SP1 installation/uninstallation issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter BM
  • Start date Start date
B

BM

I am running Windows XP Professional. The folders where
Automatic Update installed Service Pack 1 are on a drive
where it cannot remain so I wish to uninstall it, then
download it again and install it in a location of my
choice. However, Add or Remove Programs only features
Service Pack 1a, which I believe is a security patch.
Also, once SP1 is gone, if I run Windows Update it will
again download and install it in a location of its
choice, not mine. So I need to know two things: first,
how can I uninstall SP1, and second, how can I download
and install SP 1 where I want it?
 
Service Pack 1A is the same as Service Pack 1, with the exception that the Java Virtual Machine was removed from 1A
 
If they are one and the same, then why do I have four
folders on the root of E:, containing a total of 165 MB
of Service Pack files? I did not choose to put them
there. E: is actually on a different physical drive from
my system drive, C:, which is where I would prefer them
to be. They cannot stay where they are because that drive
is about to be removed from my system.

Thanks for the application for changing the location of
the Program Files directory, but I am not sure that is
what I need to do.
 
Thanks Doug. I must have misunderstood the description of
SP1a on the Microsoft Downloads site. I take it from what
you say that I can indeed uninstall SP1 using Add or
Remove Programs. However, I am still concerned that if I
download SP1, which takes about 24 hours with my dial-up
modem, the files will again end up on some drive other
than C: where I want them to go.
-----Original Message-----
Service Pack 1A is the same as Service Pack 1, with the
Click to expand...
exception that the Java Virtual Machine was removed from
1A
--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"BM" <[email protected]> wrote in
Click to expand...
message news:[email protected]...
 
You need to get your facts straight. I was speaking of SP1a, etc. as you
spoke of. Service Pack Files are totally different.




If they are one and the same, then why do I have four
folders on the root of E:, containing a total of 165 MB
of Service Pack files? I did not choose to put them
there. E: is actually on a different physical drive from
my system drive, C:, which is where I would prefer them
to be. They cannot stay where they are because that drive
is about to be removed from my system.

Thanks for the application for changing the location of
the Program Files directory, but I am not sure that is
what I need to do.
 
Two points:
First, when I click "Remove" in Add or Remove Programs,
there is a dialog in which I confirm that I wish to
remove Service Pack 1 and restore my previous
configuration. After I do that, there another dialog
entitled, "Service Pack 1", which says, "Setup detected
the following programs on your computer:", followed by a
list of what looks like every application I have
installed on my system, and then, "If Service Pack 1 is
removed, these programs might not run properly. Do you
want to continue?"
This is a worry. I don't want to reinstall all my
programs.
Second, the only download for Service Pack 1 I can find
in searching Microsoft Download Center is "Windows XP
Service Pack 1a Express Install (32-Bit) for End Users."
Version is "XP SP1a patch" and download size is 1982 KB.
This is obviously not Service Pack 1, which takes up a
total of 165 MB on my system.
 
I am still concerned that if I
download SP1, which takes about 24 hours with my dial-up
modem, the files will again end up on some drive other
than C: where I want them to go.
Click to expand...

You can have SP1 sent to you for free by MS.
 
Sorry, I am not an expert in these matters. You say
Service Pack files are totally different from SP1a, but
SP1a is an acronym for Service Pack 1a. Excuse me for
being confused.
 
Actually I think I am wrong there. The 165 MB probably
includes various Hotfixes and so on. If I can recall, the
SP1 download itself was about 70 or 80 MB, still a lot
bigger than 1982 KB.
 
I'm sure you are right, but I cannot find it. I have
searched on "service" + "pack" under Windows XP and the
closest thing I could find amongst the results was a 1982
KB patch file.
 
Thanks very much Ross, that looks like what I am after.
The file is downloading now. It should be there by
tomorrow morning with any luck.
There is still something that concerns me about this and
maybe you know the answer. I already asked Keith about
this issue but he didn't reply. When I go to uninstall
SP1a in Add or Remove Programs, I am faced with a dialog
entitled, "Service Pack 1", which starts, "Setup detected
the following programs on your computer:", followed by a
list of what looks like every application I have
installed on my system, and then, "If Service Pack 1 is
removed, these programs might not run properly. Do you
want to continue?" I am worried by this because it seems
to suggest that I might have to reinstall all my
programs, which really do not want to do. Many of them
were installed from remote locations over the Internet
using my dial-up modem. Is this avoidable?
 
Thanks Keith, that's good to know. However, I am hopeful
I won't need to do that. Ross pointed me to a page
entitled "Windows XP Service Pack 1a Network
Installation" from where I am downloading a file,
xpsp1a_en_x86.exe, that appears to be what I am after.
The size of the download is 134 MB, which sounds about
right. I didn't recognise the article when I searched for
Service Pack 1 because it refers to network installation
and I thought that wouldn't apply to me because I have a
standalone computer.
However, I still have the worry I mentioned to you above,
about having to reinstall all my programs if I uninstall
SP1a from my system.
 
If they are one and the same, then why do I have four
folders on the root of E:, containing a total of 165 MB
of Service Pack files?
Click to expand...

A folder, ServicePackFiles, is normally created in C:\Windows to hold
the component files of the SP in expanded form, where they can be used
by System file protection . And it is bigger than that. You do not say
how you installed SP1, but it sound to me that these are the files as
initially extracted from it prior to installation. If you have the
downloaded installation .exe of the full Network version on a given
drive then it creates a working folder on the same drive to extract to.
Those are not much use once the setup is over, and ought too have been
deleted. I would make sure of having the download safe, say burned to a
CD and if you have that C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles folder, get rid of
the one on E
 
Thanks Alex, that makes things a lot clearer. Actually,
as far as my installing SP1 goes, I did nothing apart
from probably clicking an OK button when prompted at some
point in the process; Windows Automatic Update initiated
the download and executed the setup without my
involvement. I don't know why it put download folders on
E:. I assumed they must be part of the installation,
otherwise they would have been deleted afterwards. It
seems to me a little sloppy, to say the least, to leave
165 MB of redundant files lying around once the setup is
completed. I do indeed have a C:/Windows/ServicePackFiles
folder, which is 274 MB in size (190 MB on disk), so I am
reassured that I can safely delete the folders on E:
without affecting anything. I've just finished
downloading the SP1a self-extracting cabinet file (125 MB)
but it seems it won't be needed after all. I was holding
off on uninstalling SP1a because of the warning message
saying that if I did so, then all my programs might not
work properly. I've been researching that issue and after
arriving at the conclusion that uninstalling SP1 would be
very unlikey to affect any other programs, I was
preparing to press the button when I read your comment.
Saved in the nick of time!
 

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