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How to hack Windows Update to download Vista SP1 Beta

October 11th, 2007 · 43 Comments · 17,584 views
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Vista SP1By now you probably know that Vista SP1 Beta is available to a select few testers. If you’re somewhat savy, you may know how to find it on the P2P sites, where it is available for download. But did you know that you can get it directly from Microsoft, through Windows Update, with only a very small, simple hack?

Nero, from the Nero’s Club website, posted instructions on how to trick Windows Update into thinking you are supposed to get the Beta SP1. It’s just two registry settings that need modifying, after which Windows Update will begin feeding you the components required for SP1 beta. Here’s an easy way to do it.

  1. Open a text editor like Notepad, and paste the following text into it: 
    @echo off
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSp1 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d a2c3c14a-9586-4d37-9aaa-79fbd64069d2 /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP1 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d a2c3c14a-9586-4d37-9aaa-79fbd64069d2 /f
echo Vista SP1 registry key has been set. Please check for updates in Windows Update.
pause

    Save this file as a ‘.cmd’ or ‘.bat’ file, any name is fine, I chose sp1beta.cmd. Make sure there isn’t a ‘.txt’ extension at the end or it won’t work (changing the save as file type to ‘all files’ will help with this). You can save it to any location you like, I simply saved mine to the desktop.

  2. Once you have the file, right-click on it and choose ‘Run as Administrator’ (if you have UAC disabled, you can simply double-click). A command prompt window will open, and should show you the following:
    Running the script
    If you see the same, the settings have been added to your registry. You’re ready for the next step.
  3. Go to Windows Update. A quick way to do that is to click on the Start menu, type update in the Search Box, and hit the Enter key. Click ‘Check for Updates’, and after a minute you should get a new update, KB935509. Install the update, and allow the computer to restart when it is finished.
    KB35509
  4. Once logged back in, go to Windows Update again and you should have update KB937287 waiting (if not, click ‘Check for Updates’). Install it.
    KB937287
  5. Once KB937287 is done installing, click ‘Check for Updates’ and KB938371 should become available. Install it and allow the computer to restart when it is finished.
    KB938371
  6. Once logged back in, once again go back to Windows Update and ‘Check for Updates’. I had to wait about five minutes before mine would find the next update, which is Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta!
    Windows Update gets SP1 Beta
    Vista SP1 Beta
  7. Install and enjoy…

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Comments

  • Koen

    Oct 11, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    i’ve managed to go through the whole proces until the last (and most important) update. Than i get the message that windows is up to date…

  • Koen

    Oct 11, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Any tips to receive the final sp1 update?

  • n-blue | à¹?อบจิ๊à¸? Vista SP1 ผ่าน Windows Update

    Oct 11, 2007 at 11:38 pm

    [...] (ภาพจา� ITVISTA) [...]

  • FuckU

    Oct 12, 2007 at 1:12 am

    They stole the hack from Midnighterman from
    http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1378816/22587480/

    This guy gets everything and they took it from him and tried to get credit for it. Look when he posted the hack and look at then Noro posted theirs. Do you research!

  • Koen

    Oct 12, 2007 at 1:24 am

    I don’t care , It doesn’t work for me

  • stolencode

    Oct 12, 2007 at 1:30 am

    you can download the same .cmd file from microsoft if you were in the beta programm. great ‘hack’…

  • Jon

    Oct 12, 2007 at 2:58 am

    Went through whole process and has to click check for updates twice then I recieved the SP1 Beta update:

    51MB
    DOES SPEED UP YOU COMPUTER TREMENDOUSLY
    QUICKENS COPY/PASTE (almost instant)
    Much loved.

    Only annoyance:

    ‘Evaluation copy, Build 6001′ is watermarked i n the bottom right corner of desktop.

  • Chris

    Oct 12, 2007 at 3:11 am

    I also go2 the last bit an got ‘windows is up to date’ however after pressing ‘check for updates’ a cuple of times I got the sp1 beta

  • Koen

    Oct 12, 2007 at 3:15 am

    I’ve been pushing the ‘check for updates’ button 50 times for the last 12 ours and still it keeps saying windows is up to date…

  • Alice

    Oct 12, 2007 at 7:28 am

    Hi,
    Got to the point that Updates said that there was an update SP1 beta. But when I try to click on the install button Explorer crashes. Is there something else that I can do to fix this?

