Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate - First Looks: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (KB976932) is now available. Read the full review of the SP1 RC here. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3202ce6-4056-4059-8a1b-3a9b77cdfdda& Warning: You should not install the SP1 Release Candidate (RC) on a computer that you depend on for everyday use. While the SP1 RC may be more stable than the Beta version it still may contain bugs or cause unexpected issues. Therefore only install the Release Candidate on a PC that you can use for test and evaluation. As always create a System Image backup before you install the service pack.
“Brief Description -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Release Candidate includes previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms.
Overview -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Release Candidate helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.”
Baseline: With a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium (32-Bit) I checked the Windows update site which listed 44 important updates and 14 optional updates prior to installing SP1. At this point I exited Windows Update without installing any of them.
Note: Laptop users should connect to AC power before you start. For all users, your power plan should be set so that both the display is not turned off for at least 1 hour and sleep is also set for 1 hour.
How many updates are listed when you run Windows Update after installing SP1: As of October 29th 2010 a grand total of 4 updates.
1 important update: Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB915597
3 optional updates: One update was an update for my Acer AL2216W LCD display. Another was for my NVIDIA graphics card. This was not unexpected as after the initial clean install of Windows 7 I did not install any graphics card or device drivers. The last optional update is a Realtek PCIe driver.
In short your results may vary significantly based on the current state of the drivers you have installed and the make/model of your computer.
There are three links located at the bottom of the KB976932 download page.
Click on the “Documentation” link and download the 3 files to a folder on your hard drive.
Hotfixes and Security Updates included in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate.xls
A complete list of all 625 updates included in Service Pack 1. Yes that’s Six Hundred and Twenty five KB numbers. The majority of which are hot fixes as opposed to GDR (General Distribution Release) updates. The one very useful part of this spreadsheet is a hotlink to each specific update. It is interesting to note that 6 digits are no longer enough to identify each Knowledge Bulletin so Microsoft has added an extra digit. With Article ID: 2386792 “Windows crashes when you run applications that use the D3D and GDI Interop surfaces on a computer that has multiple monitors attached and that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2” being the last KB number in the list.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Notable Changes.doc The “Notable Changes” documents has not been updated since June 22nd, but is a much more readable document then the “Test Guidance” document and specifically list the Windows 7 specific updates.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Test Guidance.doc A quick review of this document is enough to tell you most of SP1 is about Windows Server 2008 R2.
KB976902 Black Hole update exposed: While no mention is made in any of the documents about this update which was first discovered and mentioned in my SP1 beta article. The missing KB article now available and titled; “Description of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software feature update”
“This article describes the software update that applies to versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that are mentioned in the "Applies to" section. This software update will be a prerequisite to install service packs. Additionally, this update improves reliability when you install or remove Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 updates and service packs.”
Note: You cannot remove this update.
KB958488 missing in action:
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Part of the SP1 beta is not listed in the .xml spreadsheet.
Installing the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate: The baseline is a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 32-Bit without any Windows Updates applied. This computer is specifically used for testing and evaluating software and hardware. Before I started I used Windows 7’s Backup and Restore to create a System Image backup of all partition on the hard drive.
The install took about all of 15 minutes, although the installation warns that it might take an hour or more and your computer may need to restart sever times during installation.
The progress bar is not entirely accurate as it bounces backwards and forward until it finally reaches 100% and stays there for a period of time before you see a screen indicating the service pack is being configured. Then the computer will reboot and display a “Configuring Service Pack” message along with a % complete progress indicator. Then you will be prompted to logon, after which you see the “Welcome” screen and a window which says “Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now installed.
Uninstalling the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate: Only two entries are listed in the ‘Program and Features’ Uninstall an Update list. 1) Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB976932) 2) Update for Microsoft Windows (KB976902) knows as the “Black Hole Update”.
Right click on the ‘Service Pack for Microsoft Windows’ item and select ‘Uninstall’. Click ‘Yes’ to the prompt and wait while the updates are being uninstalled. In a few minutes you will be prompted to restart your computer.
Again a ‘Configuring Service Pack’ screen will be displayed along with a percent complete value. The computer display will go dark after a minute or two and then the ‘Starting Windows’ screen will be displayed. Again the Configuring Service Pack screen is displayed with the % complete value. Finally the computer will reboot to the Windows logon prompt.
The “Black Hole update” can not be uninstalled.
A check of available Windows updates now shows the original 44 important updates and 14 optional updates that were listed prior to installing SP1.
Installing the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-Bit Release Candidate: The baseline is a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit without any Windows Updates applied.
Note: This computer is specifically used for testing and evaluating software and hardware. However even though I do not recommend using a computer you depend on for your every day activities, if you are going to ignore my recommendation at least make an Image Backup of your hard drive before installing service pack 1.
