I fished a laptop I inherited from my youngest daughter about a year ago out of the closet yesterday. It came to me in an unbootable state but fortunately old dad burned a set of restore disks for it when it was brand new and stashed them away for a rainy day. If you have kids then you know they never keep such things and when they come to you for a fix and you ask where the stuff is, they have no idea. But old dad stays one step ahead or at least tries to.

So this HP laptop from 2007 runs Vista and was loaded with HP crapware when I restored it to original shipping condition of course. My first step was to remove all the crapola and run Windows update for hours to get it all updated. But no!!!

The Windows updater failed to install VIsta SP1 correctly. I could tell because it told me it had successfully completed the task in about 2 minutes. Sorry, that can't be right, no reboots? I don't think so. I check the install log and it shows complete, etc. I check My Computer/Properties and verify that of course I do not really have SP1 installed.

I try again and fail in exactly the same way - multiple times. The log has about 5 entries telling me it has successfully installed SP1. Nope.

Google time! Lo and behold tons and tons of hits from happy people who could not get SP1 to install in all sorts of different ways with various assorted issues including mine. However, there was no actual solutions anywhere to be found. Off to the MS KB...

I find a hotfix to check all is well before applying SP1. I run this and let it complete successfully. It doesn't tell me whether it found anything or not. It just unceremoniously finishes and exits. I hope for the best and try again but no joy.

I am now wishing this hand me down was a MacBook with OS X but no!

I am also wondering if Windows 8 for forty bucks would be a good solution to Vista on this machine but I don't know... I am not fond of the new UI there and I wonder how it would run on older hardware. Is it it more demanding of system resources? Would it be dog slow? Who knows. I don't want to research this. I am getting annoyed. This kind of crap is why I got a Mac although in fairness, Windows Vista is not exactly Microsoft's finest accomplishment.

Alrighty then, what now? I run msconfig and disable everything but Windows services. I reboot to this clean environment and try again. I fail of course or Microsoft fails that is or maybe HP failed me somehow. Who knows? All I know is I am getting obsessed now with fixing this damned thing. Considering this is a secondary machine I don't even really need, I could live without service packs and updates. Who cares really? I just want to be able to access the Web, read my gmail emails and play some GOGs if something happens to my Mac requiring it be serviced and out of the house for a while or perhaps if some miracle happens and I travel somewhere. But no, I am too OCD to just let it go. I can't stand the idea of any computer or software besting me, even Microsoft's worst.

So... I go back to MS and download both SP1 and SP2 (what an optimist!) along with the upgrade thingy for Windows 8 to check my system out for an "upgrade." Presently the Vista SP1 installer is running and has been for about twenty minutes. This is real progress not that I know what it is actually doing at the moment. I have this silly hope this time is going to be the charm. We shall see soon enough. I am prepared for any eventuality. It is after noon now and I have some nice Canadian whiskey ready to pour into my favorite rocks glass and sip away my blues if need be.

In the meantime, I hope you found this little tale of woe entertaining and I will return to report on the continuing saga of setting up this machine to be my little GOGs and Web browsing toy. It really is a very nice little computer that hasn't seen all that much use for its age. My daughter actually retired it when it was about two years old and upgraded to a Dell. A couple years later upon entering grad school she saw the light and got a MacBook. She's no fool though and kept the Dell which is a nice machine for her own backup. Smart girl. Too bad old dad isn't so smart. Oh, well.

Well, well, well! While I am rambling away here the HP just rebooted itself. It would seem that stage one of the SP1 install actually completed! Could this be true? Is it really going to work this time? Hope springs eternal as they say. We'll see.

In the meantime, should this go to hell I am going to seriously consider Windows 8 rather than Vista. The question is I guess, what do you guys think? Would I be going from the kettle to the frying pan there? Is one as bad as the other really? As always, I welcome your opinions.

tl:dr

But if the disk has broken sectors or anything you could always try Ultimate Boot CD and nuke the hdd to clear it of all data.

then get windows 7 64b and enjoy a good OS

Windows 7 requires less than Vista does, if I remember correctly, and Windows 8 shouldn't require more than 7. Going by that, the machine should handle 8 better than it does Vista.

The new UI is mostly just a different take on the start menu. You won't see it more than you do its earlier sibling (unless you wish to, but that's your choice). Although, the design does creep into the desktop every once in a while (when connecting to wireless networks, for example, instead of a normal menu for choosing network and dialogue box asking you for the WPA key or username/password, it'll be a "modern UI" sidebar popping in).

