subject: Corporates can delay XP SP2 auto-update posted: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 13:35:35 +0100
[what does this mean? It means that if you run Windows XP with
autoupdates enabled, your machine is going to upgrade itself to
Service Pack 2 on Monday! Ahh, XP - gotta love it! heheh - Stu]
Corporates can delay XP SP2 auto-update
By John Leyden
Published Friday 13th August 2004 10:19 GMT
Microsoft is to allow organisations to defer the adoption of Windows
XP SP2 ahead of its widespread availability though Automatic Update
and Windows Update starting next Monday (16 August).
The approach allows corporates to delay the installation of XP SP2
while still allowing them to obtain other security updates
automatically from Microsoft. The move - which lets companies carry
out extra testing and validation work - follows the decision of key
MS OEM IBM to hold off on deployment of XP SP2.
Companies following the same policy have one of several options: use
a downloadable executable to change registry settings on PCs; apply
Group Policy template to Active Directory or use a sample email text
that includes a URL link that users can "click on to disable delivery
of Windows XP SP2". This latter option gives us the fear since it’s
easy to see how it could be mimicked by virus writers in order to
direct users towards maliciously constructed websites.
Microsoft's recommended option is for companies to use corporate
update management applications such as its own Systems Management
Server (SMS) 2003 or Software Update Services (SUS) to control the
deployment of patches. In this scenario, patches are downloaded onto
local servers and their application managed by local administrators.
However companies achieve it the mechanism to temporarily disable
delivery of Windows XP SP2 will only be available for a period of 120
days from 16 August. By mid-December, Windows XP SP2 will be
delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems.
Users still reluctant to deploy XP SP2 after then will have to stop
using automatic updates.
The release, which made its debut as a beta back in March, bundles
major security revisions and a new Windows update procedure.
Principal additions with Windows XP SP2 include: Windows Security
Centre; automatically turning on Windows Firewall; and browsing
enhancements to Internet Explorer (providing far more control of
ActiveX controls, for example). Less mentioned so far, but arguably
more important, is revamped memory protection to prevent buffer
overruns, the perennial source of so many security problems. ®
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* Origin: [adminz] tech, security, support (192.168.0.2)
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