Earlier this week, Microsoft made the final release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 (and for Windows Server 2008 R2) available for download by the public.
Well, some of the public, anyway.
For now, you can get the bits only if you have an MSDN or TechNet subscription or a volume license for either Windows version. The download package is a hefty one, roughly 2GB in size, in ISO format. The disk image contains three separate update packages, one each for x86, x64, and IA-64. You’ll also find new ISO installation images of Windows 7 with SP1 already integrated, which is handy to have if you’re setting up a new PC (or rebuilding an old one).
No MSDN or TechNet sub? Then you’ll have to wait until next week. In the meantime, you can pick up the documentation—release notes and deployment guides—at the Microsoft Download Center.
I don’t recommend that you rush out and get this update. It is, in the best sense of the word, a true service pack. It rolls up bug fixes and patches but doesn’t add any new features for Windows 7. It will be available via Windows Update eventually, presumably in a more efficient format,
Speaking of formats… If you’ve never used ISO files before, you’ll want to study up a bit first. I last wrote about working with ISO files in 2006 and should write an update of that post. Anyone have any ISO questions, comments, or tips?
Ed Bott 
Nice thing about the newest versions of 7-ZIP (and I think some other archivers) is they can open .ISOs as if they were .ZIP files. This is handy if you want to unpack the contents to a folder and use ’em from there.
I agree with Serdar, I use 7-Zip for both ISO and WIM files all the time. If you want to burn an ISO there is the ability built into Win 7, but my favorite is ImgBurn. Best ISO burner out there it doesn’t do much, but what it does it does well.
For those who don’t have independent CD- and DVD-creating software, I recommend Alex Feinman’s ISORecorder. It simply adds ISO-writing capabilities to Window’s built-in CD/DVD-recording utility.
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
For those of us without MSDN or TechNet subscriptions, I’d love to see a treatise on slipstreaming our own Windows 7 SP1 DVD.
There’s one thing I really don’t understand. When that SP1 RTM leak occured in January, I was cocksure it was bogus, considering the installer being signed on November 23rd, and the build string indicating a November 19th build date. However, the actual RTM from TechNet does have the same dates and build string.
So why would Microsoft wait till November 9th to release SP1 to their partners and then another week to push it to TechNet/MSDN, not even giving them a week to experiment with SP1 until it’s on WU/WSUS. Ok, there are no breaking changes unless you turn on RemoteFX/dynamic memory on in a cluster with non-SP1 and SP1 servers mixed, or try to exchange saved states between them. Still, a weird practice, it seems.
WinRAR has supported ISO files for a number of years. I too recommend ImgBurn as the best freeware CD/DVD-recording utility. Most people don’t realize that it’s not only for burning and making ISOs.
For mounting ISOs (and other formats) in Windows I highly recommend MagicISO, it beats the competition quite easily – http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-overview.htm
I too would love to know the answers to some questions like ChrisTX. On Jan 14 there was a Microsoft Blog post that indicated the SP had gone to OEM. That day MSFT and Paul Thurrot both said nope it isn’t done but almost. It also showed up on torrents that same day. Many people were concerned it wasn’t real, but it was. The files released that day are identical to the ones released this week. As ChrisTX said they are digitally signed 11/22/2010 so actually it was done then. Maybe there was some testing between then and now, but 3 months and no new build? Also why the denials when it was done for 2 months in Jan.
7-zip. Without a doubt.
Yes, 7-zip made me no longer dread ISO files.
About that Jan 14 date: According to the leakers – WZOR that is – that was the day of the RTM sign-off (also confirmed by some russian blog post on TechNet). Would surprise me why they’d need so much testing – considering Windows 7 RTM was build on June 13th 2009 and shipped to OEMs about 10 days later or so. But even if that was the date of the formal sign-off, why waiting another month to ship it to OEMs? Integrating SP1 in their shipment process might take as well more time than that.
Also interesting, WZOR’s integrated images and the WAIK build match the TechNet ISOs. So I really stay puzzled about this. Find it as strange as the practice to release the notable changes list and the hotfix list on different dates – especially considering that the notable changes list is basically the same as the RC one and was finished on Feb 9.
Lastly, where is USB 3.0 ? Microsoft said they’d deliver it in an update somewhen after Windows 7’s original RTM. The standard was finished in November 2008. So where is it?
“For those of us without MSDN or TechNet subscriptions, I’d love to see a treatise on slipstreaming our own Windows 7 SP1 DVD.”
Oh sure:
1. Install Windows 7 RTM to some virtual machine or similar
2. Install SP1 on it
3. Run the sysprep utility that comes with Windows (see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766049(WS.10).aspx )
4. Insert a Windows PE CD with imagex on it (for this you need WAIK installed somewhere – then run the copype command to create a Windows PE base image and copy the imagex utility [also from WAIK] to it. Either create then an ISO or burn it. For details, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc748899(WS.10).aspx )
5. Run imagex /capture ( imagex documentation is available here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722145(WS.10).aspx )
6. Replace the install.wim on your Windows 7 RTM disk with the resulting WIM file.
Note: This won’t update the catalogue files coming with the disk nor update the integrated Windows PE (boot.wim) environment. However, if you’d install it, it would be Windows 7 SP1.
On the ISO issue: I use 7-Zip and UltraISO. If you’re working with a lot of ISO files, go for UltraISO, otherwise 7-Zip will do just fine.
Thanks, ChrisTX. “Easy-peasy, rice-and-cheesy!”
Ed
I agree that for most users out there wait for SP1 to come through windows update, as you mentioned it will be more easily digested that way with a reboot where required. Good post ChrisTX, useful info there. It will certainly make my job easier when it comes to reinstalling or reformatting a Windows 7 PC to have SP1 preloaded on a Windows 7 install media. 7-Zip, WinRAR work well with ISO’s and for what its worth I use Nero for burning images to disk.