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Another big issue users are experiencing after updating their computers with the brand new Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is the USB system not working anymore. This issue involves every USB related device such as: mice, USB dongles, keyboards, external or portable hard disks etc. The USB device is simply not recognized or not detected and the computer returns this message: “Unknown Device”. Microsoft acknowledges this issue even after installing KB938371 and states: “We are aware of concerns that a recent Microsoft update may be causing problems with USB devices. We are investigating the matter, and at this time, do not have any information to share”. Anyway on TechNet forum a guy posted the fix. Here is the trick:

1. Go to Control Panel –System and Maintenance — System — Device Manager.
2. In the Device Manager, expand the tree of Human Interface Devices.
3. Update the driver for all Unknown Device.
4. Of course Windows Vista won’t find any new device. When prompted select Browse my computer for driver software.
5. Enter or browse to C:\Windows\winsxs as the driver location and press the Next button.
6. If the system warns you about unsigned driver, just go on.
7. At this point windows Vista should install the right driver for your device.
8. Done!

Source: TechNet forum

If you thought you were safe and bug free after downloading Windows Vista Sp1, you’d better think otherwise. As a matter of fact a lot of users are reporting scattered issues on their computers due to Windows Vista Service Pack. One of the most irritating one is the computer being unable to go into hibernation mode. For a change it will give you back a blue screen of death (BSoD) or it will just shutdown without any error message. This issue may be due to corrupted or invalid Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store file. To fix it, simply follow this trick:

1. Run Cmd.exe as Administrator.

2. Run the following command: bcdedit -enum all

   Look for “Resume from Hibernate” in the output from the command above(example below):

   Resume from Hibernate

   ———————

   identifier {3d8d3081-33ac-11dc-9a41-806e6f6e6963}

   device partition=C:

   path \Windows\system32\winresume.exe

   description Windows Vista (TM) Enterprise (recovered)

   inherit {resumeloadersettings}

   filedevice partition=C:

   filepath \hiberfil.sys

   pae Yes

   debugoptionenabled No.

3. Once you have found it, copy the value for identifier (in this example - {3d8d3081-33ac-11dc-9a41-806e6f6e6963})
4. Run the following command: bcdedit /deletevalue {3d8d3081-33ac-11dc-9a41-806e6f6e6963} inherit.
5. Test hibernation.

Source: forums.microsoft.com

Despite the fact Microsoft has not released Windows XP Sp3 yet, there are already a lot of leaked versions of it available in the Internet. This is due to Microsoft itself which has sent it to a lot of website and blogs, in order to test it. Some good-willed guys has decided to leak it to make us all extremely happy! So, the name of this Windows Xp Sp3 is WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe and will update Xp to version 5.1.2600.5512. It and can be downloaded by using some good bittorrent client such as Utorrent. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use bittorrent, you can download it through HTTP. Here are the links:

Download MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.XP.SERVICE.PACK.3.v5.1.2600.5512.

(ThePirateBay link) (BT Torrent Download)

Download WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe (HTTP Download)

File Characteristic of WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

Size: 331,805,736 bytes (316 MB)
CRC32: C411A9DA
MD5: BB25707C919DD835A9D9706B5725AF58
SHA-1: C81472F7EEEA2ECA421E116CD4C03E2300EBFDE4

As usual, before installing any new XP service pack, you have to uninstall any previous pack that you may have already installed on your computer. Here is the procedure.

P.S.: Microsoft has just released the official Windows XP SP3. Dowload it now from the official Microsoft Server:

Windows XP SP3 English

windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86

Size: 316.5 MB (331 805 736 bytes)
MD5: bb25707c919dd835a9d9706b5725af58
SHA-1: c81472f7eeea2eca421e116cd4c03e2300ebfde4
Size: 331,805,736

P.S.II: Microsoft has just delayed it Windows XP SP3 (Its release date was set for the 29th of April). Continue reading »

During installation of Windows Vista Sp1 the setup can give you back an error regardless to whether the upgrade is done via Windows Update or standalone setup installer. The error is something like this:

Error code: 0×80070002. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=101139 for details.

In the event viewer there could also be logs which look like this one:

Error: Source: Servicing EventID: 4385

Windows Servicing failed to complete the process of changing update 936330-2_neutral_GDR from package KB936330(Service Pack) into Staging(Staging) state.

This kind of error may come from some corrupted files or components in Windows Vista. One way to fix this error is to try to disable Windows Vista Features and perform another upgrade in order to fix the corrupted files. Here is the trick to follow. Continue reading »

According to Microsoft support website there are 8 causes because SP1 won’t be able to be downloaded into your computer. These causes are listed from the less difficult one to the most tricky one. The most common cause is due to the fact that your update list is quite old. So, the first thing to do is to refresh if by follwoing these very east steps:

1. Open Windows Update.
2. Click “Check for Updates” in the sidebar.
3. Give your computer a couple of minutes to get the new list of updates.

If you still don’t see the SP1 read the following articles from Microsoft support website and try to solve the issue by yourself. If you still don’t manage to get the solution, don’t forget that “Windows Update” is not the only way to get your SP1. As a matter of fact you can download it from other sources. Click here and start downloading it.

If you had or you will have the chance to install the new Windows Xp SP3 (Beta or RC) you could incur into an endless reboot once you turn the computer off and on again (this could also happen after downloading a hotfix). This issue will also prevent the operative system from booting to Safe Mode, cutting you off from any procedure to uninstall the just installed SP3. During this endless process the computer could return the famous Blue Screen of Death with the following error messages:

• STOP: c0000139 {Entry Point Not Found}

  The procedure entry point GdiGetBitmapBitSize could not be located in the dynamic link library GDI32.dll.

• STOP: c0000139

  The procedure entry point SMapLS_IP_EBP_24 could not be located in the daynamic link library Kernel32.dll.

This issue is due to people trying to install SP3 with build version v.3311 or v.3244 or earlier. To fix it and prevent your system from rebooting endlessly, read this trick:

• Boot from Windows CD.
• Press “R” to open up a Recovery Console’s command prompt window.
• Select the Windows Installation to use (usually is C:\Windows).
• If prompted for a password just hit enter.
• Make a backup of existing GDI32.dll in system folder with following command:REN C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll.orig
• Copy backup GDI32.dll from c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\gdi32.dll to the system folder with the following commands:copy C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\GDI32.dll C:\Windows\System32\GDI32.dll Replace “C” with your own system drive letter.
• Restart your computer

Source: tipandtrick.net

If you wonder how it is like to have Windows Vista SP1 on your computer, watch this video!

If you are a geek who likes to play with  different Windows Xp Service Pack Release Candidates which are in the Internet, at a certain point you might have to remove one of them to make room for the original SP  when it comes out (of course this works even if you wish to remove the original SP). Here is the step-by-step procedure:

1. Click Start, then Control Panel, choose Add and Remove Programs. Alternatively, click Start, click Run,
type: appwiz.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click Change or Remove Programs.
3. Click Windows XP Service Pack.
4. Click Remove.
5. Restart the computer.

This procedure is a must when you have Release Candidates on your computer and you want to install the final SP.