BusyDizzys

Well... could have been worse. Microsoft Windows 7 latest service pack has created havoc it seems with users being greeted with a nice big fat error code C00000034 which stops the machine from booting when it restarts after the updates, now things may not be so bad, but the SP1 installer removes the system restore points so you can't just jump in safe mode and roll the machine back. Many users have reported having to do a complete reinstall to get things going again. If you don't have W7 SP1 installed so far, its prob best to turn off "auto update" and await a fix.

I have no words...

Microsoft Technet info : (Error C000009A applying update operation 119595 of 334565 (\Registry\...) when loading SP1)

Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 info : CLICK HERE

A Technet blog with some attempts at repair : (Error 0xC0000034 during Service Pack 1 installations for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2)

Microsoft help & support :  (Your computer may freeze or restart to a black screen that has a "0xc0000034" error message after you install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or a Windows Vista service pack)

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Story : (from El REg)

A brace of "fatal errors" are hampering Windows 7-based computers that have been updated with Microsoft's first service pack for its current operating system.

In fact, since Windows 7 SP1 was released late last month, many users have been grumbling on forums about problems with the install of the update package.

"Basically, if you have an OEM machine connected to a server running WSUS [Windows Server Update Services] with the default settings it offers and installs SP1 automatically. This is killing machines and stopping them booting with a C00000034 fatal error," said Reg reader Simon, who has seen 15 machines downed by the flaw.

"Best thing is, SP1 deletes restore points prior to installing!!!!"

Separately, Windows 7 punters applying the SP1 update package have stumbled into a reboot looping glitch after encountering: "Error C000009A applying update operation 120782 of 367890".

More about that particular bug can be found here and here.

Despite all that, Microsoft hasn't been forthcoming with us about what has gone wrong. And it looks like we've just found out why El Reg has been given the stone-cold silent treatment...

In the vendor's TechNet forums, one MS employee confessed today that the firm had yet to nail the cause of the errors.

"We're hard at work here trying to see what's happening on these particular failures," wrote a Redmond wonk with the handle Joscon.

"I don't have an answer yet, but as soon as I know something, you'll know it. Please keep me informed on any failures and symptoms you have on these machines."

The company is also pointing its customers at this knowledge base, which offers a work around to fix the "C00000034" cockup.

"And if you have logs/VHDs or an image of a machine with this problem, let me know through the blog. I'd like to get in-state failures so we can work on them but so far they have been few and far between," said Joscon.

But with Microsoft unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem, users are suggesting the only way to avoid the problem is switch off WSUS