# [SOLVED] Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install



## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (dual boot with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit). This is a DVD version (purchased) and installed to dual boot with the original OEM version of Windows Vista Home Premium.

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 2.66GHz	39 °C
Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM 4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz 6-6-6-18
Motherboard Dell Inc. 0M017G (CPU 1)
Graphics DELL S2209W @ 1920x1080
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series (Dell)
Hard Drives 976.76GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103UJ ATA Device (IDE) 488.39GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B2 ATA Device (IDE) 
Optical Drives HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GH30N ATA Device
Audio ATI High Definition Audio Device

I have seen a number of threads on this forum relating to Windows 7 SP1 failing to install. I have tried to install SP1 using Windows Update and also by downloading and installing Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 but in both cases whilst the update appears to progress okay, my computer reboots, and then I get a message stating that the update was unsuccessful and is being returned to its original state.

I have run the System Update Readiness Tool but I still cannot update my computer to SP1. 

Can anyone please give me advice on how I might troubleshoot this problem?


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## Jay_JWLH (Apr 30, 2008)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

You are going to have to check the Event Log. I'm unsure at this point what you will need to look for in particular, but anything with a warning or important sign on it is a good start. Narrowing down the date/time to when the instillation happened would also be a good idea.

Then tell us what it says.


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## DT Roberts (Jun 22, 2009)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Hello.

I agree with Jay that we'll need some information in the logs, but we can go through them for you. Follow the instructions here and use only #2 and 12: System Information Collection | DT Roberts


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Thanks for responding. There are 15,000 entries in the Event Log showing many errors and warnings (though my computer appears to work fine). I can't remember exactly when I tried to install SP1. I will give it another go now and look at the most recent entries in the Event Log amd report back soon.


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## DT Roberts (Jun 22, 2009)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*



kencoburn said:


> Thanks for responding. There are 15,000 entries in the Event Log showing many errors and warnings (though my computer appears to work fine). I can't remember exactly when I tried to install SP1. I will give it another go now and look at the most recent entries in the Event Log amd report back soon.


If you use my link and post the output, we can search the logs for what we want more efficiently.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Thanks for your patience. I attached the output of the log files but there appears to be a problem with the size of the files. The max for text files is 3MB but the files are 12MB and 14MB.


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## DT Roberts (Jun 22, 2009)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*



kencoburn said:


> Thanks for your patience. I attached the output of the log files but there appears to be a problem with the size of the files. The max for text files is 3MB but the files are 12MB and 14MB.


Those files shouldn't exceed 1MB each. Did you zip them up as described? 


> Step 4: Right-click the Support folder
> and select Send To…>Compressed (Zipped) Folder.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Sorry - I have attached the zipped file.

By the way when I tried to install SP1 again the sequence of events was as follows:

- Windows Update
- Preparing to install
- Creating a restore point
- Installing update 1 of 1 Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)
- The updates were successful
- Restart now to finish installing
- Configuring Service Pack (moved from 0% to 15%)
- Shutting down ...
(Reboot)
- Starting Windows
- Please wait ...
- Preparing to configure Windows
- Configuring Service Pack (moved from 9% to 14%)
- Failure configuring Service Pack, Reverting changes
- Shutting down ...
(Reboot)
- Preparing to configure Windows
- Installation was not successful


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## DT Roberts (Jun 22, 2009)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Thank you for the files.

This shouldn't be stopping you from installing SP1, but should be addressed immediately:

```
Event[0]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Ntfs
  Date: 2011-08-29T17:56:45.767
  Event ID: 55
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DellStudio
  Description: 
The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume DATA.
```
Open an elevated command prompt (*Start*>type *cmd*>right-click>*Run as administrator*) and run the command *chkdsk X: /r*, where X: is the drive letter of your volume DATA.

Here's the error you're getting:

```
Event[27]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient
  Date: 2011-08-29T17:47:51.111
  Event ID: 20
  Task: Windows Update Agent
  Level: Error
  Opcode: Installation
  Keyword: Installation,Failure
  User: S-1-5-18
  User Name: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
  Computer: DellStudio
  Description: 
Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070020: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (KB976932).
```
That error code means that something else is interfering with the update process. First try booting into *Safe Mode with Networking* and see if you're able to update.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I'm currently running chkdisk /r on my DATA drive and it is on Stage 4 0f 5 but is taking ages to complete (there are 125,000+ files). I had to force a dismount which I think was due to my having my Outlook .pst file on this drive. I will try to install SP1 in safe mode with networking when chkdisk has been completed.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I cancelled chkdsk on my data drive as it was taking too long - I will run it overnight.

