The first service pack for Windows 7 has been available for nearly a month at this stage and by and large I think the roll out went without too many problems for most users. That was until today when I stumbled across a post on The Register.
Apparently a rake of “fatal errors” are hampering Windows 7 computers that have been updated since Microsoft released the first service pack. There are plenty of cases on forums where Windows 7 PC’s are booting with error messages and many users have had to rebuild their machines.
One Register reader, who has seen the errors appear on 15 machines had this to say
Basically, if you have an OEM machine connected to a server running WSUS [Windows Server Update Services] with the default settings it offers and installs SP1 automatically. This is killing machines and stopping them booting with a C00000034 fatal error
He also adds that Windows 7 SP1 deletes all restore points on your machine just before it begins to install, so you have no recovery points.
Some users have also reported falling into a reboot loop and encounter the error message Error C000009A applying update operation 120782 of 367890
The Microsoft forums and message boards have plenty to report on these issues which you can see here and here
Despite all these complaints, Microsoft still hadn’t figured out where it all went wrong until a couple of days ago. They’ve since issued a fix which will hopefully solve the error code 0xc0000034
Microsoft really want to be careful with this situation. They really should have tested Windows 7 SP1 in all situations to make sure nothing like this would have occurred. I feel they may have been rushing it out and that could have caused some of these slip ups. There’s no point in rushing out a first service pack if it’s just going to cause trouble, but I believe that reports like this can often be blown out of proportion somewhat.
I ran into the continuous reboot issue, reinstalling Win7 did not fix the issue landed up using it as an excuse to buy a new laptop.
Since I’m fully up to date with patches I see no reason to EVER install SP 1 — until I reinstall Win 7 entirely that is. That service pack offers nothing of value to this home/SOHO user.
Windows update does not list ALL patches available.
Correct. But I have update set to notify only and I often go to the MSFT update site and check them out before d/ling and installing. While there I look at all available updates including hardware etc.
I subscribe to the Tech Republic Windows Blog that issues an “Update Tuesday” report analyzing each update in detail. If they all look OK then I just d/l and install.
Trying to rush out SP1 for businesses, they end up making more problems.
I disagree. Some people are complete tools or noobs and cause the problems by themselves: they leave their av on during service pack setup, they don’t have certain permissions or they were modifying their registry too much before installing.
See my post. It was a Microsoft error.
The problem is an out of resources error. When I did an online upgrade to Ultimate I chose the default settings which I did not inspect. The default setting includes all languages which causes the error. If you deselect all but the language it fixes the problem. I do blame Microsoft for trashing my system which caused me hours of trying to fix the problem. You would think you could just backup to the point before the install but the SP1 deletes some files that are needed.
Come now. Do you seriously think Microsoft rushed this and didn’t test it properly? How many millions of systems and configurations do you think is out there? Do you really think Microsoft could have tested the service pack on all possible systems out there?
As an interesting note, I skip all and every update on Windows Update. I only install service packs, and SP1 has been no different. It has been applied with no problems and new updates coming are being boycotted as usual.
The problem only occurs when all languages are selected which was the Microsoft default for the anytime upgrade. I tested it several times by restoring the system and applying the SP1. Each time it crashed the system unusable. I restored the system and deselected all languages except English and no problem. SP1 will toast you system if all languages are selected which it should not but does. If you do not believe me select all 34 languages and install SP1.
I doubt it would occur on all machines. Still, I digress. I don’t have nor need any other language than English (and no, it’s not my native language).
Agreed except Microsoft chose all as there default install so it should not have been a problem at any rate Microsoft has caused the problem. And if you do a little research you will find out more than you might think had the problem. It did rate an article on this board. Do you do custom installs on all upgrades or do you select defaults? I would guess defaults which would have had the problem if you had upgraded your system.
Still, how many out of the million users encountered the problem? Clearly a small minority, no? Perhaps the all languages did cause a problem by itself, perhaps not. Perhaps it had to do with some external factor, as well.
Still, yes, Microsoft did cause the problem unintentionally. But seeing how varied the PC market is, it’s so difficult to cover it all.
I believe additional languages are only available on Ultimate, though? I run Professional. In any case, I haven’t had the choice to install multiple languages during the install.
Neither did I it was the default.
I’m a home, not corporate user. As of this evening, 4/4/11, I’ve had two machines lock up on me after trying to download and install SP1. I’ve disabled automatic update on the rest of the family computers until this is fixed.
actually the main feature in sp1 is for the new bio’s that was announced. since the evil legacy bio’s causes problems with new hard drives that are larger than 2.2 terra bytes and now has moved from just only servers to the desktop pc’s. which in effect turns your home pc into a terminal with now user controls on the Bios. brought to you by intel that gave you D.E.P. that supposeably only stops buffer over run attacks that antivirus programs have stopped for years . so welcome to the future where you will have a new monthly bill. brought to you by Microsoft or sun Micro systems.
forgot to say somewhere in the update they turned on the new bio’s feature by mistake since servers have the new bios and it is a very new feature going on home computers most most home pc’s will encounter errors due to this. and a patch to fix is reletavly easy by making it defaualt off. hence do not download sp1 from download cent but from live update only.
Microsoft is seriously damaging the reputation of it’s latest operating system, Windows 7, due to the release of Service Pack 1. No wonder MacIntosh products are so popular and Linux is a viable alternative.
By following Microsoft advice and turning Automatic Updates on I now have two totally unusable computers following ‘fatal errors’ from SP1 installation. Calling Microsoft Australia help desk ellicits no solutions, they do not understand the meaning of ‘Customer Support’.
Many people are obviously running Windows 7 SP1 without drama; however, that is how it should be. Google shows just how many Microsoft customers are facing big problems. If Windows SP1 is causing so much pain Microsoft should remove it from their automatic update service until we can all be confident in the product. Alternatively, provide decent customer support. At present it isn’t even worth the cost of a 1800 call.