The moment I found out that Microsoft let Windows Vista Service Pack 1 out the door, I constantly searched for updates via Windows Update waiting for it to arrive. After waiting and trying for about an hour, I came to the conclusion that I probably have one of the problematic drivers.

I searched the Google to find a list of the problematic drivers and it wasn’t as easy to find as I was hoping but i did manage to get a list. My Conexant HD Audio drivers were preventing me from updating via Windows Update. I decided to wait a bit to see if I get a driver update that will allow me to get the SP1 update. I decided to download the 400mb standalone installer just for the sake of it. Its only 400mb and that will take less than 15 minutes to download. I just left it on my desktop and waited for something to happen so I could proceed with updating my operating system.

After listening to this weeks Windows Weekly yesterday, as they discussed the updating process and the problematic drivers, Paul Thurrot did mention that just because you don’t have updated drivers doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to have problems. He has had emails from people that have installed it with the standalone installer and have had no issues or small issues that a driver reinstall didn’t fix. After hearing that, I decided to update last night. Either its going to go without problems, or I could try to fix it, or I could uninstall the service pack till my drivers updated. Updating shouldn’t me a nightmare.

I shut down all my apps and launched the installer. Then I went and played Locoroco on the PlayStation Portable while waiting for the update to install. It restarted and all itself and it didn’t need any user input during the update. One and a half hours later, I was finally treated with a login page. The update went smoothly with no problems. My system has been stable (so far.) I haven’t really noticed any major differences, only some copying stuff, the fact that it says Service Pack 1, and some aspects of the System Rating have gone up by a point. All in all, I’m pretty fine with the update. I could have waited and let it do it in the background and saved a few minutes but what the hey!

This day, 365 days ago to be precises, the date was Monday, the 19th of February 2007. This day marks the day I purchased my very own personal computer, which happened to be a Compaq Presario notebook. 3 weeks before my purchase, Microsoft’s new operating system, Vista hit the retail stores. My laptop had Windows Vista pre-installed, just like eighty to ninety percent of the computers on sale at that point in time. Today, I have used Vista for a whole year.

I instantly fell in love with its shinyness and smoothness. I was extremely happy to be using Vista instead of Windows XP. This was until I was welcomed with a nice bright blue screen, known to all as the Blue Screen of Death. I knew that i would be seeing that screen quite frequently, and when I did, I either welcomed it, or ripped my hair out in frustration. To be honest, a BSoD is so common in Vista, that it is more of a feature of the operating system. Vista wouldn’t be Vista without the occasional death screen.

Luckily, at least once a month, patches and updates arrived via Windows Update. To this date, updating that operating system still scares me. Whenever there is an update, half of the time it fixes problems and makes your computer crash less, while other times it completely breaks everything and you start seeing more of that blue screen. Even if it does make your system more stable, it probably broke a driver or something else wouldn’t work right. On the subject of Windows Update, I do have to point out how much I like that it is a part of the operating system, and not some website you visit when you think about it.

My Vista experience has been a pleasant nightmare. Do I regret being an early adopter of this operation system? No, of course not. I love Windows Vista. It does have its downsides like the regular blue screens and the driver issues and the software issues and all the other issues that I haven’t mentioned because I have forgotten. But there is one upside of this poor little operating system and should be the reason that everyone using a PC should upgrade to Vista, its damn shiny!