The most common service pack failures happen because of operating system inconsistencies and hardware incompatibilities. The following steps will address both issues prior to installing a service pack. Unfortunately, it will take a couple of hours to complete the steps and install the service pack.
1 – Use Windows Update to download install and run the System Update Readiness Tool for your Windows version from Microsoft. Information about the tool is located at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821/ The tool is delivered to you through Windows Update and it will only be available if Windows Update identifies a problem with your computer.
2 – Apply BIOS updates and all driver patches and updates from your pc or laptop manufacturer’s support site. Most manufactures have utilities pre-installed on their computers. For example, to locate HP updates, run either the HP Update or HP Health Check utilities. These utilities examine the computer and check the manufacturer’s web site for updated BIOS, drivers, and software for the specific computer.
3 – Remove all unnecessary files and programs from your computer, using “Add – Remove Programs” and the “Disk Cleanup” utility.
4 – Scan for and remove any viruses, spyware, and adware using your fully licensed and updated security software. If you do not have fully licensed and updated security software on your computer, visit my resources page where you will find various consumer versions of security software available for download.
5 – Download, install and run “Advanced WindowsCare Personal” from my resources page . It is 100% Freeware for consumers. It will identify and repair any remaining issues with your operating system and applications.
6 – Use the Defrag utility to defragment (repair) files and conserve space on the hard drive. To locate this utility, click Start , type defrag in the search field, and select Disk Defragmenter from the list. Follow the on-screen instructions.
7 – Create the operating system Recovery discs from the utility on the computer. Sometimes the Service Pack rollback does not work and you will need recovery discs.
8 – Make backups of all your important documents. You may need them.
9 – Restart the computer, disable your antivirus software, then install the Service Pack using the Windows Update function.
If the Service Pack fails to install, try again or you may need to contact your computer’s hardware support folks and have them assist you with the update.