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Your questions: How do I get the latest Service Pack for Windows Vista?

Windows VistaKeith asks today…

"I am still running Vista on my home computer. It works well for me. How do I get service packs on it? I want the latest version!"

Glad you asked.

For our operating systems, every now and then we distribute what we call service packs for our Windows operating systems and other products. These packs, or SPs as we call them, include a collection of past updates for the software, which may include updates for system reliability, program compatibility, security, and more (as noted in the linked page). What we do every so often (the schedule varies from product to product) is roll these updates into an individual bundled package for easy downloading and installation. In fact, we even do most of the work to update PCs for consumers and other users may their when you use Microsoft Update (more info at http://www.update.microsoft.com/).

Now a word from Microsoft Knowledge Base article 935791, which looks at how service packs can help keep your installation of Windows Vista current – as well as for other Windows OS releases like Windows 7, when they’re available – and how they extend and update the functionality of your computer.

Please note: Support for Windows Vista without service packs will end on April 13, 2010. Learn how to download Windows Vista SP2 now.

According to KB 935791…

"… there are three step-by-step methods that you can use to obtain the latest service pack for Windows Vista. However, before you select the method that you want to use, please make sure that the following conditions are true:

  • The service pack is not already installed on your computer.
  • You are logged on to your computer by using a user account that is a computer administrator.
  • The computer on which you want to install the service pack is connected to the Internet.

"If you are not sure that all these conditions are true, please see the "Before you try to download the latest Windows Vista service pack" section. Otherwise, select the method that you want to use to download and install the service pack."

Methods to download the latest service pack

As I’ve said before, make sure Automatic Update (‘AU’ around the office) is turned on to get the latest service pack on once it goes live to AU. Your computer will automatically download and install the latest updates: this is by far the easiest approach for individual users to get SPs and other updates. Overall, AU helps ensure you receive software updates from Microsoft when they are available. You can configure Automatic Updates to download and install your updates automatically (as I do at home, to run after I go to bed), or you can set AU to download them and then prompt you to install them yourself.

Consumers and small businesses that rely on Microsoft to provide and install these updates can use visit Windows Update (WU) or visit the Microsoft Download Center to get the latest service packs and updates.

For those of you who have PCs manages by your organization (likely using Windows Server Update Services, aka WSUS), your IT Pro or sysadmin will manage the distribution of these updates to your system.

By the way: do you have Windows XP on a PC somewhere at home? Get Service Pack 3 installed! Please run Windows Update as we recommend customers this as the best way to install the latest service pack for XP, SP3. (NOTE: As noted in the article on SP3, there is no Service Pack 3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you are running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are on the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014.)

Does this help?

 

Tags: Microsoft, how to, customer support, feedback, customer service, Windows Vista, Windows, Vista, service pack, SP, Microsoft Product List 2010.

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, how-to, Windows Vista, Windows, Vista, service pack, SP, customer service.

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Your questions: “Will you answer questions on any Microsoft product? How long does Microsoft support their products?”

Diane asks…

"Will you answer questions on any Microsoft product? How long do you [I assume she means Microsoft] support the products?" 

Sure, I’ll try to provide answers and of resources available for the product line. This is not a replacement for our support system for products that are currently supported (aka in mainstream support) — which I might add is really an incredible machine when you consider the breadth. It’s more of an attempts to cover all of our various products and provide information of where you can get support, such as assisted support, updates, hotfixes and more.

Clip Art from Microsoft Office OnlineAs for how long we support our products, that depends on the product.

First there’s "mainstream support." What’s that? Glad you asked.

See Jared’s post on technet…

For all products, the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy begins with the Mainstream Support phase.  In this phase, we are able to provide all of the standard support services that Microsoft offers.  For example, in-the-box support, paid incident support, design change requests, non-security hotfixes, security updates and online self-help support may all be available during the Mainstream Support phase.
Consumer products that are released annually are provided a total of 3 years of Mainstream Support.  Some examples of these are Microsoft Money, Encarta, Streets & Trips, etc.

