Some Vista SP1 early adopters reporting problems, how about you?
By Nilay Patel 
posted Mar 19th 2008 2:42PM
posted Mar 19th 2008 2:42PM
Alright folks, it's been a whole day with Vista SP1, and like any OS release, reaction is mixed -- although we're certain the people with problems are being more vocal than the rest. As you'd expect, major complaints seem to center around driver issues, that perpetual thorn in Vista's side -- sound cards seem to be the major problem, although there are also reports that NVIDIA drivers are being finicky. For what it's worth, Windows Update won't offer SP1 to anyone running what Microsoft calls "problematic drivers," until they're updated, but that includes several machines sold with Vista pre-installed, which is causing some confusion. In addition, older versions of security software like BitDefender AV and Zone Alarm are flat-out blocked from running on SP1, but updates are apparently available. Obviously that's a lot of chatter, so we figured we'd ask the experts -- how'd it go? Any speed-ups or slow-downs to report? All your drivers and apps still working? Let us know in comments![Via Pocket-lint]
Read - Official Windows Team Blog entry on getting SP1 to appear in Windows Update
Read - List of problematic drivers
Read - PC Pro article on Vista SP1 problems
Really? It's been what, one day? Give it some time.
I expected more. Thats all the coverage we get from Engadget? For fun, search Engadget for "leopard", my personal favourite post, "Leopard pre-orders shipping, blowout coverage commencing". Okay, you can low rank me now.
Oh cmon you guys. I've had the official release of Vista Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 since January 30th now (got before all the issues sparked with it over at Microsoft). You guys are really slow.
worked fine for me and the system does seem to be a bit more responsive. programs open faster, web seems faster too.
Same here. Vista 64bit, been running SP1 since this morning (about 11 hours now). Feels a bit more responsive and no problems so far.
Not really noticed any change here, except it disables some incompatible software that I never got around to uninstalling
Works for me and is also faster. I have no problems with my drivers for my nvidia motherboard or video card. I was surprised about performance it offers because I only have 512MB and yes it is a vista capable PC you know a junk pc.
Is everyone downloading SP1 via direct link or Windows Update? I've tried Windows Update many times in the last two days and still don't see SP1 available.
WOrks great... How about we get a list of pros instead of going straight to the negative. Or maybe even a poll To see how many tech savvy engadget users are having problems...
*Cough* Bias *Cough*
"*Cough* Bias *Cough*"
*Cough* Blog *Cough*
*Cough* Cry more *Cough*
I lost my "volume" and "network status" icons froms the system tray. I can't select them from the menu anymore as the boxes are grayed out.
The laptop did resume from hibernation much faster and connected to the network faster.
Also, maybe in your poll you include the number of people who claim that it's much faster now and they were claiming no problems before... because I'd assume that it running slow IS a problem.
"I don't have Vista, but I'm downloading it to spite... and to steal all your bandwidth."
-Andir3.0
Then we don't need your opinion here. Obviously you dont know much.
Placebo effect!
I agree... things seem smoother and faster. No problems here.
I don't have to know anything about Vista to know that you are all crying over a BLOG. This is not a credible news site, nor should you assume that they post unbiased articles. Is that so hard to understand? Maybe I can have Microsoft spell it out for you so you will accept it as "standard"?
Actually, SP1 boosted my 3dmark06 scores up 60 points. I ran right before update and right after to compare.* I haven't done any other testing though.
* -- Prior to, I just upgraded from the EVGA 680i motherboard to the 780i and still haven't reformatted my hard-drive or reinstalled the OS. I'm probably on less than optimal conditions so other people might have better/worse experiences. I had a driver conflict with a printer from the upgrade and SP1 resolved it. Although this was purely my laziness (the conflict) and not Microsoft or Vista's.
Same here. The only thing they skipped for me was bootup and shutdown times which seem unnecessarily slow. Other than that, my system seems to have gained quite a boost.
Definitely faster file copying. I found that I had to hide optional updates before Vista SP1 was offered to me by Windows Update.
sp1 halved my boot time, 2 days ago i was fully booted with everything running in 2 minutes and 12 seconds, as of today with sp1 installed i can boot and have everything running in 58 seconds. programs seem snappier, and file transfers are definitly quicker too. i didn't have any problems before so problem wise there's been no change.
@Wayne:
That's not a new bug with SP1, just new to you. There's a fix for it here: http://directedge.us/node/44
Everything looks ok, the only thing I'm having some problems with is bootcamp drivers (I use it for apple keyboard), I can't enter bootcamp control panel. The only improvement is that my PC shutdowns much faster :).