    Thanks,
    Alice

  • Joe

    Oct 12, 2007 at 8:38 am

    @Koen: Any luck yet? Not sure why it would take THAT long for it to queue up.

    @Alice: I haven’t heard of anyone else having the same problem, not sure what to suggest. This happens every time you try?

    @stolencode: I’m surprised Microsoft chose such a low-tech method of implementation. Perhaps they want this code to leak out to get a bigger unofficial test audience.

    @FuckU: If someone doesn’t credit their source, it would be hard to track down, especially when you’re talking about files on a P2P site.

  • Alice

    Oct 12, 2007 at 8:44 am

    Yup got it to work. It’s installing now but it’s been at 95% for about a half hour now….

  • carl

    Oct 12, 2007 at 11:47 am

    if you’ve downloaded it, check the windowsupdate.log and you’ll find the full URL download

  • Alice

    Oct 13, 2007 at 6:02 am

    I got it downloaded and installed. Works great. Thanks for the help.

    Alice

  • Michael

    Oct 13, 2007 at 7:09 am

    These instructions worked perfectly for me. It did not deactivate my HP Oem copy of Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Yes, I have the watermark on my desktop which can only be removed by hacking a file, so I left it. Vista is still activated.

    Thank you for this valuable post.

  • Vista Revisited - » How to Hack Windows Update To Download Vista SP1 Beta

    Oct 13, 2007 at 9:49 am

    [...] By now you probably know that Vista SP1 Beta is available to a select few testers. If you?re somewhat savy, you may know how to find it on the P2P sites, where it is available for download. But did you know that you can get it directly from Microsoft, through Windows Update, with only a very small, simple hack? Click here to see how it done. [...]

  • Kevin

    Oct 13, 2007 at 11:27 am

    Great tutorial, it worked perfectly. Strange, I don’t have the watermark on my desktop. Well I’m off to do some testing, thanks for the great tip.

  • Service Pack a domicilio - BlogVista

    Oct 13, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    [...] Italiana di | Hack Windows Update Condividi Scritto da [...]

  • Madwin

    Oct 13, 2007 at 5:26 pm

    I only get the 935509. The other updates don’t appear.

  • Chris

    Oct 14, 2007 at 1:49 am

    2 those who can download & install sp1 you’ll notice ya hav a watermark ln the bottom right hand side of the screen. 2c how 2 get rid of it go2: http://www.msfn.org/board/Tutorial_Remove_Evaluation_Watermark_D_t82868.html

  • Koen

    Oct 14, 2007 at 9:39 am

    Hi Joe,

    I still haven’t had the update in my list. Maybe there is a problem with my version of Vista. (Home premium)
    Is it usefull to delete the contents of the SoftwareDistrbution folder and try again?

  • Koen

    Oct 14, 2007 at 10:15 am

    I deleted the contents without result…
    I haven’t received any update since last thursday, i hope this will change…

  • Edwin

    Oct 14, 2007 at 5:01 pm

    it works for the pirated version??

  • CartOOn HerO

    Oct 14, 2007 at 5:08 pm

    works like charm … thanks for the tip .. willgive my feeds when i finish installing … thanks a million .. cheers

  • Joe

    Oct 16, 2007 at 10:57 am

    @Koen: Not sure what to suggest for you. Obviously something is different about your setup that is preventing this from working. Is your Vista activated? Were you getting Windows Updates before?

  • Koen

    Oct 16, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    I found the problem: First I didn’t get the SP1 update because mu regional setting differ from US (I live in belgium) When I changed it I stille didn’t get the update so downloaded it somewhere. Then I got the message that my language (Dutch) is not supported for SP1.
    I’m not able to change my language because I am running home premium version legally (I have ultimate (illegal) but I don’t install it because I already have a legitimate windows running. I anyone can tell how to patch the ultimate extras (like language packs) in home premium, it would make me very happy..
    Anway, thanks for thinking with me

  • sam

    Oct 16, 2007 at 6:34 pm

    how do you disable it

  • xgalaxy

    Oct 18, 2007 at 8:07 am

    I installed it in sys info says SP1 v2.75.