For the rest of Consumer, Hardware and Business & Developer products, the Mainstream Support phase is provided for a minimum of 5 years or 2 years after the successor product is released, whichever is longer.

At the end of the Mainstream Support phase, support for Consumer products comes to an end.  Business & Developer products, on the other hand, are provided a minimum of another 5 years of support in the Extended Support phase.

When it comes to direct customer support, your options may vary. For example, support for our Windows is available to users directly )phone, email) from Microsoft for the first 90 days at no charge, but your computer OEM (aka Original Equipment Manufacturer) – the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell HP, Gateway, Panasonic and more – may offer a year of free support (or more!) through their support lines. Users of products like Microsoft Office get the first 90 days of support for free, too. YMMV depending on the product.

There are also our free support forums (like Microsoft Answers, metioned yesterday), a community-based support site where you can ask and answer questions, or just browse other’s answers.

Then there’s Extended Support, as Jared discussed in his post on the end of support for Windows 2000 and Extended Support phase transition for Windows Server 2003. (This support extends primarily to business customers that license our software directly.)

If you missed my last post, we recently discussed the upcoming end of support for Windows Vista with no service packs installed and Windows XP SP2. In a similar vein, in this post I want to discuss support transitions that will primarily impact our enterprise customers.

First, let’s discuss the upcoming changes for Windows 2000. All editions of Windows 2000 will reach the end of the Extended Support phase on July 13, 2010. This will be the end of support for Windows 2000.

As you may recall, at the end of the Extended Support phase, Business & Developer products are no longer publicly supported, although Self-Help Online support (such as Microsoft online Knowledge Base articles, FAQs, troubleshooting tools, and other resources) will be available for a minimum of 12 months after the product reaches the end of its support. This means that there is no more paid support, no support assistance and no further security updates. Due to this, customers are highly encouraged to move to a supported product as soon as possible.

After Extended support, Microsoft offers custom support that "may include assisted support and hotfix support, and may extend beyond 10 years from the date a product becomes generally available. Strategic Microsoft partners may also offer support beyond the Extended Support phase. Customers and partners can contact their account team or their local Microsoft representative for more information."

For more on this and the support options, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ page.

 

Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Microsoft Product List 2010.

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, how-to, customer service

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Your questions: Beware the Ides of March, and Hotmail account hacks

image "Beware the Ides of March"

Not actually said by Caesar (in Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2) but to Caesar by a soothsayer in the crowd. And though often noted at the beginning of the month, the Ides are the fifteenth of the month.

Whatever the case, today I was asked…

"So, what customer issues has the Ides of March brought us?"

I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks when they arrive. 😉

But seriously, I thought as I was finishing the last of my lunch and prepping for a meeting to look over a couple of new and existing issues, what about the issues I get in my mailbox daily? I’ve covered a number of them in my blog. Perhaps I should take an effort to cover these more broadly to customers reading this blog. We have lots of ways that issues come into our large company – through email, phone calls, escalations, Twitter and even my blog (you’d be surprised at the number of people who find me and many other employees at Microsoft to help with customer issues).

Microsoftie by day, frustrated artist by night spending far too much time after the kids are off to bed on social media and the Internet hunting down customer issues, probing for new and developing problems that may just blossom into another DST. (More to head it off than anything else.) 

I thought that I should take on a more direct challenge. Especially given the number of customer emails I received before the weekend with product questions.

So, with that, I start on a new project on this blog, to cover at least one customer and partner challenge or issue per day here, in every one of our various product groups, for the next year. Rain, sleet or snow, I will cover an issue that either comes into my mailbox or that I see of interest that pops up on one of our forums (like Microsoft Answers). Some issues may not be solved in a single day or with a single post, but we can hope. And with I-don’t-know-how-many total product groups we have (the numbers have hovered in the mid three digits), I’ll have plenty of material…

I’ll find out just how many in support products we have today, starting with the product list on the Microsoft Lifecycle support Information site. So far, I’ve come up with one thousand, five hundred and sixty-eight applications, products, technologies and service offerings listed there, from .NET Framework 1.0 to Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania… 121 different posted Office listings, to just under 200 listings with things under "Windows".