Ok, installation was unpleasent - got to 3 of 3 100%, but then it hung for like 3 hours. I could put it to sleep and all, but it didn't boot. Except for BCEdit or whatever that MBR program is called, I have 0 3d party software installed (I had so many probs w/ Vista, I decided to flush it and reinstall, and put on the MBR program so I could enable Fedora 8 dual-boot in case Vista became unstable again).
But everything now seems ok, and even a slight bit faster.
I saw some posts here about people not being able to download the SP1. I saw a response that said that you can only have the 4 language packs supported - THANKS!! I had installed other language packs, and when I saw this response, I uninstalled them - and SP1 became available.
To build on that, though, make sure that you have all compatable drivers, too.
Check this link: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343#method5
seems fine here too
nothing of a big change though
but wasn't expecting one either
yup...
same here...
no problems...
seems to work fine and bit better...
Running an AMD Turion TL-60, 2GB RAM, 160GB 5400RPM HDD, Vista Home Premium.
SP1 has slowed my bootup time from under 30 seconds to well over 2 minutes.
Am I pissed? Yes. And guess what. It STILL doesnt come out of standby, or even turn the monitor back on when I open the lid (I have it set to do NOTHING when I close the lid...)
Well, I have given SP1 and Vista its chances. Time to upgrade back to XP for games. Someone should slap Bill Gates across the face.
Now I know why I rarely use my laptop. Back to Fedora I go...
I thought we weren't allowed to make Bill Gates jokes anymore..
I loaded SP1 and my sound driver mixer was restored back on the sys tray. Instead of the MS audio driver. The Calculation slow bug in the copy of files was fixed. Its also seem more responsive with opening explore windows and also to shut down and also going into stand by has improved.
Darkbyte2005
sp 1 stopped the scroll sections on the touchpad of my toshiba A215 satellite and prevented reinstall of drivers only choice i had was to rollback the system to before the sp 1 install and that happened twice so far nobody seems to have a solution to this problem it really did stabalize the system though but that other problem is really an annoyance
Using Mac OS X at the moment, so I don't know... and will probably not update my Vista machine.
I installed SP1 last night and had no issues. It has actully made my PC boot faster and has solved problems with Vista that I have been trying to solve for months.
I didn't have any problems. Running Vista 64, and pretty happy with it. It runs fast as hell with 4 gigs of ram that I got for $90.
Ram is my friend!
No, Ram is your program. Tron is his friend. Flynn is his user.
We want to know if there are any problems with SP1, not show-off how you have 4GB of RAM for a bargain price.
But I guess that's what the interwebz are for, right? No one really cares in real life.
Wasn't showing off, just describing my system and sick of pricks like you complaining about vista not being able to run on their shit systems that only have 512mb.
my 32 bit vista now recognizes all 4 gigz of ram that i have as opposed to only 3.25 of 4 gigz like it did before. w00t.
haven't had a chance to use my laptop with vista much since yesterday (i'm on my 3e right now) but it actually seemed somewhat quicker. however, that could be more because of the 4gigz of ram than software fixes. i have no way of knowing either way though.
@thaDon
i have a way of knowing.
ur comp isn't using any more ram than before, just reporting that u have 4 stuck in there.
my computer is running a lot faster on opening the internet up and minimizing it, but I haven't had time to check. I doubt this is going to be able to put vista on par with xp yet
So far no issues, but I haven't had much time to test my system so far. I used it for a bit last night after the upgrade and everything seemed normal. No notable improvements or troubles.
I'm uninstalling it right now. It completely wrecked my Windows Media Player. None of the playlists work, if I click on one and I'm lucky enough for it to start playing, it's not the list I clicked on.
Running fine for me on my e6750 8800gtx..... it just likes me(probably because I bought a zune 80)
Has been working great for me. As said in a comment above, programs seem to be opening quicker and running more smooth.
The main performance I've seen is file transfers, correct estimated times and much quicker transfers!
everything loads quicker i can only say the only problem i saw was that it reset my creative sound settings which was no big deal..
doesnt install if you have other language packs installed other than "jap", eng", and a few others...i had chinese installed and it wont continue with the installation....su cks
Remove the Language Packs if you don't use them...
yeah, that is what i did, then i went to check and see if i can reinstall the language(s) that i uninstalled, they werent there anymore...:-(
Did you try using the multi-language version?
