Just say no (or yes) to a forced IE7 upgrade

On February 12, Windows Server Update Services will automatically upgrade all Internet Explorer 6 users to Internet

Explorer 7, Microsoft says. But admins who do not want an auto-upgrade of their users’ browsers can avoid it, ZDNet Australia and ActiveWin.com report. Microsoft has issued step-by-step instructions for those who don’t want to let WSUS perform this update.

Microsoft says:

If you have configured WSUS to “auto-approve” Update Rollup packages (this is not the default configuration), Windows Internet Explorer 7 will be automatically approved for installation after February 12, 2008 and consequently, you may want to take the actions below to manage how and when this update is installed. You will need to take action if:

• You use WSUS 3.0 to manage updates in your organization.

• You have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computers or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based computers that have Internet Explorer 6 installed.

• You do not want to upgrade Internet Explorer 6 machines to Windows Internet Explorer 7 at this time.

• You have configured WSUS to auto-approve Update Rollups for installation.

Note This does not apply to Windows Vista because Windows Internet Explorer 7 is a component of Windows Vista.

Alternatively, you can go ahead and have WSUS upgrade your users today and Microsoft lists instructions on how to that as well.

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