HelpWithWindows Newsletter

01. Microsoft Releases Windows Vista Service Pack 1

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users, This week Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Vista to the Windows Update web site.

If you are happy to wait: SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install). But if you want to get SP1 right now, go check Windows Update today (Start Menu > All Programs > Windows Update and click Check for Updates).

Right now SP1 is available in the following five languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. According to Microsoft, SP1 will be available in 31 other languages by mid-April.

If in running Windows Update you do not see Windows Vista SP1 listed, there are a number of good reasons for this (Eight in fact, see the whole list). These are a few of the most common reasons why you might not see SP1 on Windows Update:

You have a pre-release version of SP1 and need to uninstall it before installing SP1
You already have it. To determine if you already have SP1 installed, Open the Start Menu, right click on Computer and left click on Properties
Microsoft released SP1 in these 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. If you have any other language installed, SP1 will not yet be offered to you
Back in February Microsoft announced that they will be using Windows Update to help make the update as seamless as possible for our users. Windows Update will detect drivers that Microsoft knows may be problematic when updating to SP1 and will not offer the service pack until an update has been installed

Those of you who find that SP1 isn't offered over Windows Update even after updating all your drivers, but would still like to download it can access the "standalone installer" from the Microsoft Download Center. Windows Update will help ensure a better experience, so if you do choose to visit the Microsoft Download Center make sure that you read the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article on the device driver problems before installing, as well as some more general information on why SP1 might not have been offered to your PC through Windows Update.

You should also take some time to read the Things to Know Before you Download Windows Vista SP1 and the overview of Windows Vista SP1, including what's new, technical details, guidelines and notable changes from Microsoft TechNet.

If you have just one computer to update I suggest updating Vista through Windows Update. If you have multiple computers, get the stand-alone installer from the Microsoft Download Center.

I have been running the betas and Release Candidates, as well as the final build of SP1 without any problems. If you encounter problems, post a message on our Windows Vista forum on WindowsBBS.com.

Your Comments.

02. Recommended Book: Wireless Network Hacks & Mods For Dummies

Our Price: $24.99

Fun projects and valuable content join forces to enable readers to turn their wireless home network into a high-performance wireless infrastructure capable of entertainment networking and even home automation Step-by-step instructions help readers find, buy, and install the latest and greatest wireless equipment The authors are home tech gurus and offer detailed discussion on the next-generation wireless gear that will move the wireless LAN beyond computers and into telephony, entertainment, home automation/control, and even automotive networking.

To Order: USA (USD 24.99) | UK (GBP 11.21)

03. Recent Support BBS Postings

Last month I ran a poll on the WindowsBBS forum, asking if you backup, and what you use for backup. The results are in: 29% of you who responded use an Automated backup solution, 59% backs up manually while 6.4% does not backup. Of those who backup, nearly 71% backup to another hard drive. You can access the full details here.

Poll: Ever had a computer hardware failure? If so, which component?

Application Data is not accessible. Access is denied - Windows Vista
Five things you'll love (or hate) about IE8 - Internet Explorer
Some document names have turned blue - Windows XP
What is the quietest power supply that you have personal experience with? - Hardware
Free internet security - General Security

04. What's New in Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Now that Microsoft has released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), you may wonder what (if anything) has been changed. If you have installed SP1, you'd be hard pressed to find changes; this is a service pack after all. No new features where added, although some support for new hardware was added.

Read Full Article

05. 06. Windows Vista SP1 Guides for IT Professionals

These guides will assist IT Professionals in evaluating and deploying Windows Vista SP1 and are downloadable versions of the SP1 guides found in the Windows Vista Technical Library.

Download Guides

07. Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

08. Windows Vista Tip: Disable Hibernate in Windows Vista

Windows Vista doesn't have an option in the GUI to switch off the power option Hibernate, so even if you don't use it, there will be a Hiberfil.sys file the same size as your computers memory (RAM) located on your system drive (the hard drive where Windows is located).

Read Full Article

09. Windows Server: The New King of Downtime

Recently, Yankee Group released an interesting report, "2007-2008 Global Server Operating System Reliability Survey," based on a poll conducted with 400 corporate managers, executives, and administrators in 27 countries that asked about the amount of downtime they experienced in their network environment with 10 OSs.

Coming in dead last, and making it the new king of downtime, was Windows 2000 Server (9.86 hours of downtime), followed in the next-to-last position by Windows Server 2003 (8.90 hours).

10. Our Web Sites

HelpWithWindows
WindowsBBS
Rose City Software