Downloaded and applied the updated last night. Seemed to take awhile to install compared to SPs for 2000 & XP (over 30 minutes), but beyond that oddity I've noticed no problems (or real differences) at all so far.
SP1 works fine for me -- and I have NVIDIA cards and a separate soundblaster card. My settings on the sound card reset when I installed the SP, but they seem to be working fine now. Overall, I think the system is ever so slightly more responsive, but that could be my imagination.
There was a less problematic patch released a while ago...it was called 'UPGRADE to Windows XP'...
Boooo!
But anyway, one person at a forum I talked to had to reinstall Vista after the product key was lost apparently? IDK, none of my systems are equipped to handle Vista, I'm typing on a 5-pin OS/2 keyboard if you can believe that!
Here's his website:
http://www.photos-n-designs.com/
If you don't have anything relating to the topic then don't post. It's annoying. I am currently installing the SP1 on 2 Vista machines. Hope all goes well.
Forgot to mention it happened after he installed SP1.
@Backlin:
What the fuck is with that comment?
@ Backlin
Do not comment while using weed.
Chebwa hasn't heard of RISC OS, I too have a weird keyboard attached and it isn't even PS2!
Ehhem yes SP1 installed fine with no problems whatsoever and my machine seems a little faster :-)
I like Vista, but I also have a XP machine at home... when will SP3 be released??
I've been running SP1 for almost an entire day now and haven't experienced any problems on my Vista Capable Pavilion dv9000.
Vista is a very good OS but I have to say that HP has done a very poor job providing good drivers, I have for example not been able to use my webcam since I upgraded to Vista. I love Vista and wouldn't even think about downgrading to XP but I do feel that the performance isn't optimum. I have turned of Aero completely since it as using resources for nothing, life is perfectly fine without it.
Upgrading my RAM from 1GB to 2.5GB has been very beneficial since Vista + a countless of other software running at the same time does eat up a lot of memory.
In general I don't recommend anyone to run Vista unless the manufacturer of the computer is supplying good drivers and updating them on a regular basis.
My Systems: (Installed SP1 on 2 of my 3 Vista machines)
(Gaming Rig)
AMD 6000+
Crossfire 3850's
AMD 580 (I think) chipset
4GB Ram
64bit Vista Ultimate
NO PROBLEMS
(Gaming Laptop)
Asus G1S-A1
Intel T7200 (2Ghz)
nVidia 8600M GT CPU
2Gb Ram
Santa Rosa Platform
32Bit Vista Home Premium
NO PROBLEMS
Hope this helps.
- Kiteless
---The G1S-A1 has the T7500 at 2.2GHz.(I'm using it to type this now.) Even-numbered T7X00 are not Santa Rosa- Just saying.
I've seen no real difference, but vista takes longer to load the login screen now.
I'm running an Acer notebook that came with vista installed, and I didnt find SP1 on windows update yesterday so I downloaded from the link provided by you guys.
This update didnt appear in my Windows Update. Im running Norton Corporate antivirus & a NVIDIA graphics card. So im assuming so far thats why I cannot recieve the update. I will wait until its pushed through windows update. Im sure its being held back due to in-compatiablities. My Vista runs fine. Just as solid as my XP work pc and my OSX 10.5 Mac
everything seems much faster for me. I have done the upgrade on my desktop (x64) and my laptop(x86) both seem pretty happy with what i have done. the laptop isn't seeing as much of an improvement, probably because i haven't used it enough for it to "learn" how i do things.
forgot to add, windows update gave me the update fro the desktop x64, but no the laptop x86. both were done with the standalone installers anyway.
Installed Vista yesterday afternoon, Im running Ultimate Edition, THREE 19" monitors, with 2 different ATI video cards. Plus, I have a Webcam and a bunch of old programs, such as ACT! 5.0, Old FTP server programs, Photoshop, Trend Micro Security, RSS Tickers, ObjectDock, Bitmeter, Firefox, TrueCrypt, etc.
I have had NO problems...
If anything, the computer runs better than it did before. It actually boots faster.
no problems what so ever. that said i haven't had a problem with vista since i upgraded...
I grabbed SP1 off of MSDN on Monday and installed it Monday afternoon. Everything looks, feels, and responds exactly the same. IE7 still sucks royal ass.
Give 8 a try then.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/default.mspx
So far so good here. Only took about 40 minutes to update on an Dell XPS M1210. It "seems" a little faster. I will do some file transfers today and see if that is faster. I have been moving a lot of images around lately, so I am WELL aware of the file transfer issues prior to SP1.
