Preventing Internet Explorer 7.0 Automatic Deployment

Companies that rely on Microsoft's built-in Automatic Update functionality to keep their organization up-to-date with fixes might still want to delay Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 deployment (e.g., if they use Web sites that aren't tested with IE 7.0 or don't work with IE 7.0). The Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit lets you stop automatic deployment of IE 7.0. You can download the tool at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=4516a6f7-5d44-482b-9dbd-8 69b4a90159c&displaylang=en. The tool runs as a Group Policy administrative template or as a script. Both options reset the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\7.0\DoNot AllowIE70 to 1. Organizations that use Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy can use the administrative template; organizations that don't have (or don't want to use) Group Policy can run the script. The blocker also stops deployment of the browser when you visit the Microsoft Windows Update Web site and select the Express mode for installation updates.

The blocker works only for IE 7.0 deployments that run through the Automatic Update Client and communicate directly with Microsoft's update servers. Even if the blocker is enabled, other deployment methods still function—for example, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) still deploy.