Tonite, I’ll start with Hotmail. Here’s the first issue:

Mike emailed me, saying he and his little brother’s my email accounts had been hacked

hello sir,

i dont know if i am correct here, but both emails of me and my little brother seems to be hacked i keep getting:

        The Windows Live ID is incorrect. Please try again.

when i try to recover to my new email address :/

both accounts, i checked the computer and there was a trojan on it so seems somebody gained access and did something with our accounts, hope you can help me

regards and thanks

Mike

Through the benefits of the good people we have in our support group, we have a help site that looks at the most common issues with Hotmail and possible solutions on The new Windows Live Solution Center, http://windowslivehelp.com. It combines the expertise of the Windows Live Hotmail support team, the knowledge and helpfulness of our Hotmail customers, and articles and tips that help make Windows Live Hotmail work for you.

Back to Mike. For his issue related to a hacked (I don’t mean "hacked" as in "upset", as we said in Canada, but compromised, not to be confused with the curling hack) account specifically this  Recent reports of Account hijacks…

In addition, to ensure the security of your Hotmail account, we highly recommend that you change your Hotmail password and Secret Question. To do this, please follow the steps below:

To change your Hotmail password, click here.

To change your Secret Question, click here.  

For specific questions, you can browse all our communities (where users can initiate a discussion thread or join an existing one) or visit our solution categories (where we post Microsoft Certified Solutions). Other customers and our support agents will work with you to provide the correct solution.

For tips on how to navigate the Windows Live Solution Center, click here.

If all of the above fails, ask a question. There are several ways to submit a question in the forum:

  • Reply to an existing post or thread and post your question.
  • Go to a forum under community and click on “Ask a Question” and start a new thread.

 

Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Hotmail, hacked, email, Windows Live.

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Suggestions for weekend reading, Bill Gates explains why vaccines matter, and more of what I’ve read this week

United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID cph.3c05139This week John C. Maxwell offered this famous QOTD:

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

To end the work week, Dominic Carr offers his own suggestions for weekend reading on the Microsoft Blog

It’s Friday afternoon again, and time to wrap up some of the interesting things that happened this week that you might not have seen.  It is Super Bowl weekend here in the US and so it only seems fair to start with something sports related.

Jordan Brand taps Microsoft technologies:  The Jordan Brand turns 25 this year, and Microsoft technologies are helping with the celebration in partnership with Wirestone.  First up is a social mosaic called Mosaic 23/25.The Mosaic uses Silverlight 3 and Deep Zoom to create a huge mosaic of the man himself, all built from hundreds of individual pictures uploaded by fans.  And Windows Azure, Microsoft’s cloud operating system helped to make it possible.  There is more to come with Microsoft Surface and Windows 7.   If you are interested in more details on how the technology works, then read the Silverlight team blog and the Windows Azure blog.

Internet Explorer 8 is very popular:  This week NetApplications released their browser market share report and it showed that Internet Explorer 8 is the most popular browser, just less than a year after launch.  Brandon LeBlanc has more details on the benefits of IE8, and on reasons to upgrade from older browsers in his post over on the Windows Blog.

Using technology to help the planet:  BBC Radio covered the European Environment Agency’s Eye on Earth project, a partnership with Microsoft and based on Microsoft technology such as Bing maps, Windows Azure and SQL Azure.  The project aims to combine inputs from citizens with scientific data to provide a better understanding of air and water quality in a given location.  You can listen to the the BBC Radio story with the Eye on Earth project starting at 6:45mins.  

SharePoint Gets Social:  This week seven startups from around the world (all participants in Microsoft’s BizSpark program)  came together at  Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus for SharePoint 2010 SocialFest.  The goal; see how each team could take advantage of some of the new features in SharePoint 2010 to extend their social networking applications.  Each team worked closely with the SharePoint team over 4 days and showed off their work to a panel of judges.  The Brits won, and you can read more, and watch the videos in this Microsoft News Center article or in Techcrunch.

