If you are a user in a corporate environment, contact your system administrator. Some administrators temporarily block the delivery of service packs.
If you are not in a corporate environment where the delivery of service packs is temporarily blocked, use the following methods to resolve this problem.
Confirm that the service pack is not already installed and that you are not running a prerelease version of the service pack
You may already have the latest service pack installed and not realize this, especially if you have Windows Update turned on. Or you may have a prerelease version of the service pack installed.
To determine whether you have an earlier version service pack installed, follow these steps:
- Click Start
, right-click Computer, and then click Properties. - If a service pack is installed, a reference to the service pack will be displayed at the bottom of the Windows Edition section.
Note If a prerelease version of a service pack is installed, the information that is displayed will resemble "Service Pack 2, v.286."Note If you have a prerelease version of the service pack, you must uninstall it before Windows Update will offer you the final release version of the service pack.
For more information about how to uninstall service packs, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
948537 How to uninstall Windows Vista service packs as a troubleshooting step
Check for pending updates or device driver updates
If there are any updates pending, such as security updates, for your system on Windows Update, Windows Update will not offer a service pack until those updates are installed. Therefore, you may have to install other pending updates or device driver updates before you can install the service pack. Pending updates can include security updates or other critical updates. Device driver updates can include updates for audio drivers, for display drivers, or for other hardware or software drivers.
Note Before you install SP2, you must install SP1. Windows Update will not offer you SP2 until SP1 is installed on your system.
To install all pending updates and device driver updates, follow these steps:
- Click Start, type Windows Update in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
- Click Check for updates. Review the list of updates, and verify that all updates that are marked Important or Recommended are selected, and then select any hardware device drivers that are listed as optional updates.
- Click Install Updates to begin the installation. Restart the computer if you are prompted to do this when the installation is complete.
- Check Windows Update again to see whether the service pack is now available.
If you were able to install the service pack, congratulations! You are finished with this article. You may want to read the "
Prevention tips" section to learn how you can avoid these kinds of issues in the future.
If you were still unable to install the service pack, try the following methods.
Make sure that updates that prevent a service pack from being offered for installation are not hidden
- Click Start, type Windows Update in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
- Click Restore hidden updates. Review the list of updates.
Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008 is not offered to users for whom the following update is hidden:
955430 Description of the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 installation software feature update released April 28, 2009
Windows Vista SP1 is not offered to users for whom one of the following updates is hidden:
935509 A software update is available for versions of Windows Vista that include the Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption feature
938371 A software update is available for the Windows Vista installation components
937287 A software update is available for the Windows Vista installation software feature
To "unhide" an update, select the update, and then click Restore.
Computers that have certain multiple processors need to have update 973879 installed for Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008 to be offered
Some processors report support for some unsupported feature sets. Therefore, when the system uses these feature sets, a Stop error occurs. If this issue exists, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 service pack will not be offered for download.
For more information and to install this update, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
973879 You receive a "Stop 0x0000003E" error message when you try to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 on a computer that has certain multiple processors
Download the System Update Readiness Tool, and then check for updates
System resources, such as file data, registry data, and even in-memory data, can develop inconsistencies during the lifetime of the operating system. These inconsistencies can block software updates. The System Update Readiness Tool verifies the integrity of your system and resolves any inconsistencies.
To obtain the System Update Readiness Tool, follow these steps:
- Click Start, type Windows Update in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
- Click Check for updates.
If your computer has a known inconsistency, you are offered an update that makes the correction. After Windows Update offers this solution, the Windows Vista service pack will be offered without more input from you.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
947821 Description of the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008
If you were still unable to install the service pack, you may want to view the "
Hardware and software that if present will result in Windows Update not offering you a service pack" section of this article. This list of hardware and software may help you quickly identify the cause of the problem.