Windows Vista forum: Computer is frozen during Windows Update

If you're on a dial-up connection, then it may never complete because the download is fairly large. (It appears to be installing Service Pack 1 for Vista.) Or it may take a really long time to finish.. If you're on a broadband connection and there has been no progress for hours, then yes, you might as well shut it down and restart..

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean all things will be good as interrupting a SP installation isn't a good thing. Still, if need be, you should be able to run a System Restore. You haven't told us what preparation you made prior to updating. Did you check to make sure all the drivers were updated? Did you run virus and spyware scans to be sure the computer was free of such Did you eliminate all the junk files from your Temp folders and then run a Disc Defrag?

Hope this helps and let us know more.

Grif

...in your particular situation, the problem may be related to malware, or simply a conflict with various software on the computer.. Prior to installing a service pack on Vista, especially SP1, it was important to visit the Windows Update site and install the updates listed there.. And although not generally recommended for any other situation, it was important to check the Windows Update site for any drivers that might need to be updated also.. Once identified, DON'T use the Windows Updates drivers listed, if possible, but visit the driver manufacturer's website and download, then install their latest drivers for the needed devices.

Unfortunately, since you can no longer get the computer to boot, I see no other option than to perform and clean reinstall of the operating system.. If your Dell has a recovery partition, I'd use that, or recovery discs will work as well. Once the full recovery is performed, you should be able to use your backups to reinstall personal programs and files to the machine. You can then move forward to update to the newest service pack..

Hope this helps.

Grif