Having run the the latest batch of Windows Vista updates three times only to see the system reverting to previous configuration, it was slowly dawning on me that something was missing. I had received updates for all kinds of things, but no actual SP2 update.

In all honesty, I am not a fan of receiving major updates via Windows Update, so I went looking and came up with an official Vista SP2 beta standalone update. I didn’t time it exactly, but I would say that it installed in maybe 30-40 minutes to a point where I could use the computer again.

A visit to Windows update revealed that the updates which had failed previously were no longer required, and everything was running well again.

I always put my PC to sleep at nights using the keyboard’s sleep button, and I was a little disappointed next morning when it refused to wake up. Pressing the reset button saw it up and running again, and it has been ok since then. I have a misgiving that it is slightly slower in waking up, but at least it does..

The machine is in production daily, and also holds a bootable hard drive upon which is installed Windows 7 Beta. I am aware that some believe that betas should only be run on a test machine, but I fail to see how normal every day problems can surface on a machine that is not in normal daily use.

Before running a beta on a production machine, ensure that you have all of the necessary abilities, installation media and patience. I don’t think that beta software adds too much instability to a system but, in certain cases, it can and does.