Worked fine for me too. The installation took approximately an hour. Copying large files is quite fast now!
Running smooth. Seems peppier.
smooth as silk install... and i didn't have to pay for a software upgrade. All in all a good experience
Problems: MATLAB 2007b dies instantly - will probably have to re-install.
Tablet PC input extras no longer work - the input panel still shows, but the modified mouse pointers and pen flick no longer work.
I'm using 32-bit, and it works great for me...actually seems to work faster and save on battery (for the laptop obviously).
SP1 works great on my laptop, it seems much faster to boot and close, but desktop however was another story.
It slowed down my usually fast network transfer speeds (55MB/sec to 35MB/sec), and would cause frequent and prolonged OS freezes of 30-40 seconds. I suspect it may of had something to do with my brand new symantec AV.
It then fubared when attempting to rollback the update to a previous version. I'm currently reinstalling Vista Ultimate, this time trying 64 bit. Luckily I have all of my program install disks and keep important files on a separate RAID 5 array.
You must have Comcast if your speeds are slower...
I'm having sound problems with my Asus G1S. The speaker volume has to be put all the way down and back up to get sound out of the built in speakers.. The headphone jacks works fine on boot though. Having to do this everytime I boot now.
Hopefully they can fix this issue soon.
Been running it for about 2-3 weeks now when 64bit was accidently pushed out...no issues here...systems seems more stable but it could be all in my head.
After installing SP1 the first time, it Failed and my copy of windows started to tell me it wasn't genuine. Attempting SP1 a second time fixed the problem and it installed successfully.
I was going to be pissed if I had to call MS again to fix my key.
call me when SP2 comes out.
I'd ask you for your number but I'm sure it's the same as your moms. Who was here at my house last night. Doing the naughty. Oh yeah.
Installed SP1 on my m1730 last night, no issues.
Been running it for a while(MSDN) on my gaming rig (E8400, X38, 2GB 4-4-4-12, 8800GT) with Zero problems, and some definite improvements to responsiveness.
Running the update on my home PC a few hours ago required me to install a set of nVidia drivers before it would show on Windows Update (networking and SATA), so MS might be adding new mandatory driver upgrades to the install as problems crop up.
everything is fine for me, but then again i haven't had any problems without the SP1
except firefox and Opera freezing up for a second or two every minute or so, which really pisses me off sometimes
wtf.....i cant get it from the windows update... it says everything is up to date and i checked the update history and it shows NO SP1 update.... =( someone please help (thanks in advance!)
download the full update from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en
Hit 'check for updates' 3 times, then magically, the smaller install version shows up.
Zero problems with AVG Free Virus protection. (http://free.grisoft.com)
SP1 installed fine on my Vista Boot Camp partition on my early 2008 MacBook Pro
All i've noticed is a little longer pause on the "welcome" screen when you log on. Besides that, everything that didn't work before still doesn't work and everything that did is fine...
Running Vista Business x64 SP1 on a home-brew Intel 45nm processor with 4gb ram.
Runs fine.
But let me get this straight...the people who are having problems are complaining their drivers are out of date, yet SP1 won't install without updating the drivers first.
What's the big deal? Update the drivers then install SP1. I'll bet money the drivers even automatically install off Windows Update too.
GET OVER IT. Change is a fact of life. If you want to go back to Windows 3.11 or 95 and carry a Motorola brick phone that weighs 15 pounds then be my guest.
"home-brew Intel 45nm processor"
Did you ask permission from Intel to make a home brew version of their processor or are you an Intel engineer testing out a new hand built processor?
er...home-brew system.
I've not really seen any difference whatsoever. Most anticlimactic SP ever.
This whole thing is dum, i mean you can't pick up a printer and not know for sure if its goin to work or not. But i guess the best way to handle it is blaming the OEMs. So let me guess even though i go out and buy a $600 color laser printertoday , in less than 2 years when windows 7 comes out i'll just have to trash it again????
Someone who does not know how to spell dumb should not be pointing fingers at Vista...
Look up ironic right after you look up how to spell 'dum'
Just do what I do and don't bother with printers or scanners. Manufacturers never update the drivers for either of these so why waste your time with them. Do you really need to print stuff and how often do you use your printer?
@snitch:
I use an Epson X3200 multifunction that was built in 2001 with Vista and have not had a single problem with it. Maybe you should try to find a printer manufacturer that actually cares about its customers and supports its hardware. It is the OEMs fault if they don't release drivers for Vista.