key phrase:

even one that isn't in 100% finished form

There you have it. It's not in 100% finished form. Have you done any software development before? Obviously you haven't, because then you're realize that code-complete does not mean you've tested it on every single possible hardware setup in every single possible environment. Could it be that maybe they're testing it for six weeks before releasing it implies that they haven't yet tested it in every single poss

Repair disk fixes vista problem

[BroadbandBradley]

you can download a disk image, boot from the disk, and start being productive. It's a proven fix that worked for me.

Vista Repair Disk [kernel.org]

I used it as soon as I started having problems with Vista on a new work computer and it's been smooth sailing ever since.
 

Re:

[BroadbandBradley]

I know I know, but it is the disk I used and I'm in disbelief that I've never had to boot back to the dark side. Others in our office have had all kinds of issues with the crippleware on their systems (the add-ons that do something for free like open certain image formats, but nag you to upgrade to do everything you need like save in other formats). The other common issue is loosing connection with the networked printer and MSOffice complaining that it doesn't know how to open OpenOffice documents (makes

Somewhat reminds me. . .

[smooth wombat]

of the situation years ago when a patch went that killed ones network connection. The solution from Microsoft? Download a new patch to correct the situation.

Um, yeah.

2009!

[PinkyDead]

"The year of Windows on the Desktop."

Trolly, but true.

Re:

[Vexorian]

heck, the year windows detects my hardware without me having to keep all my CDs or at least the year I wouldn't have to use the recovery console every once in three months, will be the year on windows on the desktop.

I call Shenanigans

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Vista SP1 isn't even being deployed via Windows Update until next month, this whole story reeks of BS...

Um, people...

[Knara]

Vista SP1 isn't officially released yet, nor is it coming down by automatic updates.

So... why is this story about unreleased software trashing people's systems that they're stupid enough to install software that isn't RTM code being considered news?

Thank you for confirming...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for confirming how rabidly anti-Microsoft this site is.

Not only was the original article allowed to make it even though it was clearly incorrect. Since SP1 will not be available on Windows Update for at least a month. Most of the responders automatically piled on the typical anti-MS/Vista nonsens and even disagreed with posters trying to correct the article pointing to the article as proof.

ASUS P5N-E

[nick_davison]

It may well not be SP1.

A very large number of owners of ASUS P5N-E motherboards are reporting the same issue simply with recent updates. It's quite likely the SP1 update is simply triggering the same issue.

Here's a google search on the issue [google.com]. You'll notice a common thread is that P5N-E owners have the issue, users of other motherboards don't see it.

It's been happening since mid January, from what I can gather, and I'm not finding any solutions to it yet.

Oh dear

[Toreo asesino]

Echostorm writes with word that Windows Vista SP1, which began rolling out via Automatic Update, has left some users' machines unbootable.

Oh slashdot, how you have become the Fox News of the IT world. Fact: SP1 has not been on automatic update yet, and won't be for a couple of weeks yet.

To echo what others have said, let's not let simple things like facts get in the way of good journalism.

Re:

[KublaiKhan]

Incorrect. If you paid attention, it was rolled out via the automatic update.

This is clearly a botch by Microsoft, not something "illegally downloaded".

Re:

[Knuckles]

Would someone please correct the obviously incorrect moderation of the parent post? Must have been either a clicko or an MS astroturfer. Parent said

Incorrect. If you paid attention, it was rolled out via the automatic update.

This is clearly a botch by Microsoft, not something "illegally downloaded".

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Would someone please correct the obviously incorrect moderation of the parent post? Must have been either a clicko or an MS astroturfer. Parent said Incorrect. If you paid attention, it was rolled out via the automatic update. This is clearly a botch by Microsoft, not something "illegally downloaded".

Not sure what you want corrected, but SP1 is most definitely not rolled out on Windows Update yet, that is planned for mid-March. Something we just a few stories ago were bashing MS to kingdom come for. So

Re:

[Captain Splendid]

Sorry to tell you, but I've got a regular user, bought his laptop from BB, and he called just before this story broke on /.

