Problem with Vista.

Rob54

New Member
Hello All,

Just joined, hope to get to know you all and enjoy exchanging ideas and experiences.

I am having a problem with trying to install Vista SP1 on my daughter's laptop (an Acer Aspire 7720G).

I purchased a new copy of Kaspersky to update her anti-virus but it refused to install without the Vista SP1 being present. When I downloaded the SP1 (from the Microsoft website) and tried installing it I was presented with an internal error code (0x800736B3). I have been back to the Microsoft website to find out how to rectify the problem but it seems you have to be a software programmer with the patience of Jobe to sift through the minutiae of the Vista operating system to fix the flippin' thing. Does anyone know of a quicker way of resolving the problem as I feel I may be in my box before I get to the end of the method advised by Microsoft. I already have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana skin, so I don't need this, the Microsoft version of the "death of a thousand cuts" to finish me off.:mad:

Many thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.

All the Best,

Rob54.
 
Hello johnb35 & spirit,

Thanks for your responses.

I do not believe the problem is caused by malware johnb35, I believe it is due to the corruption of Windows files as indicated within the CBS.log generated by running the System File Checker. This indicates dozens of errors within the log that seems to be the computer equivalent of "War and Peace". The laptop has always had Kaspersky anti-virus software on it as I installed it from new when I bought it for my daughter.

As I said, I downloaded the Vista SP1 from the Microsoft website, incidentally I also downloaded SP2 from the same source in case I needed it. I was of a mind to only load what was asked for by the package and no more. I do not like to "fiddle" more than is needed and as Microsoft has the reputation of curing one problem whilst creating a dozen others it is a method that has served me well. I am in the process of trying to convince my daughter to convert to Linux as I am sick to the back teeth of both Windows and Microsoft's attitude to it's customers of taking your money and then virtually washing their hands of responsibility for their product. This is proven by the fact that this appears to be a common problem, evidenced by the amount of information on the Microsoft website, yet they have not provided a way of fixing it other than expecting the user go through procedures that should qualify them for a certificate in computer programming.

When updating other computers I have found it best to install the Service Packs in order spirit, as it has caused me problems in the past.

Sorry if I seem a bit of a Victor Meldrew, but I have had far too many years of this rubbish. plus I am old enough to qualify for the odd outburst of "I don't bileeeve it!":)

All the Best,

Rob54.
 
Alright if possible just reinstall your daughter's laptop from scratch and go from there - that will eliminate any malware issues she may have (and it could be malware so it would be worth running a scan because you never know what you may find).

Ideally get yourself a Windows Vita with SP2 disc for your daughter's Vista edition if you can because it will save you a lot of time and hassle. You can use the key on the bottom of her laptop.

At this point though, I would be abandoning Vista because it is a 7 year old OS and it was never great. I'd get Windows 7 or 8.1 instead or if your daughter can adjust to it, a Linux distro as you mentioned. All of those OSes would run better than Vista than most hardware.
 
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