If you’re running on Windows Vista now, have you installed Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)?
Manual download and installation of Windows Vista SP1 was released on 18th March, and available from Windows Update beginning from 15th March. If you’ve not manually downloaded this service pack, chances are, by now, you should have been prompted for automatic update of Vista SP1 from Windows Update.
I’ve updated to Vista SP1 on 19th March, a day after the release of manual download hehe. Itchy hand lo… I was kind of frustrated with some performance issues and bugs residing in Windows Vista, and thus very much anticipating for the availability of Vista SP1, hoping to see some notable issues resolved.
7GB Free Space to Begin
For Vista 32bit, SP1 requires minimum 7GB of free space in C drive to execute installation. However, no worry, SP1 is NOT going to eat up your 7GB hard drive space.
A Number of Automatic Restarts
Installation of Vista SP1 involves a number of automatic restarts. The Vista SP1 installer also gives a very clear note about this event. Besides, the installation process takes about 1 and a half to 2 hours to complete. So, the best is to leave your PC for installation while you’re sleeping. Yes, I did that, and the installation completed without requiring any further explicit input from me, and was greeted with Vista SP1 the next morning.
Free Up More Space in C Drive
The most visually notable change is, my free space in C drive has increased from 7.86GB (before installing SP1) to 9.06GB (after installing SP1)!! I gained more free space in C drive after installation hehe.
Faster Shutdown
The shutdown process in Windows Vista prior to SP1, is unacceptably slow. However, SP1 has significantly reduced the time needed for shutdown process, by almost half.
No Change in Startup Time and Memory Consumption
In terms of startup time on my machine, it’s almost the same as before. RAM consumption also stays at the same level.
Click here for “Notable Changes in Windows Vista Service Pack 1″
As quoted from the above link:
- 25% faster when copying files locally on the same disk on the same machine
- 45% faster when copying files from a remote non-Windows Vista system to a SP1 system
- 50% faster when copying files from a remote SP1 system to a local SP1 system
Of course, these are just some theoretical “marketing” figures. Though I do agree that I can feel the difference in file transfer speed, but still, the actual throughput differs by many other network and hardware factors as well.
Have you upgraded your Windows Vista with SP1?
Related Posts:
Thought you never write blog anymore… Nice to see this blog~
I upgraded too, noticeable changes at file transfer rates and better sleep, no more BSOD.
I didn’t notice the “2GB” saved, haha~
vhanded: Thanks for your visit
Maybe a bit response but I also noticed about 2gb increase in free space after I upgraded to sp1. I thought maybe I was mistaken but it seems that I wasn’t.