Incidentally, having failed with the SP1 patch, I tried a fresh install with Vista Ultimate with SP1 already on the image. It worked! It took 14 hours to re-install the operating system + all of the applications that I need.

I have the image of the “old” pre SP1 O/S to which I will try (out of morbid curiosity) the MS recommendations. On a general note, the latest email from MS seems to be a little more specific than previous (e.g. install from safe mode, disable anti-virus etc). It now talks about specific folders and files. Perhaps MS are getting closer to an understanding of what is going on?

Generally, I am surprised that MS released SP1 in this poor condition. It seems to have affected many unsuspecting customers who only follow MS guidelines of keeping Windows Update set to automatically download and install patches. SP1 has no doubt killed many desktops literally overnight.

Copy of email follows:-

Dear X,

Thank you for the email sent to me.

Please boot the computer in the safe mode and then try to install the windows vista Sp1 from there.

Note: backup all your important data on the computer before trying to install windows Vista Sp1.

To use a Safe Boot option, follow these steps:

1. Restart your computer and start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot Menu appears.

2. Select an option when the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then press ENTER.

3. When the Boot menu appears again, and the words “Safe Mode” appear in blue at the bottom, select the installation that you want to start, and then press ENTER.

1. Click Start > type services.msc and press “Enter” key to open the Services window.

a) Right-click the following services and click the Properties option:

Windows Updates, Background Intelligent Service and Cryptographic service.

Click the “General” tab in the properties window. Make sure the Startup type is set to “Automatic” and Service Status is “Started”.

b) Stop the services: Windows Updates and Cryptographic service.

Click the “Stop” button in their respective properties window to stop the services.

c) Rename the folder: software distribution to “SDold” which is located in C:\Windows folder.

(Open My Computer page > double-click Local Disk (C:) drive > double-click Windows folder and right-click software distribution folder and rename it to SDold.)

d) Rename the folder: catroot2 to “Ct2old” which is located in C:\Windows\System32 folder.

(Open My Computer page > double-click Local Disk (C:) drive > double-click Windows folder > double-click System32 folder and right-click catroot2 folder and rename it to Ct2old.)

e) Start the services: Windows Updates and Cryptographic service from the Services window.

(Click Start > type services.msc and click OK. It will open the Services window. Right-click the above mentioned services and click Start option).

2. Disable the Startup items:

a) Click Start > type msconfig and press “Enter” key to open the System Configuration utility window.

b) Click the “General” tab > select the option “Selective Startup” and uncheck the checkbox “Load Startup items”. (Do not uncheck the option “Load System Services”).

c) Click the “Services” tab and select the checkbox “Hide All Microsoft Services” on the window. Click “Disable All” button and click Apply and OK buttons. Restart the system normally when prompted.

3. Uninstall the anti-virus software, firewall and spyware or adware protection software installed on the computer.

a) Click Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features to get the list of installed programs on the computer.

b) Select the anti-virus software from the list and remove it from the computer.

c) Restart the system when it is uninstalled successfully and boot to the safe mode.

Please now try to install the windows Vista service pack 2 in safe mode from the downloaded stand alone package for your operating system version.

Should you require any further assistance with this issue, please do not hesitate to call us with your case reference number already provided and we will be more than happy to help.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for choosing Microsoft.

Yours sincerely,

xxxx,

xxxx@mssupport.microsoft.com

Microsoft Product Support Services http://www.microsoft.com/uk/support

Microsoft Contact Centre (UK): 0870 60 10 100

Microsoft Contact Centre (Republic of Ireland): 1 850 940940

–Email end

It didn’t work.

Perhaps the thing to do is to turn auto updates off and just wait for SP2?

I’ve just installed WordPress again after a long absence from the blogosphere and I’ve found that WP likes to replace

<div>…</div>

tags with

<p>…</p>

This is kind of annoying for me as some of my pos…

Another solution is to use the TinyMCE advanced plug in (Google it). It comes with a native HTML editor where you can happily use DIVs.