Microsoft shuts down anti-SP2 tool

Microsoft is today disabling its own software tool that prevented Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) from automatically downloading itself onto business computers.

This means that people who wanted to prevent the rollout of SP2 may now be forced to incorporate it into their systems.

An emailed statement from Microsoft said: "On April 12th, a tool blocking the download of Windows XP SP2 via Automatic Updates will expire and SP2 will automatically be downloaded."

The company added that small businesses and home users will not be affected by the change.

SP2 was released last year to bolster the security functions built around Windows XP. The main concern of the forced rollout is that SP2 automatically enables the operating system's firewall. Although for many users and sysadmins this makes more sense than having it disabled by default, it also means if the firewall fails to recognise an application, it could prevent it from working smoothly.

"Taking away that option could be time-consuming for administrators," said Alan Phillips, director of training company 7Safe. "One would have thought that Microsoft would have performed sufficient testing for this. It will be interesting to see if there are any stories that come out of this."

Microsoft advised that companies still looking to prevent the rollout of SP2 use a patch management tool, such as System Updates Services (SUS). But some members of the IT industry were concerned that Microsoft had not provided enough information on this.

"It would have been nice to see Microsoft properly clarifying how this works with SUS," said Paul Simmonds, global information security director for ICI. "So far, I've yet to see any clarification."

Dan Ilett writes for ZDNet UK.