back to article Windows 7 service pack 1 set to lift off today

Microsoft is imminently expected to release the first service pack for its Windows 7 operating system. The company confirmed earlier this month that its Windows 7 SP1 and sibling server product Windows 2008 R2 SP1 would both arrive today (22 February). However, Redmond hasn't hit the button on the code yet. It's expected to …

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  1. Jason 6
    Gates Horns

    Set Hard Drive to "Borg" - things are happening

    The ISO for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is available via the Microsoft Download Site. It's nearly 2GB so don't bother to apply unless you're updating more than once PC.

    So... SP1 should be available via the Update Service soon. Not, as the text on the website declares, now.

    1. Pirate Dave Silver badge
      Pirate

      Just stirring the pot, but...

      If Win7 was the best, most secure and awesome OS to come from MS so far, how come it's service pack has a gigabyte of stuff in it? I'd think that if Win7 were really as wonderful as MS claimed, then SP1 would be maybe 100 megs or less, since most of the original Win7 components, being wonderfully coded to begin with, wouldn't need updating. As is, at 1 gig (assuming 1 gig for Win7, 1 gig for 2008, which is flawed, I know), it seems that even the "awesome" Windows 7 is still a turd in need of heavy polishing.

      1. Ammaross Danan
        Coat

        @Pirate Dave

        Last I checked, a full apt-get or yum update for a "fresh" Linux install ran into the 700MB range. Surely Linux is better written and wonderful too, right?

        The ISOs for SP1-equiped versions of Windows 7 and Server 2008 were on the MS licensing portal for the past week already, just as an FYI. :)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Pint

          Yeah but for those 700MB

          you get updates for a lot of apps and features, not just an update for Internet browser and media player. On a positive note, in Linux you can chose to upgrade only what you're interested in so those 700MB you mention are for an upgrade MCSE-style.

        2. wheelybird
          WTF?

          Distro upgrades

          They also update all of your installed applications, remember? The actual OS components being updated will be a small percentage of the total.

        3. Greg J Preece
          Troll

          Last time you checked

          You were wrong!

          Fresh install I did last week had 200MB of updates since the ISO was last refreshed. And this isn't a fresh install, it's an update.

          Now if we're going to talk fresh installs, I installed an XP machine the other week and after SP3 it still had 90 updates to run. A Win7 machine typically has 50 updates after install, and that's long before installing any actual useful software, which a Linux install comes with out of the box.

        4. Tim Bates
          FAIL

          Re: Linux...

          700MB updates for a fresh Linux install? That raises some questions, particularly this one:

          Do you realise the updates for this "fresh" install probably also cover tonnes of things "Windows" isn't? Office type software for example would probably be about half that download, and obviously something Windows 7 SP1 doesn't cover.

        5. Anonymous Coward
          Gates Halo

          Yeah

          And windows 98 used to arrive on several floppy disks!!!!

          Things change and get bloated and that includes linux!

      2. Annihilator
        Stop

        @Pirate Dave

        I know you're being deliberately obtuse, but to clear up, the 2GB disc is to cover *all* flavours of *both* products regardless of state. So for Win 7, that disc covers all 6 versions, in both 32 and 64-bit versions - 11 in total (as "Starter" only comes in 32-bit)..

        It also rolls up every change that's been issued for both platforms. An up-to-date system will probably need no more than 80MB in updates. But from a support person's perspective, they want a disc that covers all varieties.

        As for it being a turd in need of heavy polishing, no OS is ever finished. I'm sure if you baselined a Linux release 18 months ago and combined all the patches since then for all hardware types, you'd get a 2GB image too.

        So if you could kindly take your stick and stir it somewhere else, or put it back where it came from, we'll all be happier campers I'm sure...

        1. Pirate Dave Silver badge
          Pirate

          @annihilator and others

          in this instance, I am not comparing the Win7 SP to Linux-land. Just saying that it's rather disappointing that even after 20+ years of working on Windows, MS still has service packs that are mind-bogglingly huge, thus showing that there is still lots of crap making it past their testing and QA processes before the original product ships. I've been waiting for the perfect Windows since Win98, and thought Win2k might have been it with a little more polishing. But no, like a spastic child high on Skittles, MS had to go and change course midstream and drop the old NT codebase for the Longhorn codebase. And judging from the size of this service pack, the change didn't really make much difference.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Unhappy

        Aw pooo!

