Upgrade from Vista to Win7 - SP1?

I'm (trying to be) in the process of upgrading from Vista to Win7.

No matter how many times I run Windows Update, no matter how many hours I spend downloading and installing updates, I get this screen when I get part way through the installation process for Windows 7:



I spent four hours last night with Windows Update downloading and installing (what I thought were) 80 updates. Only 63 of them were successful. Then, this morning, there were 6 more updates, and 5 of them were successful. So I tried again. This time there were 16 updates and all of them were successful. Voila! I figured. What could be the problem now? Surely Windows Update gives me ALL of the available updates when I go to Windows Update, right?

Apparently not.

Again, the same message that says I have to have Service Pack 1 installed. So when I go to Microsoft, they tell me "If you only have one computer, don't do it here, do it through Windows Update." Well, what the hell do you think I've been doing for the last day and a half?

Oh, look...three more updates were installed successfully while I was typing this. Do we think those were the LAST three updates I needed? I think it's unlikely.

Why doesn't it just....work? You know, download something, click, click, click, enter some information, and it works. Why can't Microsoft just make software that works?

Here we to go restart (again). Because, God knows, you can't expect a computer to have the latest and greatest updates without you going through the reboot process for the umpteenth time.

So how can I actually get Service Pack 1 or 2 or 3 or whatever they're at this morning if it's not through something called Windows Update?

So, now, after spending 90 minutes downloading SP1 and watching it say it's installing, it reboots and tells me:

Some changes could not be completed. Reverting changes. Will retry on startup.

Which it does.

Then it tells me:

Service Pack did not install. Reverting Changes.

That's it. Just did not install. No reason. Just did not install.

Then it starts up and tells me error 0x800F0826 is what's keeping it from happening. "Something" may be interfering, but we don't know what. But here are about 7 possible solutions.

Here's a solution: Make software that works in the first place. So now I have to download something else that's going to tell me what the problem is instead of Windows just telling me what the problem is.

I swear to Go, I'm going to Mac.

You could possibly have either malware or conflicting programs on your PC. The "normal" process should run flawlessly on your PC. How about posting your HijackThis log?

Please do not post a HiJack This log. Analysis of those logs is limited to the HiJack This forum which focuses solely on malware removal.

I shall see if I can find someone familiar with Vista and Windows 7 to assist you. I haven't worked with either of these operating systems.

Orange Blossom

Please do not post a HiJack This log. Analysis of those logs is limited to the HiJack This forum which focuses solely on malware removal.

I shall see if I can find someone familiar with Vista and Windows 7 to assist you. I haven't worked with either of these operating systems.

Orange Blossom

OB, you yourself just mentioned you have no Vista or 7 experience. Well, I am quite proficient in both. HJT is the first logical step in diagnosing unknown update issues. Please, if you do not know anything about the OSs, do not advise against such tools. You should move this post, if needed. This is a complex issue, and may need HJT and other malware removals. The longer you bicker about not using these tools, the longer the OP goes with an unanswered post.

Edited by groovicus, 30 November 2009 - 03:54 PM.
Removed comments that did not directly address the problem as they are unecessary and detract fomr the op~ groove

Before you can install SP1 or SP2 on Vista, its always a good idea to run the System Update Readiness tool (SUR Tool). This tool tells you if your system is ready for the update or not. If not ready, it will tell you details and possible solutions.

SUR Tool 32 bit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

SUR Tool 64 bit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

Before you can install SP1 or SP2 on Vista, its always a good idea to run the System Update Readiness tool (SUR Tool). This tool tells you if your system is ready for the update or not. If not ready, it will tell you details and possible solutions.

SUR Tool 32 bit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

SUR Tool 64 bit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

The OP is trying to upgrade from Vista to 7, so it isn't exactly the same as SP1 to SP2 upgrade, but the SUR tools should help, none-the-less.

You could always try to manually download SP2 for Vista, install it manually, and then upgrade.

The 0x800F0826 error is typically caused by some other update not installing properly and thus stopping SP1.

Read this:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows...-error-800f0826


There have also been some reports of the following two steps working to fix this problem as well:

Download and install this update:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en


Change certain service startups to auto:

If you do try the steps below, and if they do not work, please change their Startup type back to the original settings.

Click on the start button and in the search field enter services.msc and press the enter button on your keyboard.

This will open up the services control panel.

Scroll through the services till you find these services:

Windows Event Collector
Windows Module Installer

Double-click each one, write down their startup type, and change their Startup Type to auto.

Now, reboot and retry installing Service Pack 1

The OP is trying to upgrade from Vista to 7, so it isn't exactly the same as SP1 to SP2 upgrade, but the SUR tools should help, none-the-less.

You could always try to manually download SP2 for Vista, install it manually, and then upgrade.

Before he can upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, he needs to install at least SP1 on Vista. And he is getting error in installing SP1 on Vista.

EDIT : No you cannot install SP2 on Vista, without installing SP1 first.

Edited by Romeo29, 30 November 2009 - 02:03 PM.

The OP is trying to upgrade from Vista to 7, so it isn't exactly the same as SP1 to SP2 upgrade, but the SUR tools should help, none-the-less.

You could always try to manually download SP2 for Vista, install it manually, and then upgrade.

Before he can upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, he needs to install at least SP1 on Vista. And he is getting error in installing SP1 on Vista.

EDIT : No you cannot install SP2 on Vista, without installing SP1 first.

I stand corrected. I misread his post. I thought he said he had SP1 installed but was still being advised to install it. My apologies.

Downloading the standalone SP1 file may be the best way to do so, even if Microsoft says not to.

I tried that, Eric, thank you. That was one of my "last resorts."

My VERY last resort was what I should have done in the first place: I bought a new computer with Win7 installed.

Which, I'm guessing, is what their nefarious plan was all along.

I only bought the box, I kept my monitor and everything else, and it wasn't horrendously expensive and now everything works.

But it still shouldn't be that way.

Two years after I bought the thing (from Dell off an ad on the back of USA Weekend magazine), I want to drop the other one off the top of a very tall building. But I haven't yet.

The attempt to upgrade from Vista to Win7 was one of the most frustrating of my life.

Hopefully one day, Vista will be like that whole season of Dallas, or that family secret that everybody agrees not to talk about or to admit ever happened.

Thank you all.