# Microsoft Windows Vista and Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Released



## malware (May 26, 2009)

Microsoft has just posted the official download links for the final version of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. You need to have Service Pack 1 to install SP2 and that's pretty much everything. The standalone downloads are available in five different languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish. Find more info in the download links.

*DOWNLOAD*: Windows Vista/Server 2008 Service Pack 2 x32 | Windows Vista/Server 2008 Service Pack 2 x64

*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Triprift (May 26, 2009)

Cool look forward to seeing it through Auto Windows update in a few months time.


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## Cheeseball (May 26, 2009)

Time to slipstream!


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## MarcusTaz (May 26, 2009)

the readme or changelog is weak, but of course I am installing. Hopefully it improves performance...


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## Triprift (May 26, 2009)

Isnt this similar to SP1 were it includes all the updates and the odd little thing thrown in for good measure?


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

i've been using it for over a month now.

Basically its just a collection of windows updates rolled into one, no big changes.
apparently it CANT be slipstreamed. MS dont like it, because it provides a legal excuse for burned copies of their OS.


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## TheMailMan78 (May 26, 2009)

I would like to see some release notes.


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## MarcusTaz (May 26, 2009)

well that is sad no performance improvments... 

There is a readme if you go to the dl link and go from there and it is weak to say the least... Just what Triprift said, a bunch of updates rolled into a Service Pack...


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

MarcusTaz said:


> well that is sad no performance improvments...
> 
> There is a readme if you go to the dl link and go from there and it is weak to say the least... Just what Triprift said, a bunch of updates rolled into a Service Pack...



i said it too


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## Triprift (May 26, 2009)

Since im up to date with updates ill be getting bugger all awesome. =/


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

Triprift said:


> Since im up to date with updates ill be getting bugger all awesome. =/



if you download the redist and dont use the live updated, you can install it nice and easy next time you format, saving you many updates


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## qubit (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> i've been using it for over a month now.
> 
> Basically its just a collection of windows updates rolled into one, no big changes.
> *apparently it CANT be slipstreamed. MS dont like it, because it provides a legal excuse for burned copies of their OS.*



Yeah, because they're "protecting their copyright and preventing piracy". How lame. Asshats. 

I got an SP1 setup disc off my mate who had bought the software.


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

qubit said:


> Yeah, because they're "protecting their copyright and preventing piracy". How lame. Asshats.
> 
> I got an SP1 setup disc off my mate who had bought the software.



trust me, i've already found downloads for a leaked SP2 copy, and i'll be downloading it.

I own the software legit, but dear god its a pain in the ass to install an SP0 DVD, and then install two service packs. adds another hour to the install process, if not more.


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## TheMailMan78 (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> trust me, i've already found downloads for a leaked SP2 copy, and i'll be downloading it.
> 
> I own the software legit, but dear god its a pain in the ass to install an SP0 DVD, and then install two service packs. adds another hour to the install process, if not more.



Its people like you.......:shadedshu


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Its people like you.......:shadedshu



who would pay MS to ship me a copy with SP2 already installed, but they dont offer that.


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## TheMailMan78 (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> who would pay MS to ship me a copy with SP2 already installed, but they dont offer that.



Sometimes the right thing to do isn't the easiest. Anyway thats for another thread. I don't want to derail this one anymore 

Ill agree to disagree right off 
Nothing personal.


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## newtekie1 (May 26, 2009)

Triprift said:


> Isnt this similar to SP1 were it includes all the updates and the odd little thing thrown in for good measure?



That is essentially how all Service Packs for Windows work.



Mussels said:


> trust me, i've already found downloads for a leaked SP2 copy, and i'll be downloading it.
> 
> I own the software legit, but dear god its a pain in the ass to install an SP0 DVD, and then install two service packs. adds another hour to the install process, if not more.



Yeah, that is a real pain in the ass.  I'm sure the SP2 DVDs will be out soon enough. I'll get one from my MSDN as soon as I can, thats for sure.


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## raptori (May 26, 2009)

finally ......... i didn't try the previous RC sp(s) ........ bad thing "no performance increase" and why it cant be slipstreamed what does it make it differ from the other sp(s) ???? ...... any way thanks malware.


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

i dont see why people expect a performance increase from a software update. boggles my mind.