        Windows 7 upgrade was not big, remember it contains new features and all the updates since Windows 7 came out. 100M that might be 1/5 of a modern program.

        I also updated Windows Server 2008 R2 to SP1. Came up with failure, had me download UPdate readiness program, then reinstall SP1, worked fine.

        Service packs by nature are large but I haven't see a single OS version larger than a CD size. The universal SP1 update is 2G and requires a DVD but thats for all of Windows 7 version and Winows Server 2008 R2.

        Microsoft is not to blame its all the hackers out there paid by the mob... Yes its true!!! Would you waste alot of time hacking unless you got paid? To steal your identity, credit cards, etc.

    2. kissingthecarpet
      Gates Horns

      Clang!

      2GB - sound of jaw hitting floor.

      1. Not Terry Wogan

        @kissingthecarpet

        The 2GB download version includes Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2 SP1 offline installers for both x64 and x86, plus the full set of debugging symbols. It's aimed at heavy duty administrators and developers - the regular downloads consumers are exposed to (from Windows Update or otherwise) are much smaller.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be interesting.

    I wonder if they've crept in any updates to the WGA thingy, that some people have been known to circumvent with various loaders and the like. I can foresee angry freetards coming soon to a forum near you.

    1. Tom 13
      Coat

      WGA is dead.

      Long live Windows Activation!

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. MikeSM

      Re: Could be interesting.

      As Tom 13 noted, WGA is gone but we now have WAT - Windows Activation Technology. It won't just be freetards in the chorus if MS built this in to SP1. Despite having a legitimate OEM copy of Win7 that came with my laptop, I opted out of the KB971033 update because I don't agree with its functionality (specifically, the phone-home provision).

      I'll wait on the sidelines, as always, for the horror stories. And also for word that KB971033 wasn't rolled in.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Skoorb

    Released

    Yup, it's been coughed out at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/service-packs

  4. Greg J Preece

    So most people will download it next week

    In case of system failures/other major screw ups.

  5. Antonius_Prime
    Alert

    It' is available now.

    As of 6PM GMT, Windows 7 SP1 is available now for download to individual PC's. Fun times ahead, for good or ill...

  6. two00lbwaster

    It's out now!

    I just manually checked for updates and sure enough there it was ready for download. ~80MB-900MB I think it said, but most machines should be up to date.

    I don't fancy the job of updating the four Win 7 office pcs tomorrow. I guess I should be glad that there are only four of them. We have three sat in storage, but hopefully I may get WSUS before I need to update them.

  7. Atonnis
    Go

    No problems...

    Installed on my workstation a few days ago (from Technet) and so far no problems. I was rebuilding my PC and it saved me the interminable Windows Update process for the rack of updates that I would have had to install.

    Otherwise, nothing to sing and dance about. It works, it's neat and tidy.

    The update means more to Server 2008 R2 users, particularly Hyper-V admins for the Dynamic Memory capabilities.

    This is the first Service Pack I think I've ever installed where I didn't look forward to some major fixes. Windows 7 just works, regardless of the miasma of MS hate, and SP1 is just convenient for rebuilds, not really anything to bother with in a hurry.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Come now!

      We're not hating MS, we just use to point to them as a bad example, that's all.

  8. DEAD4EVER
    Go

    windows 7 sp1

    windows 7 runs fine even without a sp why would you need a sp for it. is it cause theres some bugs or something im missing ah well dont matter if it makes 7 even faster hey im game for it

  9. kain preacher

    Um

    It's available now ..

  10. James O'Shea

    The Turkey Has Landed

    Got the SP. Installed on laptop.. All updates (9, including the SP) totaled about 140 MB, about half of that for the SP. Updates for Mickeysoft Mouse & for MSIE 9 included in there somewhere. No probs so far, we'll see what happens with other machines.

  11. Trevor Marron

    Windows Update available now

    Windows Update available now, 20:00 Hrs GMT.

  12. Richard Bijster

    Win 7 SP1 Installed

    Just installed Win 7 SP1 via Windows Update [Dutch Version]. No problems and install went very smoothly.