Microsoft Tag:  You may not yet have heard of Microsoft Tag, but the band We the Kings certainly has and is putting it to good use.  Microsoft Tag lets you snap a picture of a “Tag” and get access to more information online about the particular person, product or service.  You don’t need to rememeber a URL or text a short code.  Just take a picture.  We the Kings has teamed up with Microsoft Tag to give away free concert tickets.

Well Done Bill:  Microsoft Research Principal Researcher Bill Buxton has been recognized by Business Week as one of the world’s most influential designers.  Congrats, Bill.  You can read more about Bill and his work on things like Natural User Interface and Microsoft Surface in the News Center article, or this video.

And finally just when we thought we could go home the Bing team announced enhanced cooperation with Facebook on search.  This will give users a more complete search experience with access to some great Bing features, and expands the Bing-Facebook search integration beyond the US so that the more than 400 million people who use Facebook around the world will see the fruits of the partnership

And here are a few of my favourites found on Twitter during the week:

isdixon: Controlling Windows Media Center with an iPhone: http://goo.gl/fb/Mciy

nytimesbits: In an effort to compete with Google and Apple, Nokia makes its mobile phone software free of charge.  http://bit.ly/dyHWgT

PCMag – How to Buy the Right Netbook http://bit.ly/2cFkAX [If you’re not thinking about getting a powerful, cheap netbook, you should be.]

Pogue – My email column today: Why home videos matter. It’s a good one! http://bit.ly/a9CG42

andreaplattdyal – Measuring Microsoft’s Work by Its Broad Impact: http://bit.ly/9DFFeg

MSFT_IT – White paper on the benefits of Office 2010 + SharePoint 2010 (something to look forward to!) http://ow.ly/13Z38

Microsoft – Nat’l Sci Foundation & Microsoft team on cloud. Huge info cache requires both desktop computers & cloud http://bit.ly/aZ0BVD

techxav – Amazon Said to Buy Touch Start-Up http://bit.ly/ab5898

billcox – Some good stats showing why IE8 is doing well at http://bit.ly/anbYSO. Thanks brandonleblanc!

JohnFontana – MSFT-funded CodePlex Foundation gets first FT employee, executive director Paula Hunter http://bit.ly/dxInSg

Microsoft_Gov – Microsoft Education (@TeachTec) launched a K-12 ebook – Digital Storytelling in the Classroom – http://bit.ly/ajiwzN

neilblecherman – Students invent/distribute soccer ball that generates electricity, bringing clean power to developing countries http://bit.ly/9OTts1

edbott – My latest at ZDNet: Will your new Windows 7 PC support XP Mode? It’s still too hard to find out: http://bit.ly/9ZC7Q3

MSFT_IT – See how Microsoft does IT, in this great post by BuckWoody http://ow.ly/13vy5

PCMag – The ever-divisive John C. Dvorak calls the Apple iPad "good for nothing." http://bit.ly/byzSjg

slashdot – ARM Exec Says 90% of PC Market Could Be Netbooks http://bit.ly/dBOWnG

thurrott – What’s New in Windows Mobile 6.5.3: http://bit.ly/ay1J0b

Cisco_Mobile – A Peek at Apple’s Plan to Re-invent Textbooks http://tinyurl.com/yk9h3zd

Cisco_Mobile How the #enterprise is going #social http://tinyurl.com/yc3m6pc – thanks, susiewee for this Very interesting read.

stevecla – Microserfs at Microsoft UK http://bit.ly/ajpahP

MSWindows – Set up an energy-efficient home with these tips from @MicrosoftCanada – http://bit.ly/dsr7F2

comcastcares – New Personal Blog Post "The Customer, not the Company Defines How Products are Used" http://www.timetobefrank.com

MSWindows – Here’s a list of devices that work w/ Remote Media Streaming in Windows Media Center for you – http://bit.ly/cO5DRy

teedubya – Watching TV Without Cable: Series Part 1 – Netflix Solution http://digg.com/d31Haib

