Vista Service Pack 2 won't install

Ofcourse it is your choice to stick with Vista. You just must be the only person on the face of the planet that would actually make that decision. But, each to his own. You'll have to google search as I suggested. Obtaining Microsoft operating system installation discs via unapproved channels isn't supported by Microsoft, and for the most part won't be supported here. I merely suggested that the information is out there if you look. I can't be sure of the legality of any of the information you find on-line, and therefore I can't utilize this forum to endorse it. Its kind of like borrowing a disc from a friend and using your own, legal product key to reinstall. Is it supported by Microsoft? I'm not really sure. Is it legal? I don't know. But, in my opinion its a perfectly legitimate way to reinstall your OS when neither Microsoft nor your laptops Manufacturer provide you with a disc to use your rightfully bought and paid for operating system. If you don't feel comfortable looking for the information and figuring it out at your own risk, then stick with what you know. Again, you have a Windows 7 disc sitting in front of you which is golden, and you don't want to use it. I think you might want to reconsider. At the very least, it looks like you'll have to reload and try installing SP2 again.

Ofcourse it is your choice to stick with Vista. You just must be the only person on the face of the planet that would actually make that decision. But, each to his own.

You'll have to google search as I suggested. Obtaining Microsoft operating system installation discs via unapproved channels isn't supported by Microsoft, and for the most part won't be supported here. I merely suggested that the information is out there if you look. I can't be sure of the legality of any of the information you find on-line, and therefore I can't utilize this forum to endorse it. Its kind of like borrowing a disc from a friend and using your own, legal product key to reinstall. Is it supported by Microsoft? I'm not really sure. Is it legal? I don't know. But, in my opinion its a perfectly legitimate way to reinstall your OS when neither Microsoft nor your laptops Manufacturer provide you with a disc to use your rightfully bought and paid for operating system. If you don't feel comfortable looking for the information and figuring it out at your own risk, then stick with what you know.

Again, you have a Windows 7 disc sitting in front of you which is golden, and you don't want to use it. I think you might want to reconsider.

At the very least, it looks like you'll have to reload and try installing SP2 again.

Thanks for the help ao. I already tried the upgrade disc and had some problems, which is why I don't want to go back to it unless I absolutely have to. This isn't to say I won't upgrade later. I'm just not interested at this time due to what happened before. I don't like Vista or 7, I prefered XP actually, but that's another story. Based on what you are saying my only option is to reformat and reinstall. I might do that in the future, but since the issue isn't pressing I can't say I will do it now. If you have any more suggestions that could fix this please let me know.

I'd try Windows 7 again, only do a Clean install rather than an upgrade. How to do a Clean Install with an Upgrade Windows 7 DVD

Yeah. I understand your feeling about XP. When Vista came out I was quite disgruntled as I felt it was a horrible operating system, and still do. Admittedly, the biggest issue is getting used to the changes. I still wouldn't be caught dead with vista installed on any computer I own. When 7 came out I was quite excited to hear the good reviews, and since then I have used it on a couple of my machines for about a year now. Overall, I've been very pleased with it. It has the same look and feel as Vista, so you just have to get used to it. However, no matter what you do, Vista performs like a dog. Its probably the most inefficient operating system I have ever used. You ever wonder why Vista sits there and accesses your hard drive non-stop for what seems like forever all along while you are trying to use it? Yeah, me too. 7 is completely opposite. It is very efficient, and runs smoothly. The "changes" in 7 actually make sense and are useful, where as I feel the changes in vista were uncalled for and ridiculous that we had to learn the changes which were in no way more productive. My biggest peeve about Vista and 7 is still the search feature which is broken. I have to use a third party tool to search for files on my hard drives because the windows search feature just simply doesn't work. I don't understand how you can take something that works perfectly and completely break it. If you're a network administrator the new "security" features in Vista and 7 break so many things its not even funny. Anyways, I understand your feelings about Vista and 7. I must admit I was a bit shocked about you saying you didn't like 7 and preferred Vista. Just to be clear, when I say upgrade to 7, I mean reloading it fresh, from scratch. I don't know what kind of disc they provided you, but if it has a product key you can probably load it fresh from scratch which you should not have any problems with. I would not recommend going over top of Vista, and especially not your current installation with all the problems. I don't know how the trouble happened on your machine. Anything less than Vista SP2 is not supported any more. You won't receive your security updates and fixes if you don't have SP2. If it were my machine I'd be putting a fresh copy of Windows 7 on there.

