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August 22, 2008
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! You're probably wondering why the heck I'm bringing up a question about Windows Vista SP1 and the concerns over its download and installation, when it was actually released many months ago (March 18 to be exact). Well, the reason I thought that Mary's concerns are completely valid is because when it comes to service pack releases for Windows, or for that matter, any big software update patch, installation can provide two very different experiences--one where it goes smoothly and successfully, and the other, which brings headaches if things do not go exactly as planned. So with that said, I think it is perfectly sane to be somewhat hesitant about installing any large service pack releases and for fearing the worst outcome. And for those of us who do take the wait-and-see approach to see what the general public feedback is after installation, I think that's very reasonable. But for those of you who don't ever come around to installing these service packs, at some point you will have to do it, because service packs or software patches are for the most part intended to keep your system updated with any bug fixes that your software may need. They address any security holes in your software, or add tweaks to enhance and address performance issues that can speed up your system. Bottom line: service patches or updates are a good thing for your system's health.
In this week's topic of discussion, you'll read many experiences of how Vista's SP1 install went for some of our members. Most of our members advise Mary to install it, with a few caveats before installation, so I'll let you read up on that yourselves. But before attempting any major service pack installation, a good general rule of thumb (which you really should be doing routinely already) is to back up your data and create a system restore point. Just in case things don't pan out, you can easily have something to fall back on. With that said, I have listed a few selected answers in the Q&A section to get you started on the topic, but please read all the member answers. If any of you have any success or failure stories after installing Vista SP1, please stop by the forum and share them with us. Thank you for your contributions to this community. Have a great weekend everyone!
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Member Question of the Week
I have a HP Pavilion with Vista Home Premium. I know that the
SP1 patch for Vista came out back in May, but I have not
downloaded it yet. I tried to read all of the articles about
the SP1 patch, and basically came to the conclusion that
there were good reasons to download the patch, but also that
the patch could compromise my PC. I've also read that you
need to make sure that your PC is up to all requirements by
the manufacturer of your PC before downloading this patch.
My questions are: Am I being foolish in not downloading the
SP1 patch? What steps should I take before download this
patch? If I download and have problems, will I be able to do
a system restore to a point prior to downloading the patch?
I have been helped many times by using this forum, and I want
to thank all of the contributors that take the time to help
us with our questions and problems.
Submitted by:
Mary R.
 Just some member contributions to get you started, but please read through the all answers!
"Installing Windows service packs"
--Submitted by: waytron
"Definitely download Windows Vista SP1"
--Submitted by: TechFleur
"Vista SP1 upgrade"
--Submitted by: rkinne01
Read all member contributions
Thanks to all who contributed!
 Previous week's Q&A
Hi CNET! I'm ready to start college in a couple of months and
I'm shopping for a new laptop. It's an age-old question, but
it's the MacBook versus PC laptop question. I'm not here to
instigate a fight over Mac versus PC and how one is better
than another, but really to get an idea of what will be best
for me while I'm in school. I know that both laptops will do
pretty much the same: music downloading, word processing,
spreadsheets, digital photos, Internet, and e-mailing. I
currently own a PC desktop at home and was thinking about
getting PC laptop, but a few friends suggested that I look
into an Apple MacBook as they do offer great incentive on
campus to buy one. If I get a MacBook now, is there a huge
learning curve switching from a PC to Mac? What makes them
different? Pros and cons for each? Does Mac work out
better for college--because maybe more students use them?
I'm not sure if that true. I'm quite iffy on the whole
MacBook transition, that's why I'm here to ask for advice and
learn from you. And by the way, my father says I have a limit
of $1,500 and no more than that. Thanks in advance for any
advice you can provide me.
Thanks to all who contributed!
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Have fun and enjoy!
More from the forums
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Check out next week's question:
Hi, I was hoping you could help me. My home computer running Windows XP is having a really hard time shutting down. The little hourglass just keeps displaying and the message that Windows is shutting down is displayed. I used to be able to click the turn off button and it would shut down in maybe 10 seconds. Now it can takes a long, long time for Windows to shut down. Why is this happening? And is there any way I can help my system speed up the shutdown time? Thank you.
--Submitted by:
Victoria W.
Have a question?
• Multimedia
• Internet Security
• Digital Cameras
• Home Audio & Video
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• PC Upgrading
• PC Troubleshooting
• Digital Music
• Consumer electronics
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