Getting ready for Vista SP1

I've now carried out well over a hundred Vista to Vista Service Pack 1 upgrades.  While many of the upgrades I carried out were experimental and done on test rigs which I considered to be sacrificial, quite a few have been key production machines which I cannot afford to have out of service for any extended period of time. 

Vista SP1 upgrade action plan

• Get the SP1 bits Microsoft will make the SP1 upgrade bits available in a number of ways, but I've approached SP1 in the same way as I've approached every other service pack upgrade.  That means that I don't bother with automatic updating and instead I download the relevant standalone update packs instead.  Sure, the download itself is larger but once you have it in you can check that it's OK by verifying the MD5 hash (the MD5 hashes are as follows: 32-bit (434MB): d597866e93bc8f80ecca234c4e9ce5a2 and 64-bit (726MB): 983308426e8ee7649f53b41f4e5c42d4). Once you have the updates, burn them onto CDs, pop them onto a USB flash drive or just send them over the network to each machine you are planning to update. Large organizations can push SP1 using WDS, SMS 2003 or SCCM 2007.  Also, SYSPREP and the Windows Automation Installation Kit can be used to create SP1 images.
• Get the SP1 deployment guide Bedtime reading!
• Plan for the worst Any major update has the capability to hose your system.  It's far better to plan for the worst and not need to put those plans into action than it is to expect everything to go fine and experience one of those "oh darn" moments. At the very minimum make sure that you have all data backed up safely.  If you can add a complete set of drivers to this backup, so much the better.  However, I much prefer to have a full image of the system at hand because this makes restoration a snap.  Lately I've been using Acronis True Image Echo Workstation for my backups.  This product is fast (I can backup or restore a 20GB image in just over 5 minutes), it's also far more powerful and flexible than Windows backup.  Having an up to date image of a system avoids all those reinstallation hassles such as activation, having to find drivers and reinstalling updates.
• Get rid of SP1 beta/RC
  If you have a beta or release candidate version of SP1 installed, uninstall it before installing the final version.  To do this go into Control Panel and find Programs and Features and select View installed updates. Under Windows find and uninstall Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB936330).
• Check for incompatible applications Got anything that's on this list installed on your system?  If you do then it is best that you update these applications before installing SP1.
• Don't expect SP1 to heal a sick system SP1 is a collection of patches and system updates.  It's not a paramedic, priest or voodoo witch doctor and it's not going to heal a sick system.  If your system isn't working right, get to the bottom of that problem before applying SP1.  Putting a service pack over a system that's got problems will, at best, do nothing, but it's also got the scope for giving you numerous headaches and a weekend project that you didn't plan on.
• Plan on each update taking about 90 minutes I always plan on each RTM to SP1 update taking about a 90 minutes.  Usually they are over in about an hour but it's better to give yourself some extra time in case things don't go according to plan.
• SP1 and power outages don't mix That Do not turn off your computer message displayed while SP1 is being installed is there for a reason.  One thing that I've found through experimenting with SP1 is that a power outage in mid-install can be deadly to your Windows install and leave your system in a state where it won't boot into Windows and where you can't restart the SP1 update.  Make sure that notebooks are connected to the mains outlet and that desktop PCs are connected to a UPS where possible.
• You don't need to stand around watching the whole upgrade After you've been through the initial wizard at the beginning of the install process the SP1 upgrade doesn't need any user input (remember to check Automatically restart the computer).  In fact, given how little feedback the update process provides, and the number of reboots it needs, it might be better to walk away and leave the system to it. Once the update process has finished I like to log into the PC, let it finish loading everything up and restart it again.  Things might seem noticeably slower for the first few reboots but this should go away.
• SP1 has been installing for two or three hours!  What should I do? The average SP1 upgrade takes about an hour but it might take longer.  As long as you're seeing the hard disk light flash then chances are that it's still installing.  However, if things seem to have ground to a halt then the system may have hung.  You may have to reboot the system and see what happens.
• If things go badly wrong ... If things go badly wrong during the install process then the quickest way I've found to bring a system back to life is to recover it from an image.  If you don't have an image or backup (shame on you!) then all is not lost - dig out your Windows Vista DVD, boot up off it and go through the repair process (click on Repair your computer from the Install now screen).
• Once you're done - reimage the system! Once you've upgraded to SP1, avoid having to do it again by taking an image of the system. 
• SP1 is causing me problems! If SP1 is causing you problem (your system was great before you installed SP1 but now it's not), you can uninstall it just like most other updates.  Go into Control Panel and find Programs and Features and select View installed updates. Under Windows find and uninstall Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB936330).
• I don't want SP1! If you don't want SP1 coming down the tubes to your PC once it's made available, then it's time to take action now.  Download and run the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool.  This will immunize your system against SP1 for 12 months.  After that you'll either have to disable automatic updates and sift through them manually or take your medicine.
• Can I slipsteam SP1? Officially, no.  However, if you've got a lot of time on your hands you can try this unofficial method.  TechNet and MSDN subscribers don't need to bother doing this as integrated ISOs are available.

Wishing you a happy install!