SP2 installation horrors

[BrianW]

My new laptop came with Vista Home Premium, and the hard drive had been
partitioned into two equal partitions. On Friday I was offered Vista SP2
from the update centre. To my cost I agreed to install it.

The first thing it did was create a restore point. The installation then
failed part way through as "some features could not be updated". I was
then told that it would be rolled back to the most recent restore point.
I clicked on proceed and went away to let it do its stuff. Some time
later I returned to find the same error message, and clicked on proceed
a second time.

This appeared to work, except that when I logged in, it had restored the
PC to its initial state, not the most recent (or for that matter any)
restore point, and all traces of the software I had installed since then
- and my wireless connection - had vanised. It took me hours to set
everthing up again.

A quick Google came up with this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971204/

Is this correct? If so it's going to be a rather common situation. And I
reiterate that this offered by Microsoft Update. I didn't go out there
actively looking for it. And what's the point of restore points if they
don't work?

Any comments please?

 

[Charles W Davis]

My new laptop came with Vista Home Premium, and the hard drive had been
partitioned into two equal partitions. On Friday I was offered Vista SP2
from the update centre. To my cost I agreed to install it.

The first thing it did was create a restore point. The installation then
failed part way through as "some features could not be updated". I was
then told that it would be rolled back to the most recent restore point. I
clicked on proceed and went away to let it do its stuff. Some time later I
returned to find the same error message, and clicked on proceed a second
time.

This appeared to work, except that when I logged in, it had restored the
PC to its initial state, not the most recent (or for that matter any)
restore point, and all traces of the software I had installed since then -
and my wireless connection - had vanised. It took me hours to set
everthing up again.

A quick Google came up with this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971204/

Is this correct? If so it's going to be a rather common situation. And I
reiterate that this offered by Microsoft Update. I didn't go out there
actively looking for it. And what's the point of restore points if they
don't work?

Any comments please?

Unfortunately, it is true. What you must remember is that Microsoft has no
control over 3rd party software.

 

[nomore]

Ignore the Knowledgeless Base Article.
Microsoft habitually blames everyone else for problems with its software
until it is forced to fix something.
If you have a new notebook with a "hidden" partition on which the Vista
restore files are kept this is a standard industry practice and can not in
any way be the cause of the problem installing SP2. Most information in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base concerning failures of the OS are irrelevant, wrong
or, again, meant to blame the end user instead of the OS.
The only accurate statement in the KB Article is that you should not have
any external drives attached/turned on while installing the Service Pack,
although I have done this without problems.
Which is not to say I have never had problems with various service packs.
Sadly, you need to install SP2 in order to remain current with OS patches to
come as bad guys try to exploit foreseeable and unforeseeable weaknesses in
Vista and other software.
If your machine is now in its out of the box condition try downloading SP2
again, it is a large download and easily corrupted, and installing it before
you reinstall your programs. If that does not work contact the vendor of
your notebook as you will get no support from Microsoft.

 

[webster72n]

My new laptop came with Vista Home Premium, and the hard drive had been
partitioned into two equal partitions. On Friday I was offered Vista SP2
from the update centre. To my cost I agreed to install it.

The first thing it did was create a restore point. The installation then
failed part way through as "some features could not be updated". I was
then told that it would be rolled back to the most recent restore point. I
clicked on proceed and went away to let it do its stuff. Some time later I
returned to find the same error message, and clicked on proceed a second
time.

This appeared to work, except that when I logged in, it had restored the
PC to its initial state, not the most recent (or for that matter any)
restore point, and all traces of the software I had installed since then -
and my wireless connection - had vanised. It took me hours to set
everthing up again.

A quick Google came up with this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971204/

Is this correct? If so it's going to be a rather common situation. And I
reiterate that this offered by Microsoft Update. I didn't go out there
actively looking for it. And what's the point of restore points if they
don't work?

Any comments please?

When you installed SP2, was it by itself or combined with other updates? It
definitely should be installed by itself but, if it was, something must not
have been compatible or otherwise.
It seems a mystery to me why most people don't have any problem with the
installation. Am I missing something here?
Please understand, I am NOT defending Microsoft.

Harry.

 

[BrianW]

When you installed SP2, was it by itself or combined with other updates?
It definitely should be installed by itself but, if it was, something
must not have been compatible or otherwise.
It seems a mystery to me why most people don't have any problem with the
installation. Am I missing something here?
Please understand, I am NOT defending Microsoft.

Harry.

In the event it's all irrelevent. The display has now failed and I am
having to get a replacement!

 

[webster72n]

In the event it's all irrelevent. The display has now failed and I am
having to get a replacement!

Sorry about such an unfortunate development.
Hopefully replacement will put you back on track.