Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - First Looks: This is an advanced review of Windows 7 SP1 prior to its release to the general public on February 22nd, 2011. Information contain herein is subject to corrections, additions or revision when more information from Microsoft becomes available.
Revised Feb. 21st (includes SP1 Documentation link) Windows 7 Service Pack 1 RTM Build 7601.17514.101119-1850: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (KB976932) is now available.
Information about Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976932
How to obtain Service Pack 1 Windows 7 Service Pack 1 To obtain Windows 7 SP1, visit the following Microsoft website: http://windows.microsoft.com/installwindows7sp1 (Note: This link will most likely go active on Feb. 22nd)
File Details: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 .ISO download, contains both 32-Bit (x86) and 64Bit (x64) self extracting stub files plus a setup.exe file. There is also a file (windows6.1-KB976932-ia64.exe) for the Intel Itanium CPU based computers.
At this time there is no list of what updates, fixes or new features (if any) that will be added to Windows 7. “Brief Description -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 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 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(s): 1) Fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium (32-Bit). I then checked the Windows update site which listed 50 important updates and 15 optional updates prior to installing SP1.
48 of the 50 important updates were installed, 2 Important updates (KB971033 and KB976902), by default remained unchecked and were not installed. KB976902 is a prerequisite for installing SP1 when using Windows Update. KB971033 is a Windows Activation Technology (WAT) update.
2) A fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium (32-Bit), activated but with no updates installed.
Notes: 1) Laptop users should connect to AC power before you start. 2) For all users, your power plan should be set so that both the display is not turned off for at least 2 hours and sleep is also set for 2 hours.
Review of the process of installing the SP1: Note: The link listed below will be updated to reflect the RTM/Final release of SP1 on February 22nd, 2011. For now only the Release Candidate information is available. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3202ce6-4056-4059-8a1b-3a9b77cdfdda&
For the RC candidate the first step is Validating Windows. It is assumed that this will remain unchanged. After a brief validation check and the ‘Download’ buttons are then displayed. I expect there will be at least 4 download choices:
1) windows_7_and_windows_server_2008_r2_sp1_x86_x64_dvd_619642.iso This DVD ISO disk image contains the standalone update packages for the public release candidate.
2) windows6.1-KB976932-x64.exe This file is used to install SP1 to a 64-bit machine running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
3) windows6.1-KB976932-x86.exe This file is used to install SP1 to a 32-bit machine running Windows 7.
4) windows6.1-KB976932-ia64.exe This file is used to install SP1 on Intel Itanium CPU based computers.
NOTE: You must uninstall the SP1 beta or Release candidate prior to attempting to install the official/RTM (Release To Manufacturing) version.
What’s included in Service Pack 1: Windows 7 SP1 Download and Documentation: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (KB976932) This link is "Now" available as of Feb 21st: Click here for SP1 documentation. What is currently known is as follows: 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 – Was not automatically installed, as of February 17th this update will be installed the next time Windows Update is run: (http://support.microsoft.com/KB/976902) 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.”
Notes: 1) You cannot remove/uninstall this update. 2) Initially this update, although list as an “Important update” it was not automatically selected to be installed. This changed as of February 17th and if not previously installed by the user manually, it will now be selected and installed the next time Windows Update is run, either when automatically scheduled or when you manually choose to launch Windows Update.
This shows that Microsoft is making a number of changes not only to Windows Updates but also its Knowledge Based articles.
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. No additional information is available at this time.