Yeah. I understand your feeling about XP. When Vista came out I was quite disgruntled as I felt it was a horrible operating system, and still do. Admittedly, the biggest issue is getting used to the changes. I still wouldn't be caught dead with vista installed on any computer I own.

When 7 came out I was quite excited to hear the good reviews, and since then I have used it on a couple of my machines for about a year now. Overall, I've been very pleased with it. It has the same look and feel as Vista, so you just have to get used to it. However, no matter what you do, Vista performs like a dog. Its probably the most inefficient operating system I have ever used. You ever wonder why Vista sits there and accesses your hard drive non-stop for what seems like forever all along while you are trying to use it? Yeah, me too. 7 is completely opposite. It is very efficient, and runs smoothly. The "changes" in 7 actually make sense and are useful, where as I feel the changes in vista were uncalled for and ridiculous that we had to learn the changes which were in no way more productive. My biggest peeve about Vista and 7 is still the search feature which is broken. I have to use a third party tool to search for files on my hard drives because the windows search feature just simply doesn't work. I don't understand how you can take something that works perfectly and completely break it. If you're a network administrator the new "security" features in Vista and 7 break so many things its not even funny. Anyways, I understand your feelings about Vista and 7. I must admit I was a bit shocked about you saying you didn't like 7 and preferred Vista.

Just to be clear, when I say upgrade to 7, I mean reloading it fresh, from scratch. I don't know what kind of disc they provided you, but if it has a product key you can probably load it fresh from scratch which you should not have any problems with. I would not recommend going over top of Vista, and especially not your current installation with all the problems.

I don't know how the trouble happened on your machine. Anything less than Vista SP2 is not supported any more. You won't receive your security updates and fixes if you don't have SP2. If it were my machine I'd be putting a fresh copy of Windows 7 on there.

I don't prefer Vista or 7 , but I just had some problems with 7 that made me use Vista. I don't like either to be sure and wish I could have stuck with XP.

They provided me with an upgrade disc that allows me to install from Vista, not from scratch. I don't have the money to purchase a fresh copy of 7 and didn't think I needed to since I was given the upgrade disc. Are you saying I have to buy a copy of 7 when I already have an upgrade disc? Do you think if I reformat and eventually upgrade 7 over the reformatted vista it will work?

Thanks for your help ao. I appreciate it.

I gave you a link that tells you how to do a clean (from scratch) install using the Upgrade DVD. I've used this method and it works. No need to buy anything else.

If your upgrade disk has a product key, you should be able to do fresh install of W7. Cheers, Lee

Lee, it's not that straight forward. Take a look at the link I gave. It explains it very well.

I can confirm the upgrade will work as full. I've only done it a couple of times, but I can remember it being as easy as putting the disc in and installing it. But, if I remember right, if you BOOT from the upgrade CD, and already have a qualifying installation installed you can just install fresh right from there. So, in the case of the OP, he could boot from the windows 7 upgrade disc, and go through the installation normally. There is nothing special to do. If you boot from the CD it is impossible to perform an "upgrade." It won't let you. Your only option is a "custom" fresh install at which point you can reformat the existing partition, etc. The only way to perform an upgrade is to start setup from within windows. At least by normal means, because I wouldn't doubt someone has found a hack to do otherwise.

I can confirm the upgrade will work as full.

I've only done it a couple of times, but I can remember it being as easy as putting the disc in and installing it. But, if I remember right, if you BOOT from the upgrade CD, and already have a qualifying installation installed you can just install fresh right from there.

So, in the case of the OP, he could boot from the windows 7 upgrade disc, and go through the installation normally. There is nothing special to do. If you boot from the CD it is impossible to perform an "upgrade." It won't let you. Your only option is a "custom" fresh install at which point you can reformat the existing partition, etc.

The only way to perform an upgrade is to start setup from within windows. At least by normal means, because I wouldn't doubt someone has found a hack to do otherwise.

Ok so it will only format the C drive and not the Recovery partition right? I was afraid of proceeding because I was afraid it would format that as well and I DO NOT want that at all. My computer comes with a recovery partition that reformats the drive. and reinstalls the op sys. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed since that is how my comp is setup. You and Ztruker can let me know. Thanks again

@Ztruker I saw your link. I apologize for not acknowledging it before. Thanks for your help.