    I do not have this watermark you all are talking about.

    Should I have a watermark or do I have a newer SP1 build than the rest of you are talking about?

    I am using Vista Ultimute 64bit with now SP1 V2.75 (No Watermark & No Water Mark Mods Needed).

  • xgalaxy

    Oct 18, 2007 at 8:10 am

    Also my Build does not say “Beta” any where in sys info.

    I recieved this update using the method described in the article here at itvista.com

  • kuba

    Oct 18, 2007 at 11:44 am

    sp1 working in polish vista version?

  • hugo

    Oct 19, 2007 at 1:44 am

    I installed the hack on ultimate 64. now i can’t install any of the updates, including recommended.
    i checked update many times (2 days) and nothing shows up, not even the hotfixes that should be installed before sp1. something is wrong. maybe M$ removed the sp1 form download servers or sth like that. BTW, this was done on Polish version of vista with the language pack installed (including US)
    Cheers

  • Szczep

    Oct 19, 2007 at 5:32 am

    I have downloaded the three pre-updates and now I don’t get SP1 to download. It’s Polish Vista, you think, that changing language and region to US and ENG, installing SP1 and then changing back to PL will work?

  • hugo

    Oct 19, 2007 at 6:24 am

    try to change the language and see if you get the sp1 listed in ms updates. if you’ll install it fine, the reverb to pl and it will work fine.

  • kuba

    Oct 19, 2007 at 6:31 am

    I have a Vista Home Premium and I can’t change the language :( Only Vista Ultimate can change.

  • hugo

    Oct 19, 2007 at 8:22 am

    that’s true :> unfortunatelly.
    in that case you’ll propably have to wait till the official release, unles of course you manage to install it other way.

  • Matt

    Oct 26, 2007 at 1:50 pm

    I get as far as the 2nd update then there are new ones although Windows Update is still receiving updates for Windows Defender.
    I have Vista Home Premium and am in the UK if that makes any difference.

  • hugo

    Oct 27, 2007 at 2:37 am

    finally i had all the updates installed, but there is no sign of sp1….end of storry (i had it installed on ultimate and premium)

  • gage

    Nov 2, 2007 at 2:40 pm

    doesnt matter i did it set by step , the registry entries were added successfully , and guess what windows is up to date , not suprise

  • gage

    Nov 2, 2007 at 3:03 pm

    what im saying is im not suprised like that was actually going to work , wel if was going to it would of worked

  • gage

    Nov 2, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    i have tried it several times on 2 different computers and it dont work at all if anyone actually knows how to get it let me know

  • Alb

    Nov 3, 2007 at 7:07 pm

    Yeah, it’s not working for me either. I did manage to get SP1 BETA installed once when this was first posted but unfortunately I had to restore my system because of certain reasons and now I want it again, but no luck so far.

    Maybe Microsoft has stopped sending SP1 BETA to testers?

  • dedicated windows hosting » How to hack Windows Update to download Vista SP1 Beta

    Nov 5, 2007 at 5:42 am

    [...] WSUS wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptNero, from the Nero’s Club website, posted instructions on how to trick Windows Update into thinking you are supposed to get the Beta SP1. It’s just two registry settings that need modifying, after which Windows Update will begin … [...]

  • fredbone

    Nov 10, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    This is a new why to hack Windows Vista Service Pack 1 straight from Microsoft. To get it download available through the windows update. The new service pack build is 6001.17036 version number is v.652 . Here are the batch file which makes SP1 download available through the windows update.

    @echo off
    reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSp1 /f 2> NUL
    reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP1 /f 2> NUL
    reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSp1 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d 37d55f36-65d6-4fe4-9dc7-892fcbe6222b /f
    reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP1 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d 37d55f36-65d6-4fe4-9dc7-892fcbe6222b /f
    echo Vista SP1 registry key has been set. Please check for updates in Windows Update.

    You can fine more info at. http://www.thehotfix.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=16809

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