  13. Johnny Canuck
    Unhappy

    This is not a title

    Well, I've downloaded sp1 from MS downloads and attempted the install. Apparently it doesn't like me dual-booting Linux and Win7 with Grub because it throws an error (0x800f0a12). Checking for workarounds now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      The workaround for Vista....

      ....was to recreate the Windows bootloader (I used EasyBCD from Neowin) and then re-install GRUB later.

      Why MS can't sort this sort of thing out automatically I don't know.

      1. Bronek Kozicki

        educated guess

        Imagine the screams if service pack installer messed with your MBR. Better do it yourself.

  14. Pete 6

    It's there now

    Just checked Windows Update and it's there in the optional updates, around 90 to 900 MB download.

  15. Tom 13

    Just hit it because I was looking for some driver updates for a PC the

    suits expect me to upgrade from XP to Win 7. Dell doesn't seem to have a driver set for it. The pre-configured image the network team put together installs mostly. Just doesn't install the PCI Serial Port and PCI Simple Communications Controller (normally a Dell System update). Download said it would only be a tad over 61M, but it is taking FOREVER to download.

    Maybe they really should use torrent technology for the initial releases.

  16. mark l 2 Silver badge

    Mobile internet

    Im glad im not using a 3G mobile internet connection on a Windows 7 pc as the download is between 750meg and 1gig so would burn through a big chunk of your bandwidth just to download fixes to the OS, with that size of download it must be replacing nearly every file from the original installation

  17. RFC822
    Happy

    Easy install

    On my (already fully patched) 64-bit Win 7 laptop, the SP1 download was about 80Mb. Installed with no problems (and no obvious new functionality either).

  18. lglethal Silver badge
    Go

    Hey El Reg...

    Any word on what SP1 fixes? Are there any major flaws which are fixed, features which are added (apart from the Hyper V stuff for Server)?

    Ill probably still wait another week to install and keep an eye out to see if we suddenly get a rash of "Program X has been crippled by SP1" type scenarios or some such. But so far i havent seen anyone too upset...

  19. illiad

    what about the legacy????

    any chance it will have drivers for my ANCIENT 3com NIC?? - the one that XP uses, without even blinking??? 3C905TX IYNTK... :)

    And how about my *still** very good Nvidia GF4 Ti4400, that plenty of drivers are still there for XP????

    there is a recesion on y'know... main reason why no-one's updating... unless you are a rich gamer.. :'(

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Down

      Dunno

      Why don't you ask 3com, or Nvidia? Or are you expecting MS to write drivers for hardware that the original manufacturers don't even support anymore?

    2. Lennart Sorensen
      Gates Halo

      Re: what about the legacy???? → #

      It's not Microsoft's job to support old hardware. That's the job of the hardware vendor. Now if they don't care about their old hardware anymore, that's just too bad. Microsoft didn't write the drivers in the first place and they don't have the specs to do it either, nor much interest in doing so. You could always choose to not buy new things from that vendor anymore if they don't value your interests as a customer (I have certainly done so for some companies for that exact reason).

      If you want support for legacy hardware, use an OS that has source code for the drivers so they can be maintained in the future independently of the financial interests of the vendor.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      agreed

      the lack of drivers for the 3c905 series was startling, to say the least. Possibly the most popular 10/100 card in existence, but no drivers in Win7? I mean, I can see Win7 not having drivers for NE2000 ISA cards from 1992, but come on, no drivers for the 3c905? Epic fail!

  20. eJ2095

    Yay

    installed, rebooted, get windows loading screen then a black screen yay what fun..

    Not really bothered case of wipe and reinstall

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    It works

    Installed last week - ISO is so big because it has different installers for the different flavors. Not one hiccup before or since the install.

  22. Bronek Kozicki
    Heart

    installed yesterday

    and I'm disappointed - nothing happened, apart from nice dialog box on first reboot "Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now installed".

    They should try harder to include fireworks next time ;)

  23. David 71
    Thumb Up

    No problems

    On my (fast, kept up to date) PC the download was about 58 MBytes, and it installed in a few minutes, including 1 reboot. No problems - though no obvious improvements either.

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