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## qubit (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> *trust me, i've already found downloads for a leaked SP2 copy, and i'll be downloading it.*
> 
> I own the software legit, but dear god its a pain in the ass to install an SP0 DVD, and then install two service packs. adds another hour to the install process, if not more.



I'm lucky in that a workmate has an MSDN account and will get me a guaranteed clean copy (no trojans etc) direct from the source.

I don't understand why TheMailMan78 has such a problem with you downloading this. After all, it's the product key that counts, no? You have paid for it, so you have the right to have the latest install disc, whether Microsoft makes getting this difficult or not.


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## RadeonX2 (May 26, 2009)

I had already installed SP2 got it from a leaked site 3 weeks ago it's the RTM version the file is much bigger around 700MB M$ official SP2 is only around 500MB might be the leaked site's SP2 has the additional language? both M$ and the leaked site I downloaded had the same file version which is 6002.18005. oh and with SP2 RTM installed it feels much snappier when opening programs 

edit : the leaked RTM has the additional language that's why its bigger


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

qubit said:


> I'm lucky in that a workmate has an MSDN account and will get me a guaranteed clean copy (no trojans etc) direct from the source.
> 
> I don't understand why TheMailMan78 has such a problem with you downloading this. After all, it's the product key that counts, no? You have paid for it, so you have the right to have the latest install disc, whether Microsoft makes getting this difficult or not.



he PM'd me about it. He meant no disrespect, hes just very anti piracy.


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## Homeless (May 26, 2009)

Apparently I am missing wer.dll and cannot update.  When I take this dll from another sp1 system, it still fails to update for some reason.  Anyone else using a slipstreamed version of windows having this problem?


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

Homeless said:


> Apparently I am missing wer.dll and cannot update.  When I take this dll from another sp1 system, it still fails to update for some reason.  Anyone else using a slipstreamed version of windows having this problem?



if you used Vlite and stripped parts out, you'll have that problem. i recall reading on their forums that people couldnt update to SP2, if they'd removed certain parts of vista already.


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## ShadowFold (May 26, 2009)

I couldn't install it on my vLited Vista either


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

looks like y'all need an SP2 disk and Vlite that, or go with plain jane vista installs.


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## Disparia (May 26, 2009)

Wha?

In previous Windows, slipstreaming was nothing more than using the full offline package with a couple switches throw in at the end. EX: update -s:c:\xp

I can't see them taking away that functionality from admins, techs, etc...


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## ShadowFold (May 26, 2009)

I have a Vista license, can I call them and get them to send me a SP2 DVD? I only have the base version from when it went retail. It's OEM tho, do they do that for OEM?


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## a_ump (May 26, 2009)

so does this actually have any fixes or changes that we haven't already recieved through windows live update?


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## BrooksyX (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> looks like y'all need an SP2 disk and Vlite that, or go with plain jane vista installs.



vLite probably doesn't support SP2 yet and I am pretty sure the guy makes vLite hasn't released an update or been heard from in like a year. So vLite might not be possible with SP2 anytime soon or ever.


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## Mussels (May 26, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> I have a Vista license, can I call them and get them to send me a SP2 DVD? I only have the base version from when it went retail. It's OEM tho, do they do that for OEM?



they send you SP2 on a DVD, but its just the redist, you cant install windows from it.


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## MarcusTaz (May 26, 2009)

Mussels said:


> i said it too



Lol sorry  yes you said it too...


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## PCpraiser100 (May 26, 2009)

Thanks for the link, downloading now.


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## VIPER (May 26, 2009)

Triprift said:


> Cool look forward to seeing it through Auto Windows update in a few months time.



Well, I am downloading/installing SP2 on 2 PC's through Windows Update right now!


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## mon74 (May 26, 2009)

Thanks for the link, will try it tonite.


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## Kitkat (May 26, 2009)

ty ty ty


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## qubit (May 26, 2009)

Jizzler said:


> Wha?
> 
> In previous Windows, slipstreaming was nothing more than using the full offline package with a couple switches throw in at the end. EX: update -s:c:\xp
> 
> I can't see them taking away that functionality from admins, techs, etc...



Well, yeah, they did.  Pathetic, isn't it?


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## Hayder_Master (May 26, 2009)

official now , download it now


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## Polarman (May 26, 2009)

Finally! 

Downloading now.


