Last night I downloaded the complete Windows SP1 Vista pack which is about 2.87G in size and in .iso format. The download took a while since during the last 1%, the download stopped. Using Microsoft’s File Transfer Manager, I soon learned that by doing a suspend of the download, then a resume somehow corrected the issue. This morning I burned the file to DVD and booted up Vista and popped in the SP1 DVD upgrade disk.

Several things I noted during the start of the installation. First was a message that the installation could take several hours and also I had to enter in my product key for Windows Ultimate. Though the message stated I could wait until after the install was completed, I chose to enter the product key and register once the installation completed. Another note. This requirement is for the full install DVD only and not the upgrade that most users will get via Windows Update, which will be smaller in size.

As I sat waiting for the installation to complete, I wondered if this upgrade would leave all of my stuff in its place. I wondered if it was going to work or not. I wondered if my system would even start or not. I wondered many things! It is not because I don’t trust doing a complete reinstall of Windows - it is because I have had mixed results in the past trying this procedure.

Well I am impressed. Not only did the install proceed without incident, but all of my stuff and settings were recognized as well. Only glitch I saw was one driver for my modem. I don’t use it since I have a broadband connection. But I was able to get online and get this corrected. Also activation went smoothly without a hitch using online activation.

So I’ll be using Vista with SP1 for several weeks to confirm there are no issues doing an upgrade using a full version solution.

Comments welcome.