Fix Windows Vista Errors

Microsoft has reversed field and opened public access to the latest beta build of Vista Service Pack 1. Users can now download Vista SP1 RC Refresh from Microsoft’s Web site. Users can install the beta via Windows Update, but Microsoft is providing a list of procedures users should follow to avoid problems.

While the company released the tweak on January 9, it originally restricted the download to approximately 15,000 steely-nerved beta testers. Two days later, the company was feeling more adventurous. Microsoft posted on Friday the latest code for open public consumption on its website along with a set of instructions for installing the update.

The refresh requires the same time-consuming, multiple-reboot process used by Vista SP1 RC in December. Also, users who have uninstalled that version must wait an hour before beginning the laborious update. “The installer service needs to clean up and complete the uninstall prior to installing the RC,” said instructions posted on the Web. “Failing to do this can result in installation errors when installing the RC version.”

Refresh is time-limited, with the deadline for uninstall being June 30, 2008. According to Foley, Microsoft still aims to have the official version of SP1 available within the first quarter of 2008.

On its Web site, Microsoft warned that it “does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems.”

Click here to access the SP1 RC Refresh

Windows Vista new Instant search function is fast, but there is a way you can make it really fast and it only takes a few minutes. Just follow these points and you should be done in a minute;

• Click Start
• Type Indexing Options in the search box
• Click on Indexing Options
• Click Modify
• Click “Show All Locations”
• The bottom pane shows what you include in instant search
• The top window lets you check or uncheck what you will include
• Be sure to check your my documents folder and you start menu
• Uncheck everything else
• Click OK
• Click to enlarge
• Click Advanced
• Rebuild
• This stage will take a while
• Done

You will now be able to use the new Vista Instant Search feature at high speeds.

Taking the stage at the Las Vegas CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Bill Gates announced that Windows Vista has sold 100 million copies, meaning that 12 million copies sold since last October.

He did not specify what the 100 million figure means, just saying, “one hundred million people are using Vista now.”

Windows Vista operating system is proving far less popular with new PC buyers than Windows XP did during XP’s first year on the market, if statements by company chairman Bill Gates at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show are any measure.

Gates, in Las Vegas Sunday, boasted that Microsoft has sold more than 100 million copies of Windows Vista since the OS launched last January.

While the number at first sounds impressive, it in fact indicates that the company’s once dominant grip on the OS market is loosening. Based on Gates’ statement, Windows Vista was aboard just 39% of the PC’s that shipped in 2007.

Microsoft plans to issue two security updates for its Windows operating system products next Tuesday as part of its regular software patch cycle.

The bulletin affects a variety of operating system versions, including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 service packs 1 and 2, Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, according to the company’s advance notification.

To be issued on January 8, the patches will address a remote code execution vulnerability and a local privilege escalation vulnerability.

The former is rated ‘critical’ on Vista and XP, ‘important’ on Windows Server 2003, and ‘moderate’ on Windows 2000.

Microsoft will also release five, non-security, high-priority updates on Microsoft Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), as well as two non-security, high-priority updates on Windows Update and WSUS. More information on the non-security updates will be available on Tuesday.