Hello. We are assuming that this is a typical Windows 7 upgrade disc and not some special manufacturer thing. When you boot the Windows 7 disc (do not start it from windows) you will be taken through the installation process. Early on you will get to a point where it gives two options: Upgrade; and Custom. Upgrade will be greyed out and unavailable. Choose Custom. You will then end up at a point where it will give you options as to where to install the operating system. Its at this stage that I'm not real sure what to tell you to click because I don't know it like the back of my hand yet. However, I know there is an option (maybe it is Advanced) that allows you to see, and modify, the partitions and format them. You'll see two or three partitions and you should be able to identify the C: drive (probably the largest one). You can format that drive and install your operating system on it. This will give you a clean install. Don't touch the other partitions if you want to leave all your recovery stuff intact. Because Windows 7, during this process may modify boot records and stuff, I cannot be sure that the recovery partition will function as normal after the install. It should, but it is unclear how the manufacturer has the recovery utility setup. It may be there, but you may not be able to initiate the recovery procedure. In reality, if your goal is to get to a working installation of Windows 7, then the recovery partition isn't much help because it will have Vista. A better solution, though not free, would be to use a product like Acronis True Image Home that will make a new recovery partition for you (and also do backups for you) that contains your Windows 7 installation. However, as long as you have the disc and product key then you have the most important things you need with or without a recovery partition. Basically what I'm saying is that I wouldn't panic over a broken recovery partition. If your hard drive failed, you wouldn't have it at all. Its worth noting that you should be prepared to download and install required software for your system from the manufacturer's website after the initial installation of Windows 7. That stuff includes drivers, and support software that the manufacturer should have available for your particular system. If you have not specified exactly what system you have in this thread, please do so in order for us to look it up and offer guidance.

From the link I posted, there are 3 options listed:

A Normal Clean Install
This option has been confirmed by me to be able to install from a formated blank drive or system, and install the retail upgrade Windows 7 and activate it without doing anything else.

Through a Custom Install
This option will let you do a clean install of Windows 7 without formating the current Windows installation to have your current Windows installation backed up to the Windows.old folder during the installation of your retail upgrade Windows 7. This way you can copy any files back that you want from the C:\Windows.old folder (previous installation) back into your new installation afterwards.

Clean Install with a Registry Workaround
If you get a activation error while doing OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO above, then you will need to use this option instead documented by Paul Thurrott's Supersite Blog: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media.

Each time I've tried the first or second options I had activation errors so had to the third option of a Registry workaround. I would recommend folllowing the third option right away, that way there will be no activation problems. Your choice though.

Again, he is not starting from a "formatted, blank drive" He is starting from a drive that already has an eligible operating system on it and Windows 7 will gladly install fresh right over top of it and activate. I do think your instructions are geared for someone who just put a brand new hard drive in, or is otherwise completely blank.

Nope, read them again, handles both cases. Otherwise, how could you end up in one with a Windows.old folder?

If you boot from the CD you can't upgrade. You can either format and start over fresh, or you can install over top of what is already on the hard drive and it will leave everything there and move the existing windows folder to windows.old. There shouldn't be an activation problem if it has already detected the existing installation, regardless if you format the partition or not. I can see this error occuring on a brand new hard drive, but it shouldn't on one with a qualifying operating system.

Here is a "note" directly from Microsoft concerning "upgrading" to Windows 7 from Vista or XP.

Note
Formatting your hard disk during Windows 7 installation isn't necessary. If you want to format your hard disk, and you're using an upgrade version of Windows 7, don't use a program from another software manufacturer to reformat your hard disk prior to installing Windows 7. Instead, start your PC using the Windows 7 upgrade installation disc or a USB flash drive, click Custom (advanced), and then click Drive options (advanced).

And this is the procedure I am talking about doing to perform a "clean" install. The key is that the eligible operating system is present when the upgrade disc is booted, prior to formatting it.

I'm just not thinking any special "workarounds" are necessary under these circumstances, but I could be wrong. It appears that the workaround is performed only after there is a failure to activate anyways, and does not require starting over. So it really doesn't matter. If this installation will not activate, then the workaround can be performed.