Warning: The software will stop running on November 30, 2011. You may not receive any other notice. You may not be able to access data used with the software when it stops running. It is important to note that you must uninstall the Service Pack 1 Release Candidate prior to installing future builds, including the final release, of the Service Pack. Upgrades from the beta or release candidate will not be supported.
How many updates are listed when you run Windows Update before installing SP1: With a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate (64-Bit) I checked the Windows update site which listed 44 important updates (1 of which is a Windows Defender update) and a whopping 50 optional updates (34 of which are language pack updates, 3 are device driver and LCD monitor updates and 1 is the .NET Framework 4.0 package). That leaves 12 remaining option updates that may be of some significance prior to installing SP1.
Installing the service pack: Even though I had a choice of creating a SP1 DVD using the .iso file, I again choose to use the .exe file (windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe) to install SP1.
The 64-Bit install took about twice the of time as the 32-Bit version, 28 minutes, during which there is a large amount of hard drive activity. The installation warns that it might take an hour or more and your computer may need to restart several times during installation.
The progress bar is not entirely accurate as it bounces backwards and forward until it finally reaches 100% and stays there for a period of time.
Unexpectedly the screen will go black for a significant period of time, during which disk activity is your only indicator that something is going on. As it turns out the “Power Plan” ‘Turn off display’ settings was at the default, 10 minutes. I suggest you change the plan so that both the display and sleep settings are set to at least 1 hour. Next you see a screen indicating the service pack is being configured. The computer will reboot and displays a “Configuring Service Pack” message along with a % complete progress indicator. Finally you will be prompted to logon, after which you see the “Welcome” screen and a window which says “Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now installed.
How many updates are listed when you run Windows Update after installing SP1: Grand total of 3 updates.
Important updates: None.
3 optional updates: One update was an update for my Acer AL2216W LCD display. Another was for my NVIDIA graphics card. This was not unexpected as after the initial clean install of Windows 7 I did not install any graphics card or device drivers. The last optional update is a Realtek PCIe driver.
Your results may vary significantly based on the current state of the drivers you have installed and the make/model of your computer.
Installing the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-Bit Release Candidate - Part 2:
The baseline is a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit. This time around I switched from a PS2 mouse to a Microsoft Explorer (Blue Track) wireless mouse, keyboard is still PS2.Next I installed the latest 64-Bit device drivers for the manufactures support web. I also installed NVIDIA’s latest graphics card driver.
I also changed the ‘Power plan settings’ for ‘sleep and display’ from the default values to 1 hour for both, so as not to interfere with the install of SP1.
This time I did install the Windows Updates that were available as of Oct. 31st 2010. However before I installed anything I ran ‘Disk Cleanup’ and documented the amount of drive space used:
This time I did install the Windows Updates that were available as of Oct. 31st 2010.The Windows Update site listed 43 important updates and 51 optional updates (34 of which are language pack updates, 4 are device driver and LCD monitor updates and 1 is the .NET Framework 4.0 package). Oddly one of the optional update was for a USB keyboard and as I’m using a PS2 keyboard only the optional USB Mouse driver would be logical update. In any case no optional updates were installed.
a) Prior to installing the Windows Updates = 14,951,215,104 bytes. b) After installing the Windows Updates = 16,767,524,864 bytes. c) After installing SP1 = 17,997,934,592 bytes.
It is important to understand that all of the above test results to date were conducted on a computer with no applications installed and that includes any form of Anti Virus software.
The install took about all of 26 minutes, although the installation warns that it might take an hour or more and your computer may need to restart sever times during installation.
The progress bar is not entirely accurate as it bounces backwards and forward until it finally reaches 100% and stays there for a period of time before you see a screen indicating the service pack is being configured. Then the computer will reboot and display a “Configuring Service Pack” message along with a % complete progress indicator. When 30% mark is reached the computer will reboot and pick up where it left of to configure the service pack. Then you will be prompted to logon, after which you see the “Welcome” screen and a window which says “Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now installed. Hard drive activity however will still continue for about anther minute or two.
Running Windows Update after installing the 64-Bit version of SP1:
No important updates:
4 optional updates: One update was an update for my Acer AL2216W LCD display. One for the mouse, list as a USB Mouse. One for the USB keyboard even though I’m using a PS2 mouse. And the Realtek PCIe GBE family controller.
Again your results may vary significantly based on the current state of the drivers you have installed and the make/model of your computer.
Conclusion: Based on the contents of these documents it’s clear to see that Windows Server 2008 R2 gets the lion’s share of updates. Exactly why both the server SP1 and Windows 7 SP1 is combined into one service pack is a mystery to me.
The installation process works, just be patient. No application where installed prior to the SP1 installation and this well may have speeded up the process. Also since there is nearly an infinite possible combination of applications that could be installed any effort to find a show stopper would have been futile.