MSWindows – Stream your Windows Media Library to devices around the house w/ Remote Media Streaming – http://bit.ly/56KtWM

WSJ – Medical journal retracts study linking vaccines to autism: http://on.wsj.com/dghEEY More autism research: http://on.wsj.com/bVRtW9

LanceUlanoff – Why Chrome Will be Your Next Browser http://bit.ly/auhb4m #Google‘s browser is about to make the leap from upstart to leader of the pack.

njeaton – NYTimes reports that Google is planning a business-app store to boost Google Apps. http://bit.ly/c7PhII

Carnage4Life is impressed at how Google has made enemies. Apple and Firefox are the biggest surprises. See http://tcrn.ch/96JiLW & http://bit.ly/aibGyk

volkerw – Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration workflow for the IT Pro on TechNet http://bit.ly/bxL4Eu

warrenellis – Still can’t buy Tor books by writers like @cmpriest or @doctorow on Amazon? @Scalzi brings science: http://bit.ly/9dQvki

toddbishop – New push for data-center tax breaks in Washington state, with support from Microsoft and others: http://bit.ly/bU29tT

ForbesTech – The Growing Malware Problem [Article by Charlotte Dunlap] http://cptlst.com/0ueh

thurrott – Apple Entry into Market Means Higher eBook Prices http://bit.ly/au7Xcf

mike_elgan retweeted this from ScotFinnie: Why Apple chose the iPad’s screen format http://bit.ly/bpeczx. Resident smart guy LanceUlanoff says he’s right.

JVascellaro – Google to Launch Store for Online Business Software. http://bit.ly/dsQ3b1

MSWindows 4 steps to keeping your computer protected – http://bit.ly/aHgstb

EverythingMS – Syncing Windows Home Server, Zune and Windows Media Center! http://bit.ly/a9QCZl

dancosta – 42 Reasons Why Netbooks Are Better Than the Apple iPad http://bit.ly/96dzjC [Dan suggests that perhaps "Different" would be a better word.]

exectweets – Manage your company’s software with Windows 7 AppLocker (from our sponsor Microsoft): http://bit.ly/4xnTGJ

edbott – My latest at ZDNet: Can Microsoft close the ‘app gap’ with Apple’s iPad? http://bit.ly/bJIvvw

Microsoft: Windows Azure & SQL Azure now available in 21 countries [Microsoft Blog] http://bit.ly/9XHIqe

valleywag – Googlers Fire Back at Steve Jobs ‘Bullshit’ Jab http://gawker.com/5461539/ #nerdfight #stevejobs

joewilcox – Dalrymple’s beard speaks about "iPad and crazy people": http://tinyurl.com/ycgpetg

joewilcox – Apple US retail unit share is 90% for PCs selling above $1,000; doubled YoY in $500-$1,000 segment: http://tinyurl.com/y943uv3

maryjofoley – Microsoft to target SMB users with new ‘BPOS Lite’ cloud service: http://bit.ly/9En6Dc

And this from BillGates – A quick post to Gates Notes – "why vaccines matter" – http://bit.ly/bxeXTM

Have a good weekend!

 

Tags: Friday Link, humour, Santa Claus, Christmas , Windows, Microsoft

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, how-to, Windows 7, Windows Vista.

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Reminder: Windows 7 RC Expires on June 1, 2010

A reminder that the Windows 7 release candidate (RC) will expire soon.

Beginning February 15, users of Windows 7 RC will begin seeing notifications on your computers, with warnings that the OS on the PC will soon expire.

Starting on March 1, 2010 your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown.

The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Any PC running the Windows 7 RC will shut down every two hours and files won’t be saved during shutdown. As noted on the site…

"In addition, your wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on your desktop. You’ll also get periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine. That means your PC may no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.

"To avoid interruption, please reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Windows 7. In either case, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. As with any clean installation, you’ll need to back up your data then reinstall your applications and restore the data."

 

Tags: articles, blogs, Windows 7, Windows 7 RC, Win7, Win7 RC.

Clubhouse Tags: Challenge-Windows 7, how-to, Windows 7.

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