So, as I said above, either that's flat out wrong, or someone at MS messed up.

Re:

[Knuckles]

Um, either the /. summary was wrong (and Captain Splendid in the other reply), but it clearly stated that it is being pushed now via Windows Update (I wouldn't know, not an MS customer). And there was no mention of bittorrent downloads. It's pretty obvious what I hoped to be corrected.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

It hasn't begun rolling out via Automatic Update and the linked article is a forum post that refers to SP1 RC Refresh. RC Refresh is technically the same patch as SP1 but Microsoft has since releases pre-patches for SP1 which are rolling out via Automatic Updates - presumably to fix many of these issues.

So yeah - this story seems like bullshit and those parroting its claims need to remember that this is Slashdot - where facts are less important than a story tagged "haha".

Re:

[mnslinky]

bah! -1 retard for me. I didn't RTFA before I posted. I didn't see the part that it was rolling out via Automatic Update.

I suck.

Re:

[milsoRgen]

Well, you *did* download the update illegally off Bit Torrent. And it *is* a beta release.

Is that a poor attempt at a joke? The summary states it is being rolled out via Automatic Update, which I'm assuming is Windows Update?

automatic updates?

[leuk_he]

I believe MS said they would not roll it to fully automated updates till they fixes some driver installation problem that was displayed in the RC.

They however failed to tell what drivers were affected, and how you can manually fix it. Yanking the power cord certainly is not the method MS would recommend. It htink you need the install disk and run some kind of recovery mode. (that is how it worked under XP.

The linked forum post is referring to a RC, not to the RTM.

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/02/11/windows-vista-sp1-availability-for-technical-customers.aspx [windowsvistablog.com]

"For broad availability, we are still planning to release in mid-March, since we want to be sure that everyone has the smoothest experience possible.". You can have it earlier if you are want to touch buttons....

windows update is only pushing

the final two of three prerequisite updates needed to install Windows Vista SP1 [windowsvistablog.com]

basically it says you still need 2 more reboots before you can have sp1 automatically.

Re:

[SanityInAnarchy]

That's a dillution of the term "brick", and it's also not true. Except in the case of a really destructive update (as in, corrupts the FS or similar), if an update ever renders my Linux unbootable, I'll just pop in the install CD and use it to roll back the changes.

Certainly not what I'd call an "easy" process -- easy for me, maybe -- but it's by no means a brick.

Vista SP1 isn't public yet, unless you pirate it.

[Coopjust]

Vista SP1 isn't available publicly yet, unless you hop on The Pirate Bay.

Microsoft placed 6 weeks between code finalization and public release for 6 weeks of driver testing; some drivers were not properly written, and MS wanted to work with hardware manufacturers/OEMs to find hardware with problems. Everyone bitched about how technical users should get it early.

Then these same people download SP1 from an unauthorized source, and bitch when it breaks their system. They downloaded an update without letting Microsoft work the kinks out, and they didn't get the update from MS. No automatic download was involved in this.

Re:

[Coopjust]

Those registry edits force the release candidates, which are more stable than betas but are still not intended for widespread public consumption. That's meant to let hobbyists run on non production machines.

Re:

[Kamokazi]

Apparently in their native tongue, "Windows Update" and "uTorrent" come out the same. This is NOT available from Microsoft to the general public, or even their TechNet & MSDN subscribers (just double-checked mine to be sure). There are currently two methods I am aware of: Installing a fresh copy from the ISO that has been leaked, or doing some registry magic on RC2 update package to make it not expire, which has been rumored to be the RTM but I haven't seen any confirmation anywhere.

Re:Popping Sound

[Bob9113]

a machine that looked exactly the same but now made poping noises.

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua...

Re:

[hyades1]

I'll buy Vista SP1 blowing up some poor bastard's computer and killing his dog, but sleeping with his wife? With or without the suggestively named "Service Pack", Vista is much too lame to bone a guy's wife.

It would be so busy phoning home to make sure sex with a real, live woman wasn't forbidden by Sony or some other DRM-Monster, wifey would be off banging XXXP Pro while Vista was still issuing safe download warnings.