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## gumpty (May 26, 2009)

OK, I'm downloading this now via Window's Update, and the fucking thing is 567.3MB!!! 



What the fuck? I am totally up to date with all my updates prior to this - I can't believe it's so big. SP1 was only about 90MB if you were previously up to date.


EDIT: Just checked the link and the full version is only 10MB more than what I'm downloading. So I'm going to throw out a wild guess that MS haven't optimized the Windows Update download yet to take account of what old updates you have installed.
Time will tell what other people end up downloading via the auto update function.


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## a_ump (May 26, 2009)

huh, i don't see Vista SP2 as an optional update in Windows live update


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## gumpty (May 26, 2009)

a_ump said:


> huh, i don't see Vista SP2 as an optional update in Windows live update



Click on 'Check for Updates' on the left.


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## a_ump (May 27, 2009)

ah, i didn't have to do that, i just now got the new updates are ready.... pop up and sp2 was it. thx though


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## Triprift (May 27, 2009)

VIPER said:


> Well, I am downloading/installing SP2 on 2 PC's through Windows Update right now!



Much difference with it on that goes for anyone who has it now?


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## a_ump (May 27, 2009)

well honestly i haven't noticed any difference. Things seems slightly more responsive, but not a big difference. And my download was only ~356mb for SP2, so i recon most people have the updates or bug fixes installed that are part of it, just not any of the OS tuning they might have done.

hm, shoulda done some tests like boot time and whatnot, or how long it takes for all my start-ups to complete in comparison to SP1. oh well either way, it's beneficial.


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## VIPER (May 27, 2009)

Triprift said:


> Much difference with it on that goes for anyone who has it now?



Nope, no difference on 2 PC's... Time will tell. Maybe is just me, but I think my boot time is longer now


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## gumpty (May 27, 2009)

a_ump said:


> And my download was only ~356mb for SP2,



That'll be the difference between 32 & 64 bit versions then I guess.



BTW SP2 has killed my PC.

Set it to install and went to bed Watched it go through the motions fine but when it had finally completed it's thing and tried to start it failed. And Windows repair can't even fix it. 

EDIT: Third time's a charm. Restored back to SP1.


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## Deleted member 24505 (May 27, 2009)

I originally paid £86 for my vista.,but i lost my disc,so what do you think i did to get another copy? Sorry mailman,but i am only getting what i paid for.Its only piracy if you crack it.

Just a bunch of updates eh,i'll grab it anyway for future referance,even though i'm on win7 now.


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## fullinfusion (May 27, 2009)

There is no performance improvements with sp2... I think there was a thread a while back showing that if your a gamer you better stay way way far away from it.... if sp2 is installed can it be removed besides doing a fresh os install?


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## a_ump (May 27, 2009)

eh, i saw some reviews as well but that was in february, 4 months is a good bit of time to tune the SP more. Though i would like to see a comparison of SP1 to the SP2 they have right now, not the RC from february.


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## farlex85 (May 27, 2009)

VIPER said:


> Nope, no difference on 2 PC's... Time will tell. Maybe is just me, but I think my boot time is longer now



Vista's an odd one like that. After a while now I've come to the conclusion that it speeds itself up over time, and tends to slow down if adding SPs. I've noticed that on re-formatting things seem to slow down (sort of counter-intuitive to what I expect), and yeah I remember when I installed SP1 manually after my last re-format I was baffled at why things were moving so slowly (comparatively speaking). After a while though things picked up again, and I think it's now faster than ever. Vista is a good learner I think. Purely subjective though, I don't have any data to back that up.

At any rate Service Packs add to stability, but I wouldn't expect performance increases with them, regardless of the OS>


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (May 27, 2009)

Mussels said:


> he PM'd me about it. He meant no disrespect, hes just very anti piracy.



Well then with all due respect, he should allow others to make their own choices. If they want to acquire a piece of software by whatever means, then thats their prerogative. One shouldn't let another persons actions get the better of him. IMO, its no concern of anyone's but the person doing it. 

