Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Released – What You Need to Know
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March 16th, 2011 written by Sandro Villinger in Windows Insights
Microsoft officially released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Let’s dive into what SP1 brings to the table and how to prepare for a trouble-free installation.
What is SP1?
SP1 is a major update pack for all of Windows 7′s editions. It includes all previously released and unreleased fixes for the operating system. While it doesn’t provide any new features from an end-user standpoint, it enhances its bigger brother, Windows Server 2008 R2, with a couple of neat additions such as Remote FX and Dynamic Memory.
SP1 fixes 797 issues that have cropped up since Windows 7′s release in 2009. For a full list, go to the Download Center, and look for the Excel spreadsheet of “Hotfixes and Security Updates included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.xls”. The update is 578 MB (32-bit) or 903 MB (64-bit) in size.
Do I need SP1?
Without a doubt, yes. Even if you’ve regularly used Windows Update, SP1 includes fixes that have not yet been released to the public. You could hold out for SP1 for a couple of months, but eventually future updates (especially security ones) or third-party applications will depend on it.
Should I download SP1 or install it via Windows Update?
Microsoft offers several routes to get SP1.The easiest and fastest way is to just open up Windows Update and download it. Take this route if you’ve got only one PC or take care of a very small number of them.
If you’ve been regularly updating your Windows 7 machine, the size of SP1 will be below 100 MB. But wait, didn’t we just say that SP1 weighs several hundred MB? Yes, here’s the reason—Windows Update checks which updates you’ve already installed and only downloads the missing files that are available through SP1.
Take the following steps to install SP1 via Windows Update. Click on the Start orb, go to “All Programs”, and click on “Windows Update”.
On the left side, click “Check for updates”. Depending on your situation, you might need to install pre-requisite updates before you can actually download SP1. Here’s an example of one of those SP1 pre-requisites.
Restart your system, and check Windows Update again. It should offer something like the following.
Check the box, and hit “Install”.
If you’ve got several PCs to take care of or if you’d like to keep SP1 for later, you should download the full package from Microsoft’s Download Center. Choose the windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe for your 64-bit system and windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe if you are using a 32-bit system. Simply download the files and double-click, and the update procedure will start.
Available from the same download link, you could go for the full ISO, which includes both service pack versions, all documentation and debugging materials. It’s called “7601.17514.101119-1850_Update_Sp_Wave1-GRMSP1.1_DVD.iso”, and you can easily use your DVD-burning software or Windows 7′s built-in burning feature, and put SP1 on a blank disc.
Things to take care of before updating
Whenever I install a service pack, I perform the following steps to make sure that everything goes smoothly:
- Disable antivirus: I disconnect my PC from the Internet and disable my anti-virus software. While I haven’t had any issues with Microsoft’s own Security Essentials 2.0, I’ve noticed that some folks out there have had problems installing SP1 with active, third-party anti-virus applications.
- Disable all applications: To be on the safe side, I close all running applications and most of the ones that are running in the background and in the quick tray.
- Clean up my system: I use TuneUp Utilities 2011 to get rid of unnecessary files and problematic registry entries.
What if the update fails?
If you’re getting errors, such as “80073712″ or “8024200D”, while getting SP1, then you should run Microsoft’s own Windows Update Fix It Solution. Go to the Start menu, click on “Control Panel”, and select “Find and fix problems”.
Click on the entry that says “Fix problems with Windows Update” at the very bottom of the screen. This will launch the Fix It solution. Click “Next”, and let it do its magic.
If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to bring out the System Update Readiness Tool, which fixes many issues and reinstalls a lot of Windows Update components. Click here for the 32-bit and here for the 64-bit downloads.
Attention to users with lots of language packs
If you’re working in a multilingual environment, Service Pack 1 might cause some serious problems: On Windows 7 PCs with too many LPs installed, you might receive the error “Error C000009A applying update operation {###} of {###} (\Registry…)” and your PC might not boot up anymore. This is due to the system running out of memory while patching too many files.
To prevent this from happening, you need to uninstall any unused language packs. Simply go to the Start menu, type in “lpksetup.exe” and hit “Enter”. Click on “Uninstall display languages” and choose all LPs that are not set as the current system language:
Done? Then you can safely install SP1 and set up your language packs afterwards.
If you’re already stuck with the mentioned error Error C000009A, you’ve got to cancel and revert the Service Pack 1 installation. To do so, hit “F8″ repeatedly during boot-up (right before the Windows 7 logo appears) and select “Repair your computer”. Follow the instructions and select the “Command prompt” options. Next, type in in the following command:
DISM /Image:X /Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions
Make sure to replace “X” with the letter of your system drive! If your system drive is C, the command looks like this:
Hit Enter and wait for the process to finish! Reboot your machine, uninstall any language packs (see notes above), remove the Service Pack and then try installing SP1 again!
Do you have any questions regarding SP1? Any problems installing it? Let us know!
