... that sounds very good but then there's no point then in following the
Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours thread since i can download the updates without changing the OS to
6.0.6003.xxxxx? ...
Hi rustedmetal:
Yes, that's correct. I only suggested you monitor my 16-Jun-2016 post in m#l's thread
Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours because I hope to revise the section titled ***** IMPORTANT NOTICE as of August 3, 2020 ***** when I hear of a simple way that Vista SP2 users who need to patch their OS to end of support on 11-Apr-2017 can download and install their missing security updates without using Windows Update. When I revise that post again it will probably include a link to greenhillmaniac's 08-Aug-2020 thread
Windows Vista Update Repository (until April 2017+) in the MSFN Vista board.
... What about this possibility? Let's assume that this CD "
Windows XP Home Edition CD SP3 OEM 2009 X15-87773-01 ** NO KEY or COA ** | eBay" which has SP3 was Vista instead of XP, would it be possible to back up/extract the Updates and reinstall them on a fresh Vista OS install that didn't have SP3? ? Would that work?
I'm not exactly sure what you're proposing but I don't think that approach would work. That Win XP installation disk on eBay just sounds like a newer OEM installation disk that includes all three Win XP service packs - SP1, SP2 and SP3. If a Win XP user wanted to perform a clean reinstall of their OS but only had an old Win XP installation disk with that included SP1 (or didn't have any installation disk at all), they could purchase that newer installation disk from eBay to perform their clean reinstall and then activate the installation with their Win XP product key. That would save them a few minutes of work because they wouldn't have to manually download and install SP2 and SP3 from the Microsoft Download Center. However, they would still have to run Windows Update to patch their Win XP SP3 OS back to end of support on 08-Apr-2014 (which they can't do as of 03-Aug-2020 since Microsoft deactivated Windows Update for Win XP/Vista per the announcement <
here>) or find some other way to manually apply all their missing security updates released between SP3 (April 2008) and end of support (April 2014).
The equivalent installation disk for Vista users would be Ex_Brit's installation ISO that you used for your clean installation. It is slipstreamed with both SP1 and SP2, but it doesn't include the ~ 200 or so security updates released between SP2 (May 2009) and end of support (April 2017). I gather that PIW2's new Vista installation ISO is different in that it contains SP1, SP2, plus all the ~ 200 security updates released as of 11-Apr-2017, so if you used PIW2's ISO to reinstall your OS you would automatically be patched to end of support. Contact PIW2 via a private conversation if you have any questions about their new "fully updated" 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs.
Keep in mind that all these ISOs are installation disks used for reinstalling your operating system - they are not recovery disks (see the AskLeo! article
What's the Difference Between a Recovery Disk and an Installation disk?). I don't know if the Sony VGN-CR200 recovery disk you just purchased will allow you to recover all your factory-installed hardware drivers and proprietary Sony software now that your recovery partition no longer exists on your hard drive at D:\. You'd have to read VGN-CR200 support articles like
How to Use the VAIO Recovery Center When Started from the Recovery Discs to figure that out. Just be warned that the companion article
How to Restore the C: Drive Using the VAIO Recovery Center states that "
The option to Reinstall Programs or Drivers is also shown if the VAIO Recovery Center was started from within the operating system." (e.g., by restarting your computer and tapping the F8 or F10 key before Windows is loaded) so I don't think the recovery disk you purchased will be of much use to you now. Hopefully I'm wrong about that.
________________________________________________________________
I'm going to step out of this thread now. The original topic was
fixing your non-functional Fn + F5/F6 keys to adjust your brightness, which I don't think you can do without finding a way to reinstall the Sony Event Service and other Sony software you lost when you replaced your hard drive and reinstalled Vista using Ex-Brit's ISO. I suggested a simple workaround (
Windows logo key + X to bring up the Windows Mobility Center to adjust the brightness) but you said in
post # 11 that workaround isn't acceptable to your since your goal is to "
have it working normally". You also said in post #11 that you had applied the 4 or 5 required "speed up" patches (standalone .msu installers) after your reinstall with Ex_Brit's ISO and ran Windows Update to install any missing updates released before the end of extended support, so it sounds like
your OS is fully patched to 11-Apr-2017. I think you've done an excellent job getting your machine up and running again since replacing your hard drive, and there doesn't really seem to be any other outstanding problem with your computer at this time that requires further troubleshooting on my part.
If you haven't already done so, my only other suggestion would be that you create a
full disk image of your hard drive using imaging software like
Macrium Reflect Free for emergency recovery in case anything goes wrong in the future. How-To Geek has a good tutorial at
How to Create a Full-Disk Backup of Your PC with Macrium Reflect that takes you through each step of creating your first full disk image and emergency rescue media, and how to boot up with your emergency rescue media and re-image your hard drive using a full disk image. I've also posted additional hints about installing Macrium Reflect Free in post # 36 in semiartificial's thread
A Request For Advice Regarding Setting Up a Sensible Basic Build With Vista in the BleepingComputer Vista board. Restoring your entire system to an earlier date using a full disk image (which would include all the hardware drivers and third-pary software installed at the time the image was created) should only take about 15 minutes and would be much faster than performing a clean reinstall of your OS and starting from scratch again.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365 * Macrium Reflect Free v7.2.5107
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
