Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh - Now Available via Windows Update (with a little help from you)!
Posted 01/11/08 at 11:07:46 PM | by Mark 'Marcus Soperus' Soper
Today, Microsoft announced it is making the Vista SP1 RC Refresh available to the public. Vista RC1 Refresh is an improved version of the Vista SP1 RC it made available in December. Unlike Vista SP1 RC, the Refresh version is being distributed only via Windows Update.
Here's How to Order!
To download the script needed to get Windows Update started, go to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Refresh Public Availability Program page and click Download. A 356KB self-extracting .exe archive will be downloaded to your system. Open the file and the extractor starts. By default, it will store the files in a subfolder of your AppData (a hidden folder). Change the path to an easier-to-locate folder, such as the folder you saved the archive to.
What's Inside?
After you extract the contents of the archive, you will find three files:
- A script file called RCRefreshSP1betaprogramsRK.cmd Use this script to start the Windows update process
- Two versions of the SP1RCRefresh_WUReleaseMessage, one in MS Word .doc format, the other in .xps format (viewable in IE7).
Follow the instructions in this document to get the SP1 RC Refresh on your system. You will need to uninstall Vista SP1 RC before you can install the Refresh version. So, even if you skipped the original Vista SP1 RC, you can try this one.
Enjoy!
[edited title on 1-12-08]
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Let Mark Soper be your tour guide through the exciting new features in Windows Vista. Get Mark's new book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed. It's now available at Amazon.com and other fine bookstores.
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to install or not to install... that is the question lol
Submitted by wolf17 on Sat, 2008-01-12 15:32
hmm.. well i've been running the first publicly available SP1 RC since December and havent noticed any big problems.. im curious abt this refresh but im not sure i want to jinx anything by unistalling the RC i have right now which is working great so far :)
Tempted, but still waiting for final
Submitted by Link2Ib on Sat, 2008-01-12 12:46
So tempted... but then the fact that this has been "refreshed" kind of reaffirms my reasons for waiting, because 1) they must have changed something since RC1, and 2) it means that the final version should be coming soon. Anyway, I seem to be one of the few people who isn't having problems with Vista, so I'll just wait some more. I think they did say Q1 '08 for the final version right? I can wait for that. Although if they fixed zip extracting, that would be nice but I use 7zip to extract stuff anyway so it's OK.
Edit: Yeah, hooray for related links.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx
Although that hasn't been updated since October, I think the Q1 '08 is probably still accurate. But just wondering if someone can clarify, does Q1 refer to January-March? Or is it some other sort of business speak that makes it some other time period.
Q1 is January - March...
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Sat, 2008-01-12 13:05
...but when in that window is hard to say (speculation suggests late February, because Windows Server 2008 ships then, and Vista and WS2008 have common code).
Microsoft, I think, is trying extra hard to make sure that Vista SP1 is pretty well bulletproof when it ships. Better later and done than sooner and not, I always say.BTW, what kinds of problems have you had with Zip extracting? I'm wondering, since I haven't had any problems with it myself.
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by Link2Ib on Sat, 2008-01-12 17:37
Well not problems, it's just incredibly slow for some large zip files, and it often just grinds to a halt with some of them. But as I said, I use 7zip for the big files anyway so it doesn't matter. I've also noticed some horribly slow file transfers, but not very often, and I think both that and the zip issue were fixed with hotfixes that aren't on Windows Update in this SP. Yeah, I agree I'd rather have a solid service pack than a buggy one. Although XP SP2 in general was pretty good, it borked Windows Update (and I think Windows Installer somehow, so certain installers that first download some things like the Java web based installer don't work). Now that machine can only install automatic updates at shutdown, or I can install them from the Windows Update download folder manually, but I don't usually bother with that.
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Sat, 2008-01-12 18:33
It's a great tool for fixing problems with Windows Update. I wrote about it in September: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/broken_windows_fixed_quick_with_dial_a_fix
Give it a try: it's free, easy to use, and can fix many other common problems with Windows XP.
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by Link2Ib on Sun, 2008-01-13 00:54
Wow, thanks for the link I'll be sure to try it. I have a feeling the problem is something with MSI and permissions, so hopefully it should work. It doesn't break things does it? I have a feeling the XPize I installed might have had some ill effects, but I think that was after SP2. XPize is a program that basically replaces many old crappy looking icons and dialogs into more XP styled ones and also patches the uxtheme.dll so you can use different visual styles. It does a lot of mucking with system files, but it's completely reversible so I guess it's fine.
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Sun, 2008-01-13 20:53
...and here's why:
Dial-a-fix automates recognized command-line routines and scripts used for years to fix problems. Hover your mouse over a Dial-a-fix option (as shown in the article I linked to) to see what it does. You'll be glad you don't need to type in all those commands!
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by Link2Ib on Sun, 2008-01-13 23:49
Hmm, that's what I thought from reading the site but after running it and shutting down the computer no longer boots. It could have been the Windows Updates that were installed at shutdown (btw, it didn't fix my Windows update and in fact something to do with it killed my computer, somehow deleting all my restore points and borking startup) but I don't really blame dial-a-fix for it. I think my install was messed up by SP2 to begin with. I'm going to buy a USB external HD and back up the thing and do a reformat/factory image on it, then run the decrapifier thing and install all the updates and all the software I need and make a good image that I can use to fix it if I ever need to. I guess in a way it killing my computer was helpful since hopefully after the reformat it will be faster.
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Mon, 2008-01-14 21:32
I was surprised to hear you had problems after running Dial-a-fix. Try posting a much more detailed account of what's been happening with your system (including the changes you made before running Dial-a-fix) at the support forum: http://lunarsoft.net/forum/index.php?showforum=33
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
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