Thats all that Ill say here. PM me otherwise.



farlex85 said:


> Vista's an odd one like that. After a while now I've come to the conclusion that it speeds itself up over time, and tends to slow down if adding SPs. I've noticed that on re-formatting things seem to slow down (sort of counter-intuitive to what I expect), and yeah I remember when I installed SP1 manually after my last re-format I was baffled at why things were moving so slowly (comparatively speaking). After a while though things picked up again, and I think it's now faster than ever. Vista is a good learner I think. Purely subjective though, I don't have any data to back that up.
> 
> At any rate Service Packs add to stability, but I wouldn't expect performance increases with them, regardless of the OS>



After using Windows 7, I hate Vista now.


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## fullinfusion (May 27, 2009)

If i dont like sp2 can it be removed?


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## farlex85 (May 27, 2009)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> After using Windows 7, I hate Vista now.



I've had 7 installed since it's beta release, I still use Vista far more. I like 7, but for some reason I still like Vista more. Still seems a bit faster and 7 still seems to have some kinks, and I just don't like some of the layout of 7 as much as vista. Vista remains my favorite OS I've ever used.



fullinfusion said:


> If i dont like sp2 can it be removed?



What don't you like? But yes I think so just go to add/remove programs.


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## Dippyskoodlez (May 27, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> If i dont like sp2 can it be removed?



Its going to become baseline eventually


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## fullinfusion (May 27, 2009)

Dippyskoodlez said:


> Its going to become baseline eventually


I know what your saying Dippy, but for now if i install it and dislike it can it be removed?


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## farlex85 (May 27, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> I know what your saying Dippy, but for now if i install it and dislike it can it be removed?



I repeat, go to add/remove programs, then click on show windows updates on the left side.


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## fullinfusion (May 27, 2009)

farlex85 said:


> I repeat, go to add/remove programs, then click on show windows updates on the left side.


lol my bad, i was typing the same time you did and missed you reply.... thanks mate


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## farlex85 (May 27, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> lol my bad, i was typing the same time you did and missed you reply.... thanks mate



S'all good, I'm not fully confident that will work anyway, but that's how to remove most updates. Never tried a SP though. If you can't do it there I doubt you could do it anywhere though.


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## fullinfusion (May 27, 2009)

farlex85 said:


> S'all good, I'm not fully confident that will work anyway, but that's how to remove most updates. Never tried a SP though. If you can't do it there I doubt you could do it anywhere though.


well i guess i could do a dang system restore?
but any ways sp2 d/l is done... ill give my thoughts later


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

Well so far i think the sp2 rocks.... my rig before was snappy opening up and running programs but indeed sp2 is waaaay snappier!!!
It just seems to be better over all... 
But the test..... lets see how it holds a 4GHz OC lol.... One can only hope for sucess


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## Dippyskoodlez (May 28, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> Well so far i think the sp2 rocks.... my rig before was snappy opening up and running programs but indeed sp2 is waaaay snappier!!!
> It just seems to be better over all...
> But the test..... lets see how it holds a 4GHz OC lol.... One can only hope for sucess



int main{
If (system=overclocked){
BSOD;
Else
startWindows;
return 0;
}

They forgot that in the patch notes, sorry.


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## TheMailMan78 (May 28, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> There is no performance improvements with sp2... I think there was a thread a while back showing that if your a gamer you better stay way way far away from it.... if sp2 is installed can it be removed besides doing a fresh os install?



I heard if you download service pack 2 it will steal your first born and make you say Rumpelstiltskin backwards.


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## erocker (May 28, 2009)

Nikstlitslepmur?!  I think I'll use SP2 whenever Microsoft makes me do it.


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## a_ump (May 28, 2009)

i didn't really expect anyone to be negative towards SP2, it's a service pack lol. plus it only took my system like 15min once downloaded for it to complete installation with the reboot and whatnot. So if you wanted could make a restore point then install. Find anything you don't like then go back to the system restore, but i dout you will as the only difference i've noticed is my system is "snappier" as someone put it earlier. Most people jump for joy with SP releases, u boys got my confuzzled  any particular reason u don't want to install SP2 besides the lack of desire to take the time to update?


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## TheMailMan78 (May 28, 2009)

a_ump said:


> i didn't really expect anyone to be negative towards SP2, it's a service pack lol. plus it only took my system like 15min once downloaded for it to complete installation with the reboot and whatnot. So if you wanted could make a restore point then install. Find anything you don't like then go back to the system restore, but i dout you will as the only difference i've noticed is my system is "snappier" as someone put it earlier. Most people jump for joy with SP releases, u boys got my confuzzled  any particular reason u don't want to install SP2 besides the lack of desire to take the time to update?



