I recently installed Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) on several different computers; most installations went very smoothly; however, I had issues on two computers.
The first issue occurred on a Dell laptop, which required several drivers updates before SP1 would appear in the Windows Update download list due to known driver compatibility issues. Manually updating drivers is only a minor nuisance and was expected. Once the drivers were updated the installation was seamless and the performance increase on the laptop is noticeable; the laptop boots in approximately half the time and the wireless networking now connects much faster. The wireless network now also reconnects without constant user intervention (an annoying problem prior to SP1).
The installation of SP1 on a Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (a Media Center PC I have connected to my television) was another story all together. Initial installation of SP1 appeared to work without a hitch; however, problems began as soon as I went to watch a DVD... you could sort of see the DVD play, but the entire display was covered by patches of psychedelic colors. Clearly there was an issue with my current configuration and SP1. The strange part was that normal and recorded TV functioned without issue. Based on past experience, I determined that it was most likely a driver issue, so I began the tedious process of narrowing down the issue. Initially I thought the issue was caused by an SP1 incompatibility with DVD-ROM driver, so I downloaded the latest drivers and firmware updates and systematically applied them one at a time, rebooted and retested the issue. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the spinning kaleidoscope of color. So I continued to upgrade one driver at a time until I was able to resolve the issue. In the end it turns out Windows Update installed a new video card driver for the NVIDIA video card at the same time it installed SP1. Reinstalling the previous driver resolved the issue.
Just went I thought everything was working on my Media Center PC, Windows kindly informed my I needed to reactivate. Normally, activation is a fast, seamless process; however, for some reason Windows would not allow me to activate online and to make matters worse, each time I tried to activate Windows the system removed one day from the number of days remaining to activate. Ultimately, I had to use the phone activation process, which is probably the least user friendly solution available. For anyone who hasn't been through the phone activation process, you don't ever want to! It involves reading nine groups of six digit numbers (for a total of fifty-four numerals) to a voice response system. After reading the numbers to the automated system twice, I was transferred to a human, where I then had to read the numbers again. Reading 162 numbers over the phone is not fun and does not make me feel like a valued customer. Who ever designed the phone activation process should be fired.
In the end, I was able to reactivate Windows and resolve all of the driver issues and other issues caused by SP1.
Even with all the hassle, I think it was well worth the effort, especially on laptops, where the improvements are the most dramatic.
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