^ exactly this - and you'll have less game compatability problems than vista (or I have at least)

go for win 7 home premium x64 and end all your problems ;)

http://www.ubuntu.com/
..was my solution to my mother's Vista laptop going bonkers. :p
..and all the other Vista problems since then.

Vista is the only operating system that has managed to get me so angry that I started shouting at the monitor (back when Vista was brand new, it took me some 6 hours of tinkering to connect to the internet for the first time. with a wired connection.)
7 is much nicer. I'd say 7 is pretty great.

Holy smokes! I have triumphed over adversity after all! Vista SP1 installed this time without any problems and it does show also in Computer/Properties as being installed. All three steps and reboots went off without a hitch. Emboldened by this success I am now installing Vista SP2! So far so good. I will keep you guys posted.

Windows 7 would be desirable if it wasn't so damned expensive. I'm not going to shell out that kind of money for this laptop. I do agree that Windows 7 was a good release and in my opinion the best thing for PCs since XP. I am wondering if it might also enjoy the long life XP has as such.

I did consider Ubuntu actually. It would serve my purposes fairly well between the new Steam client for Linux and the fact that I already own some games on Steam with Linux versions and Firefox for Web browsing, my email, etc. GOGs would be a little more work but nothing major for a lot of them, particularly anything DOSBox. WINE is touch and go of course but some stuff would work. It's the screwing around though that turns me off. Yes, I can certainly do this stuff but no, I don't feel like it. I can fix my own car too but I don't do it anymore. Still, in a pinch Ubuntu is pretty damned good and the price sure is right.

The reason I was hoping to get Vista setup with its service packs was I figured for my purposes with this machine it would be plenty good enough and it doesn't cost me anything. It's less work to play the games I'd want to play which is a big plus.

Especially since it is only going to be your secondary machine with little use, I see no point paying $40 to upgrade it from Vista to Win8, provided you can get Vista run ok. If it was e.g. an XP machine and you'd think you'll be using it a lot and for a long time, maybe then upgrading to Win8 would make sense, as XP is already quite insecure OS, and will not get much support from MS anymore. IMHO.

My opinion is that there's not much reason try to avoid Win8 (e.g. if it comes with your new PC), but there isn't much of reason to upgrade to it either, if you e.g. have Win7 or Vista running already.

Linux might also be a free option, except that it will make you through extra hoops to play any of your GOGs.

EDIT: Ok I see you got Vista working, and were already pondering over Linux too. I use Linux primarily to make XP-era PCs useful again. In some cases I might still want to keep WinXP (or even 98SE) running there on the side in multiboot, for retro-gaming. Ie. old Windows for running some problematic old games, and Linux if I intend to go online with it.

Yeah, I think you are right. I am very pleased SP1 just installed after all and now SP2 seems to be going along okay so far. This will make a very nice little secondary computer for me. I use EverNote on the Mac to keep all my gaming and other notes and there is a Windows client for it. The data is all in the cloud so I can conveniently access it from either machine and it syncs automatically whenever the client runs. Likewise, I have Firefox setup with bookmarks, passwords, etc. setup in the cloud too so when I install that on the laptop I just need to login and voila, all my bookmarks, etc. are available. The vast majority of GOGs I own would all run just great on this computer as well. I am lucky to have it.

Don't forget GOGonLinux, simplifying the process for a growing collection of GOGs.

I'm really curious what the secret to your success might be. I also have a not too old HP desktop with Vista recently reinstalled. Have been unable to get SP1 to install and resorted to the shouting, to no avail. I did everything you described in your original post, and pooped in my other hand.

All I have now is a poop hand, any help would make me happy.

I'll be getting a Sani-Wipe now...

What about service pack 2?

It just completed successfully! Yay!

Now, I've re-enabled the stuff I turned off with msconfig and it is rebooting. The next step is to repeatedly run Windows update and grab everything since SP2. After that I'll install Firefox, login to get my settings and make it the default browser. Then I will install Evernote and sync up with all my notes. Lastly, I think I will setup a few choice GOGs and I will be all set with my new toy!

I am so glad this worked out after all. Never underestimate the power of prayer!
I wish I knew what to tell you. I was about out of ideas myself and thinking about Win8 or maybe Ubuntu if further efforts with Vista failed.

You did each of the following?

Disable all but MS services with msconfig (including everything in the startup tab too)

Download the hot fix from MS and run it (KB947821) - this takes a while and appears to stall but is actually still working. Just be patient and it will eventually complete (around 15 minutes roughly)

Download the SP1 installer from MS and run it standalone?

Those steps led to success for me. I don't know what else to try if they fail.