I then tried to boot into safe mode. Ouch!! I got the dreaded BSOD. Windows then informed me it was trying to repair the system but eventually said it could not be repaired automatically. Nevertheless, when I rebooted the computer it booted into the normal mode.

It appears that I a major problem with my computer. Any ideas on a way forward?


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## Jay_JWLH (Apr 30, 2008)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

You have an interesting case, but it could have multiple routes for a solution.

Repair Install - Windows 7 Forums

The first option is to perform a repair install without SP1 installed, but installing the service pack afterwards. As explained by the link, it pretty much reinstalls the Windows system without effecting any of your other data or programs. It can have an effect on some settings and will also put all your Windows updates back to the beginning. This is not to be confused with performing a clean install, which can in itself wipe and reformat everything. To avoid any mistakes though, I would recommend performing a backup of the whole system and your data, if not just the important data, just in case.

The second option is pretty much the same as the first, except you can slipstream SP1 into a copied image of your OS media before doing it. That way when you perform the reinstall, the service pack is already installed.

Either way though, you are going to need the instillation media. A System Repair Disk won't do it. I don't recall how you can rebuild an image from your current setup, or how you can get it from the recovery partition your laptop most likely has on the drive. The easiest alternative would be to ask the manufacturer for a disk, which they will charge you a bit of a fee to handle.

Third option is to just restore everything back to factory settings, install all your programs back, and put your data back as well. A bit time consuming in itself for which you will need a backup drive, but also the cleanest way to do it. If you have a offline installer for SP1, then you should be able to skip the majority of Windows Updates to a point as well, after you install if once you complete the clean install.

Looking at hardware fault being a potential area of concearn, I would recommend running SeaTools, either in Windows or outside Windows (DOS).
| Seagate

So in order:
1. Backup
2. SeaTools
3. Your pick of everything else above


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Thanks for responding once again. I will check out me drive using SeaTools and report back soon. By the way, to eliminate a virus problem causing me not to boot into safe mode I ran a check using Kaspersky Rescue Disc 10 (booted from ISO disc) and my system is clean.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I fancy having a go a slipstreaming SP1 onto Windows 7 Home Premium. I have the Windows 7 disc and have done it in the past for Windows XP using a free program (which I can't recall the name of) which made the task very easy indeed. Is there a free program available to do the same with Window 7?


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I have checked out my hard drives (2 of them) using a bootable SeaTools disc and they check out okay.


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## Jay_JWLH (Apr 30, 2008)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Of course.

How To Integrate or Slipstrem Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Into Installation DVD ISO


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## Crossy (May 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I recently had a similar problem where W7 SP1 would not install. The final solution was to re install W7 then install SP1 immediately. Later I also had repeated error messages saying that 'The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable' which it clearly wasn't. After repeated CHDSK runs the problem turned out to be a RAM compatibility issue.

Rob.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

Thanks to all of you for your help. My Dell computer came with an Dell OEM verson of Vista Home Premium installed on C: partition. I purchased Windows 7 and after re-partitioning my hard drive using GParted I installed Windows 7 which turned out to be on the G: partition (D: E: and F: were not available). Some months later had a problem with my Windows 7 installation and so I "repaired" Windows 7 using the Dell recovery disc and it is since then that I have been unable to boot into safe mode. I will have one more go at repairing the installation and if that does not work I will live with not being able to boot into safe mode as my computer works fine apart from not being able to install SP1. There will problably come a time in the future though when I will need to reinstall Windows 7 and will bite the bullet and do a clean install using the slipstreamed version of Windows 7 sith SP1.

Once again, thanks for trying to help.


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## kencoburn (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: Windows 7 SP1 Will Not Install*

I eventually managed to get Windows 7 SP1 installed. In desperation I decided to reinstall Windows 7 from my installation CD. I then found that one of the options was to "Upgrade". I went through the upgrade process which took ages (be patient) but at the end of it I was able to upgrade Windows 7 to SP1.


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