PC Maintenance Class 18

Tonight’s class we are looking at the Windows Service Packs, and why you should install them.

A service pack (SP) is a Windows update, often combining previously released updates, that helps make Windows more reliable. Service packs, which are provided free of charge on this page, can include security and performance improvements and support for new types of hardware. Make sure you install the latest service pack to help keep Windows up to date. Service packs take about 30 minutes to install, and you'll need to restart your computer about halfway through the installation.

The recommended (and easiest) way to get service packs is to turn on Windows Update for Windows 7 and Windows Vista, or Automatic Updates for Windows XP, and let Windows notify you when the service packs you need are ready to install. Turning on Automatic Updating is quick and easy, and it saves you time and disk space.

The latest service pack for Windows 7 is Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Those still using Vista, the latest service pack is Service Pack 2 (SP2). To install Windows Vista SP2, you must first have SP1 installed. Finally those using Windows XP, latest service pack for your computers is Service Pack 3 (SP3). To install Windows XP SP3, you must first have SP1a or SP2 installed. If you are running an older version of Windows – get with the times!!

Microsoft has just released the final version of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, but for those using Windows 7 should you drop everything and go through the process of installing it? Where can you get it? Here are some answers for you.

If you’ve never installed a service pack before, it’s just a big collection of fixes and changes for your operating system, bundled into a big fat download to make it more convenient if you reinstall—if you’ve kept Windows updated, it should have most of the fixes already installed through Windows Update.

Where Do You Download It?

While you can download the service pack manually from the Microsoft Download site, you should probably just go through Windows Update and select the optional SP1 update from there, since it’ll only download exactly what you need.

It’s in Windows Update? Will I Get it Automatically?

Nope. It’s an optional update (at this point) in Windows Update, so you’ll only get it if you choose to install it.

Does This Make You More Secure?

If you haven’t installed anything off Windows Update in a while, first, shame on you! It’s important to keep yourself updated! Also, this release is essentially a big fat roundup of all the security fixes and bugfixes since Windows 7 was released, combined with a few extra bits of functionality. If you have Windows Update set to automatic, the service pack will not make you more secure.

How Long Does It Take to Install?

The installation time isn’t terribly long, about 30 minutes, but depending on your internet connection, it’ll take quite a while to download. Your best bet is to start the install and then walk away for a while.

Should I Drop Everything and Install it Today?

Not unless you’re bored or you haven’t run updates in a long time. There’s very little in terms of new features, and you’d be better off waiting until the download rush is over. There’s also the possibility of problems, so you might want to wait.

New Features in Service Pack 1

There’s not a ton of great new stuff in SP1, at least from the perspective of the end user. Here’s the quick list of stuff that might maybe matter to you:

• Improved HDMI audio device performance: there’s a small update that helps reliability of HDMI audio devices after rebooting. This is listed as a feature in the release notes, but really feels like a bug fix.
•  Corrected behaviour when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents: If you’re trying to print XPS documents that have landscape and portrait pages in the same document, now they will print correctly. All 5 of you can now rejoice.
• Change to behaviour of “Restore previous folders at logon” functionality: If you used the “Restore previous folders at logon” feature in Folder Options, the folders would restore into a cascaded set of windows. Now they will restore to where they were.
• Support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX): supports a newer processor extension that improves performance for floating point intensive applications.
• Improved Support for Advanced Format (512e) Storage Devices: hard drive manufacturers are transitioning to a new 4KB physical sector size, and now Windows 7 supports this better.