Tag: service pack 2

Countdown to Vista Service Pack 1

February 12, 2008 by Jason

Prepare for some fun and games in March when Microsoft releases the long awaited Service Pack 1. It’s all going to be a bit of a palaver with the main download (assuming that you have broadband) preceded by three ‘helper’ updates, two of which will determine which parts of SP1 your PC needs. The third one is only for users of Vista Ultimate and Enterprise editions. If you have a slow Internet connection, or no connection, or a lot of machines to update then you’ll be able to get SP1 on DVD, or download an image copy of the DVD image file.

Microsoft claims it has learned lessons from XP Service Pack 2 and this one will go much more smoothly. Unlike SP2 there’s very little for most users to get excited about, there’s nothing to see and most of the updates are concerned with behind the scenes stuff, Read More»

Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit

December 11, 2007 by Jason

A blocking tool (SPBlockerTools.EXE - 100k) is available for organizations that would like to temporarily prevent installation of Service Pack updates through Windows Update. This tool can be used with:

* Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (valid through March, 2008)
* Windows XP Service Pack 3 (valid for 12 months following general availability)
* Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (valid for 12 months following general availability)

This toolkit contains three components. All of them function primarily to set or clear a specific registry key that is used to detect and block download of Service Packs from Windows Update. You only need to use the component which best serves your organization’s computer management infrastructure. Read More»

Patch Vista and XP to Ignore SP1 and SP3

December 11, 2007 by Jason

With Microsoft having released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Released Candidate via Connect, MSDN and TechNet, and a public build on the horizon any day now, you have to stare the truth in the face and start preparing for the deployment of the service pack. The same is valid for the third and final service pack for Windows XP. Chances are that if you are a home user, SP1 is the best news for Windows Vista you’ve got in a long time. The first Service Pack for Vista is designed to soften all the rough edges of the operating system, by increasing reliability, performance, support and security. But, there are certain scenarios where SP1, although a welcomed addition to the platform has to be kept on a short leash, especially in corporate environments. In this context, Microsoft is offering the possibility to block Vista SP1. Read More»