New Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update this week

As you probably know and as we've mentioned in previous posts, we use Windows Update to periodically deliver updates for Windows Vista.  We do this so that customers need not wait for a service pack or another larger release to benefit from the ongoing improvements we make to Windows. With Windows Update, we can regularly service Windows as quickly, effectively and unobtrusively as possible, so that keeping your Windows OS up-to-date is easier and more convenient for you.  All you have to do is make sure you are signed up to have updates installed automatically and youre good to go.  Continuous improvement is the name of this game.

The non-security updates planned for release through Windows Update this week include:

  • An update on system compatibility, reliability and stability:  extends the battery life for mobile devices, improves stability of wireless network services, and shortens recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity, among other fixes.
  • An update to USB core components:  mainly affects systems returning from sleep or hibernation, fixing problems causing 1-2% of all crashes reported.
  • An update to Windows Media Center:  among other things, affects interaction issues occurring between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.

The links in the above list will lead you to the KB article related to each update in case you want more information on them.  And, when theyre made available via Windows Update (expected to occur Tuesday 13th), you can also right-click each entry in Windows Update to get its 400-word summary description.

These and similar updates will be wrapped into SP1 for those of you considering installing them in one fell swoop.  We'll let you know here on the blog when we have more news in this vein.


Comments

  1. Posted on: November 21, 2007 at 8:30AM  

    World of hurt. After performing Windows Update on the 15th of November. My solid Windows Vista 32 machine "blue screen crashed" while rebooting to complete the update. All came back well EXCEPT the on-board USB ports in my Dell XPS 600. One week later, after many evenings with Microsoft Tech Support in some foreign country, they say the development team will call me in a few days?!?  Can anyone suggest a couse of action? Dell won't support me because the system didn't ship with Vista installed. I can not roll back the change because my restore points are not available.

    Thanks for your help.

  2. Posted on: November 21, 2007 at 1:27PM  

    Hey BARMotorsports:  you should be able to roll back the update(s) in question by going to the Programs and Features control panel, clicking View Installed Updates, and uninstalling the particular update(s).  You may need to boot into Safe Mode if you're getting repeated blue screens at boot-up.  Hope this helps.

  3. Posted on: November 22, 2007 at 10:41PM  

    I am having problems with my New HP Elite Desktop, not sure if it is with the computer itself or not.  My windows updates are failing, I have had the computer for 3 weeks and about 70% of the updates are failing.  Just today I finally got the Zune software to install correctly, and am having trouble installing other software ex. Nero 8 Ultra.  I always get the "file is corrupt" message.  Even though I can install that same file on other computers.  I am thinking these problems are connected.  It is running Vista Home Premium.  Any thoughts?

  4. Posted on: November 23, 2007 at 10:15AM  

    I'm having a problem with installing the kb941649 update. The installation keeps failing to configure. It seems from the windows forums that quite a few people are having this issue. I get error code 8007054E, but that code is undocumented so it doesn't really help. I've tried to change the Software Distribution folder, but that didn't help. I also manually downloaded the update and tried to install it and that also failed to configure. Any help on this would be appreciated.

  5. Posted on: November 23, 2007 at 1:03PM  

    hey, nick

    I don't think it's on topic, but i've still got 2 problems:

    Since I installed Vista Ultimate on my laptop(it says vista ready), it doesn't recognise any USB memory stick, and also the in-built wireless network card(wich i have a router for) doesn't work anymore, so i'm on cable now.

    What do I need to do now?

  6. Posted on: November 24, 2007 at 2:14PM  

    The update "update on system compatibility, reliability and stability" (KB941649) fails to install either automatically or manually and occasionally hangs the computer on our Vista Ultimate 64.  There is no information on the error code "80041002" on microsoft.com.  The MS Vista forum has several posts about the problem but no solution and no post from MS.  Is MS ignoring this?  With XP, update support is provided, but not with Vista.  We are reluctant to devote additional resources to a (for us) still experimental operating system, especially when an "update" to improve "reliability and stability" fails and the vendor fails to acknowledge or support it.

  7. Posted on: November 26, 2007 at 2:23PM  

    Hey rotten:  you may try rolling back the update as described in my earlier comment above, and if that doesn't work, you could seek help in one of our public newsgroups.  In any case, I'll make sure the Hotfixes team is aware of the trouble you're having.  Best of luck in ironing this out.

  8. Posted on: November 26, 2007 at 10:38PM  

    I am having problems downloading software from my Creative Zen Nano Plus MP3 player onto my Acer Extensa 5620 Notebook. I have also tried to download software from the Creative website with no success. Can you please help ????

  9. Posted on: November 26, 2007 at 11:57PM  

    Hey RAZZA:  we're not equipped to provide tech support on this blog - please address your question to one of our public newsgroups.

  10. Posted on: November 27, 2007 at 12:07AM  

    Hey keepitsimpleengr:  I don't have advice for you on how to troubleshoot operation of your system after installation of this update, but I'll make sure the Sustained Engineering team is aware of your issue.

Trackbacks

  1. Posted by: Paul's SuperSite blog on November 12, 2007 at 12:02PM

    Windows Vista blog : As you probably know and as we’ve mentioned in previous posts, we use Windows Update

  2. Posted by: Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff on November 12, 2007 at 4:03PM

    Microsoft this week plans to release three service updates for Windows Vista designed to fix top issues impacting the platform, according to a company representative. To be released over the Windows Update service, the updates impact compatibility, performance,

  3. Posted by: Geek News Central Podcast on November 13, 2007 at 3:01AM

    Live Interview with Rob Greenlee he is head of the ZUNE Podcast Programing and Marketing Lead. Also listen to find out how you can win a 8GB Zune. With the Interview this is a Monster Show! Sponsors: Special Promotion code...

  4. Posted by: The Tablet PC / Ultra-Mobile PC News and Reviews Source on November 13, 2007 at 8:04AM
  5. Posted by: Pocket.Info - Mobile 2.0 on November 13, 2007 at 8:40AM

    Remember the Vista updates Microsoft released in October? Microsoft is now rolling them out via Windows

  6. Posted by: Roosendaalse Computer Club on November 13, 2007 at 10:50AM

    Microsoft zal vanavond updates verspreiden, die het besturingssysteem stabieler, betrouwbaarder en meer compatibel moeten maken. Sinds vorige maand zijn de updates al te downloaden, maar nu worden ze via de automatische update-functie verspreid, meldt

  7. Posted by: David Overton's Blog on November 16, 2007 at 12:40PM

    I saw this on the blog and thought I would tell you all about it. I'm testing SP1, so I did not see