Microsoft has a bad habit of fixing things that ain't broken. Anyway I'm digging SP2.


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

Dippyskoodlez said:


> int main{
> If (system=overclocked){
> BSOD;
> Else
> ...


well its holding lol.... me like sp2


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

erocker said:


> Nikstlitslepmur?!  I think I'll use SP2 whenever Microsoft makes me do it.


take the sp2 leap Erocker, you'll  be glad you did!!!
and you can remove it under
Control panel--Programs and features--Installed updates


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

a_ump said:


> i didn't really expect anyone to be negative towards SP2, it's a service pack lol. plus it only took my system like 15min once downloaded for it to complete installation with the reboot and whatnot. So if you wanted could make a restore point then install. Find anything you don't like then go back to the system restore, but i dout you will as the only difference i've noticed is my system is "snappier" as someone put it earlier. Most people jump for joy with SP releases, u boys got my confuzzled  any particular reason u don't want to install SP2 besides the lack of desire to take the time to update?


it took just under 12min from clicking d/l to install to reboot to happy happy lol sp2 works real well imo.


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## erocker (May 28, 2009)

Cool.  Does anyone know how much larger this will make Vista 64bit.  I have my O/S on a smallish SSD and it's running out of room.


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

erocker said:


> Cool.  Does anyone know how much larger this will make Vista 64bit.  I have my O/S on a smallish SSD and it's running out of room.


it was showing as just a tad over half a gb but i believe it included sp1 as well so mabey 250mb im guessing as long as sp1 is already installed


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

OMG erocker.... your avatar is a blast from the past!!! i loved that black hole movie!!! sorry im not hi jakin this thread but just needed to say


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## a_ump (May 28, 2009)

yep SP2 definitely isn't a negative release. still tryin to find a review comparing current SP2 to SP1, and SP2 shouldn't include SP1 as it states you need to have SP1 installed first 






just lil suggestion fullinfusion, just click the edit button instead of double posting  figured with 7 stars u'd know that by now .


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## TheMailMan78 (May 28, 2009)

Note to self. Do not look up black hole in google images.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (May 28, 2009)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Note to self. Do not look up black hole in google images.



Does it bring up a picture of my former boss with a circle around where the heart should be?


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## fullinfusion (May 28, 2009)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Note to self. Do not look up black hole in google images.


lol


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## a_ump (May 28, 2009)

well i just noticed something, i left my pc idle, with nothing but WCG and AIM for background running applications, for bout an hr and in SP1 idle i consumed about 900mb-1gb memory,(WCG wasn't always running) but with SP2 my idle memory usage was at 750mb or so, and right now with my browser(4tabs), itunes, steam, and aim open i'm only at 960mb, whereas on SP1 i remember i'd be using around 1100mb with all this open. So they definitely streamlined it a little more. 

I read Windows 7 was supposed to be less resource hungry and run slightly quicker than vista. Well SP2 i would guess got some of the same tweaking cause a 180mb-250mb difference in memory usage is quite a bit imo. If vista had been released with the efficiency of SP2, it woulda sold wonderfully. I'm judging this off the "System Monitor" gadget for the sidebar, anyone else notice a drop in memory usage?


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## Mussels (May 29, 2009)

a_ump said:


> well i just noticed something, i left my pc idle, with nothing but WCG and AIM for background running applications, for bout an hr and in SP1 idle i consumed about 900mb-1gb memory,(WCG wasn't always running) but with SP2 my idle memory usage was at 750mb or so, and right now with my browser(4tabs), itunes, steam, and aim open i'm only at 960mb, whereas on SP1 i remember i'd be using around 1100mb with all this open. So they definitely streamlined it a little more.
> 
> I read Windows 7 was supposed to be less resource hungry and run slightly quicker than vista. Well SP2 i would guess got some of the same tweaking cause a 180mb-250mb difference in memory usage is quite a bit imo. If vista had been released with the efficiency of SP2, it woulda sold wonderfully. I'm judging this off the "System Monitor" gadget for the sidebar, anyone else notice a drop in memory usage?



i noticed a drop if 100MB or so.

Dont worry, even if vista came out as good as windows 7 is now, everyone would have hated it still. they'd convinced themselves XP was the best.


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