Solved Vista SP1 Catch-22

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boweasel

Member
I have a Dell Inspiron 531 desktop that I just reset to factory, and began the laborious job of installing updates. All went well until I hit SP1. I assume it installed correctly - it shows as being successful, however it also shows as not being installed, and also as needing to be installed..

Since I only have IE7, I don't seem to be able to use the Microsoft Update Troubleshooter - I constantly get 'page cannot be displayed', and although I have Firefox and have downloaded the file WindowsUpdateDiagnostic.diagcab, I have no tool with which to run or open the file.

I have certainly restarted the PC numerous times but SP1 always shows as needing to be installed before I can continue with further updates.
 

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My Computer

System One

Hello boweasel,

I was in the same situation about a month ago. I'm usually wary of third-party download sites, but in desperation found that I could download an SP1 installer from Softonic using primitive IE7: windows vista service pack 1 32 bit full version free download

It worked. After getting my PC back the way I wanted it, my next order of business was to install Macrium Reflect, burn a Rescue CD and create a full image of my C drive so that I will hopefully never have to do another factory restore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
I'm downloading and installing the SP1 from softonic now. Funny thing about the MS Vista SP1 - it showed in the update history as already successfully installed, but it didn't show up in the Programs and Features - View Installed Updates. And everything time I would reinstall it, it would take about 45 seconds. I thought that was because it was already installed, but I guess not. Will keep you apprised on the situation. And thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

It's really sad when one gets a better and more complete installation from a third party concern like Softonic than one does from Microsoft, the company that engineered the application. SP1 is now installed. Thanks to Softonic and Vistaar. Shame on you, Microsoft. You set up your automatic updates haphazardly. And incompetently.

I certainly anticipate more problems in trying to get current with Vista. I hope Vistaar will be there to guide me because, most certainly, Microsoft will not.
 

My Computer

System One

Catch-22, Part 2

After the installation of SP1, you can plainly see that my computer is "up to date". (cough, cough). You also plainly see that SP1 is installed, as well as Internet Explorer 7. Almost anybody who's ever used Vista and Internet Explorer knows that such as computer is far from "up to date".

Why are their updates designed with such incompetence? I have, of course, rebooted the PC after the SP1 install. How far down the rabbit hole do I have to go before I can use some Microsoft FixIt Tool? Cause I ain't there yet...

Unbelievable.
 

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System One

Back in April 2008, I had no difficulty installing SP1 on the same hardware using the same Windows Update version. Interestingly, the Microsoft SP1 KB that gave us trouble is dated more recently. A quick search reveals that this problem has been reported for a few years now. Of course Microsoft no longer has anything to gain by making it easy to restore a Vista PC - they would much rather sell you Windows 8.1.

I had no serious problems with Windows Updates after SP1 was installed. A couple of minor updates failed, but succeeded on the second attempt. If you have Windows Update set to install updates automatically, I would change that to "check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them." Click "check for updates" whenever it tells you that Windows is up to date. BTW an update for Windows Update should be offered before long.

SP2 (May 2009) and probably also the Platform Update (October 2009) are prerequisite for IE9 (March 2011) - and of course Windows Update must be set to receive updates for "other products." At no point in the update process was I ever offered IE8. One possible avenue might be to download IE8 from Softonic. I didn't try that because I didn't really know if IE8 would work any better than IE7 at the Microsoft website these days. (An XP user might be able to answer that question, since they would have IE8 installed.)

Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
I would not install SP1 from any other source than Microsoft. That said you still need to install sp2. Learn how to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)

I think that you might have a problem with your pending.xml file. You can follow these steps to find it and try to fix it. I would rename the file instead of deleting it incase there is an issue. Note that since you can boot into windows you don't need to boot into the recovery disk. https://neosmart.net/wiki/windows-update-loop/#Fix_2_Delete_cleanupxml_and_pendingxml
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Well, although I appreciate the reply, I was unable to install SP1 through Microsoft, although I was able using a download from Softonic. After getting the gibberish in post #5, I turned off the computer and left it off overnight. The next day Windows Update had decided I had another 148 updates to install, which I did without problems. Then it wanted a single update - SP2 - which it also installed without incident. Following another round of updates (and another day to 'think' about it), the computer is now completely up to date.

Why SP1 would not install from Microsoft, why I was told the PC was current with updates when it was not, and why it seemed to need 'down time' to get it's update 'ducks in a row' are questions best addressed to Microsoft. But I'm sure they have no interest in pursuing Vista update idiosyncrasies - they've got bigger fish to fry with W10.
 

My Computer

System One

Service Packs often refuse to install if your antivirus is active, always turn that off first.
That said, if you have a key, i can provide you with an ISO (to be burned to a DVD) of Vista including SP2, which saves all this hassle. Of course there will still be a few updates to go before you are current.
You could simply format and reinstall. If you want it please post your email address disguised as in abc AT xyz DOT com and I will send you the link to my cloud storage where it is stored.
There's a very long thread about this here: http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/296167-vista-iso-download.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
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