Several weeks after Microsoft started to feed a Windows Vista update to users, it has suspended self-moving delivery while it investigates user complaints of PCs endlessly rebooting or failing to start normally. Update KB937287, billed as a prerequisite to Vista Service Pack 1, was meant to fix a problem with Vista’s installation software.

A post on Microsoft’s support boards dated Jan. 27 reported: “My install of the SP1 RC Refresh has gone wrong. Every duration I start the computer it says: Configuring updates: stage 3 of 3 — 0% complete. And next reboots, and reboots, and reboots … I had it rebooting for by an hour before I stopped the madness.”

That user later reported: “I found a brute-force solution to my problem. I yanked the capability cord when it said ‘do not turn off your computer.’ That resulted in a trashed file system — it wouldn’t even boot (they weren’t kidding).”

Angry Comments

Posting on

the Windows Vista Blog on Tuesday, product manager Nick White downplayed the problem. “Immediately after receiving reports of that error, we made the decision to temporarily suspend self-moving distribution of the update to avoid further customer impact while we investigate possible causes,” he wrote.

White said the problem “only affects a small number of customers in different circumstances.” He said the update needed for SP1 will be automatically delivered after the issue is resolved.

But White offered few options for customers afflicted with the problem, other than to restore the system or “contact 1-866-PC-Safety for help troubleshooting.” That generated angry comments on the Microsoft blog.

“That’s it, no fix, no updates. To fix that problem I had to format my drive from that issue. Well, I have one thing to say to ya — WOW,” wrote one user (comment edited for readability.) He added, “And what’s up with that…

Orginal post by Top Tech News